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How to Respond to the Common App COVID-19 Question (+ Examples)

What’s covered:, what is the “additional information” section, what is the covid-19 and community disruption question, should you respond to the community disruption question.

• How to Respond and How Not to Respond

Where to Get Your Essays Edited

The “Additional Information” section of the Common App has a new question: have you suffered any long-term impacts from COVID or natural disasters? The Common App notes this question is optional, but many students might be unsure whether filling out this question will give them an advantage over other applicants (like most “optional” essay prompts).

Here are some tips on how to navigate the prompt.

The “Additional Information” section is a place to provide necessary context that is not already present in your application. The question asks:

“Do you wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application?”

For example, if your grades dropped due to an extenuating circumstance, or if you self-studied for your AP exams, those would be worth mentioning here in this section. 

Keep in mind though that the “Additional Information” section is completely optional: you will not be penalized for skipping it. While most optional essay prompts are in fact necessary to stand out in a crowded admissions field, this section is meant more for circumstances which do not apply to everyone. That’s why we recommend skipping it if you don’t have something to say — adding an extra essay or overstating adversity can backfire on your application.

The community disruption question states: 

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. For more information, check out our COVID-19 FAQ .

Notice the comparison between COVID and natural disasters: this is not an essay that everyone is expected to fill out. Instead, think of this as an extension of the original “Additional Information” prompt that is meant to filter in answers related to these subjects.

Admissions officers are human, and they will genuinely want to know if you struggled with those events. This prompt is meant as a way for students to provide context so they are not adversely affected in the admissions process.

The linked FAQ specifically states: “the question is not intended to be an extra essay.” The examples they give that would justify a response include loss of family employment, lack of internet access, or a related shift in your career interests. 

Here is the full list of examples from the Common App of circumstances that could warrant a response:

• Illness or loss within your family or support network
• Employment or housing disruptions within your family 
• Food insecurity
• Toll on mental and emotional health
• New obligations such as part-time work or care for siblings or family members
• Availability of computer or internet access required to continue your studies
• Access to a safe and quiet study space
• A new direction for your major or career interests

In short, you should not use this space to describe things experienced by the general public or everyone at your school (your counselor’s recommendation will let colleges know of things like school closures or grading changes). This is a place to acknowledge how COVID or other disruptions negatively impacted you relative to other students . 

If you feel your application would be incomplete without this context, then you should fill out the section.

How to Respond (and How Not to Respond) to the Community Disruption Question

How to respond.

The most important thing to remember is that this is not an essay prompt. Your response (as with the “Additional Information” question) should be factual and to the point. Avoid the narrative style you would use for normal essays and treat it more as a footnote to your application.

Also, double check and make sure the information you provide is not already listed in other parts of your application, like your personal statement or extracurriculars list. If you want to give a more personal account than the format allows, then consider using the story in your personal statement or supplementals. 

And lastly, even though this is not a creative writing sample, make sure your answer is as polished as the other parts of your application — use complete sentences and avoid careless grammatical errors. You want to make sure this response, like everything else in your application, is reflective of you as an applicant.

Here are some examples:

Example 1: In 2020 my school district shut down and switched to remote learning. However, living in a rural area on the outskirts of my school district, I did not have access to stable internet for Zoom classes. My teachers were helpful in providing accommodations, but I ultimately decided to take a reduced courseload for that year. Though I will still be able to graduate on time, I have only had room in my schedule for required courses and have not been able to take as many electives as I would have liked.

Example 2: In October 2022 my town was flooded by Hurricane Ian and my home largely damaged. My family moved in with relatives in North Carolina, which is why I went to school there for the rest of the semester. Not all of my classes were transferable, so I did not finish with any honors or AP courses. I ultimately suffered worse grades for the school year.

How Not to Respond

Do not use this space to discuss common disruptions faced by many other students — like missing out on extracurriculars, transitioning to online classes, or experiencing lockdowns. Most relevant changes, like new grading policies, will be explained by your counselor in their part of the application.

Also avoid playing up a minor impact, like your grades dropping slightly or missing out on an extracurricular, as it can make your response come across as relatively privileged.

In short, just remember that this space is for exceptional or unusual circumstances — misusing it will be seen as inappropriate.

Do you want feedback on your college essays? While the Common App COVID question isn’t a traditional essay, you may still want feedback on it or your other essays. After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

How to Write The Common App’s New “Optional” COVID-19 Essay

Stacey Brook, Founder and Chief Advisor

Since the start of the pandemic, the question we have most frequently been asked by college applicants is, “Should I write about the Coronavirus in my college essay?” The Common Application has provided what we interpret to be a direct response to that query in the form of a brand new optional essay prompt. The prompt, which has a maximum word count of 250 and can be found in the Additional Information section of the Common App reads:

“Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.”

Of course, the release of this new prompt has generated new questions about how students can make the most of their essays and present themselves authentically and holistically on their 2020-21 applications. Below, we answer your burning questions and dispense tips and tricks to help applicants craft sincere and impactful responses to this highly-specific prompt.

Q: What is this question really asking?

A: This prompt does students many favors in its clarity and straightforward nature. Schools want to know how the pandemic has impacted your life and world. Some students will have very obvious ways in which they have been affected by COVID-19 . If you or someone close to you has been afflicted with the virus, this is the space in which to detail the experience and related challenges. Are you immunocompromised and in heightened danger of contracting the virus? Do you have a parent who works in the healthcare system and who is not living with your family temporarily to protect you? Has someone in your family lost their job because of the economic impact of quarantine? What about your ability to access educational instruction and materials? Is wi-fi hard to come by at home? Do you live in an apartment with very little privacy and space for concentration? Be honest about how your life has changed because of the pandemic and resultant quarantine. Admissions knows that many students have been stretched thin during these challenging times and they want as much context as possible to help them evaluate your application in a fair light.

