The Common Application has announced the personal statement essay prompts for the 2025-26 admissions season.
What Are the Common App Essay Prompts?
The Common App essay prompts will remain unchanged from the last admissions cycle:
- Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
- The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
- Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
- Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
- Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
- Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
The Common App also announced two changes to the optional Additional Information questions for the 2025-26 application.
- What was previously known as the “Community Disruption” question will now be called the “Challenges and Circumstances” question. The language in this question is changing to reflect a broader range of experiences that students may face. The word/character limit is not changing — 250 words maximum for first-year students and 1,250 characters maximum for transfer students.
- The “Additional Information” question has been reduced from 650 to 300 words maximum for first-year students and from 3,500 to 1,500 characters maximum for transfer students.
Getting Started on Your Common App Essay
At IvyWise, we advise students to get started on their college applications the summer before their senior year. While current juniors can certainly start to brainstorm topics for their college application essays now, the Common App essay should not overshadow juniors’ current college prep, including extracurriculars, test prep (if applicable), studying for AP or other important exams, and other important college prep tasks like building their balanced college list and visiting schools.
Are you ready to get on track with your college prep? In addition to helping students with their Common App essays and supplements their senior year, IvyWise works with students to help them craft a balanced college list, choose the right courses for the next school year, select the best teachers for letters of recommendation, and more to help them put together the best college application possible.
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