Conni Shelnut & AP list
100 College Application Essay Prompts
1. Most people belong to many different communities-groups defined by
(among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income,
cuisine,
interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the
communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place
within it. Limit your response to half a page, or approximately 250 words.
(University of Virginia all applicants)
2. "The instructor said,/Go home and write/a page tonight./And let
that page
come out of you-/Then, it will be true." The second line of this poem
by
Langston Hughes, "Theme for English B," goes on to ask: "I
wonder if it's
that simple?" We ask you here to write a truthful page about yourself,
beginning where Hughes begins: "I am twenty-two, colored, born in
Winston-Salem./I went to school there, then Durham, then here/to this
college
on the hill above Harlem./I am the only colored student in my class."
That is
to say, each of us is at a certain stage of life and has a history. Each of
us has lived somewhere and gone to school. We each are what we feel and see
and hear, as the poem goes on to say. Begin there and see what happens.
(University of Chicago)
3. Names have a mysterious reality of their own. We may well feel an
unexpected kinship with someone who shares our name, or may feel uneasy at
the thought that our name is not as much our own as we imagined. Most of us
do not choose our names; they come to us unbidden, sometimes with ungainly
sounds and spellings, complicated family histories, allusions to people we
never knew. Sometimes we have to make our peace with them, sometimes we
bask
in our names' associations. Ruminate on names and naming, your name, and
your
name's relationship to you. (University of Chicago)
4. The late William Burroughs once wrote that "language is a virus
from outer
space." We at the University of Chicago think he's right, of course,
and this
leaves us wondering what else came here with it. Could this finally explain
such improbable features of modern life as the Federal Tax Code, non-dairy
creamer, Dennis Rodman, and the art of mime? Name something that you assert
cannot have originated any other way. Offer a thorough defense of your
hypothesis for extraterrestrial origins, including alternate explanations
and
reasons for eliminating them from consideration. (University of Chicago)
5. Pose a question of your own, the answer to which you believe will
display
your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage,
sensible woman or man, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the
University of Chicago. (University of Chicago)
6. What effect has any voluntary or independent research, reading or study,
work in the arts, science project, etc. (outside of school), had on your
intellectual and personal growth in recent years? Discuss what influence
this
involvement has had on your academic goals. (Northwestern)
7. Anatole France said, "If 50 million people say a foolish thing, it
is
still a foolish thing." On what subject do you disagree with most
people, and
why? (Northwestern)
8. Northwestern is a community of individuals from diverse cultures and
regions of the world and with a myriad of interests and talents. Is there a
type of individual you have not had much contact with in your community
whom
you would like to meet on campus? What do you think would be the outcome of
that meeting, and what would be its effect on you? (Northwestern)
9. Imagine you have written a short story, film, or play about your last
four
years. Briefly describe the one moment or scene that your audience will most
remember from this autobiographical piece. What will they learn about you
from that moment? (Northwestern)
10.Tell us how a particular book, play, film, piece of music, dance
performance, scientific theory or experiment or work of art has influenced
you. If you choose a novel, film or play, assume we know the plot.
(University of Notre Dame)
11.Reflect on these words of Dorothy Day: "No one has the right to sit
down
and feel hopeless. There's too much work to do." What is "the
work to be
done" for your generation, and what impact does this have on your
future as a
leader? Write a creative, reflective, or provocative essay. (University of
Notre Dame)
12.Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
It can be
found in several anthologies, most recently King Remembered (W.W Norton
&
Company, 1986). Drawing upon personal experience, write a creative,
reflective or provocative essay. (University of Notre Dame)
13.You have just completed your 300-page autobiography. Please submit page
217. (University of Pennsylvania)
14.First experiences can be defining. Cite a first experience that you have
had and explain its impact on you. (University of Pennsylvania) 15.Recall
an
occasion when you took a risk that you now know was the right thing to do.