For students who have not faced the circumstances above, keep a few things in mind when approaching this prompt. It goes without saying that all students’ lives and modes of operation have been impacted by the pandemic. What you want to avoid in your response is elaboration on the obvious. Pretty much all applicants have endured the challenges of transitioning from in-person to online learning. They have all adapted in one way or another to the shifted schedules, truncated curriculums and imperfect grading metrics. What admissions wants to know is, how did you respond to these enormous shifts in learning and lifestyle?

Did you take the initiative to form a study group with five of your classmates to review class material for an extra hour each day? Have you started to deliver groceries to the elderly and other at-risk populations in your community in place of your usual in-person volunteer work at a nursing home? If you are an athlete, what does the abrupt end of your sports season mean to you? How have you been working on your own to stay in shape and mitigate that sense of loss? What have you committed yourself to accomplishing off the court or field instead? There are many opportunities to showcase your resilience and determination in the face of one of the greatest challenges of our lifetimes. Show admissions that you haven’t given up and that COVID has not dampened your will to succeed.

Q: Does this mean I can’t write about COVID-19 in my personal statement?

A: Yes. And no. It certainly should not be the core focus for most students. Before the pandemic, you spent sixteen or seventeen years on this earth engaging in meaningful activities, following your curiosity and building yourself into the complex and ambitious human you are today. Don’t allow yourself to be defined by this crisis. You are, and have always been, so much more than just a person who has lived through an epidemic. (Not that living through an epidemic isn’t impressive.) Of course, some students will have experiences during quarantine that are truly worth the personal statement’s full allotment of 650 words. And inserting a line or two in your essay about how your actions during quarantine are reflective of your core characteristics and goals could be very powerful. But it is important to keep in mind that you are trying to distinguish yourself from similarly qualified applicants, and one of the things you definitely all have in common is having weathered the challenges of this epidemic. So unless you have a truly unique take on COVID-19 and how it has impacted your life, think about who you have been, not just since March, but in all the months that have come before quarantine. When your friends and family think about what makes you you , what qualities might they highlight? What are the accomplishments and challenges that have driven your ambitions? Who do you want to be when the epidemic finally ends and we settle into a new normal? These are the kinds of messages you should try to convey in your personal statement. And with the addition of the new prompt, the Common App has made it easy for you to separate stories about COVID-19 from everything else you’ve lived through and worked for.

Q: Is this prompt really optional?

A: We here at CEA believe that, with very few exceptions, almost no prompts are truly optional. Why would you sacrifice another valuable opportunity to speak to admissions in your own voice and relay your experiences, motivations and aspirations? This new prompt is especially valuable in the current climate. It’s hard to believe there is a student out there that won’t have something to say about how COVID-19 has impacted their lives. Additionally, as mentioned above, writing about the pandemic in this space frees you up to relay something that represents you more completely in your personal statement. Plus, once you start drafting, you’ll find that 250 words isn’t very many words at all. We guarantee you will fill up that space in no time, and any information you are able to share with admissions about this time in your life will only help them better understand how you can be an asset on campus in times of crisis and otherwise.

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Here’s the Deal on the COVID-19 Question on the Common App

This year, high school junior students have had every element of their college admissions disrupted by the pandemic, so it really should be no surprise that COVID-19 would filter into college applications, too. The Common Application recently announced the addition of an optional short essay to their application platform focused entirely on the effect the pandemic has had upon your life.

What are the Facts?

This essay will be brief with a maximum word count of 250 words. This short essay will be located in the Additional Information section of the Common Application. The question is absolutely optional and does not need to be answered if you do not wish to include an answer. In fact, the essay begins with asking a Yes/No question about whether you want to answer this essay prompt in the first place. 

What is the Prompt?

The new essay prompt on the Common App reads: “Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.”

Why Was This Essay Added?

Imagine for a moment that you are an admissions counselor at your top college. You’re likely reading dozens of essays each day, sometimes 40 essays in a day in addition to other office meetings. Now, you know that for many students, the pandemic is the most significant event of their lives, and rightly so! But you’re reading dozens of essays and most of them are about pandemic experiences. By the end of the day, students start to blend together and it’s tough to pick a few standout essays. Essentially, you’re reading dozens of variations on the same story. 

Hopefully this scenario gives you the perspective to understand that college counselors are anticipating a tough admissions season ahead, in terms of essay topics. The addition of this question to the Common Application does a few great things: 

• It allows students to focus their main Personal Statement on other deep topics that shaped your character. 
• It still preserves space to separately address ways you handled the challenges of the pandemic, so this aspect of your life is not lost. 

The great news is that colleges genuinely want to get to know who you are as the person behind the application. You will now have essay space to share everything you want them to know about you, without feeling forced to talk about a particular event. 

Who Should Answer This Prompt?

With the transition to online learning and the cancelation of standardized testing, juniors have already faced quite a few challenges this year. This new essay prompt is your space to share the things you specifically faced during quarantine. So here’s the deal: If the challenges you faced could match the challenges faced by every other student in your class (like difficulty submitting assignments online or frustration over canceled SATs), consider skipping this essay. It’s likely that recounting these irritants will seem redundant to the admissions department. 

However, if the pandemic altered your life in a major way, this essay is made for you. Did the quarantine affect your parents’ employment? Did a family member contract the disease? Do you have an immediate family member in healthcare who risked their lives on the frontline? Did a learning disability greatly impair your ability to adjust to the new online learning style? Were you suddenly placed in a parental role with your younger siblings, as your parents worked from home? Did you have limited access to home computers due to siblings also learning from home?

Admissions counselors want to know the major ways you were affected by the quarantine to evaluate your application with all the facts. They want to know how you reacted to these challenges and see how you persevered. Above all, keep the essay focused on you and your response.

How Should You Approach This Essay?

Beyond the ways in which the pandemic affected your life, keep in mind that colleges always want to know how you showed leadership and creativity in the face of adversity. This essay is no different. If you are answering this essay prompt, make sure you can also describe your positive response to the situation you were placed in this year.

