College Admission Essay Topics
The one hundred college application essay prompts (below) have
been used by various universities in recent years. If you are
required to write a "personal statement" for your college
application, look through these questions for ideas. While these may
not contain the exact question your college asks, many of them can
generate ideas for you, especially if your essay is the generic,
"Tell us something about yourself that we donıt already know."
Apologies if the list does not contain your particular
college/university question. Speaking of apologies, keep this one in
mind as you write your final draft, and as you remember those tired
admissions officers who must sift through 20 or 30 applications
before lunch:
1.What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature
has influenced your thinking, and in what way? (University of
Virginia applicants to the College of Arts and Sciences)
2.Discuss how a particular work of music, literature, or art has
inspired your life. (William and Mary)
3.Tell us how a particular book, play, film, piece of music,
dance performance, scientific theory or experiment or work of art
has influenced you. If you choose a novel, film or play, assume we
know the plot. (University of Notre Dame)
4.Consider the books you have read in the last year or two either
for school or for leisure. Please discuss the way in which one of
them changed your understanding of the world,other people, or
yourself. (Duke University)
5.Tell us about a situation where you have not been successful
and what you have learned from the experience. (William and Mary)
6.First experiences can be defining. Cite a first experience that
you have had and explain its impact on you. (University of
Pennsylvania)
7.Recall an occasion when you took a risk that you now know was
the right thing to do. (University of Pennsylvania)
8.Tell us what you think about a current scientific or social
controversy. (William and Mary)
9.Most people belong to many different communities‹groups defined
by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity,
income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage.
Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that
community and your place within it. Limit your response to half a
page, or approximately 250 words. (University of Virginia all
applicants)
10.What can you contribute to a multi-cultural world? (William
and Mary)
11.The quality of Riceıs academic life and the residential
college system is heavily influenced by the unique life experiences
and cultural traditions each student brings. What perspective do you
feel that you will be able to share with others as a result of your
own life experiences and background? Cite a personal experience to
illustrate this. Most applicants are able to respond successfully in
two to three pages. (Rice University)
12.Northwestern is a community of individuals from diverse
cultures and regions of the world and with a myriad of interests and
talents. Is there a type of individual you have not had much contact
with in your community whom you would like to meet on campus? What
do you think would be the outcome of that meeting, and what would be
its effect on you? (Northwestern)
13.Respond to the question: How can I prepare educationally for a
global society? (Hampton University)
14.Once you have completed your education, would you return to
your hometown to begin your adult life? Why or why not? (William and
Mary)
15.Names have a mysterious reality of their own. We may well feel
an unexpected kinship with someone who shares our name, or may feel
uneasy at the thought that our name is not as much our own as we
imagined. Most of us do not choose our names; they come to us
unbidden, sometimes with ungainly sounds and spellings, complicated
family histories, allusions to people we never knew. Sometimes we
have to make our peace with them, sometimes we bask in our namesı
associations. Ruminate on names and naming, your name, and your
nameıs relationship to you. (University of Chicago)
16.The late William Burroughs once wrote that "language is a
virus from outer space." We at the University of Chicago think heıs
right, of course, and this leaves us wondering what else came here
with it. Could this finally explain such improbable features of
modern life as the Federal Tax Code, non-dairy creamer, Dennis
Rodman, and the art of mime? Name something that you assert cannot
have originated any other way. Offer a thorough defense of your
hypothesis for extraterrestrial origins, including alternate
explanations and reasons for eliminating them from consideration.
(University of Chicago)
17.What effect has any voluntary or independent research, reading
or study, work in the arts, science project, etc. (outside of
school), had on your intellectual and personal growth in recent
years? Discuss what influence this involvement has had on your
academic goals. (Northwestern)
18.What has been your most profound or surprising intellectual
experience? (Duke University)
19.Anatole France said, "If 50 million people say a foolish
thing, it is still a foolish thing." On what subject do you disagree
with most people, and why? (Northwestern)
20.According to Stephen Carter, we can admire those with
integrity even if we disagree with them. Are there people you admire
even though you deeply disagree with them? What do you admire about
them? How do you reconcile this apparent contradiction in your
assessment? (Duke University)
21.Who is the secondary school teacher who has had the greatest
positive impact on your development? Please describe the ways in
which this teacher has influenced you. (Bowdoin College)
22.Reflect on these words of Dorothy Day: "No one has the right
to sit down and feel hopeless. There's too much work to do." What is
"the work to be done" for your generation, and what impact does this
have on your future as a leader? Write a creative, reflective, or
provocative essay. (University of Notre Dame)
23.Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
It can be found in several anthologies, most recently King
Remembered (W.W Norton & Company, 1986). Drawing upon personal
experience, write a creative, reflective or provocative essay.
