challenged a belief or idea essay example by cornell admit

Dr. Jennifer B. Bernstein

• Success Stories
• One-Time Consultation
• All-In-One & Comprehensive Private Support
• Online Program

One of the Common Application essay prompts asks you to “reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?”

• Why Colleges Want to Read Essays on Your Experience Questioning or Challenging a “Belief or Idea” (which also gives you important hints about the types of underlying things you want to reveal about yourself in your anecdotes)
• What Not to Do in an Essay on a “Time When You Questioned a Belief or Idea” (to help you avoid falling prey to a common mistake)
• Essay Example by Cornell Admit

2020 UPDATE & Why Most Students Don’t Write About a Time They “Questioned or Challenged a Belief or Idea”

Most students don’t write their Common App essays on challenging a belief or idea.

But you’re not aiming to be like most students, right?

Consider what the Common App team points out in their 2020-2021 update on the essay topics:

“While students aren’t inclined to discuss a time when they challenged a belief or idea, members appreciate what those essays reveal about the students who write them .”

[Just FYI: Members are the colleges that use the Common App.]

It’s interesting to get this feedback from the Common App because it aligns with the patterns I’ve observed with my own students.

Many of my students have immediately dismissed this essay topic, especially when it used to be phrased this way: “Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?”

They felt they couldn’t write a Common App essay on this topic because they. . .

• never questioned or challenged a major belief or idea
• challenged a belief or idea but that didn’t necessarily involve taking some big action
• didn’t want to “rock the boat” in their essay.

However, I want you to notice the BIG change in the Common App’s phrasing of the topic.

The emphasis is no longer just on challenging a belief or idea.

Now you’re also invited to consider writing about a time when you  questioned  a belief or idea and asked to shed more light on your thinking (rather than just your action).

There are so many interesting possibilities for the “questioned or challenged a belief or idea” essay topic, so I want you to keep an open mind and see if it could be a good fit for you.

Why Colleges Want to Read Essays on Your Experience Questioning or Challenging a “Belief or Idea”

Why do schools that use the Common App say that they “appreciate” what essays a “time you questioned or challenged a belief or idea” demonstrate “about the students who write them”?

Let’s consider some possibilities.

REASON #1: Colleges value students who are open to exploring and respecting perspectives other than their own. Sometimes this involves questioning or challenging your own beliefs or ideas and sometimes it involves challenging those of others.

A significant part of the intellectual and social experience of college involves opening yourself up to new perspectives and getting to know people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Some of the most interesting discussions and learning experiences occur when there’s a range of beliefs or interpretations shared during class discussions, while working on projects, or in student organizations.

Remember that this essay prompt is asking you about a “time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea.”

That DOESN’T necessarily mean CHANGING them.

Questioning or challenging ideas or beliefs can also involve enlarging, developing, or refining them.

It could involve realizing that someone’s perspective (including your own) is limited and only applicable in certain circumstances.

REASON #2: Admissions officers are interested in your habits of mind, including your ability to engage in critical thinking.

Even if you’re writing about standing up against a significant injustice, you can’t just write an essay about squashing it.

You have to reveal how you grappled with the issues at hand and how best to address them.

Although the phrase “critical thinking” doesn’t appear in the wording of this Common App essay prompt, that’s one of the things admissions officers want to learn about when reading your essay.

The way you demonstrate your critical thinking in this essay is through your description of “what prompted your thinking.”

Let’s clarify what’s meant by critical thinking.

Wikipedia provides this definition of critical thinking . It involves:

“being inquisitive and curious,

being open-minded to different sides,

being able to think systematically,

being analytical, . . .and

being mature.”

In a previous version of this Wikipedia entry, I found this definition as well. Critical thinking. . .

“clarifies goals,

examines assumptions,

discerns hidden values,

evaluates evidence,

accomplishes actions, and

assesses conclusions.”

Someone who thinks critically doesn’t just take things at face value (even if they seem obviously wrong or bad).

They look beneath the surface to figure out the assumptions and values informing the information and situations they encounter. They also know how to evaluate evidence and consider what types of evidence are–and are not–being provided.

When you’re writing about “what prompted your thinking” in terms of challenging a particular belief or idea, you want to show evidence of these ways of thinking–of these ways of examining your beliefs and ideas and those of others. You definitely don’t have to demonstrate all of them.

REASON #3: The “challenged a belief or idea” essay is a great way to demonstrate your “intellectual vitality” that all colleges, not just Stanford, are looking for in applicants.

This reason combines the first two that we’ve covered but pushes them to the next level.

Let’s consider what the former director of Columbia University’s graduate nonfiction program has to say. In  To Show and To Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction , Phillip Lopate points out:

“In the best nonfiction,. . .you’re always made aware that you are being engaged with a supple mind at work . The story line or plot in nonfiction consists of the twists and turns of a thought process working itself out ” (6).

Many students just don’t yet realize that “ follow[ing] a live, candid mind thinking on the page ” is extremely interesting and important for admissions officers (43).

Just as importantly, most students don’t know how to make their thinking processes spring to life in their writing. It takes time and lots of guidance to master the art of writing this way.

However, it’s this kind of writing that demonstrates the “intellectual vitality” that admissions officers are hunting for when they read your application material.

Many times it’s not the surface level of your narrative (in this case, the specific belief or idea you questioned or challenged) that matters most to admissions officers. It’s your process of thinking and acting.

What Not to Do in an Essay on a “Time You Questioned a Belief or Idea”

One of my former students wanted to focus on a time when he stood up for a student at his school who was being bullied (which involved challenging one of the bully’s core beliefs)

That was actually a good initial idea.

Even though it might seem like a cliched approach to responding to the essay prompt, it’s in the details–in the vivid anecdotes and insights–that you can stand out and make the essay your own.

However, this student had two friends who were constantly ripping his draft to shreds.

“More DRAMA!!!!”

“Don’t tell, SHOW!!!”

Those are the kinds of notes I’d see in the margins of his draft.

His friends eventually convinced him to create an essay that was so exaggerated that it was unbelievable and stripped his writing of his deeper, more significant thoughts and feelings about the situation.

Yes, your essay needs internal and external tension or conflict, but it doesn’t have to be blown out of proportion.

Nuance and subtlety often have more power than you realize.

Yes, you need to show, but you also need to tell.

I strongly recommend checking out these two articles , which reveal effective strategies to use in your Common App essays.

“Techniques Used in the Best College Application Essays”

“Two Elements of the Best Common Application Essays”

“Challenged a Belief or Idea” Essay Example by Cornell Admit

Background Info: One of my students who was accepted to Cornell Engineering wrote about  her experience challenging a Science Olympiad judge’s conclusion about the vehicle she created with her partner. 

Click here to read my article on how to successfully position yourself for engineering programs.

You can watch the video or read about her essay down below.

ESSAY STRUCTURE, MOODS, AND TONES: 

PARAGRAPH #1:

To generate immediate interest, she plunged readers right into the moment before the event, a great strategy for helping readers feel like they’re there with you. 

NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS:  

Instead of jumping right into what happened during the event, she flashed back to the painstaking process she and her partner went through while preparing for the event.

She didn’t just tell admissions officers they’d spent all this time and energy on the project—she showed it through vivid, sometimes funny, examples about experimenting with various materials.

In this part of her essay, she was providing insight into her work ethic, attention to even the minutest details, ability to handle setbacks, and capacity to collaborate .

By this point, the student was in the middle of her essay, but the reader still didn’t know that she’s writing about a time she challenged someone’s idea or belief.

That’s totally fine!

You’re not writing an academic essay on challenging a belief or idea.

You’re immersing admissions officers in your world—taking them behind the scenes in your life—and, when the moment’s right, you can “tap” on the essay prompt.

SHIFTS IN MOOD AND TONE:

She started by creating an anticipatory mood , mixed the seriousness of preparation with a certain degree of humor , and then, after the flashback, gets to the serious part. She’s bringing readers back to the present moment to describe the engineering event itself and the judge’s decision. Because she so effectively described the process, readers feel the let down when something goes wrong.

Readers feel like they’re going on a journey.

That’s a good thing.

NEXT PARAGRAPHS:

The student then described how she and her partner were so taken aback by the results and how they tried to make sense of what happened.

Through these anecdotes she demonstrates her critical thinking skills . She didn’t just jump to the conclusion that the judge was wrong.

She described how, when she realized the problem was with a certain measurement, her partner didn’t want her to say anything about it. She feared speaking up against the authority figure and felt they might suffer some sort of other penalty.

However, even though my student felt kind of queasy about challenging the judge, she did it and the decision was changed in their favor.

She drew her essay to a close with some insights into how this process of learning to speak up for herself—something she hadn’t really done before—changed her life in other ways. It’s not like she’s now always challenging authority but she feels more confident.

Your Next Steps for Writing a Great Common App Essay

Click here to gain access to my complete set of articles on Common App essays and supplemental essays.

Blog post images in order of use: ©claireandy/unsplash.com

Give Yourself A Competitive Edge!

Benefit from my unique approach, insider’s perspective, & great results

Get FREE instant access to

"What Really Matters to College Admissions Officers (and Why): Surprising Facts About What You Need to Be Doing in 9th, 10th, 11th, & 12th Grade"

Browse Articles On...

• Campus Culture
• High School
• Top Schools

Writing the Common App 2018-2019 Prompt #3: Challenging a Belief or Idea

• college application essays
• personal statement
• essay topic

With seven Common Application college essay prompts to choose from, which one should you choose?

Choosing Your Common App Essay Topic

More often than not, there will be a few application prompts that will jump out at you. Often, the prompts that catch your attention do so because they align with a story or value that’s core to your identity. Jot down the first thoughts that come to you as you browse these prompts. These can turn out to be great ideas off of which to expand your eventual essay topic.

Common App Prompt #3 Essay Prompt

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Analyzing the Essay Prompt: Why Colleges Ask

The core of this essay prompt is to understand your values and beliefs and your thought process. How did you come to have these beliefs or ideas? Why did you question your initial belief system? How did others react to that? Finally, how did you resolve those challenges?

