Generative Exercise: Listing
What are the Common App essay prompts really asking for? Brainstorm the answer in under 10 minutes.
Once again, the 2024–2025 Common App essay prompts have stayed the same. The underlying questions about the prompts' purpose also remain:
What are the prompts really asking for? What do they want to see? What are college admissions officers looking for?
The answers center around the biggest challenge when writing a personal statement — learning to describe yourself on the page.
Admissions officers want to know:
1. Who are you, as a person? Will you be a kind roommate, an honest classmate, a loyal teammate?
2. Can they picture you in their academic community?
3. What will you contribute to that community? After you leave, what will they miss about you?
You CAN NOT control #1-3, aka whether you are what they are looking for. However, you CAN create a window into your character so they can look.
The Common App essay prompts function the same way as all writing prompts: a jumping-off point for reflection and brainstorming.
So, let’s jump! Take a look at Common App prompts below and CHOOSE THREE that call to you.
Note: I’d love to hear the ones you picked and why? The comments section is open to all for this one, so feel free to share!
Below is the full set of essay prompts for 2024–2025.
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.
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?
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
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?
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
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?
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.
Now, here is a simple LISTING generative activity you can do in under 10 minutes to help your brain make the jump.
Listing Activity
For the 3 Common App prompts you circled, spend 3 minutes each (9 minutes total) making an informal list of things they inspire.
You can write words, sentence fragments, sentences, anything that begins to fill out the moment you have in your mind.
Example: Say you circled #5
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
List out your ideas in response to the prompt. It might look something like this as various moments and different memories pop into your mind:
Friday detention for something my friend did
first time on my favorite ride with all my friends
teacher calling out the names one by one
disbelief when I heard mine, too shocked to stand
ticking clock and her red, scrunched face
bridesmaid dress was hideous and I hated how many fittings it took
silver heels
talking with my dad before the ceremony
everything in our family is going to be different now
detention taught me value of true friends
DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TRYING TO ANSWER THE PROMPTS YET — just let this brainstorming be a list of ideas that get you thinking about yourself and your life.
Think of these as notes to which you can refer later.
Again, do 3 minutes of “listing” for each Common App essay prompt you circled, for a total of 9 minutes.
Feel free to share what you came up with or ask questions in the comments.