Here’s an example: A student I worked with included a leadership project on her Common App Activities section called Quilts of Valor. She hosted workshops teaching younger students how to sew Quilts of Valor to honor veterans, as a gift from civilians. She also mentions this briefly in her main Personal Statement as one of the reasons she was drawn to Education as a major. So, what is she writing about in her COVID-19 essay? She’s describing how her past experience with sewing quilts allowed her to recognize a need for masks in her community and produce them with materials she already had on hand in her craft space. Her past leadership experience organizing workshops allowed her to swiftly organize her past and present students remotely to begin producing masks for those in need. She essentially uses her mere 250 words to support items in her resume, and she demonstrates her depth of character by using every tool at her disposal for the benefit of others. What college wouldn’t admit her? 

Use this essay space to describe how you triumphed in this challenging time, and the essay will be a true asset to the rest of your application. Demonstrate how you used your skills to shine light in a dark time. But remember: keep the pandemic content contained within this essay prompt, and allow your other essays to focus on allowing the admissions team to know you beyond the pandemic. 

Author: Michaela Schieffer

Michaela Schieffer is a former admissions counselor and now independent college counselor, guiding students through their college applications and essays through MoonPrep.com . Moon Prep's specialty lies in the Ivy League, direct medical programs (BS/MD), and highly competitive universities.

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How to Answer the COVID-19 Question on the Common App

August 21, 2022

With COVID-19 having been an omnipresent force in all of our lives, including the entire educational universe, it should come as little surprise that the virus even managed to infiltrate the college application itself two years ago. This will remain the case as the Class of 2023 applies to college this fall. As of August 2022, over 1,000,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and many have felt the economic impact of inflation and supply chain challenges. In addition to feeling the health-related and economic consequences, American teenagers had to deal with interruptions to in-person learning, the cancellation of long-awaited events and milestones, and an unnatural period of social isolation.

In an acknowledgement that the Class of 2023 has universally been impacted by the coronavirus crisis, the Common Application, which is used by over one million students each year to apply to one of 1,000+ member institutions, announced that the following COVID-19 prompts, introduced last cycle, will remain part of the application in 2022-23.

1) A 250-word optional question for applicants

2) A 500-word question for guidance counselors

Let’s dive in and look at both coronavirus questions in detail and talk about how students may want to approach this offering.

COVID-19 Question for Students on Common App

The prompt, which appears in the Additional Information section of the Common App reads as follows:

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.

• Do you wish to share anything on this topic? Y/N
• Please use this space to describe how these events have impacted you.

The response length will be limited to 250 words. It does not eat into the 650 words allotted for any other entry to the Additional Information section. The application will also feature an FAQ to help students consider the kinds of impacts they may wish to report, including:

• Illness and loss
• Housing and employment disruptions
• Shifting family obligations

Now that you understand the scope of the question, let’s tackle the first big decision point…

Should I answer the COVID-19 question on the Common App?

Applicants should keep in mind that college admissions officers are not alien beings who just touched down on Earth yesterday. They are human beings who have lived through the pandemic themselves. Therefore they do not need to be introduced to the very nature of the situation. Admissions officers are all fully aware of all of the basic facts pertaining to secondary education. For example, that schools shifted to online instruction in March 2020, that SAT/ACT tests were cancelled, the AP exams were administered remotely, etc.

There is no need to chronicle school-related challenges that were faced by literally every high school student, unless you believe that:

• Your grades were negatively impacted by the shift online.
• Your AP scores were lower because of the lack of instruction/online format.
• Your standardized test results (should you choose to submit them) were negatively impacted by the multiple SAT/ACT cancellations.

If you feel that the disruptions caused by coronavirus negatively impacted what appears on your transcript in any way, you should definitely use this space to explain. If you ended up with all “A”s and “5”s on your AP tests, then there is no need explain the obstacles you faced, unless you feel this communicates something about you (grit, perseverance, etc.).

Of course, if the pandemic impacted you in any personal way—loss of a family member’s job/income, death or serious illness of a family member, or, more tangentially, in the form of anxiety/depression, then you should, without question, use these 250 words to convey the full extent of your suffering.

How Should I Approach the COVID-19 Question?

If you emerged from reading the previous section certain that it is in your best interest to answer the question, the next issue is figuring out how to do so in an effective manner. Unlike with your Common App essay, 250 words does not give you the space with which to tell a complex and personal story in full technicolor. As such, we recommend following these two simple rules:

1) Lead off with the facts

Don’t start with a flowery or literary opening. There is likewise no reason to introduce the coronavirus and explain its broader impact. Did your mother lose her job? Did your grandfather pass away? Was there an uptick in childcare duties for your younger siblings, nieces, nephews, or cousins? Get right to the meat of the story in the first sentence or two.

2) Explain how these changes impacted YOU

Don’t forget to make this response about you . Citing things that happened to your family, friends, or community without explaining how these events made you feel and how they altered your everyday life would not make for an impactful answer. Also, make sure to provide specific details about causation when applicable. For example, don’t just say that dealing with caring for a younger sibling was “hard” or “a distraction.” Instead, be explicit about how that newfound responsibility prevented you from being able to study sufficiently for your AP Chemistry exam.

One additional consideration when pondering how/whether to address the coronavirus question is what the admissions officers will already know about the impact of the crisis on your particular high school. This brings us to the other new section on the Common App…

COVID-19 Question for School Counselors on Common App

Applicants should be fully aware of what is being asked of school counselors in their section of the Common Application as well as—even more importantly—how their counselor answers the question. The prompt for counselors is as follows:

Your school may have made adjustments due to community disruptions such as COVID–19 or natural disasters. If you have not already addressed those changes in your uploaded school profile or elsewhere, you can elaborate here. Colleges are especially interested in understanding changes to:

• Grading scales and policies
• Graduation requirements
• Instructional methods
• Schedules and course offerings
• Testing requirements
• Your academic calendar
• Other extenuating circumstances

Your guidance counselor will have 500 words to address this question. They can also upload additional files or send URLs to pages containing school or district-specific policies. Once a counselor crafts their response, it can be populated into the applications of all students on their caseloads. Nothing personal to your situation will be disclosed by your counselor in this section.