Out of all the Common App essay prompts, this one best demonstrates a candidate’s critical thinking, which is a quality admissions officers want to see in a candidate. This prompt also demonstrates a candidate’s humility and willingness to admit being wrong. It can be difficult to articulate your thought process clearly, especially with very personal essay subjects, so this prompt could be challenging but worthwhile if done right.

The prompt also asks for the motivation behind your thinking. The essay should explore the values that triggered your challenge. There has to be a reason you adopted a new set of beliefs. By doing so, you’ll be able to write about the things that are important to you, how they came to be, and therefore paint a better picture of who you are to the admissions office.  

Remember, analytical and critical thinking is a skill many institutions want to help foster, mostly through discussion-based lectures and seminars. Choose this prompt only if you’re very clear about your values and arguments.

Common “Challenged a Belief” Essay Topics

1. religion.

Religious teachings are often subjected to challenge, and it’s up to your faith and understanding to defend or reject them. If you were raised in a religious family, it may have been the only set of values you knew at first. However, as you step out of the home into other settings, such as school or other communities, you may have been exposed to different cultures and religions. For many students, learning about new cultures or belief systems can reshape opinions or even reframe moral beliefs that don’t fully align with what you initially learned. Usually, when a religious teaching is challenged, this can have profound consequences on a person’s worldview, self identity, and future goals.

If this is a narrative arc that speaks to you, writing about your religion can be a great way to showcase how your own values system has changed over time and based on experience. Religion can be a touchy subject, but this topic can be very successful if you demonstrate self awareness and tolerance (toward yourself and others). Examples include encounters that caused you to doubt your faith or a potential clash of ideas in a classroom setting.

A. Essay Topic: Religious Beliefs

Excerpt from StanfordNerd

Sociology Major

Stanford University ‘22

“”Oh no, Michelle! Can you even eat those?” Celia’s mother exclaimed, seeing the two cheeseburgers on my plate. The beef patties and slices of cheddar cheese stacked between two tiny buns were definitely not kosher. Yet, they definitely looked delicious. I was at an impasse. My family ate only kosher food in our household and my friend’s mother knew of my dietary restrictions. After years of following th e scientific method in school, I deduced there was no solid evidence barring me from eating the adorably small cheeseburgers. I shrugged and bit into the slider.”

Unlock this Stanford profile to continue reading!

B. Essay Topic: Religious Beliefs

Banking & Finance Major Excerpt from Doodie123

Washington University in St. Louis ‘19

“Give us today our daily bread.”

Such words I would hear both at Sunday congregations and from occasion bread-lovers that show up at our family bakery. Propelled by the entrepreneurial mentality of my family, I started to develop a growing desire for success at a young age. However, this seemingly ambitious desire gradually transformed into a self-centered way of life as I began to yearn for a sumptuous lifestyle that ignored the welfare of others.”

Unlock this Wash U successful application file to read more!

2. Gender and Sexuality

Identity is a tough topic to tackle for anyone at any age—it requires a great deal of self awareness and maturity. When it comes to gender identity and sexuality, that can be an even trickier area to navigate because it can be so easily misunderstood or misinterpreted with unwarranted social stigma. Therefore, taking on this topic requires authentic and clear writing. You want to communicate your story clearly so that the points you want to highlight are the points that come across to the reader; a bad outcome would be for the reader to take away a muddied or the wrong conclusion.

Discovering or acknowledging an element of your identity can be an incredibly transformative process. It comes with a lot of self questioning, growth, and catharsis. The more you can convey the inner transformation in your writing with clear, concrete examples to help the reader understand what’s happening in the cocoon before the butterfly emerges, the more compelling your essay will be.

A. Essay Topic: Sexuality & Religion

Excerpt from sumiko05

Undeclared major

Princeton University ‘20

“I grew up in a devoutly Christian family. Every Sunday, we go to church, whether it was the first one in the woods of Connecticut or the last one, where my father now serves as priest. The main message of the church has always been love, first and foremost. Love of God for the world, love of humans for each other. The concept of pride—of being so proud of who I was that I proclaimed it to the whole world—has been a hard thing for me to grasp with regards to my sexuality.”

Continue reading her full Princeton University personal statement. 

B. Essay Topic: Sexual Orientation

Excerpt from ssssnown

Women’s Studies Major

UC Berkeley ‘20

“I never faced any gender-based accusations of being strong-minded, aggressive and competitive for speaking out my opinions before. But when I broke up with my popular boyfriend and began hanging out with a girl who identified as lesbian, people changed their attitudes abruptly.”

Unlock her successful UC Berkeley application!

3. Stereotypes

Ah the classic high school stereotypes of jock vs. nerd / theater geek vs. math genius / class clown vs. teacher’s pet. As a high schooler, you may have had your fair share of being on the intentional or unintentional receiving or giving end of the stereotype. And like most high schoolers, you probably wanted to challenge the framework despite playing into it at times. The high school label is one such trope, however, there are many other stereotypes and labels we put on one another—stereotypes about race, ability, socioeconomic class, introversion, etc. If you’ve ever felt boxed into a label (or done the boxing), this is a great topic to consider.

In order to be successful with this topic, be thoughtful and deliberate about how you want to structure this essay. Is the story about self discovery? Is it about righting a wrong? Is it about fighting the system? Choose a clear narrative framework and a clear conclusion (a takeaway for yourself; not necessarily what you think the takeaway should be) so that your main idea doesn’t get lost in trying to do too much.

A. Essay Topic: Stereotypes: Racial/Cultural

Excerpt from Laurenwilson

Political Science & Government Major

Brown University ‘21

“It was around 6:30 in the evening when I filed onto the train to go back to my host family’s apartment in Shibuya. As I untangled my earphones in my seat, I noticed a little girl, clutching her mother’s hand, gasp at the sight of my dark skin and box braids, as though she’s never seen anyone who looks quite like me before. A cause of great discomfort just a few weeks prior, I shook it off as a normal part of being a gaikokujin, or a foreigner, in Japan.”

View her full personal statement in her Brown profile!

B. Essay Topic: Stereotypes: Gender

Excerpt from athomp19

Biomedical Sciences Major

University of Pennsylvania ‘19

“Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the typical reactions of my peers, mostly male. As if there were speaking aloud, I hear, “Are you sure you don’t need help with that? You don’t want to get hurt!” I flash them my own look of mitigated contempt. Steeping beneath the weight of the bar, the corner of my mouth twitches as I perform the back squats flawlessly and effortlessly, only imagining the gawking expressions on their faces. Not bothering to cast another glance so I can get back to work, I continue to add more weight. That was just a warm up.

Continue reading her successful Penn personal statement.  

Formatting the Common Application Essay

How to start your essay.

There are a few ways you may want to format the essay for the most impact. You can start with the encounter or experience you had during which your belief was challenged. It can be an excerpted piece of dialogue or even just a blanket statement someone made. Use the event as the catalyst to talk about your belief shift.

Alternatively, you can start by discussing the set of values and beliefs you initially held. Describe to the reader what you’ve always known growing up, and then insert the incident that caused you to have second thoughts. Be specific about what you’re having doubts about. What are the questions you’re asking yourself? The more of a window you can provide the reader into your internal thought process, the better the reader can understand your mindset (and your critical thinking skills).

Lastly, you can lead with the values or beliefs you have now since the change. Reflect on a time you didn’t think this way and use the rest of the essay to write about the impetus for the change and why you no longer feel the same way.

How to Conclude Your Essay

Wrap up this Common Application essay with the outcome of your challenge. Were you able to change someone else’s mind, or at least make them a little open minded? Or, perhaps the change was more for yourself and personal growth. If appropriate, you can also discuss how you hope to continue the growth or change in college and beyond. How are you going to use this experience in the future? Feel free to tie this in with a field of study or extracurricular passion you hope to pursue in college.

No matter how you structure your essay, the important thing is to make sure you’ve done the following by the end of the essay:

Illustrate the shift—Use examples to accompany the internal shift in beliefs

Explain WHY—What led to this shift?

Don’t forget the outcome!—What was the reaction? Both your own and those of the people around you? How have you grown? How have you helped those around you grow? How will you apply what you’ve learned moving forward?

Get access to profiles in our database! Our  premium plans  offer different levels of profile access and data insights that can help you with your application process. Unlock any of our  packages  or search our  undergraduate profile database  to find specific profiles that can help you make an informed choice about where to apply!

About The Author

Frances was born in Hong Kong and received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She loves super sad drama television, cooking, and reading. Her favorite person on Earth isn’t actually a member of the AdmitSee team - it’s her dog Cooper.

Browse Successful Application Files

Last week, Prompt's CEO shared what mistakes to avoid in your college essay. In Part 2 of this two-part blog series, learn how to pick an essay topic. The key: focus on an admissions officer’s...

With an otherwise great college application, how important can college essays really be? When only 1 in 5 students applying to selective colleges have compelling essays, make sure you avoid this essay mistake....

In this second part of his two-part series, college admissions coach Justin Taylor explains key admissions lessons from 2020, an unprecedented year of firsts, that can help you strategize as we enter into this next application...

In Part one of this two-part series, college admissions coach Justin Taylor explains key lessons about 2020, “a year like no other,” that could seriously boost your chances in 2021, including smarter list building and transcript GPA...

We are so excited to announce that for this year’s scholarship, we selected five scholarship winners to maximize the impact of our $5,000 college scholarship prize money....

