College Essay Help:

2018-2019 Essay Prompts 
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.

 2. The 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?

3. Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

5. Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

More College Application Prompts/Idea Generator: (you MAYwrite 1-2 of these down if you like)

• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 
• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn? Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? 
• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there and why is it meaningful to you? 
• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
• What are your major accomplishments and why do you consider them accomplishments?
• Does any attribute, quality or skill distinguish you from everyone else? How did you develop this attribute?
• What was the most difficult time in your life and why? How did your perspective on life change as a result of the difficulty?
• Have you experienced a moment of epiphany, as if your eyes were opened to something you were previously blind to?

Here are some awesome links to help you out with your college essay!
Tips for the College Essay from the College Board
College Essay #1 and Critique
College Essay #2 and Critique
Tips Slideshow
Ways to Get Started (very helpful)
Another example: MMA
Yet another example :grandma
Lots of awesome sample essays to read and get ideas from

Here are some of the opening sentences from last year's college essays for you to read....

• Running 5k’s has allowed me to free my mind.
• For the longest time, I couldn’t imagine the possibility of choosing a career and following through with it—or anything else for that matter.
• Life can start off rough, but it’s up to you to change it.
• My father always told me, “Never run from your problems, run towards them”
• The summer before my 7^th grade year changed my life forever.
• I guess you could say the “hood” made me who I am—but that wouldn’t tell you much about me.
• I’ve been told for the last 6 years, “You’re an outsider” by my classmates.
• Some people are born lucky and things come easy in life, but for most of us, we have to make our own luck.
• There are a few words I would use to describe myself, ___________, as a human being.
• The story of my life has not always been “peaches and cream,” but more a series of obstacles to get where I am right now.
• When I look back at my life, I always picture myself as this little girl standing in the middle of a football field, wondering why it feels like it’s drizzling everywhere else, but on me, it’s pouring.
• I always wished that I lived what I would consider a “fairytale” type of life.
• Growing up, I never liked the way my mother did my hair. She never did it the way I wanted it to be done.
• Thursday, March 5, 2008, was just an ordinary day for most people, but for me it was life-changing.
• I learned a valuable truth about myself when…..
• Sometimes I just sit and wonder, “why?”
• I have always been the girl who was uncomfortable in her own skin.
• To be blessed means to have had an amazing achievement or significant experience that satisfies you, and you alone.
• For the first part of my life, people told me what a perfect family I had. At age 11, I became aware that one of my parents was living a double-life.
• On this wild, yet satisfying journey through high school, it has been difficult to say the least.
• I thought I was going to pass out at any moment.
• As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a famous football star so I could get my family to the top.
• I have always tried to please everyone around me, even though I know I clearly cannot.
• The room is dark; the only light on is coming from this computer that I am typing on.
• Daddy wasn’t home. Mommy would read the letters he sent home for us.
• My life has been an emotional roller coaster.
• As the daughter of immigrants from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, I have always had a very diverse home life.
• I'm sure you could hear the sound from miles away.
• To give up is to say you cared, and I'm not sure I really ever tried.
• The intensity was high that day, and so was the temperature.
• Looking at me now, you would never guess that I was the girl who....
• When I think about my life as a whole, I am often confused about the decisions I have made--but those mistakes are mine, and mine alone.
• Perfection can only be achieved when your best self meets your best effort--and even then it's a long-shot.
• Before you ask me, you need to first consider the possibility that I may tell you something you don't want to hear.
• It's not an opinion. It's a fact.
• I'm not going to start this off by telling you how determined I am and what a great addition I will be to your school.
• I can make anyone laugh. If you don't believe me. I will prove it to you.
• If a picture can paint a thousand words....I'm probably close to a million right now.

Today's notes (outline example):