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How to Write a College Essay

QuestBridge can help you craft a strong college essay. We cover what to write about, how to get feedback, and more!

Before you dive into writing, take a moment to consider why a college essay matters. A college essay, in addition to other written components of a college application, can help those reviewing your application get to know you better and can give you the opportunity to demonstrate:

  • Your values, interests, and passions
  • Your academic preparedness and other achievements
  • What you’ve learned and how you’ve grown from life experiences 

Reflect on the words from one of our college partners to ground yourself in the purpose of this writing journey:

 

Bring us into your world. We want to know you. We want to know your truth.

Ashley Pallie, Dean of Admissions, California Institute of Technology

What you'll find on this page

Approaching the writing process

You’re not alone if you feel overwhelmed as you begin this writing journey! Consider these reminders and recommendations for approaching the writing process with less stress:

  • There is no perfect rubric or template for a college essay.
  • No one knows you as well as you know yourself. Trust that you have a unique story within you to share, mold, and craft.
  • Give yourself ample preparation time to be intentional about the story you share and how you share it.
  • Consider your writing process as an opportunity for you to get to know yourself better, too! You may be surprised at the clarity you gain from taking time to reflect on your goals, values, and life experiences.
  • Stay motivated by taking the writing process one step at a time, such as the steps we outline on this page.

College Prep Scholars Program

For high school juniors

For the College Prep Scholars Program application for high school juniors, applicants will respond to the following writing prompt:

"We would like to learn more about you. In 300-500 words, tell us about the factors that have shaped you into the person you are today."

National College Match

For high school seniors

For the National College Match application for high school seniors, applicants will respond to the following personal essay prompt:

“We are interested in learning more about the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your successes. Please describe how the most influential factors and challenges in your life have shaped you into the person you are today.” (800-word limit).

Brainstorming a topic

Download our College Essay Brainstorming Worksheet to reflect on what you may share in your essay, such as:

  • The context in which you have grown up
  • How you have formed your aspirations and find inspiration
  • Challenges you have encountered and how you have grown from them
  • Your successes and how you have accomplished them

As you reflect on these topics, what stands out to you as unique aspects of your story? What connections or throughlines do you notice within your reflections? What feels most energizing and authentic for you to write about? These questions may help illuminate what you’d like to focus on in your writing.

Challenges and extenuating circumstances

Students from low-income backgrounds may have encountered many challenges in life. As you consider whether or not you’d like to share these challenges in your writing, ask yourself the following questions: 

  • Can I demonstrate clear growth from the challenge?
  • Have I reflected significantly on what I’ve learned from the challenge? 

If you answer no to these questions, you may want to consider focusing on other unique aspects of your life experiences, interests, and goals in order to select a topic that effectively demonstrates some of your qualities, characteristics, and growth. All kinds of essays can be compelling and impactful, regardless of whether they describe significant challenges.

Completing a draft

Continue utilizing our College Essay Brainstorming Worksheet as a template and foundation to help you craft a strong college essay. The college essay format explored in the worksheet is one of many ways to ensure your essay goes beyond a chronological explanation of your life or an expansion of your resume. 

Additionally, review our tips for completing a draft:

  • Before drafting, create an outline to strategize how you’ll incorporate unique parts of your story into one cohesive essay that demonstrates your values, how you’ve grown, and lessons you’ve learned.
  • Don’t forget to structure your essay with separate paragraphs! Each paragraph should have a clear purpose that is easy for the reader to follow.
  • As you decide on each paragraph’s purpose, consider what descriptive detail or specific anecdotes you can incorporate to bring life to the message.
  • Prioritize getting your thoughts down on paper, no matter how messy it may feel at first. It's okay if each sentence is not perfectly worded the first time through – keep going! When you revise your writing afterward, you can then go line-by-line to assess flow, sentence structure, word choice, and grammar.

Writing about challenges

If you’ve decided to incorporate challenges you’ve encountered into your essay content, below are some helpful reminders and strategies to keep in mind when writing about obstacles. 

  • Focus on your growth — remember that the focus of your essays should be you, not just your obstacles and/or challenges.
  • Highlight what you’ve learned as a result of your challenges, incorporating ways you may have applied what you learned to further exemplify your growth.
  • Lean into a more positive tone. Application readers want to feel that you are ready for college, and demonstrating your emotional maturity and character development will show us that you are ready for that challenge.

Tip: After reading what you’ve written, reflect on the overall tone and emotions your writing creates. Do you feel inspired? Motivated? Proud of yourself? These can be good signs of an essay that effectively describes challenges you’ve faced!

Revising your essay

A strong college essay demonstrates a student’s academic preparedness through compelling writing that illuminates their unique perspective and life experiences, and authentically reflects their character and qualities.

Download our Revising Your Essay Worksheet to help you evaluate, improve, and polish your essay draft. Ask yourself the following questions to consider where there may be room for improvement:

  • Are my experiences, perspective, character, and qualities shining through in my essay?
  • Does my essay demonstrate maturity and a strong writing ability?

As you revise your writing, ask teachers, mentors, family, or friends for feedback. Reach out well in advance of any deadlines, and try to give them at least two weeks to provide feedback. Download our Essay Feedback Request Template for example language you can use.

After receiving feedback, revise! Keep in mind: 

  • You do not have to incorporate all feedback. Accept what you think is most helpful.
  • Edits and revisions should not remove your voice or completely alter your writing style.
  • Pay attention to spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting.
  • Read your essay out loud to catch mistakes or awkward phrasing that you might otherwise miss.
  • Imagine you're a college admissions officer who just read your essay. What two to three things did they learn about you? What are the main takeaways from your essay?

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National College Match

High school seniors: The 2026 National College Match is now open! Apply for free to the nation’s top colleges and be considered for early admission and a full four-year scholarship.