The new prompts on the Common Application help give form and direction to your college essay. They are relatively specific in focus, and it’s important that as you consider which prompt to answer that you consider all the elements of the question. You need to address each portion in order to craft a solid essay that presents yourself in the best possible light. In our last two installments, we have examined the “background story” and “failure” prompts. Today we look at the “belief or idea” prompt.
Here’s the text of the prompt:
Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
Once again, let’s examine the wording of the prompt to help guide the structure of the essay. But in order to make it clear, we’ll look at the key words in order of their importance, rather than in order of appearance.
Key Words
Belief or Idea
The pivot of this essay is some belief or idea. This could be your own idea, or it could be one held by someone else. Beliefs and ideas are abstractions—principles that inform your behavior and set your own standards for the behavior of others. So no matter what else this prompt addresses, at its core must be some ethical or moral value.
A Time
This word implies a chronology; therefore, you will be required to recount a story. This narrative has a beginning, a middle, and an end. We are looking for a specific incident or occurrence that you can relate in a very succinct, very dense manner.
Challenged
The idea or belief at the center of your essay must have been tested in some way for this essay to work. You are being asked to relate an incident in which you challenged or tested or criticized the idea. Again, the idea could be your own or someone else’s. But somehow you need to have disputed the truth or validity of this idea. What was the substance of that challenge? Describe your critique of the belief.
Act
This is a critical word in this prompt: it asks for the action you took in response to the challenge. What concrete steps did you take to criticize or reevaluate the idea or belief? For some students, it may actually be that the student took no action…but later regretted it. Nevertheless, the prompt implies that you took some specific action. What was that action?
Prompted
This may not seem like an important word, but it is related to the word “time.” The assumption here is that some particular event or happening was the tipping point in challenging of the idea or belief. This returns us back to the story you are being asked to construct. What was the pivotal moment that propelled you to act?
The Final Question
The final question of the prompt is also important, even though no single word stands out in the sentence. This question is to make you evaluate your action and to explain your own beliefs. How would you assess your decision, as well as your action? What were the positive outcomes from this incident, and what may have been the more negative aspects?
I recommend that as you brainstorm, you try to come up with at least three evaluative statements about the outcome of this action you took in challenging the belief. Not all of these statements may end up in your essay, but because any essay is designed to help the reader understand how you think and feel, it makes sense to take some time to analyze your experience.
Of course, all of this is a lot to think about in only 650 words. But as with any essay, don’t start with that word limit in your head. Write expansively and comprehensively to start. Address all of the aspects of the prompt as completely as you can, and then begin to edit it all down to a manageable length. This is difficult, sometimes, but the result will be a richer, denser essay that helps your reader to understand your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions.
Tomorrow we’ll continue this series with a look at the prompt that focuses on a place or environment.
VIEW THE COMPLETE SERIES OF POSTS ANALYZING THE COMMON APPLICATION PROMPTS
Writing About Failure
Writing About A Belief or Idea
Writing About A Place or Environment
Writing About the Transition to Adulthood
Writing About Your Background Story
