suny essay prompts 2022

SUNY Stony Brook University 2022-23 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Action: Oct 15

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 15

SUNY Stony Brook University 2022-23 Application Essay Question Explanation

The Requirements: 1 essay of 250 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Activity

Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (250 words)

What?! Stony Brook has a supplemental essay? If you didn’t see this essay lurking in the Common App the first time around, don’t sweat it. The good news is this prompt is as classic as eggnog in December, and we know you can hit the essay out of the park. Start by jotting down a few activities in which you’ve participated or jobs you’ve held. The trickiest part is selecting the activity you want to talk about. So, we return to our favorite mantra: tell admissions something they couldn’t learn elsewhere . If you wrote your Common App essay about your tenure as captain of the lacrosse team, focus on a different (ideally non-athletic) activity that shows a different side of who you are for this prompt.

This can be a great opportunity to highlight your leadership skills and any accolades you may have received as a result of participating in a particular activity. Did you win a community service award? Now is a great time to elaborate on your work. No matter what you choose, it should probably be something you’ve been involved in for a minute, so you can demonstrate your commitment and the impact that you have had on others.

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College Essay Writing Tips That Get You Noticed

College essays are important to the admission process. They bring your application to life by connecting the dots to create a complete picture of who you are. Your essay reveals something about you that your grades do not… your personality.

For those planning their future studies, summer is the perfect time to begin your college essay. SUNY has a few tips to get you started, as well as the applySUNY essay topics!

Tips for Writing a College Essay

• Create an Outline Your essay should consist of three parts – an introduction (one paragraph), body (several paragraphs) and a conclusion (one paragraph). Create an outline, decide where to include examples and write your first draft. Don’t worry about making it perfect; just let your ideas flow. You can fix mistakes and improve your writing in later drafts.
• Have a Focus Your goal should not be to include all of your accomplishments and activities (that is what an activities resume is for). The most engaging essays tell a story and have a clear focus. A thoughtful and detailed narration of a significant time in your life tells far more about you than a list of competitions won and honors achieved. Think about ways you can turn defeats into success and challenges into learning opportunities.
• Creativity and Originality Count This is your time to shine! Identify a topic or talk about something that is unique and different. Or, breathe life into a mundane subject by approaching it differently.
• Get Feedback and Proofread Ask others – those who know you well and those who do not – to read your work. Honest, critical feedback will move you forward. Know the essay word limit and stick to it – ours is 650.

Essay Topic Choices When you Apply To SUNY

The SUNY application has essay topic choices that allow you to pick one that fits you best. The list below tells you what they are:

• 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.
• The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
• 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.
• Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
• Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
• Topic of your choice.

Regardless of the option you select, stay focused and tell a story that represents who you are as a person. When the final piece is something you’re proud of, readers will recognize it. Good luck!

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SUNY Upstate School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

These are the secondary application essay prompts for State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate School of Medicine. To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page .

about State University of New York Upstate School of Medicine

Secondary Deadline :  Secondary Fee : $110 FAP Waiver :  CASPer Required :  Screens Applications : No Accepts Application Updates :

1. If you earned your baccalaureate degree prior to this past June, please provide a brief statement indicating your plans for the upcoming academic year:

2. You might consider yourself disadvantaged if you grew up in an area that was medically or underserved or had insufficient access to educational opportunities. Do you consider yourself within this description? If you answer Yes please explain your particular circumstances regarding why you consider yourself a disadvantaged applicant.

3. If you are interested in Primary Care, are you interested in receiving more information about potential scholarship opportunities?

4. We understand that the COVID-19 crisis disrupted many aspects of our lives. Please share if you had any curricular impacts during this time, for example, change to pass/fail courses or to online coursework or if you anticipate any deficiencies in experiences as a result of COVID-19.

5. Please upload an essay, under 500 words, answering the following question: Upstate Medical University is strongly committed to providing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for the patients we serve and all who work at, study at, or visit our campus. As a potential partner in this effort, please describe your commitment to eliminating health inequities, discrimination, or other forms of social injustice. (500 words)

The secondary application essay prompts from this medical school application cycle are the same as above.

Regular admissions prompts (word/character limit not stated)

1. If you earned your baccalaureate degree prior to this past June, please indicate your plans for the upcoming academic year.

2. What medical specialty are you thinking about pursuing at this point?

3. Are there any areas of weakness in your application that you would like to clarify for the Admissions Committee?

Rural Medicine prompts (no character limit specified) 1. Why do you consider yourself suited to rural medical practice? 2. If you have lived in a rural community, please describe it and indicate how long you have lived there. 3. Describe your understanding of an issue or challenge facing rural communities now or in the future. 4. Describe any relevant medical encounters that either you or your family has experienced. How has this influenced your desire to practice rural medicine? 5. What are your future career goals?

Disclaimer: The information on this page was shared by students and/or can be found on the medical school’s website. Med School Insiders does not guarantee the accuracy of the information on this page.

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SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Essay Prompts and Tips

• Cracking Med School Admissions

Beginning in the 2016-2017 admissions cycle, SUNY Upstate Medical University began to have essay for its secondary application. Since then, the SUNY Upstate secondary has gotten longer!  This is a long and tough secondary to do well, so  start early . We would definitely recommend pre-writing you SUNY Upstate secondaries!

It is very important to tailor your answers towards SUNY Upstate by convincing the admissions committee that you have substantial, quality clinical experiences and academic strength. Get our tips on how to answer SUNY Upstate secondary essays below ! Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or if you want to work Dr. Mediratta and Dr. Rizal through our secondary essay editing packages . 

• Personally Tailored Essays
• Edits by Stanford & Harvard-trained Doctors
• We study your application strengths to see what unique attributes we’ll bring to the medical school

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2023 – 2024

• If you earned your baccalaureate degree prior to this past June, please indicate your plans for the upcoming academic year. (1,800 characters max)
• Which medical specialty are you thinking about pursuing at this point? (1,800 characters max)
• We understand that the COVID-19 crisis in Spring 2020 disrupted many aspects of our lives. Please share if you had any curricular impacts during this time, for example, change to pass/fail courses or to online coursework or if you anticipate any deficiencies in experiences as a result of COVID-19. (1,800 characters max)
• Are there any areas of weakness in your application that you would like to clarify for the Admissions Committee? If yes, please describe.  (1,800 characters max)
• Upstate Medical University is strongly committed to providing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for the patients we serve and all who work at, study at, or visit our campus. As a potential partner in this effort, please describe your commitment to eliminating health inequities, discrimination, or other forms of social injustice. (500 words max)

Tips to Answer SUNY Upstate Medical University Secondary Application Essays

SUNY Upstate Secondaries Pre-Writing Guidance:  The SUNY Upstate Medical University secondary application essay questions don’t change year to year. Therefore, we would strongly encourage you to pre-write these using the previous years’ prompts. Because this is a state school, we think you should try to submit this by late July of the application cycle

• Download our  Cracking Med Secondary Essay Workbook and Examples  to get all our tips about secondary application essays.

