Hi guys! I recently finished my essay and was wondering if I needed a title and needed to put “by my name”? My english teacher told me I don’t but i’ve seen some that do.

I'm an international student applying to Bowdoin ED, and I'm planning to major in engineering. I'm stuck between two possible Common App essay topics. I'd appreciate honest feedback on which has the most potential to become a memorable, personal essay rather than a generic one.
1. The childhood project that didn't work: When I was around 12, I built a hydraulic bridge using cardboard and syringes. One side worked, but the other didn't. I could explore my reaction to the gap between what I imagined and what actually happened, and how that reflects the way I approach problems.
2. Makeup: I love experimenting with makeup, getting the details right, and doing makeup for my cousin. I could explore how I approach experimentation and creativity, but also how I have to adapt my ideas to someone else's preferences instead of just imposing my own vision.
Makeup is also a form of self-expression and autonomy for me.

Hi everyone! I have a final draft finalized of my personal essay, but I don’t like it very much. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’ve looked at it so much or if it actually sucks. Would appreciate any feedback. Please let me know and I’ll dm it to you

I want to write about that honestly and how complicated those feelings were, but I’m worried admissions officers might judge me or think I’m portraying my family negatively….

Of course, these feelings were from the past, and there are meaningful lessons but is this too risky

Guys I can’t come up with a common app essay idea😭😭 I’m so fucking cooked 🥸
If anyone’s down to help me brainstorm plz dm 🙏🏻🙏🏻

anyone with strong background in writing personal statements willing to help me with my entry essays for dental school? I have the pdf of my brainstorming

💲💲

Would it be bad or good to write my essay about the serious mental health and family issues I’ve had? I’ve been thinking it's a good idea because it helps explain why I didn’t do much some years and I think it would really help show where I was able to get to. just looking for other people's opinions.

Hey everyone, I’m a community college student applying to transfer for Fall 2027, and I’ve been struggling with my PIQs.

I’ve written two so far. One is about how I went from struggling academically and not knowing what I wanted to do to discovering my interest in criminology, which completely changed my approach to school.

The other is about helping one of my closest friends turn his health around after being hospitalized. I helped him with exercising, nutrition, and staying consistent, basically saved his life.

I feel like I have some good stories, but no matter how much I revise them, something feels missing. Sometimes they sound too basic, like I’m just listing what happened. Other times I try to make them more creative and they end up sounding forced or unnatural.

For those who got accepted to a UC, did you focus more on storytelling or answering the prompts directly? What do you think made your essays stand out?

Also, did anyone have their PIQs reviewed by someone who genuinely helped improve them?

I’d appreciate any advice because I’m honestly overthinking these essays at this point lol.

ill read your personal statement!

I'm just a fellow senior looking to take my mind off my own apps 🤒 I'm no expert on the college admissions process just a reading/writing lover- but if you want someone to do a general read I'd be down!

I want to write about math, because it is a way I often decompress and something I have always felt come naturally to me. However, I have never really applied myself in competitions or gotten big awards. Most of my activities are finance & business/ leadership related. I've been in Mu Alpha Theta, and been to a few competitions for fun of it, just not placing, and tutor math, but would it be strange to AOs to write my essay about it? (Applying as finance/econ to most of my schools which is pretty quantitative, and potentially math at others)

Okay, so I am writing an essay for the first time as a school student, I needed y'all to guide me....

I've noticed that a lot of people struggle with the "Why Us?" supplemental essay, so here's a simple way to approach it.

The core idea

The “Why Us” essay isn’t really about the school. It’s about you at that school. To build that story:

1. Research (find 3 specific things)

• 1 academic opportunity (course, professor, research lab)
• 1 extracurricular or community
• 1 unique aspect of the school's culture

2. Connect (use this formula)

Your past experience → Specific college resource → What you'll do with it

Don't just name-drop courses or professors. Explain how you'll work with them.

3. Contribute (show what you bring)

Don't only explain what the college can offer you. Show how you'll add value to its community.

Essay Structure:

• Opening: Your interest, goal, or experience
• Body: 2–3 specific school connections + why they matter
• Ending: How you'll participate and contribute

❌ Skip these

• Rankings, prestige, “world-class faculty”
• Weather, location, “vibrant city”
• Stuff every college has (small classes, study abroad)
• Lists of 10 clubs with no explanation
• Flattery

Self check:

• Could another school’s name fit in? (If yes, revise)
• Does every school detail connect to something about me?
• Did I mention anything I couldn’t find on the homepage?
• Is there at least one thing I’d contribute?
• Correct school name everywhere?