What Students Should Know About the Counselor Question

We encourage students to ask their counselor to see a copy of this statement. Some guidance departments will undoubtedly craft a blanket statement to be used by all counselors. Others will see counselors pen their own descriptions. Seeing this will be helpful to students because you will know what will automatically be communicated to your prospective colleges. For example, if your counselor explains that you were forced to be on virtual instruction for 70% of the 2020-21 school year and that all SAT administrations at your high school were cancelled in the fall, then there is no need for you to repeat that information in your own COVID-19 response.

College Transitions’ Final Thoughts

Every college admissions officer out there already knows a good deal about the COVID-19 pandemic because a) they lived through it themselves and b) your guidance counselor will have provided a summary of how it impacted your high school. The pandemic has victimized everyone on the planet in one way or another—even if it’s “just” injecting increased doses of anxiety, uncertainty, and loneliness into our lives. If you have a personal story to tell, we encourage you to do so. If not, feel free to skip this section in 2022-23.

For advice directly from the Common App, check out this FAQ .

For a look at the main Common App essays, click here .

• Application Strategies
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Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

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How to Approach the COVID-19 Question on the Common Application

If you’re using the Common Application this year, you’ll have the option to answer a question about how COVID-19 has influenced your experience. At St. Edward’s, we care about the individual and use a holistic, student-centered review process to consider every application. We want to understand how the circumstances of the past year have influenced your life and your academic record.

It may not be necessary for every student to answer the COVID-19 question. Virtually every student who applies to college this year will have stayed at home for part of the spring, taken classes online instead of at school, and seen extracurricular events cancelled. If these are the principal ways you were affected by the pandemic, you probably don’t need to answer the question. Your admission counselor already knows these were part of your experience, because they were part of every student’s experience.

On the other hand, some students’ lives were upended by the pandemic. Illness, job loss, changing family dynamics and unstable housing situations are all pandemic-related challenges that would influence your academic performance, mental health and perhaps your future plans. It’s important to use the COVID-19 question to explain impacts like this.

As you consider whether to answer the COVID-19 question, ask yourself:

• What would I want my admission counselor to know that is not explained anywhere else in my application?
• Was my family adversely affected beyond what was typical for everyone else in my school or community?
• What information about my experience of the pandemic would put the rest of my application in context?

Here are some circumstances in which we would encourage you to answer the COVID-19 question:

• If you were directly affected by the coronavirus. If someone in your family became ill, or you lost a loved one, we are so sorry. If you feel comfortable, please tell us.
• If your family’s employment or economic status was affected. If a breadwinner in your family lost a job or your housing situation changed, the COVID-19 question is a good place to explain this. If your parents are essential workers, you may have taken on extra duties at home, such as supervising a younger sibling. If you were an essential worker – a grocery store cashier, for example – you probably had to keep working in challenging conditions. This is important information to report.
• If online education was particularly challenging in your household. Please let us know if you did not have the technology or workspace you needed to do school effectively. For instance, perhaps you had to go sit in the library parking lot for four hours every day to do your homework because you didn’t have internet at home.
• If your answer to this question puts your academic record in context. Any of the preceding circumstances could have affected your grades. If your transcript only tells part of the story of the last two school years, and more information would explain your performance, give us that information in your answer to the COVID-19 question. And, if your circumstances were far from ideal, yet you kept up your grades anyway, let us know about that.
• If the pandemic took a disproportionate toll on your mental health. If so, you might include information about the kind of support you are receiving now, and what support you might need when you come to college.

Here are two other thoughts about the question:

If the pandemic has led to an unexpected positive development in your life, you can share that with us. You might have had a transformative experience with your family or a project you picked up during quarantine. COVID-19 may have led to you choosing a major or career field, or reassessing your spiritual philosophy. If the pandemic had that kind of impact on you, you could tell us.

Many students are dealing with frustration and sadness about the cancellation of extracurricular events like sports and debate tournaments and beloved traditions like prom. If you feel called to answer the COVID-19 question by describing one of these losses, we encourage you to reflect on how you may have grown from the experience, rather than simply relating the loss. Please keep in mind that most college applicants will have dealt with similar circumstances, so if you answer this question, keep the focus on how you adapted and how this might influence your future.

How to Write About Coronavirus in a College Essay

Students can share how they navigated life during the coronavirus pandemic in a full-length essay or an optional supplement.

Writing About COVID-19 in College Essays

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Experts say students should be honest and not limit themselves to merely their experiences with the pandemic.

The global impact of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, means colleges and prospective students alike are in for an admissions cycle like no other. Both face unprecedented challenges and questions as they grapple with their respective futures amid the ongoing fallout of the pandemic.

Colleges must examine applicants without the aid of standardized test scores for many – a factor that prompted many schools to go test-optional for now . Even grades, a significant component of a college application, may be hard to interpret with some high schools adopting pass-fail classes last spring due to the pandemic. Major college admissions factors are suddenly skewed.

"I can't help but think other (admissions) factors are going to matter more," says Ethan Sawyer, founder of the College Essay Guy, a website that offers free and paid essay-writing resources.

College essays and letters of recommendation , Sawyer says, are likely to carry more weight than ever in this admissions cycle. And many essays will likely focus on how the pandemic shaped students' lives throughout an often tumultuous 2020.

But before writing a college essay focused on the coronavirus, students should explore whether it's the best topic for them.

Writing About COVID-19 for a College Application

Much of daily life has been colored by the coronavirus. Virtual learning is the norm at many colleges and high schools, many extracurriculars have vanished and social lives have stalled for students complying with measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.

"For some young people, the pandemic took away what they envisioned as their senior year," says Robert Alexander, dean of admissions, financial aid and enrollment management at the University of Rochester in New York. "Maybe that's a spot on a varsity athletic team or the lead role in the fall play. And it's OK for them to mourn what should have been and what they feel like they lost, but more important is how are they making the most of the opportunities they do have?"

That question, Alexander says, is what colleges want answered if students choose to address COVID-19 in their college essay.

But the question of whether a student should write about the coronavirus is tricky. The answer depends largely on the student.