• 1. Webinar Series: College Application Prep for High School Juniors
• 2. College Application Lessons from 2020-2021: Strategizing through Covid Changes (Part 2)
• 3. College Admissions Lessons from 2020-2021: Strategizing through Covid Changes (Part 1)

• 5. COVID-19 and Your College Essay: Should You Write About It?
• 6. College Search: How to Find Your Best College Fit
• 7. College Tours 101: Everything You Need to Know
• 8. Waitlisted? 5 Ways to Move from the College Waitlist to Acceptance
• 9. When (and why) should you send additional materials to colleges you’re interested in?
• 10. How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out
• 1. How to Write College Essays to Boost your Chances Part 2: Focusing the Priority
• 2. How to Write College Essays to Boost your Chances Part 1: Biggest Essay Mistakes
• 3. College Application Lessons from 2020-2021: Strategizing through Covid Changes (Part 2)
• 5. Winners of the AdmitSee 2020 College Scholarship
• 6. COVID-19 and Your College Essay: Should You Write About It?
• 7. Education, Access and Systemic Racism
• 8. Applying to BS/MD Direct Medical Programs: Why Early Med School Admission Might be Right for You
• 9. How to Get Off the College Waitlist (5 Go-To Strategies)
• 10. College admissions prep during the Coronavirus

Common Application Essay Option 3 Tips: Challenging a Belief

• Essay Samples & Tips
• College Admissions Process
• College Profiles
• College Rankings
• Choosing A College
• Application Tips
• Testing Graphs
• College Financial Aid
• Advanced Placement
• Homework Help
• Private School
• College Life
• Graduate School
• Business School
• Distance Learning
• Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania
• M.A., English, University of Pennsylvania
• B.S., Materials Science & Engineering and Literature, MIT

The third essay option on the Common Application in 2020-21 asks a question designed to probe your beliefs and character. The current prompt reads: 

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Quick Tips: An Essay on Challenging a Belief

• You have lots of leeway with this question for a "belief or idea" can be almost anything you've ever questioned.
• Focus on the word "reflect"—your essay needs to be thoughtful and inward looking; avoid merely describing what happened.
• Show off college success skills such as your ability to ask questions, probe assumptions, test ideas, and engage in thoughtful debate.

The focus on a "belief or idea" makes this question wonderfully (and perhaps paralyzingly) broad. Indeed, you could write about almost anything that you've ever openly questioned, whether it be your school's daily recital of the Pledge of Allegiance, the color of your team uniforms, or the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing. Of course, some ideas and beliefs will lead to better essays than others.

Choosing an Idea or Belief

Step one in tackling this prompt is coming up with an "idea or belief" you have questioned or challenged that will lead to a good essay. Keep in mind that the belief could be your own, your family's, a peer's, a peer group's, or a larger social or cultural group's.

As you narrow down your options, don't lose sight of the purpose of the essay: the college to which you are applying has holistic admissions , so the admissions folks want to get to know you as a whole person, not just as a list of grades , awards, and test scores . Your essay should tell the admissions officers something about you that will make them want to invite you to join their campus community. Your essay needs to show that you are a thoughtful, analytical, and open-minded person, and it should also reveal something that you care about deeply. Thus, the idea or belief that you reflect upon shouldn't be something superficial; it should center on an issue that is central to your identity.

Keep this points in mind as you brainstorm your topic:

• The belief can be your own. In fact, your own belief can be an excellent choice for this essay option. If you are able to reevaluate and challenge your own beliefs, you are demonstrating that you are a student who has the self-awareness, open-mindedness, and maturity that are essential ingredients for college success.
• The belief or idea can take many forms: a political or ethical belief, a theoretical or scientific idea, a personal conviction, an entrenched way of doing things (challenging the status quo), and so on. Tread carefully, however, as some topics should be avoided and can send your essay into controversial or potentially risky territory.
• Your challenge of the idea or belief need not have been successful. For example, if your community believes in the value of killing snakes on Whacking Day and you ran a campaign to stop this barbaric practice, your efforts could lead to a good essay whether or not you were successful (if you were not successful, your essay might also work for option #2 on learning from failure).
• The best essays reveal something that the writer is passionate about. By the end of the essay, the admissions folks should feel that they have a much better grasp on what it is that motivates you. Be sure to explore an idea or belief that will allow you to present some of your interests and passions.

Break Down the Question

Read the prompt question carefully as it has three distinct parts:

• Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea ; reflective writing is popular in higher education today, and to respond effectively to this prompt, it is important to understand what reflection is and what it isn't. Reflection is far more than summarizing or reminiscing. Your task with this question isn't simply to describe a time when you questioned or challenged a belief. To "reflect" upon something you did is to analyze and contextualize your actions. What were your motives? Why did you do what you did? What were you thinking at the time, and in retrospect, were your thoughts at the time appropriate? How have your questions and actions played a role in your personal growth?
• What prompted your thinking?  If you did the first part of the question effectively ("reflect"), then you've already responded to this part of the question. Again, make sure you aren't just describing what you were thinking and how you acted. Explain why you were challenging the belief or idea. How did your own beliefs and ideas motivate you to question challenge some other belief or idea? What was the tipping point that spurred your to question the belief?
• What was the outcome? This part of the prompt is also asking for reflection. Look back at the big picture and put your challenge in context. What were the results of challenging the belief or idea? Was challenging the belief worth the effort? Did good come of your action? Did you pay a heavy price for your challenge? Did you or someone else learn and grow from your efforts? Realize that your answer here need not be "yes." Sometimes we challenge beliefs only to learn later that the outcome wasn't worth the cost. You don't need to present yourself as a hero who changed the world through your challenge of the status quo. Many excellent essays explore a challenge that didn't turn out as planned. Indeed, sometimes we grow more from missteps and failures than we do from triumph.

A Sample Essay on Challenging a Belief

To illustrate that the belief or idea you questioned doesn't need to be anything monumental, check out Jennifer's response to Common Application essay option #3, in her essay titled Gym Class Hero . The idea that Jennifer challenged was her own—her self-doubt and insecurity that often hold her back from accomplishing her full potential. The sample makes clear that a good essay can emerge from seemingly small, personal beliefs. You don't need to be tackling the world's most challenging problems in your essay.

A Final Note on Essay Option #3

College is all about challenging ideas and beliefs, so this essay prompt engages a key skill for college success. A good college education is not about being spoon fed information that you will regurgitate in papers and exams. Rather, it is about asking questions, probing assumptions, testing ideas, and engaging in thoughtful debate. If you choose essay option #3, make sure you demonstrate that you have these skills.

Last of all, pay attention to style , tone, and mechanics. The essay is largely about you, but it is also about your writing ability. A winning application essay needs to have clear, crisp, engaging language, and it needs to be free of errors.

• The 2021-22 Common Application Essay Prompts
• Tips for Writing an Essay on an Event That Led to Personal Growth
• "Gym Class Hero" - a Common Application Essay Sample for Option #3
• Common Application Essay Option 2 Tips: Learning from Failure
• Common Application Essay Option 4—Gratitude
• Topic of Your Choice: Common Application Essay Tips
• College Application Essay - The Job I Should Have Quit
• 5 Tips for a College Admissions Essay on an Important Issue
• Common Application Essay, Option 1: Share Your Story
• "Grandpa's Rubik's Cube"—Sample Common Application Essay, Option #4
• Common Application Essay Option 6: Losing Track of Time
• Common Application Essay on a Meaningful Place
• "Handiwork" - Sample Common Application Essay for Option #1
• Tips for the Pre-2013 Personal Essay Options on the Common Application
• Tips for an Application Essay on a Significant Experience

How To Answer Essay Prompt 3 In The Common App: Belief

Understanding the prompt: the essence of reflection and challenge.

The essay prompt, "Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?" requires a deep understanding of the essence of reflection and challenge. To successfully tackle this prompt, it is crucial to grasp the underlying concepts and objectives it entails.

Reflection is the process of thoughtful contemplation and introspection. It involves looking back on a particular experience, belief, or idea and examining it from various perspectives. In the context of this essay prompt, reflection refers to the act of critically analyzing a belief or idea that you once held or encountered. It requires you to delve into the reasons behind your questioning or challenging of that belief or idea, as well as the impact it had on your thoughts and actions.

Challenge, on the other hand, involves questioning or confronting a belief or idea that may be widely accepted or deeply ingrained. It requires courage, open-mindedness, and a willingness to explore different perspectives. Challenging a belief or idea entails examining its validity, seeking evidence or alternative viewpoints, and evaluating its implications.

Understanding the essence of reflection and challenge in this essay prompt is crucial because it sets the tone for your response. It emphasizes the need to go beyond a mere recounting of events and delve into the thought process, motivations, and outcomes of questioning or challenging a belief or idea. It encourages self-awareness, critical thinking, and personal growth.

By comprehending the essence of reflection and challenge, you can approach this essay prompt with a clear focus and a deeper understanding of its objectives. It allows you to craft a well-thought-out response that not only describes the time you questioned or challenged a belief or idea but also analyzes the underlying reasons and explores the impact it had on your thoughts and actions. So, let's dive deeper into the process of effectively answering this essay prompt.

Identifying a Significant Belief or Idea for Your Essay

In order to effectively answer the essay prompt about questioning or challenging a belief or idea, it is crucial to identify a significant belief or idea to focus on in your essay. This section will guide you through the process of selecting a belief or idea that holds personal significance and has had a profound impact on your life.

Choosing a Belief or Idea

Think about your own experiences, values, and beliefs. Consider a belief or idea that stands out to you as being particularly important or influential. It could be a belief or idea related to religion, politics, social issues, personal philosophies, or any other aspect of life that has shaped your perspective.

Reflect on beliefs or ideas that have provoked strong reactions or emotions within you. Consider those that have challenged your existing beliefs, made you question societal norms, or compelled you to think critically. Choose a belief or idea that resonates with you on a deep level and has had a lasting impact on your thoughts and actions.

Why the Belief or Idea is Significant

Once you have chosen a belief or idea, it is important to explain why it holds significance for you. Consider the reasons behind its importance in your life. Has it shaped your values, influenced your decision-making, or impacted your relationships? Reflect on the ways in which this belief or idea has guided or challenged you, and how it has contributed to your personal growth.

Personal Connection to the Belief or Idea

Examine your personal connection to the chosen belief or idea. Reflect on the experiences or encounters that have solidified your connection to it. Did you have a personal experience that challenged or reinforced this belief or idea? Has it been shaped by your cultural background, upbringing, or interactions with others? Understanding your personal connection to the belief or idea will add depth and authenticity to your essay.

By carefully selecting a significant belief or idea for your essay, explaining its significance, and exploring your personal connection to it, you will lay the foundation for a compelling and meaningful response to the essay prompt. So take some time to reflect on your beliefs and ideas, and choose the one that truly resonates with you.

