{"id":6661,"date":"2016-04-21t13:47:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-21t20:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/?p=6661"},"modified":"2016-04-21t13:48:03","modified_gmt":"2016-04-21t20:48:03","slug":"answer-3-types-college-essays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/","title":{"rendered":"how to answer the 3 types of college essays"},"content":{"rendered":"

there are three main types of college application essay prompts. let\u2019s take a look at each type and strategize how you should tackle each one.
\n <\/p>\n

essay prompt type #1: \u201cwhy choose [insert name of school here]?\u201d<\/h2>\n

here\u2019s an example of this school specific essay type:<\/p>\n

\u201chow will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the university of pennsylvania? please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying.\u201d<\/em>
\n— university of pennsylvania<\/em><\/p>\n

you\u2019ll usually see this essay type as a supplemental essay.<\/p>\n

this essay type is kind of like dating. imagine you\u2019re on a date and your date asks you, \u201cwhat do you like about me?\u201d <\/p>\n

aaaaaand, you say this: \u201cuhh\u2026 you\u2019re pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n

that\u2019s not a good answer. you need to get a little more specific than that. <\/p>\n

this answer is kind of like telling your prospective university that you\u2019re applying to their school because you like the psychology department. that\u2019s it. <\/p>\n

so, umm, why do you like the psychology department? tell them your reasons. is there research at the psychology department you\u2019re interested in? is there a class that excites you?<\/p>\n

to successfully answer this question type, write about your interests and passions. then, tie your interests back to the opportunities available at the prospective university.
\n <\/p>\n

2. essay prompt type #2: \u201ccreative and a little wacky\u201d<\/h2>\n

here\u2019s an example of this creative essay type:<\/p>\n

\u201cwere ph an expression of personality, what would be your ph and why? (feel free to respond acidly! do not be neutral, for that is base!)\u201d \u2013 university of chicago<\/em><\/p>\n

ooooh. university of chicago\u2019s uncommon questions are very notorious. <\/p>\n

these essay prompts are a little weird, and they trip up a lot of students. <\/p>\n

these essay prompts test to see how you think and navigate through a situation you\u2019re not used to. they do this because in college, your classes will constantly push you to think through questions and issues that you\u2019ve never encountered.<\/p>\n

your thoughts and ideas in your essay indicate the talents that you could bring to the table to your prospective university.<\/p>\n

to master the creative type of essay, the bottom line is this: prioritize your ideas and the content<\/strong> of your essay first and worry about the creative factor later.<\/p>\n

here\u2019s the thing: writing in a creative way does give your essay a sizzle factor that could be memorable…. if done well. however, with these essay types, students focus too much on the sizzle before the actual content. when you tackle these essay types, worry about the content first.
\n <\/p>\n

3. essay prompt type #3: \u201ctell us more about yourself\u201d<\/h2>\n

here\u2019s an example of this essay type:<\/p>\n

\u201cthe lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. how did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?\u201d<\/em>
\n\u2013 the common application<\/em><\/p>\n

these essay prompt types are absolutely critical in the admissions decision. actually, all the common applications are of this type. <\/p>\n

this question type gives the admissions committee a chance to learn more about you, and puts a face and personality to the application process.<\/p>\n

these essay prompts are very you-centric; therefore, it\u2019s the perfect place to slip in a memorable anecdote with you as the star. <\/p>\n

the rest of this free guideline will delve into the details and strategies of how to attack this question type in greater detail. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

there are three main types of college application essay prompts. let\u2019s take a look at each type and strategize how you should tackle each one. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[24920],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nhow to answer the 3 types of college essays - magoosh blog | high school<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_us\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"how to answer the 3 types of college essays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"there are three main types of college application essay prompts. let\u2019s take a look at each type and strategize how you should tackle each one.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"magoosh blog | high school\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/magooshsat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-21t20:47:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-04-21t20:48:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"nae tanaka\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@magooshsat_act\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"nae tanaka\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"article\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/#article\",\"ispartof\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"nae tanaka\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#\/schema\/person\/5b53e28e4e3c496fdc1eb5f1b8cb284a\"},\"headline\":\"how to answer the 3 types of college essays\",\"datepublished\":\"2016-04-21t20:47:30+00:00\",\"datemodified\":\"2016-04-21t20:48:03+00:00\",\"mainentityofpage\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/\"},\"wordcount\":587,\"commentcount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/#organization\"},\"articlesection\":[\"college admissions\"],\"inlanguage\":\"en-us\",\"potentialaction\":[{\"@type\":\"commentaction\",\"name\":\"comment\",\"target\":[\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"webpage\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.catharsisit.com\/hs\/college-admissions\/answer-3-types-college-essays\/\",\"name\":\"how to answer the 3 types of college essays - 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