(University of Notre Dame)
24.What characteristics of Penn, and yourself, make the
University a particularly good match for you? Briefly describe how
you envision your first year in college. How will your presence be
known on campus? (University of Pennsylvania)
25.Why did you first become interested in William and Mary?
(William and Mary)
26.Why do you consider Duke a good match for you? Is there
something in particular you anticipate contributing to the Duke
community? If you are applying to the School of Engineering, you may
discuss your interest in the field of engineering in general or your
interest in Duke's program specifically. (Duke University)
27.You have just completed your 300-page autobiography. Please
submit page 217. (University of Pennsylvania)
28.Imagine you have written a short story, film, or play about
your last four years. Briefly describe the one moment or scene that
your audience will most remember from this autobiographical piece.
What will they learn about you from that moment? (Northwestern)
29.What do you think people who know you would be surprised to
learn about you? Limit your response to one page.(Rice University)
30."The instructor said,/Go home and write/a page tonight./And
let that page come out of you‹/Then, it will be true." The second
line of this poem by Langston Hughes, "Theme for English B," goes on
to ask: "I wonder if itıs that simple?" We ask you here to write a
truthful page about yourself, beginning where Hughes begins: "I am
twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem./I went to school there,
then Durham, then here/to this college on the hill above Harlem./I
am the only colored student in my class." That is to say, each of us
is at a certain stage of life and has a history. Each of us has
lived somewhere and gone to school. We each are what we feel and see
and hear, as the poem goes on to say. Begin there and see what
happens. (University of Chicago)
31.Pose a question of your own, the answer to which you believe
will display your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary,
social critic, sage, sensible woman or man, citizen of the world, or
future citizen of the University of Chicago. (University of Chicago)
32.Tell us the question you think a selective college should ask.
Why? (William and Mary)
33.The Committee on Undergraduate Admissions is interested in
learning more about you. Please use this essay to relay information
about you that cannot be found elsewhere on your application. You
may choose to write about your future ambitions and goals, a special
talent or unusual interest that sets you apart from your peers, or a
significant event or relationship that has influenced you during
your life. (George Mason University/Virginia Tech)
34.Please submit a final piece of writing on any subject you
choose. Limit your response to one page, or approximately 500 words.
(University of Virginia all applicants)
35.Please write on a matter of importance to you. Any topic, and
any form of written expression, is acceptable. If you have written
something for another purpose--even an essay for another
college--that you believe represents you particularly well, feel
free to submit it here. As a guideline, remember that we are
especially interested in issues of personal significance. (Duke
University)
36.Which of the majors in the School of Architecture‹architecture,
architectural history, or urban and environmental planning‹most
appeals to you, and why? (University of Virginia applicants to the
School of Architecture)
37.Please respond to each of the following: 1) What aspirations,
experiences, or relationships have motivated you to pursue the study
of architecture? 2) Outside of academics, what do you enjoy most or
find most challenging? Responses should be one page each. (Rice
University applicants to the School of Architecture)
38.Engineers will face many challenges over the next twenty
years. Which of these challenges seems the most compelling to you,
and how do you plan to help meet it? (University of Virginia
applicants to the School of Engineering)
39.Select a creative work: a novel, a film, a poem, a musical
piece, a painting or other work of art that has influenced the way
you view the world and the way you view yourself. Discuss the work
and its effect on you. (University of Virginia/William and Mary/NYU)
40.What book, poem, piece of music, or artwork has influenced
you? Write down your thoughts and feelings about this work and write
a dialogue in which the work responds to you.
41.Name one book you have read in the past year, describe your
reason for considering this book significant and what you gained
from reading it. (Lewis and Clark College)
42.Discuss how something you have read has affected you or
changed your mind about something. 5.Tell us about the biggest
mistake youıve ever made, or heard of. (University of Virginia)
43.Describe a risk that you have taken and discuss its impact on
your life. (Kalamazoo College)44..Tell us about the most
embarrassing moment of your life. (Santa Clara University) 8.Tell us
about the neighborhood that you grew up in and how it helped shape
you into the kind of person you are today. (Yale and the University
of Chicago) 9.Read Annie Dillardıs "An American Childhood." Choose
one of her observations or ideas and write a creative, reflective or
provocative essay. (Notre Dame) 10.What are the responsibilities of
an educated person? (University of Puget Sound).Identity and culture
are clearly intertwined. How has your experience of culture
influenced the development of your own personal identity? (NYU)
44. At Colorado College, diversity is considered an integral
component of every student's liberal arts education. Discuss your
division of "diversity" and the ways in which you expect it to
affect your college experience. (Colorado College)
45. Of all the activities you listed above, which one has proved
to be the best, or the worst, use of your time, and why? Use one
specific example to illustrate how this activity has, or has not,
been worthwhile. (University of Virginia) 14.Sartre said "Hell is
other people," while Streisand sang, "People who need people are the
luckiest people in the world." With whom do you agree? (Amherst)
15.Discuss an important personal relationship you have had and
explain how it has changed your life.