(University of Pennsylvania) 16.Respond to the question: How can I prepare
educationally for a global society? (Hampton University)
17.The Committee on Undergraduate Admissions is interested in learning more
about you. Please use this essay to relay information about you that cannot
be found elsewhere on your application. You may choose to write about your
future ambitions and goals, a special talent or unusual interest that sets
you apart from your peers, or a significant event or relationship that has
influenced you during your life. (George Mason University/Virginia Tech)
18.What book, poem, piece of music, or artwork has influenced you? Write
down your thoughts and feelings about this work and write a dialogue in
which
the work responds to you.
19. Name one book you have read in the past year. Describe your reason for
considering this book significant and what you gained from reading it.
(Lewis and Clark College)
20.Discuss how something you have read has affected you or changed your
mind
about something.
21.Tell us about a situation where you have not been successful and what
you
have learned from that experience (William and Mary) 22.Tell us about the
biggest mistake you've ever made, or heard of. (University of
Virginia)
23.Describe a risk that you have taken and discuss its impact on your life.
(Kalamazoo College)
24. Tell us about the most embarrassing moment of your life. (Santa Clara
University)
25.Once you have completed your education, would you return to your
hometown
to begin your adult life? Why or why not? (William and Mary)
26.Tell us about the neighborhood that you grew up in and how it helped
shape
you into the kind of person you are today. (Yale and the University of
Chicago)
27.Read Annie Dillard's "An American Childhood." Choose one of
her
observations or ideas and write a creative, reflective or provocative
essay.
(Notre Dame)
28.What are the responsibilities of an educated person? (University of
Puget Sound)
29.Tell us what you think about a current scientific or social controversy.
(William and Mary)
30.What can you contribute to a multi-cultural world? (William and Mary)
31. Identity and culture are clearly intertwined. How has your experience
of
culture influenced the development of your own personal identity? (NYU)
32. At Colorado College, diversity is considered an integral component of
every student's liberal arts education. Discuss your division of
"diversity"
and the ways in which you expect it to affect your college experience.
(Colorado College)
33. Of all the activities you listed above, which one has proved to be the
best, or the worst, use of your time, and why? Use one specific example to
illustrate how this activity has, or has not, been worthwhile. (University
of
Virginia)
34.Sartre said "Hell is other people," while Streisand sang,
"People who need
people are the luckiest people in the world." With whom do you agree?
(Amherst)
35.Discuss an important personal relationship you have had and explain how
it
has changed your life.
36.Who are the people who have done the most to influence your personal
development and in what ways were they influential? (Carleton
College)
37. Defend your least conventional belief. (University of Virginia)
38. If you were to protest something, for or against, what would it be and
why.
39. Are you honorable? How do you know? (University of Virginia)
40. Relate a personal experience that caused you to discern or refine a
value that you hold. (University of Virginia)
41. Relate an incident in your life in which honesty or character (or both)
were at issue. (University of Virginia)
42. Describe a situation in which your values or beliefs were challenged.
How did you react? (NYU)
43. As a prospective 21st century college graduate, you will enter a
workforce and live in a society with an increasingly global perspective.
How
will your current knowledge of international issues and cultures influence
your undergraduate study? (NYU)
44. If you could invent something, what would it be, and why?
(University of Virginia)
45. What invention would the world be better off without, and why?
(Kalamazoo College)
46. If you were to write a book, on what theme or subject matter would it
be
based, and why? (Stanford)
47. What is your favorite word, and why? (University of Virginia)
48. What effect has any voluntary or independent research, reading or
study,
work in the arts, science project, etc., had on your intellectual and
personal goals in recent years? Discuss what influence this involvement has
had on your academic goals. (Northwestern)
49. Describe your most important academic accomplishment or intellectual
experience to date. We don't want to know about test scores or course
grades; rather we want to know about your creativity, your willingness to
take intellectual risks or your affinity for scholarly endeavors.
(MIT)
50. Describe an intellectual experience of the past two years that has
given
you great satisfaction. (Amherst)
College)