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Tip #1:  SUNY Upstate Medical School cares about your commitment to upstate New York. Please state your experiences and connections to Upstate New York throughout your USNY Upstate secondaries. If you do not have any ties to Upstate New York, then discuss your experiences in New York state, the Northeastern United States, and rural health.

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Tip #2: If you have taken a gap year or will take a gap year, then you must answer question #1. Many students write a scant amount about what they have been doing in their gap years. We advise our mentees through our  medical school secondary essay edits to take advantage of the word space.

Here are aspects you should highlight in the gap year essay:

• Clinical experiences you are pursuing. This is very important. Add any insights and reflections, tying it to what you want to do as in your future medical career.
• Any volunteer work, patient care, travel, or community service in Upstate New York. If you are not in Upstate New York, and discuss your ties to New York or rural populations.
• Include a patient story and what you learned.
• If space, you can include a story about an individual you helped in your community service activities. 

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Tip #3: Because the SUNY Upstate Medical University secondary application specifically asks about deficiencies and disruptions during COVID-19, you should not mention what activities you did during the pandemic. 

Topics our students have discussed include:

• Difficulties and disruptions in academic coursework, including transitioning to a home situation
• Taking care of family members who were sick
• Planned clinical, research, volunteering, and other activities that could not occur because of COVID-19
• Responsibilities of taking care of younger siblings

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Tip #4: To answer the SUNY Upstate secondary application question, “ As a potential partner in this effort, please describe your commitment to eliminating health inequities, discrimination, or other forms of social injustice ” discuss how you have already tried to decrease social injustices  and how you plan to tackle these issues in medical school & beyond. 

• Tell stories. This is one of our two biggest pieces of advice we tell medical school applicants throughout the entire application cycle. 

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Tip #5: To answer the SUNY Upstate secondary application question, “ Upstate Medical University is strongly committed to providing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for the patients we serve and all who work at, study at, or visit our campus. In 500 words or less, please answer the following question: As a potential partner in this effort, please describe your commitment to eliminating health inequities, discrimination, or other forms of social injustice ” 

• Write existing stories and experiences in both clinical and non-clinical settings where you have been committed to eliminating health inequities. 
• Link this to rural health inequities if you can, because SUNY Upstate serves a large number or rural patients. 
• We have several curated informational and opinion articles about healthcare disparities & other healthcare current events:  Top 10 Current Events You Need To Know For Your Medical Interview  

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Tip #6: Definitely say “yes” to the primary care question if you are considering it. Remember that primary care does not mean only family medicine or internal medicine. Primary care also encompasses pediatrics, emergency medicine, and OB/GYN.

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Tip #7: Start early  and  get our help . The SUNY Upstate secondary not only has several essay, but the essays overall also have large word limits. Have questions about how you can stand out? Contact us below. Need editing help on your secondary? Dr. Mediratta and Dr. Rizal can personally help you through our secondary essay packages . 

[ Read more:  Medical Schools in New York: How to Get Accepted & School Profiles ]

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Medical School Stanford School of Medicine

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SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2022 – 2023

• We understand that the COVID-19 crisis in Spring 2020 disrupted many aspects of our lives. Please share if you had any curricular impacts during this time, for example, change to pass/fail courses or to online coursework or if you anticipate any deficiencies in experiences as a result of COVID-19.  (1,800 characters max)
• You might consider yourself disadvantaged if you grew up in an area that was medically or underserved or had insufficient access to educational opportunities. Do you consider yourself within this description? If you answer Yes please explain your particular circumstances regarding why you consider yourself a disadvantaged applicant. (1,800 characters max)
• If you are interested in Primary Care, are you interested in receiving more information about potential scholarship opportunities?  (Yes/Now)

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2021 – 2022

Suny upstate secondary application questions: 2020 - 2021.

• We understand that the COVID-19 crisis in Spring 2020 disrupted many aspects of our lives. Please share if you had any curricular impacts during this time, for example, change to pass/fail courses or to online coursework or if you anticipate any deficiencies in experiences as a result of COVID-19. (No character limit)
• Are there any areas of weakness in your application that you would like to clarify for the Admissions Committee? If yes, please describe. (No character limit)

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2019 – 2020

• Has anyone in your family graduated from the College of Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University? (1,500 characters max)
• Please indicate the last MCAT exam you have taken and/or are you planning to take any upcoming MCAT exams and if so, when? Please remember that the deadline for completing your application is December 1. (1,500 characters max)
• Have you completed your baccalaureate degree? If you earned your baccalaureate degree prior to this past June, please indicate your plans for the upcoming academic year. If you haven’t completed your baccalaureate degree yet, will you be doing so this academic year? (1,500 characters max)
• Which medical specialty are you thinking about pursuing at this point? (1,500 characters max)

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2018 – 2019

• Please indicate the last MCAT exam you have taken and/or are you planning to take any upcoming MCAT exams and if so, when? Please remember that the deadline for completing your application is December. (1,500 characters max)
• Have you completed your baccalaureate degree? If you earned your baccalaureate degree prior to this past June, please indicate your plans for the upcoming academic year. (1,500 characters max)
• If you haven’t completed your baccalaureate degree yet, will you be doing so this academic year? (1,500 characters max)

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2017 – 2018

• Are there any areas of weakness in your application that you would like to clarify for the Admissions Committee? Yes or No? If yes, please describe. (1,800 characters max)

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2016 – 2017

Suny upstate medical university secondary application – regular md prompts, suny upstate medical university secondary application – rural medicine prompts.

• Why do you consider yourself suited to rural medical practice? (No character limit stated)
• If you have lived in a rural community, please describe it and indicate how long you have lived there. (No character limit stated)
• Describe your understanding of an issue or challenge facing rural communities now or in the future. (No character limit stated)
• Describe any relevant medical encounters that either you or your family has experienced. How has this influenced your desire to practice rural medicine? (No character limit stated)
• What are your future career goals? (No character limit stated)

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2015 – 2016

There were no essay prompts in the secondary application for the 2015-2016 cycle.

SUNY Upstate Secondary Application Questions: 2014 – 2015

There were no essay prompts in the secondary application for the 2014-2015 cycle.