Describing the Time You Questioned or Challenged the Belief or Idea

In this section, we will delve into the process of describing the specific time when you questioned or challenged the belief or idea you have chosen for your essay. By providing a vivid and detailed account of this experience, you can engage your readers and help them understand the context and significance of your actions.

Setting the Scene

Begin by setting the scene and providing relevant background information. Describe the time and place when this event took place. Was it during your school years, a particular phase of your life, or a specific event that triggered your questioning or challenging of the belief or idea? Paint a picture of the environment, the people involved, and any other relevant details that will help your readers visualize the situation.

Understanding Your Motivation

Next, delve into the motivations behind your decision to question or challenge the belief or idea. What drove you to critically examine it? Did you encounter conflicting information or experiences that sparked your curiosity? Did you feel a discrepancy between your personal values and the belief or idea? Explain the thought process that led you to take action and question the status quo.

The Process of Questioning or Challenging

Describe the specific steps you took to question or challenge the belief or idea. Did you engage in extensive research to gather evidence and different perspectives? Did you have conversations with others who held contrasting views? Did you seek guidance or mentorship to navigate through your doubts and uncertainties? Outline the process you went through to gain a deeper understanding and challenge the belief or idea.

By providing a clear and detailed account of the time when you questioned or challenged the belief or idea, you will enable your readers to fully grasp the situation and the thought process behind your actions. This section sets the stage for the subsequent sections, where you will explore what prompted your thinking and discuss the outcome of your actions. So, let's delve deeper into your reflection and journey of questioning or challenging the belief or idea.

Explaining What Prompted Your Thinking

In this section, we will explore the factors and influences that prompted your thinking and led you to question or challenge the belief or idea. By understanding the triggers and motivations behind your actions, you can provide a deeper insight into your thought process and engage your readers.

Identifying the Trigger

Explain the specific event, experience, or realization that served as the trigger for your questioning or challenging of the belief or idea. Was it a personal encounter, a significant life event, or a moment of introspection? Describe the circumstances surrounding this trigger and how it impacted your perspective.

Understanding Your Thought Process

Share your thought process and the internal dialogue that occurred as you began to question the belief or idea. What thoughts, doubts, or uncertainties arose? Did you engage in critical thinking, analyze different viewpoints, or seek out information to inform your perspective? Describe the cognitive journey you embarked on as you grappled with the belief or idea.

The Role of External Factors

Consider any external factors that played a role in prompting your thinking. Did societal changes, current events, or influential figures contribute to your questioning or challenging of the belief or idea? How did these external factors shape your perspective and influence the direction of your thoughts? Discuss the impact of these external influences on your thought process.

By explaining what prompted your thinking, you provide a deeper understanding of the triggers and influences that led you to question or challenge the belief or idea. This section sets the stage for the subsequent section, where you will discuss the outcome of your actions. So, let's delve deeper into the impact and consequences of your questioning or challenging of the belief or idea.

Discussing the Outcome of Your Actions

In this section, we will explore the outcome of your actions after questioning or challenging the belief or idea. By discussing the impact and consequences of your actions, you can provide a comprehensive understanding of the significance of your experience.

Immediate Reactions and Results

Describe the immediate reactions and results that occurred as a result of your questioning or challenging of the belief or idea. How did people around you, such as friends, family, or colleagues, respond to your actions? Did you encounter support, resistance, or indifference? Discuss any changes in relationships or dynamics that emerged from your actions. Additionally, consider any tangible outcomes or changes that occurred as a direct result of your questioning or challenging.

Long-term Impacts

Reflect on the long-term impacts of your actions. Did your questioning or challenging of the belief or idea lead to any significant shifts in your own beliefs, values, or perspectives? Did it inspire others to reconsider their own beliefs or ideas? Discuss any personal growth, increased awareness, or new insights that emerged from this experience. Consider how this experience has shaped your outlook on life and influenced your subsequent thoughts and actions.

What You Learned from the Experience

Reflect on the lessons you learned from questioning or challenging the belief or idea. What insights did you gain about yourself, others, or the world around you? Did this experience reinforce the importance of critical thinking, open-mindedness, or empathy? Discuss how this experience has contributed to your personal growth and development.

By discussing the outcome of your actions, you provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact and consequences of your questioning or challenging of the belief or idea. This section serves as a reflection on the significance of your experience and sets the stage for the concluding section, where you will summarize your journey and reflect on the broader context. So, let's delve deeper into the lessons learned and the significance of your experience.

In this final section, we will bring together the key elements of your essay and provide a cohesive conclusion to your reflection on the time you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. By summarizing your experience, reflecting on its significance, and connecting it to the larger context, you can leave a lasting impression on your readers.

Summarizing Your Experience

Begin by summarizing the main points and highlights of your journey of questioning or challenging the belief or idea. Recap the specific belief or idea you focused on, the time when you questioned or challenged it, and the outcomes of your actions. Provide a concise overview of the key moments and insights that defined your experience.

Reflecting on the Significance

Reflect on the significance of your experience and the impact it had on your personal growth and development. Discuss how this experience shaped your perspective, values, and beliefs. Consider the lessons you learned and the ways in which your understanding of the world has evolved as a result of questioning or challenging the belief or idea. Highlight the transformative nature of this experience.

Connecting to the Larger Context

Finally, connect your personal journey to the larger context. Reflect on the broader implications of questioning or challenging beliefs and ideas in society. Discuss the importance of critical thinking, open-mindedness, and the willingness to challenge the status quo. Consider how your experience contributes to a broader conversation or discourse on personal growth, intellectual curiosity, and social progress.

By summarizing your experience, reflecting on its significance, and connecting it to the larger context, you provide a well-rounded conclusion to your essay. This section leaves the reader with a sense of closure and a broader understanding of the importance of questioning or challenging beliefs and ideas. So, let's conclude your essay with a powerful reflection on your journey of growth and transformation.

Final Thoughts

Challenging our beliefs isn't just about re-evaluating an idea; it's a journey of self-discovery and growth. This reflection highlights that it's not just the beliefs we hold, but our willingness to examine them, that shapes our character. Life is filled with diverse ideas, and our growth lies in our ability to question, understand, and evolve. Remember, while beliefs shape us, our capacity to challenge them truly defines us. Stay curious and open to deeper understanding.

I hope you found this guide useful. Navigating campus life can be daunting, but you don’t have to do it alone. Once you're accepted into college, hop onto MeetYourClass – your go-to platform to find roommates, friends, and your community. Connect with like-minded students, find your perfect roommate, and immerse yourself in campus culture. As you embark on your application journey, remember: your next chapter of friendships and experiences is just a click away. Best of luck, and we hope to see you soon on MeetYourClass!

Find Your College Roommate!

Keep reading, essay prompt: describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college.

Before College

7 min read  •  Aug 14, 2023

Blake Mischley

How To Answer Essay Prompt 6 In The Common App: Lose Time

10 min read  •  Sep 13, 2023

How To Answer Essay Prompt 5 In The Common App: Growth

12 min read  •  Sep 12, 2023

• Affiliate Program

• UNITED STATES
• 台灣 (TAIWAN)
• TÜRKIYE (TURKEY)
• Academic Editing Services
• - Research Paper
• - Journal Manuscript
• - Dissertation
• - College & University Assignments
• Admissions Editing Services
• - Application Essay
• - Personal Statement
• - Recommendation Letter
• - Cover Letter
• - CV/Resume
• Business Editing Services
• - Business Documents
• - Report & Brochure
• - Website & Blog
• Writer Editing Services
• - Script & Screenplay
• Our Editors
• Client Reviews
• Editing & Proofreading Prices
• Wordvice Points
• Partner Discount
• Plagiarism Checker
• APA Citation Generator
• MLA Citation Generator
• Chicago Citation Generator
• Vancouver Citation Generator
• - APA Style
• - MLA Style
• - Chicago Style
• - Vancouver Style
• Writing & Editing Guide
• Academic Resources
• Admissions Resources

Common App Essay Prompt #3: Challenging a Belief or Idea

The college admissions essay gives you the opportunity to share aspects about yourself not otherwise reflected through grades and test scores. Who are you? What are your values and dreams? Are you the type of person who will thrive in an academically and socially challenging environment as you transition into adulthood? The Common App Essay is the perfect place to show admissions officers what you’re made of.

To help you along, we’ve prepared a series of overviews to help you understand the various question prompts asked by the Common App . The following guide focuses on the Common App essay prompt #3! For additional resources regarding other Common App essay prompts and the college admissions process, generally, feel free to visit our  Resources Page  and view our proofreading services , including our Application Essay Editing Services , which are tailored to college essays like the Common App Essay.

Common App Essay Prompt #3

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

If you’re strongly considering tackling the third essay option, sit down and contemplate what is most important to you in life. How do you want to convey these values to your readers? On the surface, the admissions committee seeks to learn more about how you think, or even how you put your thoughts into action. However, at the heart of this question is a concept that has been trending in both the corporate and academic fields… thought leadership.

Admissions committees love creativity. Think about a time when you brought fresh ideas to a project or created something you were proud of. Have you started your own business? Have you ever taken a different stance on an issue and defended your position to a group? Innovators are compelled to improve the world around them (this includes projects, classes, activities, friends, and family life). For example, a successful applicant wrote about his work as a teaching assistant at a local elementary school. Students were having a tough time with math, and he persuaded the school’s administration to implement the use of a video game he created to help students learn fractions. Not only did the review committee see his strong interest in information technology and math education, but they were inspired by his commitment to changing the school for the better. Brainstorm how you have made a difference and find a way to boldly tell that story.

In today’s social and political climate, the media shines a light on issues (both locally and globally) that welcome a host of opinions and even organized efforts by people seeking social change. Activism is about individual participation and community engagement for a specific cause. If you have a story about how you have put your beliefs to positive action and community uplift, the admissions committee wants to hear it! A successful applicant wrote the story of how she was bullied at a young age and became involved in anti-bullying campaigns. She wrote letters and lobbied to legislators, arguing that there should be more strict laws around cyber-bullying. Her story captivated the committee and spoke to the young woman’s persistence and character. Make a list of experiences that have shaped who you are today, and write down what you have done to ignite change because of these experiences.