46. Who are the people who have done the most to influence your
personal development and in what ways were they influential?
(Carleton College) .Defend your least conventional belief.
(University of Virginia)
47. If you were to protest something, for or against, what would
it be and why? 19.Are you honorable? How do you know? (University of
Virginia)
48. Relate a personal experience that caused you to discern or
refine a value that you hold. (University of Virginia) 21.Relate an
incident in your life in which honesty or character (or both) were
at issue. (University of Virginia) 22.Describe a situation in which
your values or beliefs were challenged. How did you react? (NYU)
49. As a prospective 21st century college graduate, you will
enter a workforce and live in a society with an increasingly global
perspective. How will your current knowledge of international issues
and cultures influence your undergraduate study? (NYU)
50. If you could invent something, what would it be, and why?
(University of Virginia) 25.Using a piece of wire, a car window
sticker, an egg carton, and any inexpensive hardware store item,
create something that would solve a problem. Tell us about your
creation, but don't worry: we won't require proof that it works.
(Johns Hopkins)
51. What invention would the world be better off without, and
why? (Kalamazoo College)
52. If you were to write a book, on what theme or subject matter
would it be based, and why? (Stanford)
53. What is your favorite word, and why? (University of Virginia)
54. What effect has any voluntary or independent research,
reading or study, work in the arts, science project, etc., had on
your intellectual and personal goals in recent years? Discuss what
influence this involvement has had on your academic goals.
(Northwestern)
55. Describe your most important academic accomplishment or
intellectual experience to date. We don't want to know about test
scores or course grades, rather we want to know about your
creativity, your willingness to take intellectual risks or your
affinity for scholarly endeavors. (MIT)
56. Describe an intellectual experience of the past two years
that has given you great satisfaction. (Amherst)
57. Do you believe that your academic record accurately reflects
your abilities? Explain. 33.What confuses you most in life, and why?
(University of Virginia)
58. George Washington said, "Associate with men of good quality,
if you esteem your own reputation; it is better to be alone than in
bad company." About which of your friends do you and your parents
disagree? Why do you feel that the continued company of this friend
is a good thing? (Northwestern)
59. Explain how your experiences as a teenager significantly
differ from those of your friends. Include comparisons. (University
of Puget Sound)
60. Imagine you have written a short story, film, or play about
your last four years. Briefly describe the moment or scene that you
think your audience will most remember after they have finished this
autobiographical piece. What will they learn about you from that
moment? (Northwestern)
61. If you were to look back on your high school years, what
advice would you give to someone beginning their high school career?
(Simmons)
62. Imagine that you are a "hero" or "heroine" for one day during
any time period and under any circumstances. Write a creative essay
describing your experience. (Notre Dame)
63. What is the best advice you ever received? Why? And did you
follow it? (University of Pennsylvania)
64. Tell us about a conversation you've had that changed your
perspective or was otherwise meaningful to you. (Stanford)
65. If we could only admit one more student to ________
University, why should it be you? (University of Pittsburgh)
66. Of all the things you hope or expect to gain from your
college experience, which two or three would you place at the top of
your list? Explain what you want to gain and why these experiences
are most important to you.
67. You are about to write your future college roommate a letter.
Please provide the roommate with a personal story that will give
him/her some insight into your personality. (St. Maryıs College, MD)
68. Tell one story about yourself that would best provide us,
either directly or indirectly, with an insight into the kind of
person you are. For example, the story can simply relate a personal
experience, or a humorous anecdote; it can tell about an especially
significant academic encounter or about an unusual test of
character. The possibilities are unlimited (well, almost so). You
choose. Just relax and write it. (Princeton)
69. .Please provide information that you feel will give a more
complete and accurate picture of yourself, e.g., background,
personal philosophy or traits, goals, etc. Be sure to describe the
influence of these factors. Please be concise and limit your
response to one or two pages. (Pomona College)
70. What single adjective do you think would be most frequently
used to describe you by those who know you best? Briefly explain.
(Stanford)
71.If you were to describe yourself by a quotation, what would
the quote be? Explain your answer. (Dartmouth)
72. Create a metaphor for yourself using something you would find
in your kitchen or your garage. List as many similarities or
relationships between yourself and this object as you can think of,
then elaborate on this comparison in an essay. Why is this object a
good representation of you? (adapted from U. of Chicago)
73.Discuss how some negative experience (disability, illness,
failure) has had a positive influence on your life.
