That’s right. The Common App announced the 2021-2022 prompts this week, and this year there is a NEW option in the lineup.
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?
The new prompt replaces the problem-solving prompt for two reasons. First, the option to write about a problem you would solve was one of the least selected choices. And second, the Common App cites research demonstrating the benefits of writing about the positive influence of others on our lives. And who couldn’t use some positivity?!
The rest of the prompts remain the same as 2020-2021. The optional COVID-19 question remains in the Additional Information section, which makes sense since the pandemic is still having a significant impact on the planet.
To read more about the 2021-2022 Common App essay changes, click here.
OMG y’all are just the BEST!!! For the fourth year in a row, you are keeping the Common App essay writing prompts the same. THANK YOU!
Do you have any idea how wonderful that is for English teachers, college admissions counselors, and college essay coaches throughout the land? After all, we’ve got a lot to deal with in light of the pandemic and being caught in the middle of a game of science versus politics.
But really though, your prompts are pretty great. We’re thrilled the colleges say the prompts give them the information they look for. That’s especially helpful since so many of them are dropping their standardized testing requirements for this year’s applicants. IMHO standardized test scores are overrated anyway.
We’re out here betting that essays are going to get a bump in importance in the admissions process this fall. If your friends in the member schools are a little nervous about plagiarism, y’all can get together and add a little statement about how select students will receive video interviews based on their essay responses. Then you can figure out a random (or not random) way of selecting which students to interview about their essays.
Do you have a plagiarism filter yet? (You don’t have to answer that right now in front of everybody, but just in case you don’t, you might want to get on that. What an AWESOME feature it would be for current and prospective member schools if you would help them filter out applicants who aren’t all that into honor codes.)
Back to us—the English teachers, college admissions counselors, and college essay coaches. For years, we’ve been working with students in school and out of school to help them write essays well. We have presentations and videos and assignments and coaching methods designed to make students, especially those without strong support systems away from school, comfortable in approaching college essays. And we hardly have words to tell you how grateful we are that all those resources and approaches can remain stable this year so that we can focus on making sure our students are doing OK in the middle of all this uncertainty.
So, yeah. Thank you, Common App Prompt Committee. Y’all freakin’ rock.
#blessed,
P.S. To anyone who is reading my thank-you note to the Common App Prompt Committee Folks but actually isn’t one of the Common App Prompt Committee Folks, for your convenience, I’m going to leave the 2020-2021 prompts right here. See the Common App blog for more information.
1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, please share your story.
2. 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?
3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
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 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, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging 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?
7. 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.
Always Learning HQ 