Which UC/Common app personal insight/essay prompts should I choose?

Answer 1

The person who can best answer your question is you. However, I can give you some points to think about to help you with your decision. The essay is where colleges want to see you as a human being rather than a set of numbers (G.P.A., test scores, etc.). It is your chance to share something important about yourself that didn't come out in the rest of your application.

So, you want to think about personal characteristics you possess that you want to highlight. Are you passionate about something? Do you possess perseverance to stick with something even when it's tough? Do you have great leadership abilities? Are you really curious? What positive adjectives would you or those around you use to describe you? Choose one (possibly two if they're closely connected to each other) and think of times when that characteristic really showed itself. Those times or events can be turned into stories that can illustrate your positive characteristic.

Now, here's the important point. You should only write about one of those times—choose ONE story to focus on. What happened? Why is it important? Write it in such a way that the reader is there, seeing you go through this story. As your English teacher probably said, "show, don't tell." Reflect on what happened and why it's important to your life and showing that core characteristic you're sharing with the admissions people. Once you think about all those things and come up with your story, go to the prompts and see which one fits the best. Be sure you hit on all the points the prompt is asking for. If it mentions "reflect," make sure you demonstrate your reflection in the story.

Keep in mind, too, that you don't have to focus on huge life-changing stories. And you DON'T have to focus on something traumatic. A lot of students think you need something traumatic in your life to write about in your college essay. You don't. It could be something mundane and still make for a great story.

Good luck!

Answer 2

It can be pretty overwhelming trying to select your college prompt questions. It can also feel challenging to boil down your high school, or life, experiences down to a few hundred words. I always tell my students to go down the list and to read every single question carefully and wait 10 seconds after each question make a mental note of what comes to mind after each question. I then ask which question stood out to to the student the most. Most of the time, students have a gut reaction when going down the list. The gut reaction is usually accompanied with a few examples that pop to mind that students would like to focus on in their essays. There is no "right" question to choose and there is no "wrong" way to answer. This important portion of the application is simply an opprtunity to showcase who you are to the admissions board. It is an opportunity to express yourself in a way that GPAs and AP scores could never do justice. It is not about boiling down your experiences in attempts of sharing everything. There is no way to possibly do that. But rather, it is a start to a conversation about your experiences and if reviewers feel inclined to continue the conversation you started then you will likely end up with an offer to have a seat at their institution. There isn't a "wrong" way of introducing who you are, HOWEVER, there are definitely effective ways to ensure that you are highlighting things about yourself that would be fruitful for reviewers to learn about you!