Essays are a critical element of the college application. If your son or daughter doesn’t catch the eye of admissions readers with an interesting essay, then their chance of acceptance plummets. Want to know the essay topics for 2018-2019 applications?  Look below.

All Topics Are Preliminary and Subject to Change

National Common App Topic Choices

The essay length will continue to be capped at 650 words.

2018-2019 Common Application Essay Prompts

1. 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.
2. 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?
3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
4. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma – anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. 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?
7. 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.

UT-Austin Uses Apply Texas application with these requirements:

Required Essay Topic (for all applicants)

Essay Topic A

What was the environment in which you were raised? Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a person.

 
Short Answers (250 – 300 words each, all required)

• If you could have any career, what would it be? Why? Describe any activities you are involved in, life experiences you’ve had, or even classes you’ve taken that have helped you identify this professional path.
• Do you believe your academic record (transcript information and test scores) provide an accurate representation of you as a student? Why or why not?
• How do you show leadership in your life? How do you see yourself being a leader at UT Austin?

Art and Art History Majors Must Also Submit this Short Answer Question:

Personal interaction with objects, images and spaces can be so powerful as to change the way one thinks about particular issues or topics. For your intended area of study (art history, design, studio art, visual art studies/art education), describe an experience where instruction in that area or your personal interaction with an object, image or space effected this type of change in your thinking. What did you do to act upon your new thinking and what have you done to prepare yourself for further study in this area?

Texas A&M Uses Apply Texas Application With These Requirements:

Essay A (Required)

What was the environment in which you were raised? Describe your family, home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a person.

Applicants to the College of Engineering Only!! Describe your academic and career goals in the broad field of engineering. What and/or who has influenced you either inside or outside the classroom that contributed to these goals?

University of California System Application (UCLA, UC-Berkeley, UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara, etc.)

Instead of a personal statement essay, applicants will be asked to complete “personal insight questions.” Freshman applicants must respond to four of the eight questions, with each response at 350 words or less.

• Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.
• Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
• What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
• Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.
• Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?
• Describe your favorite academic subject and explain how it has influenced you.
• What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?
• What is the one thing that you think sets you apart from other candidates applying to the University of California?