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2021-2022 SUNY, Downstate (Brooklyn)

• Thread starter wysdoc
• Start date Mar 28, 2021

Plain-spoken Texan

• Mar 28, 2021
• Are there any periods longer than 3 months, from the time you graduated from high school to now, when you were not employed full time or in college full-time? If yes, please describe your activities. (No word count listed)
• Will you be attending college full-time as of September 15? If no, please describe your activities for the period of September 15 to July 1. (No word count listed)
• What will be your support system while in medical school? (Limit 150 words)
• If you are not from the 5 boroughs of New York City, describe what personal, urban experiences prepare you to live and study in New York City. If this question does not apply to you, enter "not applicable" in the text box below. (Limit 150 words)
• If you had a completed application to the College of Medicine in a prior application cycle, please highlight any changes since your previous application in a list with dates. If this question does not apply to you, enter "not applicable" in the text box below. (Limit 150 words)
• If you have a specific reason why you wish to attend SUNY Downstate or a medical school in New York City, please explain. If this question does not apply to you, enter "not applicable" in the text box below. (No word count listed)
• What in your current/future activity/activities have/will contribute to diversity, health equity and social justice? (No word count listed)

SUNY - Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine (Brooklyn) Interview Feedback

Morningnight

Full member.

• Jun 29, 2021

NachmoCheese

Is anyone else having an issue with their MCAT and letters showing on the Downstate portal? I have my MCAT and letters on AMCAS and they're marked as received by all my other schools except for Downstate right now which kind of sucks since I'm not complete despite submitting. I also emailed them about it today with no response yet.  

deleted1109648

• Jun 30, 2021

NachmoCheese said: Is anyone else having an issue with their MCAT and letters showing on the Downstate portal? I have my MCAT and letters on AMCAS and they're marked as received by all my other schools except for Downstate right now which kind of sucks since I'm not complete despite submitting. I also emailed them about it today with no response yet. Click to expand...

+1 IS received yesterday  

• Jul 1, 2021

Anyone else's portal not updating with the MCAT and LOR. It still has a red x next to those even though all of those are submitted for me.  

dreamingabouta528

Medical student.

How much should I write for the support system question? I only have one sentence so far and I can't think of how to expand on it.  

dreamingabouta528 said: How much should I write for the support system question? I only have one sentence so far and I can't think of how to expand on it. Click to expand...

brockhamptonfanacct

puromycin said: I wrote a pretty short paragraph with around 4-5 sentences. I don't think they're looking for anything crazy because there isn't much to write for this question in the first place. Click to expand...

pre-doo-med

• Jul 2, 2021

Are there any current MS that would be okay with me messaging them a couple questions about the school?  

Just to clarify, the question on why you want to go to downstate or to a school in NY is a convoluted 'why us' question, right?  

Also, how long are you guys making the "why us" question?  

For the "What in your current/future activity/activities have/will contribute to diversity, health equity and social justice?" they only want current activities or future right, like if I have a lot in the past it doesnt matter they want to know now correct?  

• Jul 3, 2021

sparkykoolkat said: I am also having the same issue. Please let me know if you do end up getting a response. Click to expand...

• Jul 4, 2021

NachmoCheese said: They kind of gave a non-answer: " Thank you for your email and interest in SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. Once we review applicants who have submitted their secondary application, you will receive an updated email on the status of your application. Should you have any other questions, please feel free to email this account again. " I think this means that they will manually mark people as complete but who knows? Click to expand...

• Jul 6, 2021

puromycin said: Anyone else's portal not updating with the MCAT and LOR. It still has a red x next to those even though all of those are submitted for me. Click to expand...

sparkykoolkat said: Has anyone's LOR and MCAT updated yet? I submitted my secondary a few days ago and am repeatedly checking it but still nothing Click to expand...

whataweirdo

Same as you guys.  

MedSchmetterling

For the specific reasons of applying to SUNY Downstate, it's saying the limit is 200 words, but it lets me type more. Are you guys capping it at 200 or writing as much as you want?  

MedSchmetterling said: For the specific reasons of applying to SUNY Downstate, it's saying the limit is 200 words, but it lets me type more. Are you guys capping it at 200 or writing as much as you want? Click to expand...

playdough422

Morningnight said: No update since I submitted on 06/29. I think some schools might not have gotten around to updating those yet. Click to expand...

• Jul 7, 2021

Still missing MCAT, LOR, etc. here too.  

• Jul 8, 2021

still missing MCAT, LOR here as well, even though the LOR info is populated in the status tab (which makes me think they're just delayed on manual processing). Submitted 7/5  

Mojotheburrito

missing MCAT and LOR  

Mojotheburrito said: missing MCAT and LOR Click to expand...

• Jul 9, 2021

Update: my LORs and MCAT are all marked as received now  

puromycin said: Update: my LORs and MCAT are all marked as received now Click to expand...

allaboutpurple

Morningnight said: OOS secondary received this morning. Minor changes to the secondary essays from what I can see. @wysdoc Are there any periods longer than 3 months, from the time you graduated from high school to now, when you were not employed full time or in college full-time? If yes, please describe your activities. (No word count listed) Will you be attending college full-time as of September 15? If no, please describe your activities for the period of September 15 to July 1. (No word count listed) What will be your support system while in medical school? (Limit 150 words) If you are not from the 5 boroughs of New York City, describe what personal, urban experiences prepare you to live and study in New York City. If this question does not apply to you, enter "not applicable" in the text box below. (Limit 150 words) If you had a completed application to the College of Medicine in a prior application cycle, please highlight any changes since your previous application in a list with dates. If this question does not apply to you, enter "not applicable" in the text box below. (Limit 150 words) If you have a specific reason why you wish to attend SUNY Downstate or a medical school in New York City, please explain. If this question does not apply to you, enter "not applicable" in the text box below. (No word count listed) What in your current/future activity/activities have/will contribute to diversity, health equity and social justice? (No word count listed) Click to expand...

Update: Just received email that my application was complete. Up until this morning, LORs and MCAT score were marked as not received in the application portal. Submitted secondary app on 06/29.  

• Jul 10, 2021

pre-doo-med said: when did you submit? mine still isn't Click to expand...

NachmoCheese said: Same which is kind of infuriating, I submitted on 06/28 and still haven't been marked complete despite having all my stuff for a while and other schools having it too. kind of unacceptable... Click to expand...

pre-doo-med said: That's weird, you should contact them. I submitted 7/6, and I got an email yesterday saying I was complete. Are you IS? Click to expand...

