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How to Write the Community Essay – Guide with Examples (2023-24)

September 6, 2023

Students applying to college this year will inevitably confront the community essay. In fact, most students will end up responding to several community essay prompts for different schools. For this reason, you should know more than simply how to approach the community essay as a genre. Rather, you will want to learn how to decipher the nuances of each particular prompt, in order to adapt your response appropriately. In this article, we’ll show you how to do just that, through several community essay examples. These examples will also demonstrate how to avoid cliché and make the community essay authentically and convincingly your own.

Emphasis on Community

Do keep in mind that inherent in the word “community” is the idea of multiple people. The personal statement already provides you with a chance to tell the college admissions committee about yourself as an individual. The community essay, however, suggests that you depict yourself among others. You can use this opportunity to your advantage by showing off interpersonal skills, for example. Or, perhaps you wish to relate a moment that forged important relationships. This in turn will indicate what kind of connections you’ll make in the classroom with college peers and professors.

Apart from comprising numerous people, a community can appear in many shapes and sizes. It could be as small as a volleyball team, or as large as a diaspora. It could fill a town soup kitchen, or spread across five boroughs. In fact, due to the internet, certain communities today don’t even require a physical place to congregate. Communities can form around a shared identity, shared place, shared hobby, shared ideology, or shared call to action. They can even arise due to a shared yet unforeseen circumstance.

What is the Community Essay All About?             

In a nutshell, the community essay should exhibit three things:

• An aspect of yourself, 2. in the context of a community you belonged to, and 3. how this experience may shape your contribution to the community you’ll join in college.

It may look like a fairly simple equation: 1 + 2 = 3. However, each college will word their community essay prompt differently, so it’s important to look out for additional variables. One college may use the community essay as a way to glimpse your core values. Another may use the essay to understand how you would add to diversity on campus. Some may let you decide in which direction to take it—and there are many ways to go!

To get a better idea of how the prompts differ, let’s take a look at some real community essay prompts from the current admission cycle.

Sample 2023-2024 Community Essay Prompts

1) brown university.

“Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (200-250 words)”

A close reading of this prompt shows that Brown puts particular emphasis on place. They do this by using the words “home,” “College Hill,” and “where they came from.” Thus, Brown invites writers to think about community through the prism of place. They also emphasize the idea of personal growth or change, through the words “inspired or challenged you.” Therefore, Brown wishes to see how the place you grew up in has affected you. And, they want to know how you in turn will affect their college community.

“NYU was founded on the belief that a student’s identity should not dictate the ability for them to access higher education. That sense of opportunity for all students, of all backgrounds, remains a part of who we are today and a critical part of what makes us a world-class university. Our community embraces diversity, in all its forms, as a cornerstone of the NYU experience.

We would like to better understand how your experiences would help us to shape and grow our diverse community. Please respond in 250 words or less.”

Here, NYU places an emphasis on students’ “identity,” “backgrounds,” and “diversity,” rather than any physical place. (For some students, place may be tied up in those ideas.) Furthermore, while NYU doesn’t ask specifically how identity has changed the essay writer, they do ask about your “experience.” Take this to mean that you can still recount a specific moment, or several moments, that work to portray your particular background. You should also try to link your story with NYU’s values of inclusivity and opportunity.

3) University of Washington

“Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW. (300 words max) Tip: Keep in mind that the UW strives to create a community of students richly diverse in cultural backgrounds, experiences, values and viewpoints.”

UW ’s community essay prompt may look the most approachable, for they help define the idea of community. You’ll notice that most of their examples (“families,” “cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood”…) place an emphasis on people. This may clue you in on their desire to see the relationships you’ve made. At the same time, UW uses the words “individual” and “richly diverse.” They, like NYU, wish to see how you fit in and stand out, in order to boost campus diversity.

Writing Your First Community Essay

Begin by picking which community essay you’ll write first. (For practical reasons, you’ll probably want to go with whichever one is due earliest.) Spend time doing a close reading of the prompt, as we’ve done above. Underline key words. Try to interpret exactly what the prompt is asking through these keywords.

Next, brainstorm. I recommend doing this on a blank piece of paper with a pencil. Across the top, make a row of headings. These might be the communities you’re a part of, or the components that make up your identity. Then, jot down descriptive words underneath in each column—whatever comes to you. These words may invoke people and experiences you had with them, feelings, moments of growth, lessons learned, values developed, etc. Now, narrow in on the idea that offers the richest material and that corresponds fully with the prompt.

Lastly, write! You’ll definitely want to describe real moments, in vivid detail. This will keep your essay original, and help you avoid cliché. However, you’ll need to summarize the experience and answer the prompt succinctly, so don’t stray too far into storytelling mode.

How To Adapt Your Community Essay

Once your first essay is complete, you’ll need to adapt it to the other colleges involving community essays on your list. Again, you’ll want to turn to the prompt for a close reading, and recognize what makes this prompt different from the last. For example, let’s say you’ve written your essay for UW about belonging to your swim team, and how the sports dynamics shaped you. Adapting that essay to Brown’s prompt could involve more of a focus on place. You may ask yourself, how was my swim team in Alaska different than the swim teams we competed against in other states?

Once you’ve adapted the content, you’ll also want to adapt the wording to mimic the prompt. For example, let’s say your UW essay states, “Thinking back to my years in the pool…” As you adapt this essay to Brown’s prompt, you may notice that Brown uses the word “reflection.” Therefore, you might change this sentence to “Reflecting back on my years in the pool…” While this change is minute, it cleverly signals to the reader that you’ve paid attention to the prompt, and are giving that school your full attention.

What to Avoid When Writing the Community Essay  

• Avoid cliché. Some students worry that their idea is cliché, or worse, that their background or identity is cliché. However, what makes an essay cliché is not the content, but the way the content is conveyed. This is where your voice and your descriptions become essential.
• Avoid giving too many examples. Stick to one community, and one or two anecdotes arising from that community that allow you to answer the prompt fully.
• Don’t exaggerate or twist facts. Sometimes students feel they must make themselves sound more “diverse” than they feel they are. Luckily, diversity is not a feeling. Likewise, diversity does not simply refer to one’s heritage. If the prompt is asking about your identity or background, you can show the originality of your experiences through your actions and your thinking.

Community Essay Examples and Analysis

Brown university community essay example.

I used to hate the NYC subway. I’ve taken it since I was six, going up and down Manhattan, to and from school. By high school, it was a daily nightmare. Spending so much time underground, underneath fluorescent lighting, squashed inside a rickety, rocking train car among strangers, some of whom wanted to talk about conspiracy theories, others who had bedbugs or B.O., or who manspread across two seats, or bickered—it wore me out. The challenge of going anywhere seemed absurd. I dreaded the claustrophobia and disgruntlement.

Yet the subway also inspired my understanding of community. I will never forget the morning I saw a man, several seats away, slide out of his seat and hit the floor. The thump shocked everyone to attention. What we noticed: he appeared drunk, possibly homeless. I was digesting this when a second man got up and, through a sort of awkward embrace, heaved the first man back into his seat. The rest of us had stuck to subway social codes: don’t step out of line. Yet this second man’s silent actions spoke loudly. They said, “I care.”

That day I realized I belong to a group of strangers. What holds us together is our transience, our vulnerabilities, and a willingness to assist. This community is not perfect but one in motion, a perpetual work-in-progress. Now I make it my aim to hold others up. I plan to contribute to the Brown community by helping fellow students and strangers in moments of precariousness.    