"In general, I don't think students should write about COVID-19 in their main personal statement for their application," Robin Miller, master college admissions counselor at IvyWise, a college counseling company, wrote in an email.

"Certainly, there may be exceptions to this based on a student's individual experience, but since the personal essay is the main place in the application where the student can really allow their voice to be heard and share insight into who they are as an individual, there are likely many other topics they can choose to write about that are more distinctive and unique than COVID-19," Miller says.

Opinions among admissions experts vary on whether to write about the likely popular topic of the pandemic.

"If your essay communicates something positive, unique, and compelling about you in an interesting and eloquent way, go for it," Carolyn Pippen, principal college admissions counselor at IvyWise, wrote in an email. She adds that students shouldn't be dissuaded from writing about a topic merely because it's common, noting that "topics are bound to repeat, no matter how hard we try to avoid it."

Above all, she urges honesty.

"If your experience within the context of the pandemic has been truly unique, then write about that experience, and the standing out will take care of itself," Pippen says. "If your experience has been generally the same as most other students in your context, then trying to find a unique angle can easily cross the line into exploiting a tragedy, or at least appearing as though you have."

But focusing entirely on the pandemic can limit a student to a single story and narrow who they are in an application, Sawyer says. "There are so many wonderful possibilities for what you can say about yourself outside of your experience within the pandemic."

He notes that passions, strengths, career interests and personal identity are among the multitude of essay topic options available to applicants and encourages them to probe their values to help determine the topic that matters most to them – and write about it.

That doesn't mean the pandemic experience has to be ignored if applicants feel the need to write about it.

Writing About Coronavirus in Main and Supplemental Essays

Students can choose to write a full-length college essay on the coronavirus or summarize their experience in a shorter form.

To help students explain how the pandemic affected them, The Common App has added an optional section to address this topic. Applicants have 250 words to describe their pandemic experience and the personal and academic impact of COVID-19.

"That's not a trick question, and there's no right or wrong answer," Alexander says. Colleges want to know, he adds, how students navigated the pandemic, how they prioritized their time, what responsibilities they took on and what they learned along the way.

If students can distill all of the above information into 250 words, there's likely no need to write about it in a full-length college essay, experts say. And applicants whose lives were not heavily altered by the pandemic may even choose to skip the optional COVID-19 question.

"This space is best used to discuss hardship and/or significant challenges that the student and/or the student's family experienced as a result of COVID-19 and how they have responded to those difficulties," Miller notes. Using the section to acknowledge a lack of impact, she adds, "could be perceived as trite and lacking insight, despite the good intentions of the applicant."

To guard against this lack of awareness, Sawyer encourages students to tap someone they trust to review their writing , whether it's the 250-word Common App response or the full-length essay.

Experts tend to agree that the short-form approach to this as an essay topic works better, but there are exceptions. And if a student does have a coronavirus story that he or she feels must be told, Alexander encourages the writer to be authentic in the essay.

"My advice for an essay about COVID-19 is the same as my advice about an essay for any topic – and that is, don't write what you think we want to read or hear," Alexander says. "Write what really changed you and that story that now is yours and yours alone to tell."

Sawyer urges students to ask themselves, "What's the sentence that only I can write?" He also encourages students to remember that the pandemic is only a chapter of their lives and not the whole book.

Miller, who cautions against writing a full-length essay on the coronavirus, says that if students choose to do so they should have a conversation with their high school counselor about whether that's the right move. And if students choose to proceed with COVID-19 as a topic, she says they need to be clear, detailed and insightful about what they learned and how they adapted along the way.

"Approaching the essay in this manner will provide important balance while demonstrating personal growth and vulnerability," Miller says.

Pippen encourages students to remember that they are in an unprecedented time for college admissions.

"It is important to keep in mind with all of these (admission) factors that no colleges have ever had to consider them this way in the selection process, if at all," Pippen says. "They have had very little time to calibrate their evaluations of different application components within their offices, let alone across institutions. This means that colleges will all be handling the admissions process a little bit differently, and their approaches may even evolve over the course of the admissions cycle."

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Writing about COVID-19 in a college admission essay

by: Venkates Swaminathan | Updated: September 14, 2020

Print article

For students applying to college using the CommonApp, there are several different places where students and counselors can address the pandemic’s impact. The different sections have differing goals. You must understand how to use each section for its appropriate use.

The CommonApp COVID-19 question

First, the CommonApp this year has an additional question specifically about COVID-19 :

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. Please use this space to describe how these events have impacted you.

This question seeks to understand the adversity that students may have had to face due to the pandemic, the move to online education, or the shelter-in-place rules. You don’t have to answer this question if the impact on you wasn’t particularly severe. Some examples of things students should discuss include:

• The student or a family member had COVID-19 or suffered other illnesses due to confinement during the pandemic.
• The candidate had to deal with personal or family issues, such as abusive living situations or other safety concerns
• The student suffered from a lack of internet access and other online learning challenges.
• Students who dealt with problems registering for or taking standardized tests and AP exams.

Jeff Schiffman of the Tulane University admissions office has a blog about this section. He recommends students ask themselves several questions as they go about answering this section:

• Are my experiences different from others’?
• Are there noticeable changes on my transcript?
• Am I aware of my privilege?
• Am I specific? Am I explaining rather than complaining?
• Is this information being included elsewhere on my application?

If you do answer this section, be brief and to-the-point.

Counselor recommendations and school profiles

Second, counselors will, in their counselor forms and school profiles on the CommonApp, address how the school handled the pandemic and how it might have affected students, specifically as it relates to:

• Grading scales and policies
• Graduation requirements
• Instructional methods
• Schedules and course offerings
• Testing requirements
• Your academic calendar
• Other extenuating circumstances

Students don’t have to mention these matters in their application unless something unusual happened.