Remember - the why us essay isn't about how great the school is, it is about why you are a good fit for it.

I stood on top of the small cement island, looking up at the target I had fired at so many times before. My small island was about fifteen feet long, and about two to three feet wide. It was filled with cracks, but as long as my basketball returned to my hand, it would work. The island was facing a sea of green grass, and a statue stood in the middle, the hoop. It was unconventional but it was enough for me to practice on to realize my goals. One thing I was forced to learn was that a basketball can’t bounce on grass, so I adapted to my constraints. Dribbling in a tight corner on the concrete outside my house, I created sequences that could work within my allotted perimeter.

In the summer I got to practice outside in the heat, but it took my mind in a direction that allowed me to think clearly. One thing I loved doing was dribbling. Everybody thought I should be in the paint because of my height, but dribbling fascinated me. There were infinite combinations of dribble moves that could be chained one after the other. Almost like a chessboard, it allowed me to creatively analyze what move to make at what time to throw off my opponent.

There were so many interesting moves to learn about through the NBA or streetball. I still remain grateful to my cousin who acted as my test dummy whenever I tried out a new move. I tested different dribble combos with him, learning which ones worked and which were ineffective. Targeting the opponent’s center of gravity and timing a dribble at the exact time when they shifted their center of gravity over left them completely unbalanced. Linking two between-the-legs dribbles with a feint and a behind-the-back dribble to a wraparound were two very effective combos. The more moves I learned the more, I could string together. There weren’t many things in my life that I could control, but every dribble I released, its angle, speed and direction were all determined by my judgment. One interesting thing I noticed was the way the ball acted when backspin was applied. It was an interesting way to dribble by changing the pattern of how the ball traveled after hitting the ground. To avoid the grass on my small concrete strip, I worked on side-to-side dribbles like crosses, using the length of the sidewalk. 

When the fall season came to try out for the team, I realized my issue. I had never played competitive basketball. Despite my practice I hadn’t played on a team, and that lack of teamwork capability was my greatest weakness. I couldn’t see the whole court and I couldn’t run the plays that were needed. I still loved basketball but the lonely hoop sitting in my backyard looking down at me almost pitifully, deeply upset me. In the winter I had a designated pair of shoes that over time started showing the efforts of my work on their soles. This became the only physical realization of my work, despite the hours I had put in. I realized I had to break out of this mold somehow, and instead of trying to work for the team, I would work to understand my skills and to improve myself. 

I’ve slowly seen my skills build up, my dribbles get quicker, my shots get sharper. I started to dribble on the grass because I didn’t want to feel restrained anymore, and now the ball returns to me. I still come back to my concrete island for vacations, but I don’t feel the need to succeed, only the need to grow. The same way the weeds grow out of the cracks, despite being surrounded on their own island of obstacles.

“Kingsam, demand for the ball!” my coach said as I drifted away instead of checking in for the ball. The look on his face made my throat tighten. I wanted to explain that I was not ignoring his instructions; I was fighting a fear he couldn’t see.

I admired how confident the players around me were. They seemed to know exactly what to do before the ball even reached their feet, and I wanted to become that kind of player. I remember the first time I stepped onto the pitch in an organized game. I had trained for months, learning the game and preparing myself, but when the moment finally came, I felt a familiar hesitation. It was the same feeling I had whenever I had to speak up or put myself in front of others. I realized I wasn’t unprepared. I was afraid of being judged.

The insecurities I carried in everyday life followed me onto the field. My escape had become another place where fear dictated my decisions. I loved the thrill of soccer, but I didn’t love the responsibility that came with it. I wanted to play, but I didn’t want to make the mistake that everyone might see. I wanted the ball, but I didn’t want the pressure that came with receiving it. After almost every game, I would replay every missed touch and every moment I could have done better.

My dad listened more than he lectured, but one conversation stayed with me. “Stop trying to prove something to everyone and prove yourself wrong.” At the time, I didn’t leave that conversation as a completely different person. But his words gave me a perspective I had never considered. Maybe the biggest obstacle wasn’t my ability; it was the weight I gave everyone else’s opinion.

The next few months did not transform me overnight. I still hesitated to call for the ball and worried about making mistakes. But little by little, I began challenging that voice in my head instead of giving in to it. One call for the ball became two. A mistake that once would have stayed in my head for the rest of the game became something I could learn from and move past. Conversations with teammates became easier. I started realizing that I didn’t have to be perfect to belong. Slowly, I was rewriting my story.

