“How long should my Common Application essay be?”
We hear this more than you might think! Our best advice? Don’t stress—just pick “topic of your choice” if you’re stuck between two options. College admissions officers don’t pay much attention to what Common App prompt you chose. They will, however, look very closely at how well your supplemental essays answer the required prompts, which brings us to our final section…
Length/word count: This essay does a nice job of apportioning word count in the way we talked about above—about one-third for Challenges + Effects, one-third for What I Did About It, and one-third for What I Learned (some of which is sprinkled throughout the essay, but the bulk of which comes toward the end). Splitting the word count that way allowed her to create a nice narrative arc that takes advantage of every one of the 650 words available to her.
Gain instant access to 25 exclusive full-length examples covering all seven prompts, plus comprehensive analyses for each to help you craft stellar essays.
So, the big take-away ideas on the Common App Essay are these:
Gain instant access to 25 exclusive full-length examples covering all seven prompts, plus comprehensive analyses for each to help you craft stellar essays.
Gain instant access to 25 exclusive full-length examples covering all seven prompts, plus comprehensive analyses for each to help you craft stellar essays.
Freewriting is one of the fun parts, so the more you can do it, the better.
There are a number of ways to approach freewriting, and all of them are meant to keep you limber, loose, and free. You want to sound authentic in your essay—which means not stiffening up under pressure, trying to sound formal, or more stereotypically “adult” or “learned,” as many students do. The more you can sound like you while freewriting, the stronger position you’ll be in when it comes to drafting the personal statement.
Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.
Common App Essay Guide Part 1: Ideation
Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.
What I wrote about for my Common App Essay
Remember: Specific anecdotes are your friend when drafting your Common App personal statement. Try to think of a story you often tell people that shows something about you. One of the best pieces of advice we can give you—and something you’ll see reflected in all of the following prompts—is to anchor things in anecdote or story as much as possible.
5 Common App Personal Essay Red Flags
Since the Common App essay prompts are so open-ended, many of our students start writing an essay on a topic that is important to them first and then decide on a prompt later. This is an especially helpful strategy if none of the prompts catch your attention. However, if there is a prompt that feels particularly interesting, you can absolutely tailor your writing process to that specific option.
How much time yall spend on writing your common app essay?
Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.
Common App announces 2024–2025 Common App essay prompts
Remember that the Common App essay is designed to test your ability to write clearly and concisely, so it's in your best interest to work to these word limits.
The Common App essay word count range is 250-650 words
The maximum number of words you can submit for your Common App essay is 650. It must also be a minimum of 250 words.