Although a majority of colleges require application essays, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all topic. There are actually several different college essay types you could be asked to write. They can vary in length requirements, prompts, and style. Some even may request more than one! To help you prepare for your college applications, we listed out some common types of college essays below.
What Should Your College Essay Be About?
One of the hardest parts of college applications is writing your college essay – and the most difficult part of the essay is getting started. What will your essay be about after all?
Some colleges present you with a single, specific prompt that gives you the direction you need to begin writing. Others leave it more open-ended. But many present you with several options to choose from. Selecting the best one out of these prompts or choosing a topic for open-ended essay topics can be difficult.
Whether you have to pick a topic or go with a specific prompt, brainstorming can help you select the best subject for your essay. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, ask friends, family members, and teachers for suggestions. Once you have a subject in mind, create an outline of your essay so you can be sure to stay on track and on topic.
Common Types of College Essays
There are 11 common types of college essay prompts you might see with your school applications. Of course, not all schools adhere to these exact topics, so be sure to read over admission requirements for each college before you start writing.
1. Personal Statement
A personal statement is all about you. Your grades and test scores tell one story, but a personal statement essay is a chance to highlight what makes you unique. You can often talk about your experiences, memories, challenges, accomplishments and more with these college essay types.
The Common App’s required essay is actually called a “personal statement.” Six of the prompts for the 2024-25 application cycle are on personal topics, while the seventh prompt can be about anything you’d like.
2. “Why Are You Interested in Attending This School?” Essay
This type of essay highlights why you’re interested in this particular school. It could be a major, traditions, school life, something else, or a mix of a few different factors. You’ll want to highlight what makes that college unique to you, and how that fits into your wants, needs, or goals.
Make sure you have substance in your essay. For example, if you’re a fan of their football team, that’s perfectly fine to mention in a sentence if it fits within your essay. However, if you’re not majoring in something sports-related or you’re not going to participate in football, you probably don’t want to make it seem like you’re only interested in attending because you’re a fan of their team!
3. Intended Career or Major Essay
Some schools will ask you to talk about your goals, during college and/or after graduation. You can highlight why you’re interested in a particular topic, your demonstrated interest in that subject, your aims during and after college, and how you think this school will help you reach those goals.
Even if you’re not sure about your major, don’t worry. In a majority of cases, you won’t have to select your major until your end of sophomore year or beginning of junior year. And even if you write your essay about Biology but switch to a Chemistry major, it’s perfectly fine. Most students change their major!
4. Hobby, Passion, or Interest Essay
Grades, test scores, and letters of recommendation don’t often say much about you outside the classroom. These types of essays give you the opportunity to talk about your passions and interests, beyond the classroom. You can talk about hobbies, volunteer work, part-time jobs, family responsibilities, and more.
Consider talking about a challenge you faced or a passion project you worked on. It’s generally recommended that you stay away from essays on sports. Admission officers usually receive hundreds of these, and they can grow stale quickly. However, if you think you have a unique spin on a sports-related topic (such as you plan on majoring in something related to sports or participating in a team or athletic club), don’t let this recommendation hold you back.
5. Community Impact Essay
Do you do volunteer work? Do you help out your family? Have you participated in community projects? Have you gone above and beyond at school? Community impact essays talk about how you’ve changed your community for the better. “Community” can refer to a lot, too. It can be related to clubs, such as Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, or it can mean a class, your town, your family, or something else.
Community impact essay prompts can vary quite a bit between schools, so always make sure to read over the topic carefully before you decide on a topic.
6. Overcoming a Challenge Essay
Is there a time you faced a challenge and came out on top? This type of college essay is the time to talk about it. Your essay should detail the challenge, the problems you ran into, the strategies you took to overcome the challenge, and the end result. Some schools may restrict you to talking about academic challenges, while others allow for other topics.
7. Social Impact Essay
Social impact essays tend to be about diversity, inclusion, equity, social justice, and related topics. Some colleges can ask you to write about your “understanding” of social topics, while others invite you to talk about your own experiences, such as challenges you’ve overcome or impacts you’ve made on social issues.
8. “Tell Us About Yourself” Essay
The “tell us about yourself” essay prompt is very similar to personal statements, but tend to be more open. In these essays, the school just wants to know everything and anything about you – anything you’d like to talk about. They often tend to be college interview questions, too! You can talk about your hometown, background, hobbies, interests, something else, or a mix of topics.
For example, an essay prompt Stanford University currently uses is “Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—get to know you better.”
9. Think Outside the Box Essay
These can be called unique, oddball, or simply weird essay prompts, but they’re all vastly different from the “regular” prompts you’re going to see. They present students with the opportunity to think outside the box and really have fun with their college admissions. You can showcase your personality, humor, creativity, and more with this type of college essay!
For example, in recent years, the University of Vermont has asked about what type of charitable ice cream flavor would you develop (and why) if you worked with Ben & Jerry’s?
The University of Chicago has some ones that are very out there, too – and many are inspired by past students! Here’s one for the 2024-25 UChicago application: “We’re all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being “caught purple-handed”? Or “tickled orange”? Give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents.”
10. Major or Program Specific Essay
Some competitive programs at select colleges have separate admission processes. Engineering, film, music, art, and performing arts are common majors that might require different things from their applicants. These programs could require major or program specific essays that highlight your interest in the subject.
The “Why this Major” essay or program specific essays are often in addition to the regular admission essays, so double check the requirements before submitting your application. Some will also require a portfolio.
Some colleges even ask for major-related essays from their students. Chapman University for example, requires an essay on your intended major. Students need to talk about why they think the program at Chapman would be a good fit for them and explain their interest in the subject. For students who don’t wish to declare a major, they’re asked to talk about academic interests and how that aligns with the programs that Chapman offers.
11. Open Essays
Another type of college essay you might see is just “open ended.” You’re invited to talk about anything you’d like. For instance, the seventh prompt for the 2024-25 Common App is “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.”
In these cases, you can write about one of the other common types of college essays or write something wholly unique. You can have fun with it, write about a topic that is important to you, or something else.
For example, one of the colleges I applied to required an open essay in 2006. A huge Beatles fan that desired to major in creative writing, I decided to write my college essay using Beatles’ song titles. Every line had a title, but it had to do with my life, background, goals, and experiences (“Paperback Writer” was an easy one to include). I then ended the piece with a quote from John Lennon from the band’s final public performance: “I would like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we’ve passed the audition.”
Keep in mind that you should still have a set topic. Your college essay is your opportunity to showcase your writing skills and your ability to explain ideas clearly, but also a chance to show why the college should accept you. If you write an open essay, brainstorming is a must to determine the best central idea.
Final Tip: Read Your Prompts Carefully
When applying to colleges, always carefully read over the essay prompts before you start writing – and start early. Even if your college application isn’t due for a few months, an early start gives you time to think about what you’re going to write, write the piece, edit, and rework. The last thing you want to do is write a college essay the night before it’s due!
One topic many students write about is their academic interests. Understanding what to expect in different majors can help you choose the right program (and school) for you, while also giving you the information you need to write your college application essay. Our Major Search tool helps you learn more about various programs, career opportunities, course topics, and more. It’s completely free – use it here.