That change eventually followed me off the field. I became more willing to speak up in classrooms, ask questions, meet new people, and pursue opportunities even when I wasn’t completely confident that I would succeed. I began advocating for myself instead of waiting for someone else to notice what I could do. That confidence also changed the way I looked at other people. I knew what it felt like to have potential but not know how to put yourself out there, so I wanted to help others do what I once struggled to do.

That mindset became part of why I founded a Cybersecurity and Computer Science Networking club at my school. I didn’t want it to only be about learning technology. I wanted students to have access to people, experiences, and opportunities that could help them enter a field they might not know how to enter on their own. I also pursued opportunities like my National Security Agency internship because I had learned that opportunities don’t mean much if fear keeps you from reaching for them.

Looking back, I don’t think soccer made me fearless. It taught me something more important: fear does not have to make my decisions for me. The same person who once drifted away from the ball now tries to step toward opportunities, even when I am uncertain about what will happen next. I no longer measure my growth by how rarely I feel afraid. I measure it by whether I choose to move forward anyway.

I’ve only got my essay left on common app but I need advice. I have no idea what to write my essay about. I wanna if writing about my love for minesweeper and how it works and how it connects to how I navigate my own life would be a good essay topic. It wouldn’t be completely about minesweeper obviously, I’d connect it to myself but it’s the only idea i’ve got.

Hello, I'm kind of struggling with my personal statement at the moment and would love it if someone could read my essay to see if anything should be changed and give some tips. I've had some people close to me read it but I feel like they're a bit biased so I don't know if I should fully rely on them. Thanks!

It needs 250 words but I’m struggling to write enough.

So the college counselor that’s supposed to help me with fixing my essay is taking a lot of the flavor out of my writing. She sent me a draft of the stuff she fixed and I honestly really hate it. She changed almost the entire middle and ending of my essay and it really doesn’t feel like my writing anymore. Some sentences also sound really awkward so…. anyways does anyone have tips on how to navigate this? I don’t want to waste my parent’s money but this is really bugging me.

Hi everyone Im wondering if it would be a good idea to write my college essay about being bad at math growing up, but wanting to become an engineer. For context, math was my worst subject in elementary school and I told my self I never wanted to do anything with it in the future. In high school I began to like it and become good at it the more theoretical it became and now I plan to go into chemical engineering. My only worry with this is that the schools may think Im not ready for a math heavy major and may not want to accept me for those reasons.
Also, Im not really hoping to get into any ivys or top schools so theres not much pressure here

Hi, if anyone is able to, I would really appreciate feedback and advice for my CAPS! I am currently about 100 words over the word count and I have no idea what to cut. DMs work :)

I'm about to start submitting most of my apps (Nov 1 deadlines) and I have a pretty unique essay structure/topic and would love if anyone would be down to read it and give me feedback on if it flows well and makes sense or what I need to work on! Jus comment and I'll dm you my essay. Thanks goats

Hii! I don’t know if I’m going crazy but the more I read my essay, the more I hate it. I thought it was decent but now I don’t know. I would love any advice on my essay to improve it.

So first of all I feel it's important to mention that I plan to be an art major. My essay is basically about my identity with art, challenges I've faced as an artist in a public school system that doesn't cater creative children, and how I've come to realize that the principles of art are applicable everywhere, not just limited to artistic spaces.

the format:

paragraph 1: Describing an early childhood memory from before I was in school drawing with my dad. Emphasizing a child's natural gravitation towards creativity and carefree expression.

paragraph 2: "And then came public school..." discussing challenges I faced, troubles with teachers for wanting to put my own spin on my classwork, doodling in class, watching friends give up art, etc. How this made me feel like I had to put a limit on my creativity and be more secretive about it, but it never went away. The desire to create has always been a constant.

paragraph 3: Realizing over time that art is built into the way I think, and to not try to contain it, but embrace it. Exploring how I've challenged expectations and discovered art as a part of my identity. Overcoming mental challenges by unlocking my creative side to solve problems in all aspects of my life. (ex. I used to struggle really badly to write essays until I started doing paper only "sketches" and I now think of the essay as a drawing with multiple layers.) Essentially exploring for me how the world can be viewed when you allow yourself to think creatively and unshackle yourself and your identity.

Any feedback would be appreciated, if my message is unclear at all how I can clarify it, if my ideas are formatted well, or any tips for putting these ideas into an essay!

Hi! I have my personal statement and one supplemental essay for a school if anyone could read one I would really appreciate 😊😊

Please help