Writing about COVID-19 in your main essay

Write about your experiences during the pandemic in your main college essay if your experience is personal, relevant, and the most important thing to discuss in your college admission essay. That you had to stay home and study online isn’t sufficient, as millions of other students faced the same situation. But sometimes, it can be appropriate and helpful to write about something related to the pandemic in your essay. For example:

• One student developed a website for a local comic book store. The store might not have survived without the ability for people to order comic books online. The student had a long-standing relationship with the store, and it was an institution that created a community for students who otherwise felt left out.
• One student started a YouTube channel to help other students with academic subjects he was very familiar with and began tutoring others.
• Some students used their extra time that was the result of the stay-at-home orders to take online courses pursuing topics they are genuinely interested in or developing new interests, like a foreign language or music.

Experiences like this can be good topics for the CommonApp essay as long as they reflect something genuinely important about the student. For many students whose lives have been shaped by this pandemic, it can be a critical part of their college application.

Want more? Read 6 ways to improve a college essay , What the &%$! should I write about in my college essay , and Just how important is a college admissions essay? .

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OWU Admission Blog

How to create a strong application in the covid-19 era, by the owu admission team.

COVID-19 is the elephant in every Zoom room. Disrupting our lives and routines, the global pandemic has impacted almost every industry, and higher education is no exception. As college students adjust to hybrid classes and wearing masks around campus, admission offices are also adapting.

For this unprecedented admission cycle, colleges and universities recognize that, while many aspects of the application will remain the same, applications will undoubtedly look different than ever before, as students struggle with canceled activities and swift switches to online learning.

To help students and families create the best application possible, we included a few tips and tricks for applying in the COVID-19 era. 

1. Do not be afraid to share contextual information in response to the COVID-19 question on the Common Application. This year, the CommonApp added a question where students can discuss any challenges the global pandemic has created for them or their family. This open-ended question gives students 250 words to talk about issues with reliable technology, struggles with online learning, family or personal health, canceled or postponed extracurricular activities, economic insecurity, or other related topics.

Colleges care about context, especially during this application cycle, because every student has been impacted in some way by the pandemic’s consequences. If you feel you have something important to share that will provide insight into an aspect of your application, don’t hesitate to express your thoughts.

2. COVID-19 can be a character in your essay, but it should not be the main idea. As mentioned in the tip above, the CommonApp now includes a section for students to share about COVID-19’s impact on their lives, so writing about the same topic in the primary essay may be a bit repetitive. The essay section offers an opportunity for students to share something new about themselves, such as a hobby, role model, life lesson, or favorite memory. Essays can be emotional, but some of the best essays are humorous and light.

Many students will write about the pandemic this year and next year, as this global crisis is one of the largest challenges and disruptions students have faced. However, avoiding this topic as your primary essay can help your work stand out.

3. The activities section can include informal or canceled extracurricular activities. One of the ways that high school students were hurt by the pandemic is the disruption of after-school activities: sports seasons, part-time jobs, musical groups, debate teams, and so much more. In your activities section, colleges and universities want to learn more about what you do when you are not in school. If you spent a lot of time cultivating your new baking skills during the pandemic, tell us!

It is completely fine if some activities listed are not an “official school activity.” You can also include activities that you planned to do but were canceled due to the pandemic, as long as you are clear about the interruption of your plans. Again, colleges and universities want to gauge your interests and understand what you would have done if you were able to.

4. Use test optional policies to your advantage. This year, over 80% of Ohio’s private colleges and universities instituted test optional or test blind options for applicants, as so many students are struggling to take or retake one of the standardized tests (ACT and SAT). If you were not able to take the ACT or SAT, check in with each institution you are applying to about their test optional policy.

Make sure to ask if their review process for awarding scholarships or certain competitive awards will also be test optional. Sometimes you still need test scores for the top scholarship opportunities, honors programs, or specific majors, even if the school is considered “test optional.” 

If you were able to take an ACT or SAT, only submit your scores to a test optional school if they are strong. Having scores does not necessarily boost your application; they can sometimes hinder it. A good rule of thumb to use is as follows: If your scores are above the average, you should submit them. If they are below the institution’s average, you should opt for test-optional. Most admission representatives, and your college counselor, can help you make a good decision. Ask your admission counselor at each institution for their recommendation, and use your college counselor’s knowledge of the process to assist you as well.  Read OWU's test optional policy .

At Ohio Wesleyan, we recognize that life may be a bit hectic right now. Our best advice is to remain calm and use all of your resources to submit the strongest college application you can. Every prospective college student around the world has been impacted by this global crisis, so take a deep breath and know that you are not alone!

Tips from the OWU Admission Team

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‘When Normal Life Stopped’: College Essays Reflect a Turbulent Year

This year’s admissions essays became a platform for high school seniors to reflect on the pandemic, race and loss.

By Anemona Hartocollis

This year perhaps more than ever before, the college essay has served as a canvas for high school seniors to reflect on a turbulent and, for many, sorrowful year. It has been a psychiatrist’s couch, a road map to a more hopeful future, a chance to pour out intimate feelings about loneliness and injustice.

In response to a request from The New York Times, more than 900 seniors submitted the personal essays they wrote for their college applications. Reading them is like a trip through two of the biggest news events of recent decades: the devastation wrought by the coronavirus, and the rise of a new civil rights movement.

In the wake of the high-profile deaths of Black people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers, students shared how they had wrestled with racism in their own lives. Many dipped their feet into the politics of protest, finding themselves strengthened by their activism, yet sometimes conflicted.

And in the midst of the most far-reaching pandemic in a century, they described the isolation and loss that have pervaded every aspect of their lives since schools suddenly shut down a year ago. They sought to articulate how they have managed while cut off from friends and activities they had cultivated for years.

To some degree, the students were responding to prompts on the applications, with their essays taking on even more weight in a year when many colleges waived standardized test scores and when extracurricular activities were wiped out.

This year the Common App, the nation’s most-used application, added a question inviting students to write about the impact of Covid-19 on their lives and educations. And universities like Notre Dame and Lehigh invited applicants to write about their reactions to the death of George Floyd, and how that inspired them to make the world a better place.

The coronavirus was the most common theme in the essays submitted to The Times, appearing in 393 essays, more than 40 percent. Next was the value of family, coming up in 351 essays, but often in the context of other issues, like the pandemic and race. Racial justice and protest figured in 342 essays.