74..Describe a personal habit that helps to define you as a
person.
75.Discuss how a specific place can be used to help illustrate
your personality. 52.If you had to describe yourself as an animal,
what animal would you select and why?
76. Describe a fictional character. Be sure to point out what you
do or do not like about the character and relate these attributes to
yourself.
77. What have you undertaken or done on your own in the last year
or two that has nothing to do with academic work? (Northwestern)
78. Discuss how your travel experiences have affected you as a
student and a citizen of the world.
79. If money and family obligations left you entirely free, how
and where would you spend the summer before college?
80. If you were given the opportunity to spend one year in
service on behalf of others, which area would you choose? Explain
what you would do and why.
81. If you had a day to spend as you wish, how would you use your
time? (Carleton College)
82. .Imagine that you have the opportunity to travel back through
time. At what point in history would you like to stop and why?
(Swarthmore)
83. .What do you think has been the most important social or
political movement of the twentieth century? Do you share a personal
identification with this cause? (Trinity College, CT)
84. History has recorded the American Revolution, the Industrial
Revolution, and the Sexual Revolution. Today we are witnessing a
revolution in the way we receive information. What do you think will
be the next great revolution, and what will be its impact on you and
your society? (Northwestern)
85. If you were to develop a Mt. Rushmore representing the 20th
century, whose faces would you select and why? (William and Mary)
63.If you could be a fly on the wall to observe any
situation--historical, personal, or otherwise--describe what you
would choose to observe and why. What would you hope to learn and
how would it benefit you? (University of Pittsburgh)
86. If you could spend a year with any real or fictional person
in the past, present, or future, whom would you choose? Why?
(Kalamazoo College)
87. If you could hold a conversation with someone (living or
deceased) you consider significant, who would you talk to and what
would you talk about? Describe your conversation. (University of
Oregon)
88. If you could meet any famous person, living or dead, who
would it be? Write a dialogue between you and that person.
89. If you could become another person, real or fictional, for
one day, who would you become and why?
90. If you had the power to change three things in your community
or in the world, what would you change and why? (Middle East
Technical University in Turkey) 69.If you could change the course of
a singular event in history, what event would you affect, and why?
In addition, please provide insight on how you would implement your
decision. (St. Maryıs College, MD) 70.If you could go back and
change one day in your life, what would you change and why? (Santa
Clara University)
91. Please write a personal journal entry as if the date were
Sept. 20, 2030. (St. Maryıs College, MD.)
92.It has been said [by Andy Warhol] that in the future everyone
will be famous for fifteen minutes. Describe your fifteen minutes.
(New York University)
93.Recent developments in technology have revolutionized the way
we gather information, communicate with one another, and even
express ourselves as individuals. If there is a computer in your
life, tell us how you use it. If there is not a computer in your
life, tell us how you would. (William and Mary)
94.Select a technological innovation of this century and discuss
its effects on your family, local community or nation. (Notre Dame)
95.Look through old family photos and pull out a few that remind
you of important times or significant moments. (Remember that the
impact of a moment is what makes it significant. A hike through the
woods can sometimes be more significant than a birthday.) Choose one
of these "Kodak Moment" to describe and explain its significance to
you. Speak about the photograph and your feelings about what you see
in it.
96.Attach a small photograph of something important to you and
explain its significance. (Stanford)
97.You are on your dream vacation and have just finished shooting
a roll of film. As you go to develop the film, the local merchant
offers to make a postcard of one of your photos. Describe the photo,
why you selected it and write a brief note to your friends back
home. (Be sure to include where you are and what you have been doing
there.) (University of the Pacific)
98.Elvis is alive! Okay, maybe not, but we have been persuaded
that recent Elvis sightings in highway rest areas, grocery stores
and laundromats are part of a wider conspiracy involving five of the
following: the metric system, the Mall of America, the crash of the
Hindenberg, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, lint, J.D. Salinger,
and wax fruit. Construct your own theory of how and why five of
these items are related. (University of Chicago)
99.The subject of food is never far from our minds here in
College Admissions. It is a topic of serious conversation this year
on campus, too, with the publication of a book called The Hungry
Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of our Nature, by Leon Kass, M.D., a
Chicago faculty member who teaches in the College. The book takes a
philosophical look at what food, eating, and table manners have to
tell us about our human estate. Compose an essay about a memorable
meal you have eaten. We are especially interested in the details:
the occasion, your company at this meal, its physical setting, the
kinds of foods you ate, or their preparation. (University of
Chicago)
100.Ask and answer the one important question which you wish we
had asked. (Carleton College)
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