Brown University Community Essay Example Analysis

Here the student finds an original way to write about where they come from. The subway is not their home, yet it remains integral to ideas of belonging. The student shows how a community can be built between strangers, in their responsibility toward each other. The student succeeds at incorporating key words from the prompt (“challenge,” “inspired” “Brown community,” “contribute”) into their community essay.

UW Community Essay Example

I grew up in Hawaii, a world bound by water and rich in diversity. In school we learned that this sacred land was invaded, first by Captain Cook, then by missionaries, whalers, traders, plantation owners, and the U.S. government. My parents became part of this problematic takeover when they moved here in the 90s. The first community we knew was our church congregation. At the beginning of mass, we shook hands with our neighbors. We held hands again when we sang the Lord’s Prayer. I didn’t realize our church wasn’t “normal” until our diocese was informed that we had to stop dancing hula and singing Hawaiian hymns. The order came from the Pope himself.

Eventually, I lost faith in God and organized institutions. I thought the banning of hula—an ancient and pure form of expression—seemed medieval, ignorant, and unfair, given that the Hawaiian religion had already been stamped out. I felt a lack of community and a distrust for any place in which I might find one. As a postcolonial inhabitant, I could never belong to the Hawaiian culture, no matter how much I valued it. Then, I was shocked to learn that Queen Ka’ahumanu herself had eliminated the Kapu system, a strict code of conduct in which women were inferior to men. Next went the Hawaiian religion. Queen Ka’ahumanu burned all the temples before turning to Christianity, hoping this religion would offer better opportunities for her people.

Community Essay (Continued)

I’m not sure what to make of this history. Should I view Queen Ka’ahumanu as a feminist hero, or another failure in her islands’ tragedy? Nothing is black and white about her story, but she did what she thought was beneficial to her people, regardless of tradition. From her story, I’ve learned to accept complexity. I can disagree with institutionalized religion while still believing in my neighbors. I am a product of this place and their presence. At UW, I plan to add to campus diversity through my experience, knowing that diversity comes with contradictions and complications, all of which should be approached with an open and informed mind.

UW Community Essay Example Analysis

This student also manages to weave in words from the prompt (“family,” “community,” “world,” “product of it,” “add to the diversity,” etc.). Moreover, the student picks one of the examples of community mentioned in the prompt, (namely, a religious group,) and deepens their answer by addressing the complexity inherent in the community they’ve been involved in. While the student displays an inner turmoil about their identity and participation, they find a way to show how they’d contribute to an open-minded campus through their values and intellectual rigor.

What’s Next

For more on supplemental essays and essay writing guides, check out the following articles:

• How to Write the Why This Major Essay + Example
• How to Write the Overcoming Challenges Essay + Example
• How to Start a College Essay – 12 Techniques and Tips
• College Essay

Kaylen Baker

With a BA in Literary Studies from Middlebury College, an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University, and a Master’s in Translation from Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, Kaylen has been working with students on their writing for over five years. Previously, Kaylen taught a fiction course for high school students as part of Columbia Artists/Teachers, and served as an English Language Assistant for the French National Department of Education. Kaylen is an experienced writer/translator whose work has been featured in Los Angeles Review, Hybrid, San Francisco Bay Guardian, France Today, and Honolulu Weekly, among others.

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Writing a College Essay About Community and Examples

By Eric Eng

Writing a college essay about community is a common requirement in the series of essay prompts most colleges include alongside their Common Application. If you’re applying to multiple universities, you’ll notice that many of these essay topics overlap, although the wording is always different. 

One main reason for this is that all college admissions committees want to learn the same things about you. They’re all interested in learning more about who you are, what you’re interested in, what goals you have in the future, and why you’ve chosen to apply to this university. 

One of these prompts is a college essay about community. While it varies from college to college, the prompt will roughly sound like this:

Tell us a little about a community you consider yourself part of.

Each university will add its own spin or add-on question, but they’re all asking the same thing: what about your background has had a major impact on who you are today?

Here’s an actual example from Brown University to give you some context:

“Tell us about a place or community you call home. How has it shaped your perspective?”

Another example is from the University of Michigan : 

“Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. ”

From Duke University:

“We seek a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had to help us understand you better—perhaps related to a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background—we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying.”

At first glance, this college essay about community seems pretty easy. The question in itself is short and colleges typically only request a brief answer of a few hundred words. However, after you read the prompt a few more times, you might realize how open-ended it is. What are the best words to describe community ? 

How you answer this question depends on your perspective. You might choose to describe the literal community where you live, or you could interpret it more metaphorically to mean a group of people you identify with for a specific reason. 

For example, if you are a person of color, your community could be your cultural group. In some diversity essay examples , focusing on the sense of belonging in a foreign country could be an ideal angle to explore. If you are an international student , you might share how you found your community in a new country. Alternatively, you could see your weekly Dungeons & Dragons group in writing your college essay about community. Think about the groups or environments where you feel a sense of belonging and connection.

Regardless of how you interpret community, the primary thrust of the question remains the same. This is the perfect opportunity for you to talk more about who you are and how you interact with your community at large. 

Admissions officers aren’t only interested in how you can benefit from attending the university. They’re also interested to know what you’ll be able to offer students, teachers, and the larger school community. 

How to Write the Community Essay: Complete Guide (plus tips!)

While all college essays are an excellent time to show admissions officers why you’re a great fit for the school, the college essay about community is especially important. If you’re able to knock this essay out of the park, you can successfully convey to colleges how you would contribute to the school. Let’s look at 10 things to know before you write a college essay about the community to help you write the best response possible.

Decide what community you want to write about

Start by brainstorming the communities you are a part of. These can be defined by factors, such as:

The best tip that we could give you is to choose the community where you can share most about yourself. Think about the different “identities” you have and what groups of people you spend time with at school, work, or elsewhere. Don’t limit yourself to the literal definition of “community” if something truly resonates what your definition of “community” pops up.

Start outlining your essay with guide questions

As we’ve mentioned before, this college essay about community is an open-ended question. So take this as an opportunity for you to get creative! Reflect on your experiences and how they have shaped who you are today. Use these guide questions to help structure your thoughts and outline your essay:

• What specific actions did you take in that community? (Hint: use active verbs like “coordinated” and “led” to clearly describe your roles).
• What types of challenges did you address (on a personal, local, or global level)?
• What particular contributions did you make?
• What skills, qualities, or values did you acquire?
• How did you utilize the lessons learned within and beyond that community?

Don’t be afraid to get personal

All college essay prompts are designed to help admissions officers get to know you better. So a college essay about community is one of the best places to accomplish this goal. One advice we can give students is to get personal! Don’t be afraid to show off your quirky side, something unique about you, a little bit about your background, and everything that makes you…well, you !

Although the college essay about community does involve other people, the question is mainly asking what group you identify with. Similarly, in diversity essay examples, the emphasis is on how your unique background, identity, or perspective has influenced your life and how it might contribute to the diversity of the college community. 

While you’ll no doubt mention and even describe other people, don’t forget to talk about yourself and how this community changed or affected you. This should be your primary focus throughout the piece as it’s what the college is most interested in learning more about.

If you feel that the topic you chose is a little too personal for you to really open up, consider switching to another sense of the word “community” about which you’re more comfortable talking.

Toot your horn.

At the heart of it, a college essay about community is asking you to talk about your achievements… at least a little. As a member of a community, you need to be offering something to the group, not just benefitting. Showing this reciprocity means you are contributing to a larger community.