NachmoCheese said: I am IS, I emailed them before about it and they just said: "Thank you for your email and interest in SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. Once we review applicants who have submitted their secondary application, you will receive an updated email on the status of your application. Should you have any other questions, please feel free to email this account again." Guess I'll email again... Click to expand...

• Jul 11, 2021

pre-doo-med said: For the "What in your current/future activity/activities have/will contribute to diversity, health equity and social justice?" they only want current activities or future right, like if I have a lot in the past it doesnt matter they want to know now correct? Click to expand...

powerhouseofcell1

Anyone having problems logging into their secondary? I entered my AMCAS ID and created a password, but upon logging in it asks for a Username. I tried using the AMCAS ID, but that did not work. I’m very frustrated and am getting no response from SUN Downstate. Can anyone help?  

anthonymarc said: Anyone having problems logging into their secondary? I entered my AMCAS ID and created a password, but upon logging in it asks for a Username. I tried using the AMCAS ID, but that did not work. I’m very frustrated and am getting no response from SUN Downstate. Can anyone help? Click to expand...

• Jul 12, 2021

pre-doo-med said: can you call? Click to expand...

TheIndianMamba

OOS application marked complete just now. I just realized I typed around 500 words for the why us and diversity essays, even though the box says 200. I could have sworn that 200 word limit wasn't there when I submitted, and I was able to submit my application anyways. Is this gonna mess up my chance?  

TheIndianMamba said: OOS application marked complete just now. I just realized I typed around 500 words for the why us and diversity essays, even though the box says 200. I could have sworn that 200 word limit wasn't there when I submitted, and I was able to submit my application anyways. Is this gonna mess up my chance? Click to expand...

pre-doo-med said: You just made me check mine... I had a 200 word limit written on my google doc for everything but the diversity question. There definitely was not a word count for the diversity one before, I have 540 words. I am so worried. Should we call? Click to expand...

TheIndianMamba said: If you look at the top where the prompts were listed, there was no word count indicated. They must have added a word count later for those last two prompts. This is what it says in my complete email: "Please refrain from calling the Office of Student Admissions if your questions relate to the status of your application. Questions other than those dealing with the status of your application may be sent to the Office of Student Admissions via email at [email protected] . Please do not submit any additional materials unless you receive a request to do so." Maybe we should just let it be? Click to expand...

pre-doo-med said: yeah i think so, ugh! so anxiety provoking, that means we can't be the only ones lol Click to expand...

• Jul 13, 2021

Same issue with the word count. Could have sworn it wasn't there when I submitted  

GrainofSalt

• Jul 15, 2021

I followed the guidelines with the 200word limit but now I'm reading my responses over and I wasn't able to fully express my answers. Now I'm thinking this would set me back.  

• Jul 16, 2021

GrainofSalt3942 said: I followed the guidelines with the 200word limit but now I'm reading my responses over and I wasn't able to fully express my answers. Now I'm thinking this would set me back. Click to expand...

• Jul 19, 2021

I am struggling to answer "What in your current/future activity/activities have/will contribute to diversity, health equity and social justice?" I did a lot of volunteering for underserved population in undergraduate and my personal experience can contribute to diversity and social justice. But I am not doing anything special right now. I just started new job at optometry office but I have no idea how that will contribute to diversity, health equity and social justice. Any advise?  

nervousapplicant

• Jul 23, 2021

Please help lol. I am trying to submit my secondary for SUNY Downstate and am struggling to answer this very simple question, "Will you be attending college full time as of September 15?". If the answer is no it requires an essay. I am struggling because I will be a full-time graduate student, and I do not know if when they say college they mean undergraduate or just student in general. Is anybody else in a master's program and applying to this school? I know this is ridiculous lol but I dont want to email them with this question and look neurotic.  

212kindofgal

nervousapplicant said: Please help lol. I am trying to submit my secondary for SUNY Downstate and am struggling to answer this very simple question, "Will you be attending college full time as of September 15?". If the answer is no it requires an essay. I am struggling because I will be a full-time graduate student, and I do not know if when they say college they mean undergraduate or just student in general. Is anybody else in a master's program and applying to this school? I know this is ridiculous lol but I dont want to email them with this question and look neurotic. Click to expand...

pre-doo-med said: means Click to expand...

212kindofgal said: I responded that I will be in graduate school and provided them a list of courses I’m registered for. Today I received an “application on hold, documents requested” email from them asking me to upload an unofficial transcript for my Masters program. Click to expand...

nervousapplicant said: So if I am already in graduate school, and they have my transcript from my first year, I should just put yes I will attending college full-time? Thank you so much for your response. Click to expand...

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State University of New York Downstate Secondary Application

State university of new york downstate secondary essay prompts, (if you have updated prompts, please submit them at updatesecondaries.com).

Prompts have been updated May 2023 . (Older essays, if available are below)

• (If applicable) Please describe your activities for the period of September 15 to July 1
• What will be your support system while in medical school? (150 words)
• Describe what personal, urban experiences prepare you to live and study in New York City (150 words)
• Why do believe you are a good fit for SUNY Downstate?
• What is your experience with diversity, health equity and social justice?

Primary Deadline: Usually around Dec 1st  Secondary Deadline : Usually around Jan 4th Secondary Fee : $100 FAP Waiver : Full Fee Waived Casper Required : No PREview Required: No Screens Applications : Yes Accepts Application Updates : No

State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine Mission:

The College of Medicine’s primary mission is to make high-quality education available to New York State’s next generation of health professionals. On a broader level, our work has the potential to influence the future of the medical profession and the network of social institutions that support the provision of health care. To do this, we must educate our students, preparing them to be competent and caring physicians in the scientific and social context in which they will work. Through basic and clinical research, we must advance the understanding of basic mechanisms underlying health and disease and develop new strategies for the prevention and treatment of illness. Lastly, we have the opportunity to serve as leaders of the health-related network in our community in order to foster quality health care for the residents of Brooklyn and neighboring boroughs.

