How to Read a College Application Essay Prompt

President, Wow Writing Workshop

Jul   2016



To write a good application essay, you need to know how to read your college essay prompts so you truly understand the question your college of your choice is asking. Here, an essay-writing expert explains how.

Many of our students have come to us this summer really excited over unique and crazy ideas they believe will get them some attention inside the admission office. However, while standing out in your application essay is great, going for shock-and-awe is the wrong approach.

Before you open a blank document and start typing away, you need to know how to read your college essay prompts so you truly understand the question your college of your choice is asking. To answer it right, you need to put your crazy ideas aside for a minute and think about what colleges are hoping to get out of your essay.

In short, read your college application essay prompt(s) and ask yourself:

  • What does the college want to know?
  • Why do they want to know it?

The college essay is just as much a thinking task as it is a writing task. No matter what the prompt or what type of schools you are applying to, all colleges are looking for a piece of reflective writing.

At the end of the day, the topic is never as important as the subject—which is you! Colleges ask you to write personal statements and supplemental essays to:

  • Gain insight into your personality.
  • Get information about you they don’t already have.
  • Find out if you are a good fit for the university.
  • Round out your application package.


So how do you learn how to reflect? Start by answering this question:

What do I want the readers of my application to know about me apart from my high school classes, grades, and test scores?”


Start by thinking about your the traits and qualities essential to who you are. Are you industrious? Funny? Shy? Resourceful? Curious? Hard working? Which of your best traits would you like to share with colleges? Once you know the answer, you can more easily find a topic that answers the prompt and also illustrates those traits.

Take a look at this Common App prompt that we parsed for our students. Our coaches use the same approach with students completing other Common App, ApplyTexas, California, and supplemental essay prompts.


The key word in this prompt is “meaningful,” but even that word can seem big and overwhelming. What makes an experience meaningful?

Again, remember that your college application essay is not about your “background, identity, interest, talent, or experience”; it’s ultimately about you. Why is this aspect of your identity, background, or experience so meaningful? Have you learned something about yourself? What insight have you gained?


What they don’t know is how what you did during high school affected you, who you met along the way, or why you cannot get a particular piece of music out of your head. They have no idea how you have changed or why you might be a good fit for their school.

Your challenge is to write an essay that illustrates something meaningful about you.

Want to learn more? At Wow Writing Workshop, we talk to admission officers all the time, and we know what they want. You can download a free tip sheet here with information from top admission officers from UC-Berkeley, the University of Michigan, Cornell, Vanderbilt, and many more.


About Kim Lifton

Kim Lifton

Kim Lifton, President and Cofounder of WowWritingWorkshop, has been reporting the news, writing for businesses and nonprofits, and teaching students how to tell their stories for three decades. Her articles on the college essay and other topics appear in a variety of publications, in print and online.  