Many students talk about dreaming of changing the world, but not all of them know where to start. If you are actively doing something positive for your community, in a sense, you are changing the world… your own little world. Positive contributions and acts of service to your community may be small, but they are a start, and that still counts as something.

For example, if you’ve been part of a local food bank, you might talk about how you organized a fundraising event that raised thousands of dollars and significantly increased the food bank’s capacity to serve those in need. Or perhaps you volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and led a team of volunteers in building homes for underprivileged families. 

Since there aren’t many college essays on volunteering, this would be a great opportunity to talk about it. While you shouldn’t go overboard, don’t be afraid to earnestly talk about how you’re helping others within your community. 

Still, what makes college community service essay examples genuine is that you’ll need to share how the experience shaped who you are today. If you have read other students’ community service essay examples before, you’d notice that they talk about how the experience led them to a positive change in their lives. Discuss how leading those fundraising efforts teaches you about perseverance and the power of community. Or how did building homes with Habitat for Humanity instill in you a deep sense of empathy and responsibility? Sharing these insights will make your community service essay stand out.

For admissions counselors, this is an important part of deciding whether or not you’ll fit right in at their university. They want to know how you’re going to contribute to their community other than being an academic member.

Choose a format

The basics of writing a college essay about community is to pick how you’re going to tell it. Choosing the right format is the way to effectively convey your experiences and insights. Here are some points to consider:

The Story Structure

The Story Structure is ideal for students who have encountered a challenge within their community. If you opt for this format, consider addressing these three questions in your essay:

• What challenge did you encounter?
• How did you address it?
• What did you learn from the experience?

The Collection Structure

If this doesn’t apply to you, the Collection Structure might be more suitable. When using this format for writing your essay, check out these points:

• Theme or Central Idea: Choose a unifying theme that ties your different experiences together. This could be a value, skill, or passion that permeates your community involvement.
• Vignettes : Share several short stories or snapshots that illustrate your engagement. These can be varied and highlight different roles, projects, or impacts you’ve had.
• Connection : Each vignette connects back to your central theme and demonstrates how each experience contributes to your overall growth and perspective.
• Reflection : Reflect on what these experiences have taught you and how they have shaped you as a person.

For example, in writing your college essay about community, you might write about your involvement in multiple community projects, such as organizing local clean-up events, mentoring younger students in a science club, and participating in cultural festivals. Each of these vignettes would showcase different facets of your character and how you contribute to your community.

You can also combine the narrative and collection structures by discussing a challenge while highlighting a range of values and lessons learned at the same time. This hybrid approach showcases your diverse experiences and insights within your community.

“Describe a Community You Belong to” Essay Examples

East meets west.

I look around my room, dimly lit by an orange light. On my desk, a framed picture of an Asian family beaming their smiles, buried among US history textbooks and The Great Gatsby. A Korean ballad streams from two tiny computer speakers. Pamphlets of American colleges were scattered on the floor. A cold December wind wafts a strange infusion of ramen and leftover pizza. On the wall in the far back, a Korean flag hangs beside a Led Zeppelin poster.

Do I consider myself Korean or American?

A few years back, I would have replied: “Neither.” The frustrating moments of miscommunication, the stifling homesickness, and the impossible dilemma of deciding between the Korean or American table in the dining hall, all fueled my identity crisis.

Standing in the “Foreign Passports” section at JFK, I have always felt out of place. Sure, I held a Korean passport in my hands, and I loved kimchi and Yuna Kim and knew the Korean Anthem by heart. But I also loved macaroni and cheese and LeBron. Deep inside, I feared I’d be labeled by my airport customs category: a foreigner everywhere.

This ambiguity, however, has granted me the opportunity to absorb the best of both worlds. Look at my dorm room. This mélange of cultures in my East-meets-West room embodies the diversity that characterizes my international student life.

I’ve learned to accept my “ambiguity” as “diversity,” as a third-culture student embracing both identities.

Now, I can proudly answer: “Both.”

Let’s unpack this community essay example.

As a reader, what did you notice in the essay? How did it make you feel? Here’s our take:

• The author uses very descriptive language that does an excellent job of setting the scene, making the piece as engaging as a short story.
• Although the subject is potentially generic (i.e. a story about having two different identities due to cultural differences), the author does a wonderful job of keeping it personal, insightful, interesting, and non-cliche.
• The story comes full circle by discussing something different in the past and how the writer’s experiences have changed it for the better today.
• The author openly admits to having an “identity crisis” which captures the reader’s attention even more without being too overbearing.

Let’s look at another example:

The Pumpkin House

I was raised in “The Pumpkin House.” Every Autumn, on the lawn between the sidewalk and the road, grows our pumpkin. Every summer, we procure seeds from giant pumpkins and plant them on this strip of land. Every fall, the pumpkin grows to be a giant. This annual ritual became well-known in the community and became the defining feature of our already quirky house.

The pumpkin was not just a pumpkin, but a catalyst to creating interactions and community. Conversations often start with “Aren’t you the girl in the pumpkin house?” My English teacher knew about our pumpkin and our chickens. His curiosity and weekly updates about the pumpkin helped us connect.

One year, we found our pumpkin splattered across the street. We were devastated; the pumpkin was part of our identity. Word spread and people came to our house to share in our dismay. Clearly, that pumpkin enriched our life and the entire neighborhood’.

The next morning, our patch contained twelve new pumpkins. Anonymous neighbors left these, plus, a truly gigantic 200 lb. pumpkin on our doorstep.

Growing up, the pumpkin challenged me as I wasn’t always comfortable being the center of attention.

But in retrospect, I realize that there’s a bit of magic in growing something from a seed and tending it in public. I witnessed how this act of sharing creates an authentic community spirit. I wouldn’t be surprised if someday I started my own form of quirky pumpkin growing and reap the benefit of true community.

This time around, pause and reflect on this essay. How did the community the author described change their perspective? How did it affect them personally? What action did the author mention going forward? Here’s what we think:

• In this essay, the author expresses the importance of rituals and family which is an excellent topic for a college essay about community.
• The topic of the essay is mentioned within the first two to three sentences of the piece, making use of limited space.
• The word “community” is explicitly used which shows admissions staff you know how to follow directions while also making it easier for them to understand what you’re writing about.
• The topic is unique to the writer and not something that many – if any – other applicants would be able to write about.
• It comes across as very authentic, personal, and genuine while still being engaging and interesting.

Lastly, once the inspiration finally strikes, seize the moment by immediately putting your thoughts on paper. Start drafting your essay about community with sincerity and passion, and let your heart guide your words.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the words to describe community?

A community is a group of people who share something in common. In writing your college essay about community, you can define it by the shared traits of the people in it or by the strength of the connections among them. It’s about finding a group of people who are similar in some way and feel a sense of belonging or connection with one another.

2. Why do colleges ask for a community essay?

Colleges use community essays to understand how you might fit into their school community. These prompts give you the chance to show admissions officers why you’d be a great addition to their campus.

3. How do I write a college essay about community?

When writing your college essay about community, focus on three main points:

• Highlight an aspect of yourself.
• Show this in the context of a community you belong to.
• Explain how this experience might influence your contribution to the college community you’ll join.

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Blog > Essay Advice , Supplementals > How to Write a Community Supplemental Essay (with Examples)

How to Write a Community Supplemental Essay (with Examples)

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Kylie Kistner, MA Former Willamette University Admissions

Key Takeaway

If you're applying to college, there's a good chance you'll be writing a Community Essay for one (or lots) of your supplementals. In this post, we show you how to write one that stands out.