Older Essays:

• If there were periods longer than 3 months, from the time you graduated from high school to now, when you were not employed full-time or in college full-time, please briefly describe your activities. How to Discuss Breaks in Your Education in Secondary Essays
• If you are not attending college full time as of September 15, please describe your activities for the period September 15 to July 1. How to Write About Your Gap Years in Secondary Essays
• If you are not from the 5 boroughs of New York City, describe what personal, urban experiences prepare you to live and study in New York City, and what will be your personal support system.
• If you had a completed application to the College of Medicine in a prior application cycle, please highlight any changes since your previous application in a list with dates. How to Write About Being a Reapplicant in Secondary Essays
• If you have a specific reason why you wish to attend SUNY Downstate or a medical school in New York City, please explain. How to Answer Secondary Prompts about “Why Us”

OTHER SCHOOLS

Albany medical college secondary application, albert einstein college of medicine secondary application, renaissance school of medicine at stony brook university secondary application, columbia university vagelos college of physicians and surgeons secondary application, donald and barbara zucker school of medicine at hofstra/northwell secondary application, icahn school of medicine at mount sinai secondary application, new york university long island school of medicine secondary application, new york university school of medicine secondary application, jacobs school of medicine and biomedical sciences at university at buffalo secondary application, new york medical college school of medicine secondary application, new york institute of technology college of osteopathic medicine secondary application, state university of new york downstate medical center college of medicine secondary application, state university of new york upstate medical university college of medicine secondary application, touro college of osteopathic medicine new york secondary application, university of rochester school of medicine and dentistry secondary application, weill cornell medical college secondary application, search site.

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SUNY Buffalo State University

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Want to see your chances of admission at SUNY Buffalo State University?

We take every aspect of your personal profile into consideration when calculating your admissions chances.

SUNY Buffalo State University’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Ub honors essay.

UB Honors scholars are characterized by intellectual curiosity, a broad range of interests, and a commitment to a diverse and inclusive society. What experiences have helped to broaden your perspectives academically, socially and culturally? What experiences do you hope to have that will enlarge your understanding of the cultural richness of America and the world? Please be as specific as possible in your answer.

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

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.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

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Complete Strategies: Common App Essay Prompts (2023-24)

College Essays

If you're applying to more than one or two colleges, there's a good chance you'll have to use the Common Application, and that means you'll probably have to write a Common App essay .

In this guide, I'll cover everything you need to know about the essay. I'll break down every single Common App essay prompt by going over the following:

• What is the question asking?
• What do college admissions officers want to hear from you?
• What topics can you write about effectively?
• What should you avoid at all costs?

This will be your complete starting guide for Common App essays. After reading this, you should have a lot of ideas for your own essays and directions to write a really strong personal statement .

What Is the Common App Essay? Overview

Before we dig into the nitty-gritty of the individual prompts, let's quickly go over the logistics of the Common App essay and some general tips to keep in mind.

Most—but Not All—Schools Require the Essay

Keep in mind that the Common App essay is optional for some schools.

Here are a few examples of schools that do not require the Common App essay (note that some may require a school-specific writing supplement instead):

• Arizona State University
• Clemson University
• DePaul University
• Eastern Michigan University
• Georgia State University
• Old Dominion University
• Pratt Institute
• University of Idaho

If you're applying to more than one or two schools through the Common App, you'll almost certainly need to write a response to the Common App prompts. As such, we recommend sending your essay to schools even if they don't explicitly require it. You're writing it anyways, and it's the best way for the school to get to know you as a person.

It's also worth noting that because of the way this system is set up, you could theoretically send a different essay to each school. However, doing so isn't a good use of your time : if schools want to know something more specific about you, they'll require a supplement. Focus on writing a single great personal statement.

Pay Attention to the Word Limit

The exact word limit for the Common App essay has varied somewhat over the years, but the current range is 250-650 words . You must stay within this length; in fact, the online application won't allow you to submit fewer than 250 words or more than 650.

Some schools will state that if this isn't enough space, you can send them a physical copy of your essay. Don't do this. No matter how tempting it might be, stick to the word limit . Otherwise, you risk seeming self-indulgent.

In general, we advise shooting for an essay between 500 and 650 words long . You want to have enough space to really explore one specific idea, but you don't need to include everything. Editing is an important part of the essay-writing process, after all!

Don't Stress Too Much About the Question

As you'll see, the Common App prompts are very general and leave a lot of room for interpretation.

Moreover, colleges interpret the questions generously —they're more concerned with learning something interesting about you than with whether your topic perfectly fits the question.

Per a Common App survey from 2015 , 85% of member schools " feel the prompts should be left open to broad interpretation."

You can write about almost anything and make it work, so if you have an idea, don't let the fact that it doesn't fit neatly into one of these categories stop you. Treat these breakdowns as jumping-off points to help you start brainstorming , not the final word in how you need to approach the essay.

Make Sure You Look at This Year's Prompts

The Common App changes its prompts fairly frequently , so make sure you're familiar with the most up-to-date versions of the Common App essay questions . If you have friends or siblings who applied in past years, don't assume that you can take the exact same approaches they did.

This guide will go over the details of all seven current prompts, but first let's talk about some overall advice.

4 Tips For Finding Your Best Common App Essay Topic

As you're brainstorming and preparing to write your Common App essay, you'll want to keep these tips in mind.

#1: Make It Personal

The point of a personal statement is to, well, make a personal statement , that is to say, tell the reader something about yourself . As such, your topic needs to be something meaningful to you.

What does it mean for a topic to be "meaningful to you"?

First, it means that you genuinely care about the topic and want to write your college essay on it— no one ever wrote a great essay on a topic that they felt they had to write about .

Second, it means that the topic shows off a quality or trait you want to highlight for the admissions committee . For example, say I wanted to write about my summer job with the Parks Department. It's not enough to simply tell a story about my feud with a raccoon that kept destroying all the progress I made repairing a bench; I would need to make it clear what that experience ;shows about my character (perseverance) and explain what it ;taught me (that there are some things in life you simply can't control).

Remember that the most important thing is that your essay is about you . This advice might sound obvious, but when you're used to writing academic essays, it can be tricky to dive deep into your own perspective.

#2: Take Your Time

Give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm and write so you don't feel rushed into jotting down the first thing you can come up with and sending it right off. We recommend starting the writing process two months in advance of your first college application deadline .

On a similar note, you should take the essay seriously: it's an important part of your application and worth investing the time in to get right. If you just dash something off thoughtlessly, admissions officers will recognize that and consider it evidence that you aren't really interested in their school.

#3: Avoid Repetition

Your essay should illustrate something about you beyond what's in the rest of your application . Try to write about a topic you haven't talked about elsewhere, or take a different angle on it.

A college essay is not a resume —it's the best opportunity to show off your unique personality to admissions committees. Pick your topic accordingly.

#4: Get Specific

The best topics are usually the narrowest ones: essays focused on a single interaction, a single phrase, or a single object. The more specific you can get, the more unique your topic will be to you.

Lots of people have tried out for a school play, for example, but each had their own particular experience of doing so. One student saw trying out for the role of Hamlet as the culmination of many years of study and hard work and was devastated not to get it, while another was simply proud to have overcome her nerves enough to try out for the chorus line in West Side Story . These would make for very different essays, even though they're on basically the same topic.