Transformation

In an essay-brainstorming session, an applicant was asked to create a mind map of what she was passionate about. She listed “roadblocks,” or things that have tried to hold her back from doing what she loves. Her essay evolved and was noted as a review-committee favorite. She shared her high school journey to becoming a plus-size model. It was an emotional story of how she handled rejection from mainstream modeling agencies and developed the courage to voice and challenge others when she was treated unfairly. This motivated her to encourage students with similar stories and aspirations to participate in her school’s annual fashion show, raising awareness of diversity and the problem of stereotyping. Some of the most powerful essays capture dynamic moments, and transformational leaders aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. Dig deep and reflect on times when you wouldn’t accept things “as they’ve always been.” Write out what you did to communicate what you believed in words and in action.

Applying To College

College essay writing and interview skills.

How to Write 2015 Common App Essay #3: Reflect on a Time When You Challenged a Belief or Idea

May 15, 2015 by Sharon Epstein 4 Comments

How do you choose which Common Application essay to write?

In this 5 part series I’ll help you figure out which question on the 2015 Common Application essay is the right one for you.

• Click here to read my posts on Common Application Essay Prompt #1 , Prompt #2 , Prompt #4 , and Prompt #5 .
• For the entire list of 2015 Common Application essay prompts click here .

Ready for number 3? Let’s do it!

Common Application Essay Prompt #3:

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

Is This Prompt for You?  Look at the Keywords:

“Challenged a belief or idea” … “Prompted you to act”…”Would you make the same decision again?”

When Should You Choose This Essay?

Answer this question ONLY IF:

• You were confronted with a belief or idea which you felt compelled to challenge or change.

Pitfalls to Avoid:

• Understand the keywords. “Challenged a belief or idea” means that you took some kind of action either on your own behalf or on the behalf of someone or something else.
• This question has THREE parts — don’t leave one out. Discuss what prompted you to act, then reflect on your decision and say whether you’d do it again .
• Don’t forget to include a learning experience. What did you learn? How did you grow? …

Is this Question Only About Religion? No.

It certainly encompasses religion. I’ve had students who chose to write about different aspects of their spiritual journey, whether it was trying to conform to their parents’ religion, or searching for their own truth. But don’t run from this question! Give it some thought.

Not Sure This Question Relates to You? Here are 3 ways you might answer this question:

• Were you told by an adult that you wouldn’t be successful in an activity, but you chose to pursue it anyway?
• Did you challenge what a group of friends told you to do because you thought they were wrong?
• Did you see someone being treated unfairly (perhaps even yourself) and attempt to rectify it?

Example of a Successful Essay Topic

• A student’s elementary school teacher wasn’t a kind woman and picked on many of the children in her class. As a result, the student’s self esteem suffered and her grades dropped. It took a long time for the student to learn to stand up for herself. When she did, she began not only to excel; she also became a leader and a mentor. The student spoke to groups of teens about prejudice and discrimination. She taught them about the harmful power of words, and how to use words in a positive way.  In her essay she explained why she would make the same decision again: “My passion for making a difference stems from my own experiences where negative criticism created a lasting effect on me…Becoming emotionally and physically independent and having the confidence to challenge social norms have become the most powerful tools in my possession.”

Is This Topic Successful? Yes.

•    All the keywords are addressed . The student told her story, described what prompted her to act, and explained why she would make the same decision again. •    She included a learning experience. Once she learned to stand up for herself, the student took on the role of a mentor and leader, and worked to combat bullying and discrimination. •   She conveyed positive qualities. This student turned out have personal strength and moral character. She was able to pull herself out of a difficult situation to personally excel and to help others. •  She gave colleges excellent reasons to admit her : She was a leader, a compassionate human being, and someone with high standards who wanted to make a difference.

Why This Essay Prompt Could be a Good Question for You

• You can communicate your level of maturity.
• You can show that you have critical thinking skills.
• You can demonstrate that you are open-minded and have respect for the beliefs and ideas of others.
• You can show that your choices or ideas had an impact.

Make sure to find as much honesty and depth to your answer as you can and look for an original approach. That will make your essay stand out.

Tip: It’s okay to say you wouldn’t make the same decision again . Colleges want to see that you have the maturity and perspective to understand your actions.  Just remember — by the end of the essay you should be saying positive things about yourself!

For more information on the Common Application visit their website. They also have a very helpful   Facebook page.

Next time: How to Write Common App prompt #4.

Also in this series: How to Write Common App Prompt #1 : Background, Talent, Identity, or Interest How to Write Common App Prompt #2 : A Time you Experienced Failure How to Write Common App Prompt #4 : A Problem You’ve Solved or Would Like to Solve How to Write Common App Prompt #5: Transition from Childhood to Adulthood

For the entire list of 2015 Common App essay prompts click here.

Share this:

Author: Sharon Epstein

College consultant, teaching students how to write memorable college application essays, grad school and prep school essays, and succeed at job and college interviews.

4 thoughts on “ How to Write 2015 Common App Essay #3: Reflect on a Time When You Challenged a Belief or Idea ”

Leave a comment

Pingback: How to Write 2015 Common App Essay #4: Problem You’ve Solved or Would Like to Solve | Applying To College

Pingback: How to Write 2015 Common Application Essay #5: Transition from Childhood to Adulthood | Applying To College

Pingback: How to Write 2015 Common App Essay #2: Failure | Applying To College

Pingback: How to Write 2015 Common Application Essay Prompts #1-5 | Applying To College

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

College 101

Common app 3: challenging beliefs.

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Introduction

My father's words stumbled through his mouth and past his lips like a stream of water sloshing over upturned, jagged rocks. I felt his discomfort in my bones. Our new neighbor's openly judgmental expression angered me and I felt myself turn red. Twenty years my father spent carefully learning a language that somehow still betrayed him. Twenty years, and my father was still an outsider.

Up until this moment, this first encounter with our neighbor, my relationship with my father had been a lot like his English: broken. It took me seventeen years to realize the linguistic persecution that my father had felt for twenty. Once I finally did, my self-identity completely changed.

My story is the same as most first generation Americans: my parents are from a completely different culture, and so I was raised multi-culturally. I didn't quite fit in with my classmates, but I couldn't really relate to my parents either. I was stuck in the middle between two entirely different worlds.

As a child, of course, I chose the one I was living in.

I would come home some days and ask my parents if they could stop packing me leftovers for my lunch and just buy me Lunchables instead. I wanted clothes from American Eagle instead of Ross and Wal-Mart. My parents' native tongue was slowly becoming my heritage language. In other words, my first language was becoming my second language.

One day in particular stands out in my memory. My father had just come home from work; he had just started his residency program. Dark circles and wrinkles surrounded his honey-brown eyes and made them seem passionless, lost, and sad.

I didn't notice at the time.

My aging father slumped down on the couch and sighed heavily. Still, despite his very apparent fatigue, he attempted to make conversation and asked how my day was in our native language. I was twelve—you know, the age where you start thinking you know better than your parents. Ignoring his question, I told him he should speak in English since we were in the U.S.

As I approached adolescence, the rift between my parents and me only got bigger. My life revolved around school and my social life. Once my friends got their driver's licenses, I was hardly ever home.

Earlier this year, since my dad's medical practice was expanding, we moved to a better part of town. It was beautiful, a huge upgrade. As he was telling us the news, my father, beaming with pride, explained to me in English how we could finally afford to get cable. I laughed weakly, knowing that instant streaming was more popular nowadays.

The first encounter with our new neighbor changed everything. His name was Bill and he was a retired banker. My father greeted him graciously, despite the fact that he was on our property uninvited. Upon hearing his accent, his demeanor changed. "So, how long have you been living in America?" he asked. My father paused, as if he knew where the conversation was headed. It was probably a conversation he had had many, many times before. "Twenty years," he responded, with his head down.

That's when I realized how wrong I'd been. I regret staying silent during our encounter with Bill, but after that moment, I never spoke English with my parents again. I stopped scoffing at the cultural traditions they practiced every year. And whenever Bill came over unexpectedly, I made sure I was the one to talk to him.

I figured that at the very least, my parents should feel at home in their own home.

Seventeen years I wasted being ashamed of my background, my heritage, my family. I'm eighteen now, but I still cringe when I think about the self-absorbed person I once was. I still feel the shame and guilt of having realized something I should have known a long time ago: my parents aren't the ones who are broken.

Why This Essay Works

This essay knowingly discusses an issue that's present in many multicultural families: the culture clash between a first generation American child and their immigrant parents. The introduction eloquently unfolds the situation that acted as the catalyst for the author's change.

The body paragraphs give us more background about the author's family dynamic. The small anecdotes provided are examples of the author's cultural assimilation. We see a vulnerable, human side as they admit to things they're not proud of.

Let's be real—admissions officers probably get really tired of reading show-off essays that discuss how perfect everyone is. Come on, Shmoopers. We all know that's baloney. Not everyone did something when they saw someone getting bullied. Not everyone's a civil rights activist. Not everyone decided to volunteer at a homeless shelter or retirement home just out of the goodness of their hearts—although, those people are awesome.

Admissions officers want to know about growth, maturity, self-awareness; applicants should show that they can own up their mistakes and try to make them better. To get admitted into college, you have to be real.

In this essay, we finally see the change we wanted to see at the beginning. The author is ashamed, sure, but they resolve to become a more culturally aware person. Someone who would be a great addition to any college campus. Someone who would probably do great things in the future.

We'd like to get to know this Shmooper.

Tired of ads?

Logging out…, logging out....

You've been inactive for a while, logging you out in a few seconds...

W hy's T his F unny?

Common App 2019/2020 Essay Prompt #3: Sample Essay

Below is a sample essay for the Common App’s third 2019/2020 essay prompt:

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

If you need help writing an essay for the Common App or another college application, contact our Essay Writing Service or send us an email at [email protected] !

