College essay format common app

Spend about 10 minutes (minimum) on each of these exercises.

1. Values Exercise

2. Essence Objects Exercise

3. 21 Details Exercise

4. Everything I Want Colleges To Know About Me Exercise

5. Feelings and Needs Exercise

If you feel like you already have your topic, and you just want to know how to make it better…

Still do those exercises.

Maybe what you have is the best topic for you.

How long should a college essay be

And if you are incredibly super sure, you can skip ahead. But if you’re not sure this topic helps you communicate your deepest stories, spend a little time on the exercises above. As a bonus, even if you end up going with what you already had (though please be wary of the sunk cost fallacy), all that brainstorming will be useful when you write your supplemental essays.

The Feelings and Needs Exercise in particular is great for brainstorming Narrative Structure, connecting story events in a causal way (X led to Y led to Z).

The Essence Objects, 21 Details, Everything I Want Colleges to Know exercises can lead to interesting thematic threads for Montage Structure (P, Q, and R are all connected be

how to format a college application essay

how to write a good essay for college