How to Write for Common App Prompt #7 – Free Choice
by Sarah M.
Prompt 7: “Share an essay on a topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.”
This prompt is an opportunity to tell your own story in your own way. If you don’t have any idea what you want to write about and you’re brainstorming from scratch, a different prompt will most likely be the best choice. However, if you have a clear idea of something you want to write about, and it doesn’t really fit under any of the other prompts, then this is the one for you!
There are infinite ways to approach this prompt successfully, but let’s first get a few don’ts out of the way:
- Do NOT attempt this if you don’t have a specific idea. Since there’s no grounding theme provided by a prompt here, it can be easy produce an unfocused, general essay that fails to set you apart.
- Do NOT submit an essay you wrote for class. You may be able to revise existing work, but anything you’ve written previously for a different purpose will certainly need editing to make it a good fit here.
- This still needs to be a personal essay. Though you can be playful with form if you feel very confident as a writer, keep in mind that you still need to use this space to give your readers a clear, compelling, and unique insight into your life, your interests, and your way of thinking. Stay away from anything too analytical, fictional, or abstruse.
Aside from that, there is really no limit to what you can do with Prompt 7. Even if you have a specific topic in mind, it may help to remember the very general formula for any personal statement as you draft:
- Tell a detailed, specific, personal story.
- Reflect on why this moment, passion, event, realization, challenge, etc. was meaningful to you.
- Look to the future and articulate how this will shape you going forward.
You can be playful with these categories, mix up the order, and have fun with the prose, but all of these pieces need to be included somewhere.