Related Posts

Common App 2019/2020 Essay Prompt #7: Sample Essay

Common App 2019/2020 Essay Prompt #6: Sample Essay

Common App 2019/2020 Essay Prompt #5: Sample Essay

Comments are closed.

• Sample SOPs
• Sample UCAS Personal Statements
• Common App Sample Essays
• Sample GTE Statements
• Sample Scholarship Letters and Essays
• Sample Letters of Recommendation / Reference Letters
• Free Sample CVs and Resumes
• FREE Instant SOP Generator
• SOP Writing Service
• IELTS Sample Tests

College Essay Examples: Challenging a Belief or Idea (with Humility)

In this essay, a student we're referring to as The Graduation Speaker, answers Common Application prompt #3. ("Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?") His essay is a fantastic example of how to approach this prompt with humility, wit, and likability. He submitted this essay as his personal statement and received acceptance to Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, Duke, and UCLA.

• College Essay Examples

Is your College Essay Cliché?

Applicants often choose to write about cliché subjects because they THINK the resulting essays present the kinds stories admissions officers want to read. To the contrary, jumping on an essay cliché bandwagon can make it nearly impossible for an admissions officer to distinguish you from your closest competition. In this video, CEA's Founder and Chief Advisor presents The Cliché Quiz.

Successful College Essay Examples: The Nature Painter

Many students find it helpful to familiarize themselves with successful college essays to better understand what it looks like (or sounds like) when it's done right. There are so many different ways to write a great college essay, so don't feel confined to any formula, structure, approach, or tone. In this essay, our student showcases his love of science and nature by explaining the importance of having the right tools, both as humans and in nature at large. He gained acceptance to Yale University, Stanford, Harvard.

College Essay Examples: How to Write About Another Person While Still Making the Essay About You

So you want to write your college essay about a person who is very important to you and has shaped the person you've become today, but you are nervous that the essay won't say enough about you as the applicant (after all, your grandma isn't applying to college, you are!). We totally get it. Tons of students run into this issue. That's why we're sharing one of our favorite essays, written by a student we're referring to as "What Makes a Woman." This student masters the art of writing about another person's struggles, while reflecting on her own obstacles, perceptions, and identity.

College Essay Examples: Pulling Your Reader in From the Start

So you're reading successful college essays and they sound awesome...but what's the use of a great essay if you don't understand which defining features make the essay sparkle? In this video, we will be exploring TWO successful college essay examples, both of which are great examples of how to pull a reader into your story using visuals, intrigue/suspense, and maybe a little bit of humor.

College Essay Examples: How to Incorporate Dialogue into Your Essay

One way to pull a reader into your essay from the very beginning is to start with dialogue. Many students don’t even consider adding an outdated adage from a parent or a hilarious crack from a high school coach to break up their prose, set the scene or build the profiles of their stories’ characters. And yet, dialogue is one of those devices that can give you a lot of bang for your buck, delivering a punch of personality or a wallop of context using just a few carefully culled utterances. Here is one successful example of how a student uses dialogue to immerse her reader in her essay. We call this applicant, "In The Car with Mom."

College Essay Examples: Writing About a Background, Identity, or Interest

Many students choose to respond to the Common Application's first prompt (listed below) for their personal statement. This student (who we're referring to as The Nike Jordans), is one of them. In her essay, she writes about her background in a way that invites the reader to step into her shoes in order to learn more about her character, outlook, and personality. She gained acceptance to Princeton, MIT, U Chicago, and Columbia, among others.

In this essay, a student we're referring to as The Graduation Speaker, answers Common Application prompt #3. ("Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?") His essay is a fantastic example of how to approach this prompt with humility, wit, and likability. He submitted this essay as his personal statement and received acceptance to Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, Duke, and UCLA.

• Our Approach & Team
• Undergraduate Testimonials
• Postgraduate Testimonials
• Where Our Students Get In
• CEA Gives Back
• Undergraduate Admissions
• Graduate Admissions
• Private School Admissions
• International Student Admissions
• Common App Essay Guide
• Supplemental Essay Guide
• Coalition App Guide
• The CEA Podcast
• YouTube Tutorials
• Admissions Stats
• Notification Trackers
• Deadline Databases
• Academy and Worksheets
• Waitlist Guides
• Get Started

First-year essay prompts

Common App has announced the 2024-2025 essay prompts.

Below is the complete list of the common app essay prompts..

• 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.

We will also retain the  optional community disruption  question within the Writing section. 

Looking for tips on how to approach the essay? Check out this video. 

Solutions center for first-year students

Solutions center for transfer students.

No products in the cart.

Harvard Common App Essay: Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea.

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. what prompted your thinking what was the outcome.

This summer I flew down to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to attend the University of Alabama Honors Academy. For a week, I lived in the UA Honors College dorms and attended college-level classes and lectures. There were many fascinating lectures, but only one will stay with me for the rest of my life – in a very real sense, it has changed the way I look at the world, and my place and purpose in it.

It was the morning lecture on the second day of the program –Stephen Black, the Director of the University of Alabama Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, was the speaker. He began by describing a conversation he once had with the late Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity. Fuller told him that he was proud of his life’s work, but that he was increasingly concerned with the success and legacy of his organization. “How could you be?” Mr. Black asked. “Habitat for Humanity has helped millions of people. It’s one of the most successful charities in the world.”

“It’s true that we’ve helped a lot of folks,” Fuller replied. “We’ve helped over four million people build homes over the years. But since I founded this organization in 1976, the rate of homelessness in America has increased , not decreased. Fewer people own homes now than they did then, and more people are living on the street. How can we look at that and say that we’ve been truly successful?”

Mr. Black looked around the room. “You know,” he said, “your generation is the most charitable, most service-oriented generation in history. No American generation has ever been so enthusiastic about volunteer work and community service … But the fact is, in today’s world, that’s just not enough. I hope that your generation can avoid making the same mistake that other generations have made – mistaking sympathy for empathy. And that starts with each of you as individuals.”

I’ve been turning that thought over in my mind ever since. Ours is the most sympathetic generation in history, but at the same time it is among the least empathetic. Sympathy identifies a problem. Empathy compels us to demand a solution. Sympathy eases pain. Empathy demands an end to pain. In the same way, charity treats the symptoms of a profound illness in society, but true empathy demands something greater. When we realize that the Third World is also part of our world, that “those poor children” are our children, that violence, poverty, and injustice are too often a result of our own ignorance and our own apathy, then we can no longer merely donate an hour of our time or a few dollars of our money and feel that we have done enough. The world will demand more of us, so we must demand more of ourselves.

I’ve decided to do my part to meet that generational challenge – to understand people rather than feel sorry for them, to solve problems rather than treat symptoms, to act on empathy rather than feel sympathy. Whether I am organizing community service events through NHS, raising funds with the MSHS Nerdfighter Club to help build wells in Ethiopia, or simply trying to act more selflessly and responsibly in my daily life, I always find Mr. Black’s words in the back of my mind. It is easy to feel powerless before such great responsibility – I know that there are many days when I worry that despite all my efforts to the contrary, I will not succeed, that, to borrow from David Mitchell, “my life may amount to nothing more than one drop in a limitless ocean.”

“Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”

• Essay written by Anonymous

Get Help With Your Essays and Applications

• Ask your questions
• Get help on essay editing
• Gain insight on their experience

Report Content

Block member.

Please confirm you want to block this member.

You will no longer be able to:

• See blocked member's posts
• Mention this member in posts
• Message this member
• Add this member as a connection

Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

Home — Essay Samples — Religion — Religious Beliefs — Challenged a Belief or Idea: A Journey of Self-Discovery

Challenged a Belief Or Idea: a Journey of Self-discovery

• Categories: Religious Beliefs Self Reflection

About this sample

Words: 737 |

Published: Sep 16, 2023

Words: 737 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

The challenge, the journey, the transformation.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Verified writer

• Expert in: Religion Life

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1532 words

1 pages / 466 words

2 pages / 711 words

4 pages / 1852 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Religious Beliefs

The concept of life after death has fascinated humanity for centuries. It is a topic that has been explored by various religious and philosophical traditions, each offering their own perspective on what happens to an individual [...]

Religion, a pervasive and intricate aspect of human existence, resists easy definition due to its multifaceted nature. In this essay, we will embark on a comprehensive journey to understand what religion is. We will explore the [...]

The relationship between religion and war has been a topic of debate and discussion for centuries. While some argue that religion is a primary cause of conflict and violence, others contend that it is merely one factor among [...]

Religion and morality are two deeply intertwined aspects of human existence that have shaped societies, cultures, and individuals for millennia. The connection between these two concepts has been a subject of philosophical, [...]

In the 21st-century ethics as far as religious doctrines are concerned has taken a modernity turn. In the classical period religion was solely relied on to dictate morality but due to contemporariness catalyzed by education [...]

Christianity, recognized as the world's most followed religion, engages over 2.3 billion people globally, which constitutes about 31.2% of the global population. Centered around the teachings of Jesus Christ, this faith not only [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

Why This Common App Essay Worked: Prompt #2 “The Lessons We Take…”

Working on your Common App essay and thinking about this prompt? Then read on to learn how to answer this in a compelling essay and read two examples of essays that worked!

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?

Everyone has faced obstacles of some kind: a struggle with health, a failed personal project, or a financial hardship. This prompt is relevant to most people applying to college – which isn’t a bad thing. 

The most important part of writing a personal statement is to show admissions committees how you think about the world and respond to challenges rather than to come up with an entirely new angle or topic. That being said, you probably should not write about a time that you received a bad grade or lost a sports game. Those narratives are overdone and won’t allow admissions officers to get insight into your unique perspective.

What colleges want to see is your ability to be mature, resilient, and thoughtful; they want evidence that you are able to handle the independence and challenges of college. Show the admissions committee how you faced an obstacle, but responded with a creative and dignified solution instead of giving up. Be vulnerable – show your insecurity, regret, and fears. Finally, as indicated in the prompt, describe what you learned and the experience’s permanent significance. If you can’t think of such an impact, you probably shouldn’t be writing your personal statement about the situation. Remember, your personal statement is like your introduction – make sure you’re telling them an important story! 

