COMMON APPLICATION PROMPT 1: “Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”
Prompt 1 is clear about what it wants: a story. That means you need to start your essay by telling one, and the more specific you can be, the better.
If you are writing about a background (something that shaped you) or an identity (something that defines who you are), the more gritty and honest you can be, the better. Maybe you grew up with a hardship in the family. Maybe you have a disability. Maybe your mother was in the military and you had to move around a lot. Maybe your parents are first-generation immigrants from Bengal. Maybe you are part of the LBGTQ community.
If you’re writing about an interest or talent, I would argue that the more off-beat, even quirky you can be, the better. For example, I wouldn’t write your essay about how you are talented at the piano (even if you really are) or you love to draw (even if you do). Arguably, these attributes will be showcased in your extra-curricular and/or awards sections of your application anyway, right? But. If you go to the senior center every week because you love to play shuffleboard with the seniors, now we’re talking.
FIND YOUR LENS
Either way, whether you’re going the background/identity route or interest/talent direction in Prompt 1, you need to start telling your story from a unique and specific lens. Say you are essential to your family because your dad works nightshift and you have to spend an hour each morning and each afternoon driving your siblings to and from school. That makes your identity as Big Brother a major part of who you are.
However, saying that isn’t enough for Prompt 1. You need to put us in the car on that drive early in the morning. Your story could begin with you behind the steering wheel. Or arguing with your sibs to get ready in the morning. Maybe it starts with you in a traffic jam. But it needs a specific “scene” to begin, something compelling that pulls the reader inside your life.
Later, we’ll want to know a little bit more backstory. It’s then that you tell us you drive your siblings because your dad works nightshift. Maybe you love shuffleboard because it reminds you of your late grandfather, who taught you how to play.
Especially if you’re writing about an interest or talent, you need to explain what parts of you it appeals to. Maybe you like shuffleboard because of the exactness it requires. Do you, in turn, love physics? Did you go to a physics camp one summer where you churned out a winning project on classical mechanics? Or has your time playing at the senior centre made you realize you want to pursue a career in geriatric medicine? Has it made you more charitable? Has it prompted you to document oral histories? What have you learned?
Same goes for the background/identity approach: You need to explain what kind of person it’s made you and what you’ve learned because of it. In the case of big brother, has it made you more driven? What have your siblings taught you? Was there an incident on the road one day where you realized something about life and yourself?
In both cases in Prompt 1, you need to show us both why and how you wouldn’t be the same without the essential thing in your life that you’ve either chosen or has defined you.
Head back here to read tips for other Common Application prompts.