How to Write a Standout Common App Essay: Do's and Don'ts

By Adriel Morado

Published: May 19, 2025

You’ve got 650 words to show college admissions officers who you are, what matters to you, and why you’d be a great addition to their campus community. No pressure, right?

Here’s the good news: it’s not about having the most dramatic story or impressive accomplishment. What matters most is how you tell your story: the clarity of your voice, the personal values you reveal, and the growth you display throughout your essay.

In this blog, we’ll help you navigate the prompts, choose a topic that’s unique, personal, and compelling, and unpack what you should and shouldn’t do when writing a personal statement that will stand out to college admissions officers among many applicants.

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What is the Common App?

The Common Application (or Common App) is a centralized college application platform accepted by over 900 colleges and universities. Instead of submitting several separate applications, Common App allows you to fill in your personal information–GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and more–once and send it to multiple schools.

It’s also where you will find the Common App essay or personal statement. This essay is your moment to go beyond your academic stats and tell college admissions officers who you are. Not the you that took eight AP classes or was accepted into National Honor Society, but the you that took advantage of an unexpected opportunity or uncovered a hidden passion that shifted your perspective and shaped your path.

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Official Common App Essay Prompts (2025-2026)

The Common App offers seven prompts, all designed to help you reflect on personal experiences, values, or interests. While most schools using the Common App will accept any essay of your choice from the seven prompts provided, be sure to check if any of the colleges on your lists require a specific prompt.

You have up to 650 words to respond to one of these prompts strategically, creatively, and uniquely. The most effective essays focus on a single, meaningful experience that led to personal growth or a deeper understanding of yourself. Your essay should be written as a first-person narrative.

1. 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.
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. 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?
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 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?
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.

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What Topics to Avoid

While many life experiences can lead to a great essay, some topics are difficult to make memorable. That’s typically because they’ve been written about countless times, or they don’t leave much room for deep personal reflection. And remember, the Common App essay is your chance to reveal a part of yourself that isn’t shown on your resume.

Here are some common themes to avoid:

• Learning to drive
• Recovering from a sports injury
• Moving to a new school
• Going on a mission trip

It’s also best to avoid a topic that focuses more on someone else’s experience than your own. If you choose one of these topics, you’ll need to bring a unique angle and perspective to make it memorable.

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Choosing the Right Topic

Write a story that allows you to reflect on your values, growth, or personal interests. Some compelling directions include:

• Rallying a team in a leadership role
• A volunteer or work experience that broadened the student’s worldview
• A specific travel experience that shifted the student’s perspective
• A personal project or hobby that helped the student discover a new strength or characteristic

What makes these topics effective isn’t the event itself, but how they allow you to share your voice, reflect on your personal development, and offer a glimpse into who the student is becoming. The right topic is one that only you can tell.

Brainstorming With Purpose

A powerful essay always begins with an intentional brainstorming process. Before you put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard), take a step back to think of ways to address the Common App prompt you’ve chosen. Start by asking yourself a few key questions:

• What is most important to me?
• What moments or experiences have shaped who I am?
• What do I want admissions officers to understand about me?

Once you’ve landed on a potential topic, try to envision the structure of your essay from beginning to end. Can you picture how it might unfold? If the idea still feels strong after this brainstorming process, it’s probably worth exploring in writing!

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What Does a Great Common App Essay Look Like?

Let’s look at a strong Common App essay example from a certain friendly neighborhood photographer you may recognize.

“Snap. A mother scatters a handful of oats on the Lake in Central Park for the gathering mallards, and her watching three-year-old does the same. Snap. A young man in a velvet black tux gets down on one knee behind his girlfriend of four years on the observation deck of the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. Snap. Spider-Man shoots strings of silk from his wrist as he swings from the Chrysler to the Flatiron Building through the concrete jungle and most populated city in America.

Photography lets me capture moments, share experiences with others, and bring about a more united world of support systems, which matters to me for many reasons. My loved ones make up several.

When I was 15, my uncle Ben passed away, and I was depressed for what felt like an eternity. I couldn’t muster more than a nod or shake of the head with my aunt when she tried to talk to me. I lacked the motivation to pick up when my friends called me on the phone. Even so, my aunt always asked how my day was and told me how much she loved me, and my friends never stopped trying to reach me.

Bringing me food and eating with me to make sure I went to sleep with a full stomach or coming into my room with funny stories they heard on the street or read online, my loved ones lifted me from a hole I could not have crawled out alone. Our shared experiences intensified our relationship and led to their support of me, which lifted the agony that buried me. So, after tremendously benefiting from one, I take and post photos online to kickstart commonalities and bonds between people to help create webs of support for others that uplift them during hard times--a fulfilling experience.

My passion for photography and what it can help me realize motivated me to apply for my high school journalism club and the Daily Bugle, a New York City tabloid newspaper. It’s why I stayed late after a three-and-a-half-hour-long football game at my high school that ended at 10:30 p.m. to capture our bruised, grass-stained, sweat-drenched football players embracing one another beneath the scoreboard that read 6-1.  It’s also why I squeezed through tight crowds of shouting reporters and past the blinding, bright white, hot lights of cameras going off to the front or before a local politician charged with bribery and campaign finance offenses to photograph him leaving the looming New York County Courthouse in Manhattan.

As a hobby or part of my professional career, I’m excited to continue taking photos to achieve what I value most: creating connections.”

– Li Hoang, College Readiness Lead Editor

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Here’s a Breakdown of Why it Works:

• Paragraph 1: The Hook
  • Creative, visual, and immersive–it pulls the reader in with strong sensory details.
• Paragraph 2: Clear Connection to the Prompt
  • The writer ties the opening to their interest in photography and personal motivation to answer the prompt.
• Paragraph 3: Personal Depth Without Overexposure
  • We learn about a significant loss, the passing of a loved one, but the focus stays on how the writer’s support system and photography helped them heal.
• Paragraph 4: Connection to Growth
  • The writer reflects on how their interest evolved into a way to connect and contribute to the world around them.
• Paragraph 5: Present-day Action
  • The writer gives concrete examples of how they’re currently engaging with their passion.
• Paragraph 6: Tying it all together
  • The conclusion circles back to the core theme: photography is a way to create connections, which reflects what the writer values most.

Writing your Common App essay is an opportunity to step back, reflect, and tell a story only you can tell. The topic doesn’t need to be groundbreaking…it just needs to be honest, well-structured, and thoughtfully connected to who you are.

The right approach can turn your story into a powerful personal statement. And if you’re feeling stuck? That’s what Cram Crew is here for. Our College Readiness Team can help you brainstorm, outline, revise, and polish your essay until it's something you're proud to submit and something colleges will remember.

Let’s get started–one word, one paragraph, one story at a time.