The linearity of this prompt allows you to follow a pretty straightforward outline for your essay: context, obstacle, reaction, result. Putting these parts together, you’ll have a well constructed personal essay! We outlined the basic questions that should be answered in response to this prompt by component (context, obstacle, reaction, and result), but these are fluid and may be placed in whatever section makes the most sense for your narrative. 

Below, CollegeVine breaks down a finalized version of a real essay that we worked on with a student who addressed this prompt. 

Make Sure to Establish Enough Context

Outline the situation leading up to the event.  Make sure you hit the basics: who, what, where, why? It is also important to note whatever your pre-state was.

For example, the author of the sample essay overcame his fear of public speaking to pay tribute to a beloved coach. This triumph would have been much less meaningful had he not outlined his fear earlier in the essay. You need to give the admissions committee enough detail to understand how you evolved.

“Getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Coach Rob Stark’s motto never fails to remind me of his encouragement on early-morning bus rides to track meets around the state. I’ve always appreciated the phrase, but an experience last June helped me understand its more profound, universal meaning.

Stark, as we affectionately call him, has coached track at my high school for 25 years. His care, dedication, and emphasis on developing good character has left an enduring impact on me and hundreds of other students. Not only did he help me discover my talent and love for running, but he also taught me the importance of commitment and discipline and to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running. When I learned a neighboring high school had dedicated their track to a longtime coach, I felt that Stark deserved similar honors.

Here, the author describes why he was so fond of his coach as well as his desire to dedicate the school track to Stark. He hits the who (Coach Stark), what (desire to dedicate the track in Stark’s honor), where (high school), and why (the important lessons that Stark has imparted). 

The author also hints at his future personal development – “to approach every endeavor with the passion and intensity that I bring to running.” He also implies that he will fail to meet his original goal in the opening quote, “ getting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing.” Hinting at the lesson you will eventually learn is an effective strategy. It allows to admissions committees to read your personal statement with the final lesson in mind, making the essay simpler to follow and priming the reader so that your conclusion is easy to understand.

The author comes across as caring by wishing to dedicate the track to his coach, thoughtful in the way he is aware of the impact that Stark has had on him, and driven in his ability to identify and pursue a selfless project. These qualities will appeal to a college admissions committee which wishes to build an intellectual and kind community on campus.

Clearly Define the Obstacle

Who or what got in your way? To what extent were you responsible for the obstacle?

Our school district’s board of education indicated they would only dedicate our track to Stark if I could demonstrate that he was extraordinary. I took charge and mobilized my teammates to distribute petitions, reach out to alumni, and compile statistics on the many team and individual champions Stark had coached over the years. We received astounding support, collecting almost 3,000 signatures and pages of endorsements from across the community. With help from my teammates, I presented this evidence to the board.

They didn’t bite.

Here, the author makes it clear that he came up with a plan in which he felt confident. The author does a good job of showing, rather than telling, the ways in which he addressed the issue at hand. Instead of saying he put together a plan, the author lists individual efforts that he took, which allows the reader a fuller understanding of the lengths to which he went. This is crucial as it gives the admissions committee better insight into the way in which the author approaches lofty goals; he uses many approaches (petitions, alumni testimonies, and statistics) to support his argument. 

The short and separated sentence – “ They didn’t bite.” – comes as a contrast to the long list of preparations that the author had organized. It implies that the board was both curt and absolute in their rejection of his plan. Here, we learn of the real obstacle – and lesson – that the essay focuses on: the importance of not giving up. The message of the opening line of the essay – “G etting beat is one thing – it’s part of competing – but I want no part in losing,” – is relevant here. The author experienced initial failure, but isn’t passively accepting a loss just yet. In the next paragraph, the author describes how he tried to persuade the school board a second time. 

Go In-depth About Your Reaction

This is the most important part. Colleges want to know how you think about things or handle stressful situations!

Did you make a plan? Collaborate with teammates? Have an open conversation with your parents? How did you work around the challenge? It is important to also describe your emotional response; were you hurt, invigorated, sad, angry, surprised? In what ways did you handle this emotion? Was your response mature? What was your first (emotional) response? How did your thoughts or feelings change over time? Finally, what plan did you make?

Most members argued that dedicating the track was a low priority. Knowing that we had to act quickly to convince them of its importance, I called a team meeting where we drafted a rebuttal for the next board meeting. To my surprise, they chose me to deliver it. I was far from the best public speaker in the group, and I felt nervous about going before the unsympathetic board again. However, at that second meeting, I discovered that I enjoy articulating and arguing for something that I’m passionate about.

Public speaking resembles a cross country race. Walking to the starting line, you have to trust your training and quell your last minute doubts. When the gun fires, you can’t think too hard about anything; your performance has to be instinctual, natural, even relaxed. At the next board meeting, the podium was my starting line. As I walked up to it, familiar butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Instead of the track stretching out in front of me, I faced the vast audience of teachers, board members, and my teammates. I felt my adrenaline build, and reassured myself: I’ve put in the work, my argument is powerful and sound. As the board president told me to introduce myself, I heard, “runners set” in the back of my mind. She finished speaking, and Bang! The brief silence was the gunshot for me to begin.  

In this section, the author shows the admissions committee how resilient he is by organizing a rebuttal to the board’s initial ruling. The detail about being selected by his team to present is also crucial; it shows that he has been identified by his peers as a leader. 

Moreover, his hesitation to present (his pre-state) is essential to the later connection he makes between running and speaking publicly with ease. He handles a negative emotion (nervousness) with ease and maturity, reframing it as an opportunity to be a powerful speaker and sound orator. Crucially, the author doesn’t just tell us that he’s nervous, but brings us into the physical and psychological experience.

This detailed description allows the reader to empathize with the author; we have all experienced nervousness and know how difficult it can be to overcome, and the author allows the reader to mentally enter an anxious state. Putting the reader into your emotional experience (here, being anxious) makes whatever reaction you have (here, speaking well in front of a group of people) seem more impressive. Instead of simply telling us that he spoke in front of the board, the author brings us into the room with him to highlight his accomplishments!

The author also makes a connection to overcoming his fear of public speaking to performing well under pressure at track meets. In this way, the author is able to connect all of the valuable life skills that track taught him without doing so in a cliche or contrived fashion. This connection is creative and ties the narrative back in with the essay’s broader themes. It shows the admissions committee that the author is capable of understanding how and why he behaves the way he does, which is a sign of maturity. Colleges are more interested in how you think about the things you do than they are interested in the things you do. 

Colleges want to see that you have an optimistic and opportunistic approach to obstacles. People generally like people who are positive, which the author certainly comes across as here. Instead of being shut down by a challenge, show admissions committees how you used it to fuel your fire!

Discuss the End Result

Talk about to what degree your efforts were successful. Even if you didn’t meet your original goal, what did you learn? Importantly, how are you applying these lessons now?

The next few minutes blurred together, but when the dust settled, I knew from the board members’ expressions and the audience’s thunderous approval that I had run quite a race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough; the board voted down our proposal. I was disappointed, but proud of myself, my team, and our collaboration off the track. We stood up for a cause we believed in, and I overcame my worries about being a leader. Although I discovered that changing the status quo through an elected body can be a painstakingly difficult process and requires perseverance, I learned that I enjoy the challenges this effort offers. Last month, one of the school board members joked that I had become a “regular” – I now often show up to meetings to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment for athletes.

Just as Stark taught me, I worked passionately to achieve my goal. I may have been beaten when I appealed to the board, but I certainly didn’t lose, and that would have made Stark proud.

Despite being disappointed in his failure to meet his original goal, the author responds positively: proud of his and his teammates’ hard work. 

The author also addresses his post-state by answering the last question of the prompt (how the obstacle affected you and what you learned from the experience). In this example, the author’s post-state is uncovering a passion for advocacy and evolving into a more confident leader. He outlines specifically the way in which he learned to stand up for the causes he believes in and overcame his fears of public speaking and leadership. 

Importantly, the author’s resiliency is embodied by not being dissuaded by his first unsuccessful attempt to make a change. He shows that he is applying the lessons he learned “to advocate for a variety of causes, including better environmental practices in cafeterias and safer equipment.” This hint at his other interests, environmental and safety policies, encourages the admissions committee to learn more. Ideally, the author’s mention of these interests should be backed up in his activity list – perhaps, for example, through involvement with his school’s Sustainability Club or recent recycling initiative. 

Finally, the author pays respect to the man who first inspired him. Importantly, this essay allows the author to explore all that he learned by being an athlete without writing a cliche essay on the topic. 

Want More Insight?

The original version of this essay along with our edits and higher-level notes can be found in a download here. We’ve also thrown in a second sample essay to help you see more of the same patterns and strategies discussed above in action. For insight on the other prompts, be sure to check out our other Common App posts . 

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Common Application Essay Prompts and Strategies for 2016-17

by j9robinson | Feb 13, 2016

Stand Out in Your Common Application Essay

So you are ready to start writing your Common Application Essay?

Congratulations! You have found the best source of specific tips and strategies on exactly how to brainstorm topics for each of the 5 prompts–and learn to craft a powerful college application essay using a narrative (story-telling) style.

Start by reading through the 5 prompts, which I shared below.

(The folks from the Common Application just officially announced their essay writing prompts for this coming college admissions season of 2016-17, and it’s anticlimactic news, but they will be the same as last year. The idea is you know the prompts well before they start accepting applications in August, so you can get a head start on your essays.)

You just need to write a personal statement essay that addresses one of these prompts. The prompts are mainly to inspire you to write a personal essay about yourself that helps you stand out from the crowd . (more…)

Do You Have The Write Stuff for College and Beyond?

by j9robinson | May 11, 2015

I’m always on the lookout for new voices in the college admissions industry who try to help students and parents and all of us keep a balanced and sane perspective on the frenzied quest for the perfect college.

Kristin White, an educational consultant who wrote It’s the Student, Not the College: The Secrets of Succeeding at Any School: Without Going Broke or Crazy, does a great job of explaining how a student’s success has little to do with where they get in, even if it’s one of the 20 prestige schools so many believe they must attend or their lives will be ruined.