This post is one in a series of posts about the supplemental essays . You can read our core “how-to” supplemental post here .

When schools admit you, they aren’t just admitting you to be a student. They’re also admitting you to be a community member.

Community supplemental essays help universities understand how you would fit into their school community. At their core, Community prompts allow you to explicitly show an admissions officer why you would be the perfect addition to the school’s community.

Let’s get into what a Community supplemental essay is, what strategies you can use to stand out, and which steps you can take to write the best one possible.

What is a Community supplemental essay?

Community supplemental essay prompts come in a number of forms. Some ask you to talk about a community you already belong to, while others ask you to expand on how you would contribute to the school you’re applying to.

Let’s look at a couple of examples.

1: Rice University

Rice is lauded for creating a collaborative atmosphere that enhances the quality of life for all members of our campus community. The Residential College System and undergraduate life is heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural tradition each student brings. What life perspectives would you contribute to the Rice community? 500 word limit.

2: Swarthmore College

Swarthmore students’ worldviews are often forged by their prior experiences and exposure to ideas and values. Our students are often mentored, supported, and developed by their immediate context—in their neighborhoods, communities of faith, families, and classrooms. Reflect on what elements of your home, school, or community have shaped you or positively impacted you. How have you grown or changed because of the influence of your community?

Community Essay Strategy

Your Community essay strategy will likely depend on the kind of Community essay you’re asked to write. As with all supplemental essays, the goal of any community essay should be to write about the strengths that make you a good fit for the school in question.

How to write about a community to which you belong

Most Community essay prompts give you a lot of flexibility in how you define “community.” That means that the community you write about probably isn’t limited to the more formal communities you’re part of like family or school. Your communities can also include friend groups, athletic teams, clubs and organizations, online communities, and more.

There are two things you should consider before you even begin writing your essay.

What school values is the prompt looking for?

Whether they’re listed implicitly or explicitly, Community essay prompts often include values that you can align your essay response with.

To explain, let’s look at this short supplemental prompt from the University of Notre Dame:

If you were given unlimited resources to help solve one problem in your community, what would it be and how would you accomplish it?

Now, this prompt doesn’t outright say anything about values. But the question itself, even being so short, implies a few values:

a) That you should be active in your community

b) That you should be aware of your community’s problems

c) That you know how to problem-solve

d) That you’re able to collaborate with your community

After dissecting the prompt for these values, you can write a Community essay that showcases how you align with them.

What else are admissions officers learning about you through the community you choose?

In addition to showing what a good community member you are, your Community supplemental essays can also let you talk about other parts of your experience. Doing so can help you find the perfect narrative balance among all your essays.

Let’s use a quick example.

If I’m a student applying to computer science programs, then I might choose to write about the community I’ve found in my robotics team. More specifically, I might write about my role as cheerleader and principle problem-solver of my robotics team. Writing about my robotics team allows me to do two things:

Show that I’m a really supportive person in my community, and

Show that I’m on a robotics team that means a lot to me.

Now, it’s important not to co-opt your Community essay and turn it into a secret Extracurricular essay , but it’s important to be thinking about all the information an admissions officer will learn about you based on the community you choose to focus on.

How to write about what you’ll contribute to your new community

The other segment of Community essays are those that ask you to reflect on how your specific experiences will contribute to your new community.

It’s important that you read each prompt carefully so you know what to focus your essay on.

These kinds of Community prompts let you explicitly drive home why you belong at the school you’re applying to.

Here are two suggestions to get you started.

Draw out the values.

This kind of Community prompt also typically contains some kind of reference to values. The Rice prompt is a perfect example of this:

Rice is lauded for creating a collaborative atmosphere that enhances the quality of life for all members of our campus community . The Residential College System and undergraduate life is heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural tradition each student brings. What life perspectives would you contribute to the Rice community? 500 word limit.

There are several values here:

a) Collaboration

b) Enhancing quality of life

c) For all members of the community

d) Residential system (AKA not just in the classroom)

e) Sharing unique life experiences and cultural traditions with other students

Note that the actual question of the prompt is “What life perspectives would you contribute to the Rice community?” If you skimmed the beginning of the prompt to get to the question, you’d miss all these juicy details about what a Rice student looks like.

But with them in mind, you can choose to write about a life perspective that you hold that aligns with these five values.

Find detailed connections to the school.

Since these kinds of Community prompts ask you what you would contribute to the school community, this is your chance to find the most logical and specific connections you can. Browse the school website and social media to find groups, clubs, activities, communities, or support systems that are related to your personal background and experiences. When appropriate based on the prompt, these kinds of connections can help you show how good a fit you are for the school and community.

How to do Community Essay school research

Looking at school values means doing research on the school’s motto, mission statement, and strategic plans. This information is all carefully curated by a university to reflect the core values, initiatives, and goals of an institution. They can guide your Community essay by giving you more values options to include.

We’ll use the Rice mission statement as an example. It says,

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to pathbreaking research , unsurpassed teaching , and contribution to the betterment of our world . It seeks to fulfill this mission by cultivating a diverse community of learning and discovery that produces leaders across the spectrum of human endeavor.

I’ve bolded just a few of the most important values we can draw out.

As we’ll see in the next section, I can use these values to brainstorm my Community essay.

How to write a Community Supplemental Essay

Step 1: Read the prompt closely & identify any relevant values.

When writing any supplemental essay, your first step should always be to closely read the prompt. You can even annotate it. It’s important to do this so you know exactly what is being asked of you.

With Community essays specifically, you can also highlight any values you think the prompt is asking you to elaborate on.

Keeping track of the prompt will make sure that you’re not missing anything an admissions officer will be on the lookout for.

Step 2: Brainstorm communities you’re involved in.

If you’re writing a Community essay that asks you to discuss a community you belong to, then your next step will be brainstorming all of your options.

As you brainstorm, keep a running list. Your list can include all kinds of communities you’re involved in.

Communities:

• Model United Nations
• Youth group
• Instagram book club
• My Discord group

Step 3: Think about the role(s) you play in your selected community.

Narrow down your community list to a couple of options. For each remaining option, identify the roles you played, actions you took, and significance you’ve drawn from being part of that group.

Community: Orchestra

These three columns help you get at the most important details you need to include in your community essay.

Step 4: Identify any relevant connections to the school.

Depending on the question the prompt asks of you, your last step may be to do some school research.

Let’s return to the Rice example.

After researching the Rice mission statement, we know that Rice values community members who want to contribute to the “betterment of our world.”

Ah ha! Now we have something solid to work from.

With this value in mind, I can choose to write about a perspective that shows my investment in creating a better world. Maybe that perspective is a specific kind of fundraising tenacity. Maybe it’s always looking for those small improvements that have a big impact. Maybe it’s some combination of both. Whatever it is, I can write a supplemental essay that reflects the values of the university.

Community Essay Mistakes

While writing Community essays may seem fairly straightforward, there are actually a number of ways they can go awry. Specifically, there are three common mistakes students make that you should be on the lookout for.

They don’t address the specific requests of the prompt.

As with all supplemental essays, your Community essay needs to address what the prompt is asking you to do. In Community essays especially, you’ll need to assess whether you’re being asked to talk about a community you’re already part of or the community you hope to join.

Neglecting to read the prompt also means neglecting any help the prompt gives you in terms of values. Remember that you can get clues as to what the school is looking for by analyzing the prompt’s underlying values.

They’re too vague.

Community essays can also go awry when they’re too vague. Your Community essay should reflect on specific, concrete details about your experience. This is especially the case when a Community prompt asks you to talk about a specific moment, challenge, or sequence of events.