Another benefit of a specific topic is that it makes coming up with supporting details much easier. Specific, sensory details make the reader feel as if they're seeing the experience through your eyes, giving them a better sense of who you are.

Take a look at this example sentence:

General: I was nervous as I waited for my turn to audition.

Specific: As I waited for my name to be called, I tapped the rhythm of "America" on the hard plastic chair, going through the beats of my audition song over and over in my head.

The first version could be written by almost anyone; the second version has a specific perspective—it's also intriguing and makes you want to know more.

The more specific your essay topic is, the more clearly your unique voice will come through and the more engaging your essay will be.

Breaking Down the 2022-23 Common App Essay Prompts

Now that we've established the basic ideas you need to keep in mind as you brainstorm, let's go through the 2022-23 Common App essay questions one at a time and break down what admissions committees are looking for in responses.

Keep in mind that for each of these questions, there are really two parts . The first is describing something you did or something that happened to you. The second is explaining what that event, action, or activity means to you . No essay is complete without addressing both sides of the topic.

Common App Essay Prompt 1: A Key Piece of Your Story

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.

What Is It Asking?

This prompt is very broad. Is there something you do or love, or something that happened to you, that isn't reflected elsewhere in your application but that you feel is vital to your personal story ? Then this prompt could be a good one for you.

The key is that whatever you write about needs to be genuinely important to you personally, not just something you think will look good to the admissions committee. You need to clarify why this story is so important that you couldn't leave it off your application.

What Do They Want to Know?

This question is really about showing admissions officers how your background has shaped you . Can you learn and grow from your experiences?

By identifying an experience or trait that is vital to your story, you're also showing what kind of person you see yourself as. Do you value your leadership abilities or your determination to overcome challenges? Your intellectual curiosity or your artistic talent?

Everyone has more than one important trait, but in answering this prompt, you're telling admissions officers what you think is your most significant quality .

What Kinds of Topics Could Work?

You could write about almost anything for this prompt: an unexpected interest, a particularly consuming hobby, a part of your family history, or a life-changing event. Make sure to narrow in on something specific, though. You don't have room to tell your whole life story!

Your topic can be serious or silly, as long as it's important to you. Just remember that it needs to showcase a deeper quality of yours.

For example, if I were writing an essay on this topic, I would probably write about my life-long obsession with books. I'd start with a story about how my parents worried I read too much as a kid, give some specific examples of things I've learned from particular books, and talk about how my enthusiasm for reading was so extreme it sometimes interfered with my actual life (like the time I tripped and fell because I couldn't be bothered to put down my book long enough to walk from my room to the kitchen).

Then I would tie it all together by explaining how my love of reading has taught me to look for ideas in unexpected places.

What Should You Avoid?

You don't want your essay to read like a resume: it shouldn't be a list of accomplishments. Your essay needs to add something to the rest of your application, so it also shouldn't focus on something you've already covered unless you have a really different take on it.

In addition, try to avoid generic and broad topics: you don't want your essay to feel as though it could've been written by any student.

As we touched on above, one way to avoid this problem is to be very  specific —rather than writing generally about your experience as the child of immigrants, you might tell a story about a specific family ritual or meaningful moment.

Common App Essay Prompt 2: Coping With Obstacles

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

This prompt is pretty straightforward. It's asking you to describe a challenge or obstacle you faced or a time you failed, and how you dealt with it .

The part many students forget is the second half: what lessons did you learn from your challenge or failure ? If you take on this question, you must show how you grew from the experience and, ideally, how you incorporated what you learned into other endeavors.

This question really raises two issues: how you handle difficult situations and whether you're capable of learning from your mistakes.

You'll face a lot of challenges in college, both academic and social. In addressing this prompt, you have the opportunity to show admissions officers that you can deal with hardships without just giving up .

You also need to show that you can learn from challenges and mistakes. Can you find a positive lesson in a negative experience? Colleges want to see an example of how you've done so.

Good topics will be specific and have a clearly explained impact on your perspective . You need to address both parts of the question: the experience of facing the challenge and what you learned from it.

However, almost any kind of obstacle, challenge, or failure—large or small—can work:

• Doing poorly at a job interview and how that taught you to deal with nerves
• Failing a class and how retaking it taught you better study skills
• Directing a school play when the set collapsed and how it taught you to stay cool under pressure and think on your feet

Make sure you pick an actual failure or challenge—don't turn your essay into a humblebrag. How you failed at procrastination because you're just so organized or how you've been challenged by the high expectations of teachers at school because everyone knows you are so smart are not appropriate topics.

Also, don't write about something completely negative . Your response needs to show that you got something out of your challenge or failure and that you've learned skills you can apply to other situations.

Spilling your coffee is not an appropriate failure, no matter how disastrous it may feel.

Common App Essay Prompt 3: Challenging a Belief

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

There are two ways to approach this question. The first is to talk about a time you questioned a person or group on an idea of theirs. The second is to talk about a time that something caused you to reconsider a belief of your own.

In either case, you need to explain why you decided the belief should be challenged, what you actually did —if your story is just that someone gave you a new piece of information and you changed your mind, you should probably find a different topic— and how you feel about your actions in hindsight .

The obvious question this prompt raises is what your values are and whether you're willing to stand up for what you believe . Whether you've reconsidered your own beliefs or asked others to reconsider theirs, it shows you've put genuine thought into what you value and why.

However, colleges also want to see that you're open minded and able to be fair and kind toward those who have different beliefs than you do. Can you question someone else's beliefs without belittling them? If not, don't choose this prompt.

This prompt is really one where you either have a relevant story or you don't . If there's a belief or idea that's particularly important to you, whether political or personal, this might be a good question for you to address.

The main pitfall with this question is that it lends itself to very abstract answers . It's not that interesting to read about how you used to believe chocolate is the best ice cream flavor but then changed your mind and decided the best flavor is actually strawberry. (Seriously, though, what is wrong with you!?) Make sure there's clear conflict and action in your essay.

Divisive political issues, such as abortion and gun rights, are tricky to write about (although not impossible) because people feel very strongly about them and often have a hard time accepting the opposite viewpoint. In general, I would avoid these kinds of topics unless you have a highly compelling story.

Also, keep in mind that most people who work at colleges are liberal, so if you have a conservative viewpoint, you'll need to tread more carefully. Regardless of what you're writing about, don't assume that the reader shares your views .