“We find with underrepresented populations, we have lots of people coming to us with a legitimate interest in seeing social justice established, and they are looking to see their college as their training ground for that,” said David A. Burge, vice president for enrollment management at George Mason University.

Family was not the only eternal verity to appear. Love came up in 286 essays; science in 128; art in 110; music in 109; and honor in 32. Personal tragedy also loomed large, with 30 essays about cancer alone.

Some students resisted the lure of current events, and wrote quirky essays about captaining a fishing boat on Cape Cod or hosting dinner parties. A few wrote poetry. Perhaps surprisingly, politics and the 2020 election were not of great interest.

Most students expect to hear where they were admitted by the end of March or beginning of April. Here are excerpts from a few of the essays, edited for length.

Nandini Likki

Nandini, a senior at the Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, took care of her father after he was hospitalized with Covid-19. It was a “harrowing” but also rewarding time, she writes.

When he came home, my sister and I had to take care of him during the day while my mom went to work. We cooked his food, washed his dishes, and excessively cleaned the house to make sure we didn’t get the disease as well.

It was an especially harrowing time in my life and my mental health suffered due to the amount of stress I was under.

However, I think I grew emotionally and matured because of the experience. My sister and I became more responsible as we took on more adult roles in the family. I grew even closer to my dad and learned how to bond with him in different ways, like using Netflix Party to watch movies together. Although the experience isolated me from most of my friends who couldn’t relate to me, my dad’s illness taught me to treasure my family even more and cherish the time I spend with them.

Nandini has been accepted at Case Western and other schools.

Grace Sundstrom

Through her church in Des Moines, Grace, a senior at Roosevelt High School, began a correspondence with Alden, a man who was living in a nursing home and isolated by the pandemic.

As our letters flew back and forth, I decided to take a chance and share my disgust about the treatment of people of color at the hands of police officers. To my surprise, Alden responded with the same sentiments and shared his experience marching in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Here we were, two people generations apart, finding common ground around one of the most polarizing subjects in American history.

When I arrived at my first Black Lives Matter protest this summer, I was greeted by the voices of singing protesters. The singing made me think of a younger Alden, stepping off the train at Union Station in Washington, D.C., to attend the 1963 March on Washington.

Grace has been admitted to Trinity University in San Antonio and is waiting to hear from others.

Ahmed AlMehri

Ahmed, who attends the American School of Kuwait, wrote of growing stronger through the death of his revered grandfather from Covid-19.

Fareed Al-Othman was a poet, journalist and, most importantly, my grandfather. Sept. 8, 2020, he fell victim to Covid-19. To many, he’s just a statistic — one of the “inevitable” deaths. But to me, he was, and continues to be, an inspiration. I understand the frustration people have with the restrictions, curfews, lockdowns and all of the tertiary effects of these things.

But I, personally, would go through it all a hundred times over just to have my grandfather back.

For a long time, things felt as if they weren’t going to get better. Balancing the grief of his death, school and the upcoming college applications was a struggle; and my stress started to accumulate. Covid-19 has taken a lot from me, but it has forced me to grow stronger and persevere. I know my grandfather would be disappointed if I had let myself use his death as an excuse to slack off.

Ahmed has been accepted by the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Miami and is waiting to hear from others.

Mina Rowland

Mina, who lives in a shelter in San Joaquin County, Calif., wrote of becoming homeless in middle school.

Despite every day that I continue to face homelessness, I know that I have outlets for my pain and anguish.

Most things that I’ve had in life have been destroyed, stolen, lost, or taken, but art and poetry shall be with me forever.

The stars in “Starry Night” are my tenacity and my hope. Every time I am lucky enough to see the stars, I am reminded of how far I’ve come and how much farther I can go.

After taking a gap year, Mina and her twin sister, Mirabell, have been accepted at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and are waiting on others.

Christine Faith Cabusay

Christine, a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York, decided to break the isolation of the pandemic by writing letters to her friends.

How often would my friends receive something in the mail that was not college mail, a bill, or something they ordered online? My goal was to make opening a letter an experience. I learned calligraphy and Spencerian script so it was as if an 18th-century maiden was writing to them from her parlor on a rainy day.

Washing lines in my yard held an ever-changing rainbow of hand-recycled paper.

With every letter came a painting of something that I knew they liked: fandoms, animals, music, etc. I sprayed my favorite perfume on my signature on every letter because I read somewhere that women sprayed perfume on letters overseas to their partners in World War II; it made writing letters way more romantic (even if it was just to my close friends).

Christine is still waiting to hear from schools.

Alexis Ihezue

Her father’s death from complications of diabetes last year caused Alexis, a student at the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology in Lawrenceville, Ga., to consider the meaning of love.

And in the midst of my grief swallowing me from the inside out, I asked myself when I loved him most, and when I knew he loved me. It’s nothing but brief flashes, like bits and pieces of a dream. I hear him singing “Fix You” by Coldplay on our way home, his hands across the table from me at our favorite wing spot that we went to weekly after school, him driving me home in the middle of a rainstorm, his last message to me congratulating me on making it to senior year.

It’s me finding a plastic spoon in the sink last week and remembering the obnoxious way he used to eat. I see him in bursts and flashes.

A myriad of colors and experiences. And I think to myself, ‘That’s what it is.’ It’s a second. It’s a minute. That’s what love is. It isn’t measured in years, but moments.

Alexis has been accepted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is waiting on others.

Ivy Wanjiku

She and her mother came to America “with nothing but each other and $100,” writes Ivy, who was born in Kenya and attends North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Ga.

I am a triple threat. Foreign, black, female. From the dirt roads and dust that covered the attire of my ancestors who worshiped the soil, I have sprouted new beginnings for generations.

But the question arises; will that generation live to see its day?

Melanin mistaken as a felon, my existence is now a hashtag that trends as often as my rights, a facade at best, a lie in truth. I now know more names of dead blacks than I do the amendments of the Constitution.

Ivy is going to Emory University in Atlanta on full scholarship and credits her essay with helping her get in.