Don’t shy away from details. Instead, use them to tell a compelling story.

They don’t make any connections to the school.

Finally, Community essays that don’t make any connections to the school in question miss out on a valuable opportunity to show school fit. Recall from our supplemental essay guide that you should always write supplemental essays with an eye toward showing how well you fit into a particular community.

Community essays are the perfect chance to do that, so try to find relevant and logical school connections to include.

Community Supplemental Essay Example

Example essay: robotics community.

University of Michigan: Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. (Required for all applicants; minimum 100 words/maximum 300 words)

From Blendtec’s “Will it Blend?” videos to ZirconTV’s “How to Use a Stud Finder,” I’m a YouTube how-to fiend. This propensity for fix-it knowledge has not only served me well, but it’s also been a lifesaver for my favorite community: my robotics team(( The writer explicitly states the community they’ll be focusing on.)) . While some students spend their after-school hours playing sports or video games, I spend mine tinkering in my garage with three friends, one of whom is made of metal.

Last year, I Googled more fixes than I can count. Faulty wires, misaligned soldering, and failed code were no match for me. My friends watched in awe as I used Boolean Operators to find exactly the information I sought.(( The writer clearly articulates their place in the community.)) But as I agonized over chassis reviews, other unsearchable problems arose.

First((This entire paragraph fulfills the “describe that community” direction in the prompt.)) , there was the matter of registering for our first robotics competition. None of us familiar with bureaucracy, David stepped up and made some calls. His maturity and social skills helped us immediately land a spot. The next issue was branding. Our robot needed a name and a logo, and Connor took it upon himself to learn graphic design. We all voted on Archie’s name and logo design to find the perfect match. And finally, someone needed to enter the ring. Archie took it from there, winning us first place.

The best part about being in this robotics community is the collaboration and exchange of knowledge.((The writer emphasizes a clear strength: collaboration within their community. It’s clear that the writer values all contributions to the team.))  Although I can figure out how to fix anything, it’s impossible to google social skills, creativity, or courage. For that information, only friends will do. I can only imagine the fixes I’ll bring to the University of Michigan and the skills I’ll learn in return at part of the Manufacturing Robotics community((The writer ends with a forward-looking connection to the school in question.)) .

Want to see even more supplemental essay examples? Check out our college essay examples post . 

Liked that? Try this next.

How to Write Supplemental Essays that Will Impress Admissions Officers

How to Write a College Essay (Exercises + Examples)

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The Community Essay

“Duke University seeks a talented, engaged student body that embodies the wide range of human experience; we believe that the diversity of our students makes our community stronger. If you’d like to share a perspective you bring or experiences you’ve had to help us understand you better—perhaps related to a community you belong to, your sexual orientation or gender identity, or your family or cultural background—we encourage you to do so. Real people are reading your application, and we want to do our best to understand and appreciate the real people applying to Duke.” 

As with every essay you ship off to admissions – think about something you want admissions to know that hasn’t been represented. What can you expand upon to show your versatility, passion and ability to connect with the world around you?

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Category: Admissions , College Admissions , Essay Tips , Essay Writing , Supplemental Essays

Tags: admissions essay , admissions help , application , application supplement , applications , brainstorming , college admissions , college admissions essay , college application , college application help , college applications , college essay , common application , supplemental essays

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How to Write the “Community” Essay

A step-by-step guide to this popular supplemental prompt.

When college admissions officers admit a new group of freshmen, they aren’t just filling up classrooms — they’re also crafting (you guessed it) a campus community. College students don’t just sit quietly in class, retreat to their rooms to crank out homework, go to sleep, rinse, and repeat. They socialize! They join clubs! They organize student protests! They hold cultural events! They become RAs and audition for a cappella groups and get on-campus jobs! Colleges want to cultivate a thriving, vibrant, uplifting campus community that enriches students’ learning — and for that reason, they’re understandably curious about what kind of community member they’ll be getting when they invite you to campus as part of their incoming class.

Enter the “community” essay — an increasingly popular supplemental essay prompt that asks students to talk about a community to which they belong and how they have contributed to or benefited from that community. Community essays often sound something like this:

University of Michigan: Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. (250 words)

Pomona College: Reflecting on a community that you are part of, what values or perspectives from that community would you bring to Pomona?  (250 words)

University of Rochester: Spiders are essential to the ecosystem. How are you essential to your community or will you be essential in your university community? (350-650 words)

Swarthmore: Swarthmore students’ worldviews are often forged by their prior experiences and exposure to ideas and values. Our students are often mentored, supported, and developed by their immediate context—in their neighborhoods, communities of faith, families, and classrooms. Reflect on what elements of your home, school, or community have shaped you or positively impacted you. How have you grown or changed because of the influence of your community? (250 words)

Yale: Reflect on a time when you have worked to enhance a community to which you feel connected. Why have these efforts been meaningful to you? You may define community however you like. (400 words)

Step 1: Pick a community to write about

Breathe. You belong to LOTS of communities. And if none immediately come to mind, it’s only because you need to bust open your idea of what constitutes a “community”!

Among other things, communities can be joined by…

• West Coasters
• NYC’s Koreatown
• Everyone in my cabin at summer camp
• ACLU volunteers
• Cast of a school musical
• Puzzle-lovers
• Powerlifters
• Army brats who live together on a military base
• Iranian-American
• Queer-identifying
• Children of pastors

Take 15 minutes to write down a list of ALL the communities you belong to that you can think of. While you’re writing, don’t worry about judging which ones will be useful for an essay. Just write down every community that comes to mind — even if some of them feel like a stretch.

When you’re done, survey your list of communities. Do one, two, or three communities jump out as options that could enable you to write about yourself and your community engagement? Carry your top choices of community into Step 2.

Step 2: Generate content.

For each of your top communities, answer any of the following questions that apply:

• Is there a memorable story I can tell about my engagement with this community?
• What concrete impacts have I had on this community?
• What problems have I solved (or attempted to solve) in this community?
• What have I learned from this community?
• How has this community supported me or enriched my life up to this point?
• How have I applied the lessons or values I gleaned from this community more broadly?

Different questions will be relevant for different community prompts. For example, if you’re working on answering Yale’s prompt, you’ll want to focus on a community on which you’ve had a concrete impact. But if you’re trying to crack Swarthmore’s community essay, you can prioritize communities that have impacted YOU. Keep in mind though — even for a prompt like Yale’s, which focuses on tangible impact, it’s important that your community essay doesn’t read like a rattled-off list of achievements in your community. Your goal here is to show that you are a generous, thoughtful, grateful, and active community member who uplifts the people around you — not to detail a list of the competitions that Math club has won under your leadership.

BONUS: Connect your past community life to your future on-campus community life.

Some community essay prompts ask you — or give you the option — to talk about how you plan on engaging with community on a particular college campus. If you’re tackling one of those prompts (like Pomona’s), then you guessed it: it’s research time!

Often, for these kinds of community prompts, it will serve you to first write about a community that you’ve engaged with in the past and then write about how you plan to continue engaging with that same kind of community at college. For example, if you wrote about throwing a Lunar New Year party with international students at your high school, you might write about how excited you are to join the International Students Alliance at your new college or contribute to the cross-cultural student magazine. Or, if you wrote about playing in your high school band, you might write about how you can’t wait to audition for your new college’s chamber orchestra or accompany the improv team for their improvised musicals. The point is to give your admissions officer an idea of what on-campus communities you might be interested in joining if you were to attend their particular school.