Finally, you want to avoid coming off as petty or inflexible , especially if you're writing about a controversial topic. It's great to have strong beliefs, but you also want to show that you're open to listening to other people's perspectives, even if they don't change your mind.

Common App Essay Prompt 4: Gratitude Reflection

Reflect on something that someone had done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

The first part is straightforward: describe a time someone did something positive for you that made you happy or thankful  in a surprising way.  So it can't have been something you expected to happen (i.e. your parents gave you the birthday present you were hoping for).

Next, you need to explain how that surprising gratitude affected or motivated you. So, what was the result of this positive feeling?  How did you keep it going?

This prompt helps admissions officers see both what your expectations are for certain situations and how you react when things go differently than expected. Did you take it in stride when you were pleasantly surprised? Were you too shocked to speak? Why? What about the situation wasn't what you were expecting?  Additionally, it shows them what you personally are grateful for. Gratitude is an important personal characteristic to have. What in life makes you thankful and happy? Your answer will show admissions officers a lot about what you value and how you think.

Finally—and this is the key part—they want to know the larger impact of this gratitude. Did you decide to pay it forward? Use it as motivation to better yourself/your world? When something good happens to you, how do you react?

Because this is a reflection prompt, it's a great way to show admissions officers the kind of person you are and what you value. You'll have a lot of surprising moments, both good and bad, in college, and they want to know how you deal with them and how you spread the happiness you come across.

You can choose any event, even a minor one, as long as your reaction is  unexpected happiness/gratefulness. The "unexpected" part is key. You need to choose a situation where things didn't go the way you expected. So if your uncle, who has always been a great mentor, gives you great advice, that likely won't work because you'd be expecting it.

Next, it had to have had some sort of real impact so you can explain how your gratefulness affected you. This means that, even if the event itself was small, it had to have brought about some sort of lasting change in how you live your life.

To start, brainstorm times when something went better than expected/you were happily surprised by an outcome/you were especially grateful/someone restored your faith in humanity. Remember, this has to be, overall, a positive situation, as you're being asked about an event that made you happy or grateful. This is in contrast to prompts 2 and 3 which focus more on challenges you've faced.

Once you have your list, eliminate any instances that didn't affect or motivate you. The key part of this prompt is explaining the impact of your gratitude, so you need to write about a time when gratitude made you do something you normally wouldn't have done. This could be focusing on self-care/self-improvement, paying it forward by helping someone else, shifting your values, etc. Colleges want to see how you changed because of this event.

For example, say you decide to write about your first time traveling through an airport alone. You're not sure where to go, and all the workers look busy and like they're just waiting for their break. You're wandering around, lost, too shy to ask someone for help, when a gruff-looking employee comes up and asks if you need something. When you admit you don't know how to find your gate, they take the time to walk you to it, show you which screen to watch so you know when to board, and tell you to come get them if you need any more help. It's much more help than you thought anyone would give you.

Because of that person's actions (and this is the key part), you now always keep an eye out for people who look lost or confused and try to help them because you know how intimidating it can be to be out of your depth. You also know that many times people feel embarrassed to ask for help, so you need to make the first move to help them. If you have a specific example of you helping someone in need as a result, including that will make the essay even stronger.

Avoid scenarios where you were the first person to help another. The prompt is asking about a time someone was kind to you, and  then  you reacted in response to that. You need to have the grateful moment first, then the change in behavior.

Additionally, avoid examples where someone treated you badly but you rose above it. This is a situation where someone was kind to you, and you decided to keep that kindness going.

Look at those dummies, solving a problem!

Common App Essay Prompt 5: Personal Growth and Maturity

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Like Prompt 1, this one is very general. It's asking you to talk about something you did or something that happened that caused you to grow or mature as a person.

The other key point to remember when addressing this question is that you need to explain how this event changed or enriched your understanding of yourself or other people.

In short: when and how have you grown as a person ? Personal growth and maturity are complicated issues. Your essay might touch on themes such as personal responsibility and your role in the world and your community.

You don't have to explain your whole worldview, but you need to give readers a sense of why this particular event caused significant growth for you as a person.

This prompt can also help you show either your own sense of self-concept or how you relate to others.

Much like Prompt 3, this question likely either appeals to you or doesn't . Nonetheless, here are some potential topics:

• A time you had to step up in your household
• A common milestone (such as voting for the first time or getting your driver's license) that was particularly meaningful to you
• A big change in your life, such as becoming an older sibling or moving to a new place

It's important that your topic describes a transition that led to real positive growth or change in you as a person .

However, personal growth is a gradual process, and you can definitely still approach this topic if you feel you have more maturing to do. (Fun fact: most adults feel they have more maturing to do, too!) Just focus on a specific step in the process of growing up and explain what it meant to you and how you've changed.

Almost any topic could theoretically make a good essay about personal growth, but it's important that the overall message conveys maturity . If the main point of your essay about junior prom is that you learned you look bad in purple and now you know not to wear it, you'll seem like you just haven't had a lot of meaningful growth experiences in your life.

You also want the personal growth and new understanding(s) you describe in your essay to be positive in nature . If the conclusion of your essay is "and that's how I matured and realized that everyone in the world is terrible," that's not going to work very well with admissions committees, as you'll seem pessimistic and unable to cope with challenges.

Common App Essay Prompt 6: Your Passion

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

This prompt is asking you to describe something you're intellectually passionate about .

But in addition to describing a topic of personal fascination and why you're so interested in it, you need to detail how you have pursued furthering your own knowledge of the topic . Did you undertake extra study? Hole yourself up in the library? Ask your math team coach for more practice problems?

Colleges want to admit students who are intellectually engaged with the world. They want you to show that you have a genuine love for the pursuit of knowledge .

Additionally, by describing how you've learned more about your chosen topic, concept, or idea, you can prove that you are self-motivated and resourceful .

Pretty much any topic you're really interested in and passionate about could make a good essay here, just as long as you can put can put an intellectual spin on it and demonstrate that you've gone out of your way to learn about the topic.

So It's fine to say that the topic that engages you most is football, but talk about what interests you in an academic sense about the sport. Have you learned everything there is to know about the history of the sport? Are you an expert on football statistics? Emphasize how the topic you are writing about engages your brain.

Don't pick something you don't actually care about just because you think it would sound good.

If you say you love black holes but actually hate them and tortured yourself with astronomy books in the library for a weekend to glean enough knowledge to write your essay, your lack of enthusiasm will definitely come through.

Common App Essay Prompt 7: Your Choice

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

You can write about anything for this one!

Since this is a choose-your-own-adventure prompt, colleges aren't looking for anything specific to this prompt .