I asked Kristin if she would share her opinions on how she thinks about the college application essays, and she wrote this guest post on what is behind every great and effective essay—strong writing skills.

As she explains in this piece, strong writing chops can not only help you nail your college admissions essays, they are powerful skills that will help power your college experience as well as your effectiveness in the workplace. (more…)

Essay Hope for Math/Science Students!

by j9robinson | Mar 24, 2014

I get a lot of students with my college application essay tutoring who fall into the “math/science” end of the learning spectrum.

In general, that means that classes such as Algebra II and Chemistry come relatively easy to them, and English and other humanities not so much.

Many think they are not strong writers and are mortified that their college application essay could pull so much weight in where they get into college.

This just doesn’t seem fair, especially when many of these students have off the charts test scores.

If it helps, I like to think that colleges understand this discrepancy and take the larger picture into consideration when deciding who to accept.

If nothing else, you math/science students should view your essay as a chance to set yourself apart from the pack, and also showcase your balanced personality at the same time.

(I don’t mean to stereotype, but math/science whiz kids sometimes get pegged as not as social or well-rounded as other students. You know, it’s that annoying nerd or geek thing.) (more…)

Writing Anecdotes: A Crash Course

by j9robinson | Aug 31, 2013

I  love anecdotes.

Especially for starting narrative essays for college application essays.

They can take a little practice to compose, but what a deceptively powerful writing tool.

Actually, if you start almost any type of writing with an anecdote–from a college essay to a book report to a press release–your message will instantly rise and shine above other written messages competing for readers’ attention.

They are engaging, accessible and they have a wow factor. Even though you don’t mean to be impressive, people often think you are so creative and accomplished when you wield them. (more…)

Hot Strategies for All Five of the New Common Application Prompts

by j9robinson | Jun 13, 2013

College Application Essays

Which prompt will you pick.

UPDATE: Most of this information is still helpful and relevant. However, please see the changes in the NEW Common Application Prompts for 2015-16 ! 

If you are ready to brainstorm ideas for your Common Application essays, here’s a great place to start. I’ve written posts on each of the 5 new prompts–including how to focus your answer, to find unique angles and twists,  to structure your essay, to tell a story with an anecdote, and topics to avoid, on and on.

Here are the new prompts for the 2013 Common Application essays (click each prompt to find my post on how to respond to it!):

• Some students have a background or story or interest or talent that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
• The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success.  Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
• 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 .
• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

Check out my posts on how to answer the two prompts for the University of California essays .

If you find these helpful, but still need more help in the actual writing of your narrative-style essay, consider buying a copy of my new book:  Escape Essay Hell!  You can order off my blog here or it’s now also  available on Amazon via Kindle . luck!

Should You Take the Challenge of Prompt 3 of New Common App?

College application essays: how to answer prompt 3 of the common app., who or what have you confronted lately.

When you read the five options for your Common Application essay, one prompt probably will appeal to you first off. Others you will skim and choose to ignore.

This is how I felt about the third prompt–“ Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?”

It just didn’t inspire any topic ideas for me, and I assumed it was less likely than the others to work for you, too. 

But w hen I gave this question a little more thought, I realized that I challenged a belief while I was in my teens. And it was a very big deal.

I was raised in a religion that is considered relatively radical and unusual, and when I started to think for myself (sometime around junior high) I decided it wasn’t for me.

I was not popular with my parents, some of my friends or my parochial school at the time, and it was hard sticking to my guns. Although rejecting my religion was challenging, painful and lonely, the process truly defined who I was and what I believed. It would have made an excellent essay topic.

So there. I have to eat my negative words about that third essay question.

I wonder what other possible topics could be for that question, besides challenging a religion that has been imposed upon you.

How about a gender belief? Or racial or cultural one? Could you stretch the meaning of a “belief or idea” into an assumption, opinion or prejudice? I think so, especially if you indicate that you have done that in your essay.

I also think if you try to think of a time someone or something first challenged you on a certain “belief or idea,” and then you challenged back, you might find more real-life examples to write about.

For instance, someone tried to hold you back just because you were a girl, and what you did about that (the belief you challenged: girls are inferior to guys).

Or someone kept you out of an activity or group just because of your race or heritage, and what you did about that. I’m imaging some type of confrontation or speaking up or fighting back (peacefully, of course).

I like that the prompt asks you pointedly to also include “what prompted you to act,” so you include some act ion in your essay.

It’s always a good thing when something actually happens in these college application essays.

The last question in this prompt, “Would you make the same decision again,” is meant to encourage you to look back and reflect, analyze and evaluate that decision to challenge the belief or idea.

A Sample Outline for Prompt 3

If you want to answer this prompt, here’s one way you could structure your essay to engage the reader with your challenging action, and go on to explain why you did it:

1. Start with an anecdote that describes a moment or “time” when you challenged the belief or idea you are writing about. This could simply be the conversation where you confronted someone about it, or some action you took to protest or react to that belief or idea.

2. After a paragraph or two where you described an example of a specific “time” you challenged the belief or idea (or assumption, stereotype, opinion, prejudice, etc.), then go back and give us the back story about this time. What led up to it?

3. Then start to explain how that incident made you feel, what made you decide you didn’t accept it, “what prompted you to act,” how you responded to it, and what you learned in the process. And of course, would you do it again?

The most important part of writing about this prompt, I believe, is to bring some action to your essay. It could be dull and long-winded if you only talk about your beliefs or ideas. Focus on a specific example where something happened and your essay is sure to be compelling.

The larger lesson here, at least that I’ve learned, in reviewing the five options for writing your college admissions essays for these new Common Application prompts is to  try your best to think about and brainstorm ideas for each one . Even if one jumps out at you, give the others a chance. I think I could have written a great essay if I had thought more about my own time I challenged a belief or idea!  

If are you ready to tell your story, check out my  Jumpstart Guide  and posts about  how to find a great topic ,  tell a story  and  write an anecdote .

My new ebook,  Escape Essay Hell! , offers more complete steps and advice on how to write these types of “narrative,” or storytelling, essays, if you want more help:

Click logo to visit Home Page!

Need More Help?

As a professional writing coach, I help students, parents, counselors, teachers and others from around the world on these dreaded essays! Learn about my in-person and online tutoring, editing, workshops, books, and online courses, ... READ MORE... .

Online Course

Learn to write your essay in one hour.

My on-demand, fast-and-easy online e-course: How to Write a College App Essay (Click lightbulb for details.)

Perfect for The Common App, UCs, grad school, transfer and scholarship essays!

Buy Course for $99 and Start Now!

Find helpful posts.

• About Admissions Officers
• Add a Twist
• Admissions Advice
• Affordability and Success
• Anecdote How-To
• ApplyTexas Essays
• Avoid "English-ese"
• Beware English teachers
• Brainstorm Guide
• Bump Up a Dull Essay
• Cappex Application essays
• Another Trick to Try
• Defining Qualities
• Focusing Your Topic
• Good Topics vs Bad Topics
• How to Stand Out
• Jumpstart Guide!
• Mundane Topics
• Risky Topics
• Show Your Grit
• The "Unexpected"
• Top Five Topic Tips
• Topic of Choice
• Topics to Avoid!
• Twilight as a Topic?
• Coalition for Access
• Coalition for Access Essay Strategies
• College Rejection
• Common App Prompt 7
• Common App: Prompt 1
• Common App: Prompt 2
• Common App: Prompt 3
• Common App: Prompt 4
• Common App: Prompt 5
• Common App: Prompt 6
• Commonly Asked Questions
• Conclusions
• Create Pathos
• Creative Writing
• English Teachers Help
• Essay Cheat Sheet
• Essay Contest
• Essay Hell's Writing Guides
• Essay Myths
• Essay Writing Guides
• Essay Writing Training
• Find Core Values
• First drafts
• Grabber Introductions
• Heavenly Essays Book
• Homeschooling
• How Format Common App Essay
• How to Describe a Place/Setting/World
• How to Recycle Essays
• How to Write a Conclusion
• How to Write Short Essays
• International Students
• Journal Writing
• Jumpstart Essay Experts
• Lesson Plans
• Math and Science Students
• How to manage your parents
• Personal Insight Questions
• Personal Statements
• Favorite Books
• Sample Essays
• Scholarship Essays
• Storytelling
• Supplemental Essay Tips
• Tufts Supplemental Essays
• University of Colorado Supp
• Why College X?
• Texas Essay Prompts
• How to Answer Prompt #1
• Golden Advice from a College Insider
• Title Your Essay
• TMI in Essays
• Top Essay Fears
• Transfer Essays
• Transfer Students
• UC Prompt #1
• UC Prompt #2
• UC Transfer Essays
• Uncategorized
• Underprivileged Students
• UC Prompt 4
• UC Prompt 5
• UC Prompt 8
• University of Texas essays
• Video Tutorials
• Waitlist Essays and Letter
• Warning to Top Students
• What Makes a Great Essay?
• When You Are Done
• Where to Start
• Why Essays Matter
• Be Specific
• Black and white thinking
• Don't Impress
• Final checklist
• Grabber introductions
• How Find Your Main Point\
• How to Add Depth
• How to add intellectual vitality
• How to Tell a Story
• How to Write an Anecdote
• Ladder of Abstraction
• Mini-Memoirs
• Online course for writing college admissions essays
• Self-editing
• Show AND Tell
• Show Don't Tell
• Tone and Voice
• Universal Truths
• Use Emotion
• Writing Contests

Bestselling Writing Guide!

Click book image to learn about all four of my popular writing guides!

Florida: 561-509-0021 | Colorado: 720-737-9944  | Nationwide: 833.MY.ESSAY .

Florida: 561-509-0021 Colorado: 720-737-9944  Nationwide: 833.MY.ESSAY .

• School changes,

Bonnie R. Rabin, Ph.D.

Bonnie R. Rabin, Ph.D. is the founder and principal educational consultant of College Career Consulting, LLC. She has over 30 years of experience as a university faculty member and shares her knowledge, professional resources and support with students who are ready to advance their lifelong educational and career journeys.

BE INSPIRED! LET ME HELP YOU TAKE THE NEXT STEP!