Check out our full College Essay Hub for tons of resources and guidance on writing your college essays. Need more personalized guidance on brainstorming or crafting your supplemental essays? Contact our college admissions team.

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A Guide to University of Michigan’s ‘Your Community’ Essay

This article is a first-person account by Robert Crystal, a CollegeVine livestream contributor. You can watch the full livestream for more info. 

What’s Covered:

Breaking down the prompt.

• Defining Your Communities

The Purpose Behind Your Essay

Tips for writing your essay.

The University of Michigan asks all applicants to respond to its second prompt, which is about the different communities in your life. In this article, we will break down the prompt and go over the purpose behind your writing. By doing this, you can apply what you’ve learned to your own writing as you write your essay for the University of Michigan. 

Prompt 2: “Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by, among other things, shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong and describe that community and your place within.”

For this prompt, you have a 300-word limit to craft your response. This essay fits into a very popular type of essay known as the community essay. Colleges ask you to write about the different communities you are a part of to gain a better understanding of who you are as an individual. The point of all application essays is to provide information about yourself so the college admissions officers can build a better portrait of who you are outside of the classroom. Your grades and test scores are important to understanding who you are as a student but essays are all about your personality.

The University of Michigan is a university that prides itself on the openness and the connection of its community, both between students on campus and between the university and the city of Ann Arbor. For this reason, admissions officers at the University of Michigan want to read about how you’ve contributed to your community. This will give admissions officers a better idea of how you will impact their college community. 

Defining Your Communities 

The University of Michigan’s admissions officers want to learn about the type of person you are outside of the classroom so they can understand how you will fit into its student body. Through this essay, they will decide if you are the type of person they want at their university. To best respond to this prompt, make sure you are answering all their questions. 

Start by defining the different types of communities you are a part of. There is a lot of flexibility in defining what a community is. As stated in the prompt, your community does not only have to be geographical, ethnic, racial, or societal. Your community can be any group that you feel like you belong to and share something in common with. This community can consist of any individuals who share interests with you, such as sports, academic passions, extracurricular activities, or even a tight group of friends who have life values. 

In this essay, focus primarily on your contributions to the community you’re involved in instead of just describing the community itself. This is important because the purpose behind this prompt is to convey who you are and the values or interests you hold. Writing about your community is how admissions officers will gain this information about you. 

During every application cycle, admission officers want to create a well-rounded student body. Each applicant admitted to the University of Michigan fits a certain role in the college community. The university needs to admit applicants who want to run for the student body, compete on the women’s rugby team, or play cello in their orchestra. While you’re writing your response, keep in mind that your goal is to convey how you will fit into the University of Michigan’s student body. 

Start your essay with a hook to keep your reader engaged . Admissions officers read many essays every day during application season, so you must capture their attention early on. With this community essay, you don’t want to spend too much time describing the community itself as this will dilute the impact. Your reader doesn’t need to know how many times you met with your community each week or the type of food served at each meeting. Instead, focus on how your community impacted your values and perspective on life. You’ll also want to focus on the impact you had on this community. 

All your writing should be immersive. You want your reader to feel like they are a part of your story and share the same emotions you have toward your chosen community. This is the best way to get admissions officers to understand who you are.

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Hi fellow applicants! I've been working on the 'community essay' for some of my applications and I'm having trouble figuring out what to write about. Any advice on how to approach this essay and make it stand out? Thanks!

Hello! Writing a community essay can indeed be challenging, but with the right approach, you can create a standout piece. Here are some tips to help you craft a memorable essay:

1. Reflect on your personal experiences: Think about the communities you belong to, whether they're based on a physical location, a shared interest, or a certain background. Consider how your involvement in these communities has shaped the person you are today, and how you've contributed to their growth or well-being.

2. Be specific and provide anecdotes: To make your essay stand out, it's important to focus on a particular aspect of your community involvement. Share personal stories or unique experiences, rather than simply providing general descriptions of your community engagement.

3. Show growth and self-awareness: A well-written essay should convey the growth and personal development you've experienced through your involvement in a community. Don't be afraid to share challenges you've faced and the lessons you've learned from them. Demonstrating self-awareness and personal growth can give your essay a strong emotional impact.

4. Connect to your future aspirations: Reflect on how your community involvement has shaped your future goals and aspirations, and how you'd like to continue contributing to other communities in the future. This can help create a lasting impression on the admissions committee and show that you're committed to using your education for the betterment of your communities.

5. Edit and revise: As with any essay, make sure to thoroughly proofread and revise your work. This will help ensure that your essay is clear, concise, and free of any errors. Consider seeking feedback from a teacher, mentor, or peer to gain additional insights on how to improve your content.

In summary, to craft a standout community essay, focus on specific personal experiences, illustrate growth and self-awareness, and connect your involvement to your future aspirations. Best of luck with your applications!

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How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

• A unique, personal topic
• A compelling, well-structured narrative
• A clear, creative writing style
• Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

• Demonstrated values and qualities
• Vulnerability and authenticity
• Self-reflection and insight
• Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

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It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

• Deadlines and number of essays needed
• Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

• Meaningful and personal to you
• Uncommon or has an unusual angle
• Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

• What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
• What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
• What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
• What makes you different from your classmates?
• What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
• Whom do you admire most? Why?
• What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

• Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
• Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

• Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
• Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
• Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
• Story: Broadway musical interests
• Lesson: Finding my voice
• Story: Smells from family dinner table
• Lesson: Appreciating home and family
• Story: Washing dishes
• Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
• Story: Biking with Ava
• Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
• Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

• Situation: Football injury
• Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
• Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
• My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
• Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

• What are the most prominent images?
• Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
• What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

• Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
• Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
• Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
• Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
• Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

• Summarizing what you already wrote
• Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
• Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

• First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
• Then, check for style and tone issues.
• Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

• Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
• Friends and family can check for authenticity.
• An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

Is this article helpful?

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• Choosing Your College Essay Topic | Ideas & Examples
• College Essay Examples | What Works and What Doesn't
• Common App Essays | 7 Strong Examples with Commentary
• How Long Should a College Essay Be? | Word Count Tips
• How to Apply for College | Timeline, Templates & Checklist
• How to End a College Admissions Essay | 4 Winning Strategies
• How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out | Tips & Examples
• How to Research and Write a "Why This College?" Essay
• How to Write a College Essay Fast | Tips & Examples
• How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples
• How to Write a Great College Essay Introduction | Examples
• How to Write a Scholarship Essay | Template & Example
• How to Write About Yourself in a College Essay | Examples
• Style and Tone Tips for Your College Essay | Examples
• US College Essay Tips for International Students

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Join the College Essay Community

You work hard to support your students. But where do you go for the best college essay advice and resources? Join our College Essay Community, a warm, welcoming space where you can connect with your colleagues (and Wow) to find college essay solutions, get the best resources, engage, discuss, and learn.

Timely Topics

Every other month, we announce a timely topic, post reflection questions, and share Wow’s resources. At the end of the month, we host a meeting on Zoom to share best practices, reflect, and improve. All meetings are recorded and posted the next day.

Exclusive Insights

Our resource library is open 24-7! Explore common issues like tricky essay prompts, worried parents, brainstorming ideas, supplemental essays, running a group workshop, and reviewing drafts quickly and efficiently.

Meaningful Connections

Chat, learn, and connect with colleagues who get it. Access our member directory; find what you need in the resource library; ask or answer a question in the forum; attend office hours; watch a recording. Your level of involvement is entirely up to you.