However, you'll want to demonstrate some of the same qualities that colleges are looking for in all college essays: things like academic passion, maturity, resourcefulness, and persistence. What are your values? How do you face setbacks? These are all things you can consider touching on in your essay.

If you already have a topic in mind for this one that doesn't really fit with any of the other prompts, go for it!

Avoid essays that aren't really about you as a person. So no submitting your rhetorical close-reading of the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" you wrote for AP English!

However, if you want to write about the way that "Ode on a Grecian Urn" made you reconsider your entire approach to life, go ahead.

The Common App Essay Questions: 5 Key Takeaways

We've covered a lot of ground, but don't panic. I've collected the main ideas you should keep in mind as you plan your Common App essay below.

#1: A Prompt 1 Topic Must Go Beyond What's in the Rest of Your Application

For prompt 1, it's absolutely vital that your topic be something genuinely meaningful to you . Don't write about something just because you think it's impressive. Big achievements and leadership roles, such as serving as captain of a team or winning a journalism award, can certainly be used as topics, but only if you can explain why they mattered to you beyond that it was cool to be in charge or that you liked winning.

It's better if you can pick out something smaller and more individual , like helping your team rally after a particularly rough loss or laboring over a specific article to make sure you got every detail right.

#2: Prompts 2, 4, and 6 Are Generally the Simplest Options

Most students have an experience or interest that will work for either Prompt 2, Prompt 4, or Prompt 6. If you're uncertain what you want to write about, think about challenges you've faced, a time you were grateful, or your major intellectual passions.

These prompts are slightly easier to approach than the others because they lend themselves to very specific and concrete topics that show clear growth. Describing a failure and what you learned from it is much simpler than trying to clarify why an event is a vital part of your identity.

#3: Prompts 3 and 5 Can Be Trickier—but You Don't Need to Avoid Them

These questions ask about specific types of experiences that not every high school student has had. If they don't speak to you, don't feel compelled to answer them.

If you do want to take on Prompt 3 or 5, however, remember to clearly explain your perspective to the reader , even if it seems obvious to you.

For Prompt 3, you have to establish not just what you believe but why you believe it and why that belief matters to you, too. For prompt 5, you need to clarify how you moved from childhood to adulthood and what that means to both you and others.

These prompts elicit some of the most personal responses , which can make for great essays but also feel too revealing to many students. Trust your instincts and don't pick a topic you're not comfortable writing about.

At the same time, don't hesitate to take on a difficult or controversial topic if you're excited about it and think you can treat it with the necessary nuance.

#4: Make Sure to Explain What Your Experience Taught You

I've tried to emphasize this idea throughout this guide: it's not enough to simply describe what you did—you also have to explain what it meant to you .

Pushing past the surface level while avoiding clichés and generalizations is a big challenge, but it's ultimately what will make your essay stand out. Make sure you know what personal quality you want to emphasize before you start and keep it in mind as you write.

Try to avoid boring generalizations in favor of more specific and personal insights.

Bad: Solving a Rubik's cube for the first time taught me a lot.

Better: Solving a Rubik's cube for the first time taught me that I love puzzles and made me wonder what other problems I could solve.

Best: When I finally twisted the last piece of the Rubik's cube into place after months of work, I was almost disappointed. I'd solved the puzzle; what would I do now? But then I started to wonder if I could use what I'd learned to do the whole thing faster. Upon solving one problem, I had immediately moved onto the next one, as I do with most things in life.

As you go back through your essay to edit, every step of the way ask yourself, "So what?" Why does the reader need to know this? What does it show about me? How can I go one step deeper?

#5: Don't Worry About What You Think You're Supposed to Write

There is no single right answer to these prompts , and if you try to find one, you'll end up doing yourself a disservice. What's important is to tell your story—and no one can tell you what that means because it's unique to you.

Many students believe that they should write about resume-padding activities that look especially impressive, such as volunteering abroad. These essays are often boring and derivative because the writer doesn't really have anything to say on the topic and assumes it'll speak for itself.

But the point of a personal statement isn't to explain what you've done; it's to show who you are .

Take the time to brainstorm and figure out what you want to show colleges about yourself and what story or interest best exemplifies that quality.

What's Next?

For more background on college essays and tips for crafting a great one, check out our complete explanation of the basics of the personal statement .

Make sure you're prepared for the rest of the college application process as well with our guides to asking for recommendations , writing about extracurriculars , taking the SAT , and researching colleges .

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Alex is an experienced tutor and writer. Over the past five years, she has worked with almost a hundred students and written about pop culture for a wide range of publications. She graduated with honors from University of Chicago, receiving a BA in English and Anthropology, and then went on to earn an MA at NYU in Cultural Reporting and Criticism. In high school, she was a National Merit Scholar, took 12 AP tests and scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and ACT.

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2022-2023 Common App Essay Prompts

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"We share this news in January because it’s when some schools begin conversations about college options. It’s a time for learning, reflecting, and planning. That’s where the prompts can be useful: in helping students understand the aspects of their lives that colleges are curious about." Scott Anderson, Senior Director, Common App

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Where Tim Walz Stands on the Issues

As governor of Minnesota, he has enacted policies to secure abortion protections, provide free meals for schoolchildren, allow recreational marijuana and set renewable energy goals.

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By Maggie Astor

• Published Aug. 6, 2024 Updated Aug. 18, 2024, 10:23 a.m. ET

Follow live updates on the 2024 election .

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, the newly announced running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris, has worked with his state’s Democratic-controlled Legislature to enact an ambitious agenda of liberal policies: free college tuition for low-income students, free meals for schoolchildren, legal recreational marijuana and protections for transgender people.

“You don’t win elections to bank political capital,” Mr. Walz wrote last year about his approach to governing. “You win elections to burn political capital and improve lives.”

Republicans have slammed these policies as big-government liberalism and accused Mr. Walz of taking a hard left turn since he represented a politically divided district in Congress years ago.

Here is an overview of where Mr. Walz stands on some key issues.

Mr. Walz signed a bill last year that guaranteed Minnesotans a “fundamental right to make autonomous decisions” about reproductive health care on issues such as abortion, contraception and fertility treatments.

Abortion was already protected by a Minnesota Supreme Court decision, but the new law guarded against a future court reversing that precedent as the U.S. Supreme Court did with Roe v. Wade, and Mr. Walz said this year that he was also open to an amendment to the state’s Constitution that would codify abortion rights.

Another bill he signed legally shields patients, and their medical providers, if they receive an abortion in Minnesota after traveling from a state where abortion is banned.

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