Common Application: Personal Statement

The Personal Statement in the Common Application provides you an opportunity to give the college admissions officers a better understanding of who you are as an individual. For the 2024-25 application, you can use up to 650 words to answer 1 of  7 prompts (these are the same exact prompts that were also used for the 2023-24 application).

Regardless of the prompt you choose, your response needs to provide insight into one or more of your best qualities. If your best quality is perseverance, for example, you may never use the word 'perseverance' in your response, but by sharing an anecdote and/or by providing examples, you show the admissions officers that this is a fundamental part of who you are as a person. 

2024-25 PERSONAL STATEMENT PROMPTS

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.


SAMPLE RESPONSE
Here's an example from one of our students responding to prompt #1:


“All 5th grade runners please report to the starting line.” As I approach the starting line, my palms sweat; my muscles feel tense. Soon enough, “CRACK” the gun goes off, and I take off sprinting. Despite the 95 degree temperature that day, I was super excited to finish in first place out of over 200 other runners in my very first cross country race. Based on that race, I knew that I had natural talent as a runner, but, at the time, my sports passions were soccer and basketball.

After suffering a serious injury during a club soccer match, I feared that I might suffer a reinjury, so I decided to switch to the non-contact sport of running in 9th grade. I am so glad I made this decision. I have grown to love running and accomplished several goals, including winning the MVP awards for both my high school varsity cross country and track teams and serving as captain of both teams. My success as a runner, however, did not happen by accident. During the summer, I wake up at 6:30 am each day to run, complete a daily strength training routine that I designed, and then get a second run in each evening. I train 6 days per week, for an average total of 60-70 miles per week. I attribute this independent summer training for helping me to meet or exceed my goals each season.

I am also passionate about running because I love the camaraderie of being on a team and seeing how I can help my team get better. Unfortunately, I noticed that each year our team would lose many new runners. With nearly 2,000 students in my high school, it was common for students to join and quit our team of about 50 runners before I even knew their names. After being selected captain of the team, I thought about what I could do to change this dynamic. So that the new runners would feel a greater sense of belonging on the team, I began to initiate individual conversations with each of them. As part of the process of building these relationships, I made it a point to check in with them regularly to see how they were doing. While we still ended up losing quite a few of our new runners, I believe my efforts did help retain some runners and improve the team’s general sense of commitment.

This past year, I was disheartened to learn that our coach was retiring and that we wouldn’t have a summer running camp in the mountains as we usually do. Without this important bonding experience, I knew this would further jeopardize the team's ability to retain runners. So that this tradition would continue, I organized an 8-day summer running camp in a rural mountain town. I figured out the food, lodging, and transportation costs and divided the costs equally. While fewer people participated in this summer camp as in past years, overall this experience turned out to be a great success, and we not only benefited from the high altitude training but also accomplished the more important goal of growing closer together as a team.

As I reflect about my time on the cross country team, I think about both my personal achievements and my leadership role. Over time, I believe that my own success as a runner has become less about innate talent and more about hard work, planning, and commitment. From a team perspective, I learned that being a leader is not always about reaching a quantifiable goal, but sometimes it’s as simple as making people feel welcome and part of something bigger than themselves. At least that’s what I have tried to do. 

ANALYSIS
Some of the strengths of this essay include:

1) beginning with a 'hook' to get the reader interested in reading more

2) highlighting several of the student's positive attributes, including dedication and leadership

3) providing a balanced account by describing things that went well and things that didn't go well (much better to provide an accurate and balanced perspective and use a 'humble brag' approach rather than to overstate and risk appearing unrealistic or arrogant)

4) including what the student learned from their experience