Community Is a Judgement-Free Zone

Our business is full of chat boards, social media groups, and webinars. Some of the info is useful. But sadly, much of it is either out of context or downright inaccurate.

The College Essay Community is full of extraordinary resources you won’t find anywhere else. We created it as a judgement-free zone for everyone who works with students applying to college because you told us you needed better, and more.

We’ve spent more than a decade training professionals and teaching students how to write effective college essays. We’ve listened to your concerns and provided countless resources to help you succeed. 

We're pulling out all stops to build this Community. Together.

12-month membership includes:.

• Resources, tips, and conversation
• Essay coaching strategies
• Writing exercises for your students
• Office hours meetings (live & recorded)
• Resource library
• Member directory
• Discussion forum
• 24-7 access

Are you ready to join us?

Just $400 for 12 Full Months

(That breaks down to just $33 a month!)

Share Ideas. Solve Problems. Dig Deeper.

In the College Essay Community, we do a lot more than facilitate discussions. We share ideas, solve problems, and dig into best practices together. Ready to make an investment in your essay coaching practice? Just $400 for 12 Full Months

Don’t Just Take Our Word For It

Our approach is unique. Our philosophy is eye-opening. We’ve helped hundreds of professionals like you improve their college essay coaching practices.

Barbara Rifkind Arise Advising New York, NY

“The community is a place for people who are serious about essay coaching. Wow and the Community are in my college essay tool kit.”

Sharon Vann School Counselor Denton, TX

“I value the professional development. As a counselor who works with a lot of students, it is so good to engage with people who work one-on-one.”

Liz Gessner Freelance Writer and Editor Brooklyn, NY

“It feels good to talk openly, strategize, and share information. It helps knowing that other people face similar challenges.”

Alison Merzel AHM Advising Columbus, OH

“There aren’t many places to connect with people who do this work. Connecting with Community is invaluable.”

Kerry Lynch College Edge Dartmouth, Ma

“The conversations are fresh and the resource library is current. My questions always get answered.”

Sara Bittner LAUNCH Education Advisors Netherlands

“I know I am always getting up-to-date information because Wow is in contact with real admissions people all the time.”

What Are You Waiting For?

You and your students deserve to work together smoothly, with less stress, and better results. what are you waiting for just $400 for 12 full months.

© Wow Writing Workshop

A College Essay Toolkit

The way Barbara Rifkind sees it, the first thing new IECs worry about when launching a solo practice is finding clients. After that, they wonder, “How am I going to coach college essays?” >

For Barbara, an IEC from New York City, the essay has always been the most challenging; Community has become her go-to essay coaching resource.

After completing Wow’s College Essay Experience training, Barbara joined Community to engage with others and get accurate, helpful resources. Her goal is to improve her own college essay coaching process. In Community, she contributes and engages in discussions with like-minded professionals; it’s the first time she’s had a place where she felt comfortable engaging with others.

What would she say to another new consultant who needs guidance on college essay coaching?

“Community gets you over one of the two big hurdles — the college essay. It is a dependable and consistent place for people who are serious about essay coaching.”

She appreciates connecting with other IECs, new and experienced, who value Wow’s approach and ethical practice that “privileges the student, rather than their own perspective.” She also loves the resource library, which includes information for writing supplements, parsing prompts, completing activities lists, and running group workshops.

“Wow and the Community are in my college essay tool kit.”

I learn from the others

With a little help from her colleagues in Community, Sharon Vann has mastered the art of the follow-up question for brainstorming college essay ideas with her students.

She credits her enhanced brainstorming technique to discussions with other professionals and Wow’s many resources shared with the Community.

“I learn from the others,” said Sharon, who for years had been the sole college advisor at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science. “I value the professional development. As a counselor who works with a lot of students in a school, I have found it so good to engage with people who work one-on-one.”

Community has been a guaranteed way for Sharon to meet others who are doing the same type of work on college admissions and essays. In fact, she rarely misses a monthly meeting; she clears her calendar so she can attend each session without interruption.

“I was a better counselor this year and definitely better with essays.”

Sharon’s learned so much: understanding students do not need to be unique in their college essays; realizing students should not try so hard to fit their stories into a template; knowing students need to focus on what they want colleges to know, rather than what they think colleges want to know.

A place to strategize and share Information

Community is a great standalone program for Liz Gessner, a freelance writer and editor who has been supporting students writing college application essays for fifteen years. Although Liz is not a counselor, educator, or college admissions person, she joined Community to connect with others doing similar work, as well as to stay current on issues affecting college admissions. She loves the live meetings (even if she does more listening than talking) and watches recordings when she is unable to attend. “It feels good to be able to talk openly, to strategize, and to share information,” Liz said. “It helps knowing that other people doing this work face the same or similar challenges.” Liz found a Community discussion about parsing the Common App’s newest prompt, the gratitude prompt, particularly useful. It was a lively discussion, one she would never been able to have without the other participants.. “While appreciating that the prompt affords students an opportunity to focus on something positive that happened to them, the discussion underscored the fact that each prompt contains several questions and our work as advisors is to make sure our students understand what is being asked of them and to write an essay that answers all parts of the prompt they choose.” Before Liz joined Community, she did not have many others to talk with about this work. She is delighted with her membership and appreciates having access to this professional network. “Since college essay coaching is not the only thing I do, the monthly check-ins keep me connected to the bigger conversation,” she said. “The Community is a valuable resource for keeping up with what’s going on in the world of college admissions.”

Alison Merzel loved the camaraderie among her colleagues while working in graduate admissions at the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. But that sense of community was noticeably absent when Alison ventured out on her own as in IEC in 2019; she missed having colleagues nearby to chat, or bounce ideas off of, and get support.

“It can be very isolating as a single person in a practice without other colleagues. Sometimes I feel like I work on an island as a solo practitioner.” Alison said. “College Essay Community is an incredible, supportive community of pros helping each other.”

For Alison, the College Essay Community fills that gap. One of Community’s first members, she signed up after completing her CEE training and has remained an active participant. For that, she is incredibly grateful.

She loves sharing ideas and hearing others’ ideas. Alison enjoys the monthly meetings, asking questions, and using our resource library.

“I have such a thirst for knowledge and information sharing. Being able to connect with Susan and Kim, as well as other people who do this work, is invaluable,” she said. “There aren’t a lot of places to connect with other people who do this work.”

A Confidence Boost

Kerry Lynch is well on her way to becoming a college essay expert. After completing Wow’s College Essay Experience training, she began honing her essay coaching skills in Community; she has a knack for asking questions that are spot on.

In fact, if Kerry has a question about college essays, she knows she’ll find her answer in Community: whether during a monthly meeting, in the resource library, or in the discussion forum, where she provides valuable insight month after month.

“The conversations are fresh, and the resource library is current,” she says. “Every month, there are questions I have, or questions that emerge while listening to the conversation. My questions always get answered.”

When Susan asked the Community for best tips for writing the Why This College? essay inside the forum, Kerry was the first member to respond:

“This is hard work for students because often they cannot fully articulate why they want a particular major or school. I always remind students that they have to go deep into the website and spend some time reflecting on their visit if they had one, and that works well.”

Kerry is especially interested in what’s on other people’s minds. She prefers to learn in Community, which is respectful, professional, and facilitated by Wow, rather than in a Facebook group, which is not managed and can be a waste of her time.

“I know this is valuable information,” she says. “I don’t have time to go into groups online to try and ascertain what is valuable and what is not. I know this is a space where I can continue to learn, so I can make the college essay easier for my students. Community helps give me confidence to work with students and talk to parents.”

A resource for essay coaching insight

Community is a safe place for Sara Bittner to reflect and think critically about how and why she makes decisions about essay coaching with her students; she is always looking for ways to learn and share what she knows with others.

“If I am stumped by a student on an essay, I make note of it and try to get to the discussion that month so I can get help. I really like getting a more diverse set of feedback. Everyone has ideas about how they handle situations.”

Recently, Sara requested guidance from the Community while struggling to help a student with ADHD select and stick with just one college essay topic.

“My student kept going off onto tangents; she had hundreds of ideas and could not focus,” Sara recalled. “I had to figure out a way to sort through it and help her focus.”

She got what she needed from the collective hive mind. The professionals in Community shared tips and ideas, which gave Sara insight into how others handle students with ADHD. And that was exactly what she needed.

“I get something out of every meeting I attend,” Sara said. “I am an extrovert – it helps having an informed group to bounce ideas off of.”

Sara is also a big fan of Wow’s writing exercises and tip sheets, available any time from the resource library. She calls them “excellent, accurate, and not formulaic.” While she prefers in-person monthly meetings, the time difference (she lives in the Netherlands) often makes attendance impossible. If she misses a meeting, she listens to the recording.

“I know I am always getting up-to-date information because Wow is in contact with real admissions people all the time,” she said. “There was a great discussion on the Covid prompt after it came out, and that was helpful to advise my students. We talked about what it meant, and how to explain it to our students; I used that information to advise my students, too.”

Essays That Worked

The essays are a place to show us who you are and who you’ll be in our community.

It’s a chance to add depth to something that is important to you and tell the admissions committee more about your background or goals. Below you’ll find selected examples of essays that “worked,” as nominated by our admissions committee. In each of these essays, students were able to share stories from their everyday lives to reveal something about their character, values, and life that aligned with the culture and values at Hopkins.

Read essays that worked from Transfer applicants .

Hear from the class of 2028.

These selections represent just a few examples of essays we found impressive and helpful during the past admissions cycle. We hope these essays inspire you as you prepare to compose your own personal statements. The most important thing to remember is to be original as you share your own story, thoughts, and ideas with us.

The Art of Imperfection

In this essay, Stella dives into her journey in the art world and the challenges that came with it.

Finding Purpose in Trivial Projects

Anjali uses her essay to share her experiences with making miniatures. We see how this passion influences everything she does.

Korean Sticky Notes

Nancy’s essay details the responsibilities she had at a young age and her resulting spirit of exploration.

Being the Handyman

Sarah chronicles her experience as her household “handyman” and the versatility of skills she acquired over the years.

To Stand Out or Fit In

Caroline’s essay focuses on their experiences developing and accepting their identity. We see how Caroline navigates the challenge of being themself while also trying to fit in with their peers.

A Growing World

Calla highlights her early wonder by dreaming of future expeditions and playing them out in her backyard. As Calla grows, so does her curiosity and ambition.

More essays that worked

We share essays from previously admitted students—along with feedback from our admissions committee—so you can understand what made them effective and how to start crafting your own.

Application Workshops

Our interactive workshops—on topics like the college search process and essay preparation—will help you build your strongest application when you’re ready to apply.

REGISTER FOR AN APPLICATION WORKSHOP

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Hopkins is coming to you

We're hitting the road! Join our admissions counselors at an information session hosted in a city near you.

Quick Links:

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• College Planning Guide

Mike and Shannon Italia Community Service Endowed Scholarship

About the scholarship.

The Mike and Shannon Italia Community Service Endowed Scholarship is available to students at the University of North Florida Coggin College of Business. Students seeking a bachelor's degree in business are eligible to apply. Special consideration is given to students in the following order: 1. Women in Business Society Officers; 2. participate in community service; 3. financial need.

• Essay Required : No
• Need-Based : Yes
• Merit-Based : Yes
• Minimum 3.00 GPA
• Resident of the U.S.
• Attend the University of North Florida Coggin College of Business
• College junior or senior
• Seeking a bachelor's degree
• Studying business
• Demonstrate financial need Preference is given to students in the following order: 1. Women in Business Society Officers; 2. participate in community service; 3. financial need.
• Country : US

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• The Berkshire Eagle

• Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Writer Jamaica Kincaid and actor Ato Blankson-Wood participated in a "James Baldwin Literary Celebration and Discussion" on Thursday at Berkshire Community College.

• GILLIAN HECK — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Actor Ato Blankson-Wood performed a dramatic reading of an excerpt from James Baldwin's 1957 short story "Sonny's Blues." 

The audience at a Thursday event at Berkshire Community College, celebrating James Baldwin's centennial, included many students and professors.

Writer Jamaica Kincaid and actor Ato Blankson-Wood participated in a “James Baldwin Literary Celebration and Discussion” at Berkshire Community College on Thursday afternoon, produced in association with the Authors Guild Foundation, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and the WIT Literary Festival. 

Jamaica Kincaid reveres James Baldwin's writing — but only his nonfiction

Aaron Simon Gross

Arts & Entertainment Reporter

• Author email
• Sep 27, 2024
• 3 min to read

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Katsastuspalvelut

Rekisteröinti- ja muutoskatsastuksien, matkailuautojen sekä perävaunujen katsastusajat varattava asemalta etukäteen. Osa katsastuksista suoritetaan raskaan kaluston pisteellämme. Emme tee toistaiseksi raskaan kaluston katsastuksia. 

Mäntsälä Maisala

Maisalantie 16, 04600 Mäntsälä

Aukioloajat

K1 katsastus.

Katsastettavat ajoneuvot

• Henkilö-/pakettiautot ja nelipyörät
• Isokokoiset autot
• Keskiraskaat ajoneuvot
• Raskaat ajoneuvot
• Muutos- ja rekisteröintikatsastus (max 3500 kg)
• Muutos- ja rekisteröintikatsastus (yli 3500 kg)
• Määräaikaiskatsastus (max 3500 kg)
• Määräaikaiskatsastus (yli 3500 kg)

pricing: Katsastuspalvelut

Lisäpalvelut.

• BG Karstanpoistopalvelu
• Kuntotarkastus

Vihreät hinnat! Löydät ajanvarauksesta edullisia Vihreitä hintoja henkilö- ja pakettiauton katsastukseen. Etuhintaisia aikoja on tarjolla vain rajoitetusti ja edellyttävät aina varausta sekä maksua ennakkoon.

Rekisteröintipalvelut

• Ajoneuvon rekisteröinti
• Rekisterikilvet

Valtakunnallinen ajanvaraus

ma-pe klo 7.30-18, la klo 9-14 (pvm/mpm)

• Type: Town with 20,800 residents
• Description: municipality in the region of Uusimaa in Finland
• Neighbors: Askola , Hausjärvi , Hyvinkää , Järvenpää , Kärkölä , Orimattila , Pornainen , Pukkila , Sipoo and Tuusula

Notable Places in the Area

Mäntsälä railway station.

Tokmanni Areena

Mäntsälä Church

• Categories: municipality of Finland and locality
• Location: Helsinki sub-region , Uusimaa , Southern Finland , Finland , Nordic countries , Europe
• View on Open­Street­Map

Mäntsälä Satellite Map

Other Places Named Mäntsälä

Locales in the area.

• Koskenranta Suburb
• Mustamäki Suburb
• Valkamanpelto Suburb
• Koivumäki Suburb
• Riihenmäki Suburb

Popular Destinations in Uusimaa

Explore these curated destinations.