Mary Clare Marshall

The isolation of the pandemic became worse when Mary Clare, a student at Sacred Heart Greenwich in Connecticut, realized that her mother had cancer.

My parents acted like everything was normal, but there were constant reminders of her diagnosis. After her first chemo appointment, I didn’t acknowledge the change. It became real when she came downstairs one day without hair.

No one said anything about the change. It just happened. And it hit me all over again. My mom has cancer.

Even after going to Catholic school for my whole life, I couldn’t help but be angry at God. I felt myself experiencing immense doubt in everything I believe in. Unable to escape my house for any small respite, I felt as though I faced the reality of my mom’s cancer totally alone.

Mary Clare has been admitted to the University of Virginia and is waiting on other schools.

Nora Frances Kohnhorst

Nora, a student at the High School of American Studies at Lehman College in New York, was always “a serial dabbler,” but found commitment in a common pandemic hobby.

In March, when normal life stopped, I took up breadmaking. This served a practical purpose. The pandemic hit my neighborhood in Queens especially hard, and my parents were afraid to go to the store. This forced my family to come up with ways to avoid shopping. I decided I would learn to make sourdough using recipes I found online. Initially, some loaves fell flat, others were too soft inside, and still more spread into strange blobs.

I reminded myself that the bread didn’t need to be perfect, just edible.

It didn’t matter what it looked like; there was no one to see or eat it besides my brother and parents. They depended on my new activity, and that dependency prevented me from repeating the cycle of trying a hobby, losing steam, and moving on to something new.

Nora has been admitted to SUNY Binghamton and the University of Vermont and is waiting to hear from others.

Gracie Yong Ying Silides

Gracie, a student at Greensboro Day School in North Carolina, recalls the “red thread” of a Chinese proverb and wonders where it will take her next.

Destiny has led me into a mysterious place these last nine months: isolation. At a time in my life when I am supposed to be branching out, the Covid pandemic seems to have trimmed those branches back to nubs. I have had to research colleges without setting foot on them. I’ve introduced myself to strangers through essays, videos, and test scores.

I would have fallen apart over this if it weren’t for my faith.

In Hebrews 11:1, Paul says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” My life has shown me that the red thread of destiny guides me where I need to go. Though it might sound crazy, I trust that the red thread is guiding me to the next phase of my journey.

Gracie has been accepted to St. Olaf College, Ithaca College and others.

Levi, a student at Westerville Central High School in Ohio, wrestles with the conflict between her admiration for her father, a police officer, and the negative image of the police.

Since I was a small child I have watched my father put on his dark blue uniform to go to work protecting and serving others. He has always been my hero. As the African-American daughter of a police officer, I believe in what my father stands for, and I am so proud of him because he is not only my protector, but the protector of those I will likely never know. When I was young, I imagined him always being a hero to others, just as he was to me. How could anyone dislike him??? However, as I have gotten older and watched television and social media depict the brutalization of African-Americans, at the hands of police, I have come to a space that is uncomfortable.

I am certain there are others like me — African-Americans who love their police officer family members, yet who despise what the police are doing to African-Americans.

I know that I will not be able to rectify this problem alone, but I want to be a part of the solution where my paradox no longer exists.

Levi has been accepted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and is waiting to hear from others.

Henry Thomas Egan

When Henry, a student at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, attended a protest after the death of George Floyd, it was the words of a Nina Simone song that stayed with him.

I had never been to a protest before; neither my school, nor my family, nor my city are known for being outspoken. Thousands lined the intersection in all four directions, chanting, “He couldn’t breathe! George Floyd couldn’t breathe!”

In my head, thoughts of hunger, injustice, and silence swirled around.

In my ears, I heard lyrics playing on a speaker nearby, a song by Nina Simone: “To be young, gifted, and Black!” The experience was exceptionally sad and affirming and disorienting at the same time, and when the police arrived and started firing tear gas, I left. A lot has happened in my life over these last four years. I am left not knowing how to sort all of this out and what paths I should follow.

Henry has not yet heard back from colleges.

Anna Valades

Anna, a student at Coronado High School in California, pondered how children learned racism from their parents.

“She said I wasn’t invited to her birthday party because I was black,” my sister had told my mom, devastated, after coming home from third grade as the only classmate who had not been invited to the party. Although my sister is not black, she is a dark-skinned Mexican, and brown-skinned people in Mexico are thought of as being a lower class and commonly referred to as “negros.” When my mom found out who had been discriminating against my sister, she later informed me that the girl’s mother had also bullied my mom about her skin tone when she was in elementary school in Mexico City.

Through this situation, I learned the impact people’s upbringing and the values they are taught at home have on their beliefs and, therefore, their actions.

Anna has been accepted at Northeastern University and is waiting to hear from others.

Research was contributed by Asmaa Elkeurti, Aidan Gardiner, Pierre-Antoine Louis and Jake Frankenfield.

Anemona Hartocollis is a national correspondent, covering higher education. She is also the author of the book, “Seven Days of Possibilities: One Teacher, 24 Kids, and the Music That Changed Their Lives Forever.” More about Anemona Hartocollis

Tips for writing your college application essay during a pandemic

College application season is notorious for anxiety and stress for students, but when you add a pandemic into the mix, it becomes an obstacle course full of pandemic-impacted grades, virtual college tours and overall uncertainty.

Admissions counselors are relying on less data than usual to evaluate students. When schools shuttered last spring, many altered their grading policies and students were not able to participate in résumé-boosting activities, such as clubs, sports or community service. 

On top of that, many schools have waived standardized tests like the SAT and ACT because of lack of access caused by the pandemic.

Without those elements, admissions counselors are left searching for trends in the student’s pre-pandemic academic record and closely reading the personal statements to get a feel for what each student is really like.

“I think colleges and universities always pay close attention to the essay but this year it’s one of the few tools they have to actually connect with you personally,” said Angel Pérez, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling . “[Students are] not going to necessarily be running clubs in their schools or volunteering or having an after-school job that they normally would — so the storytelling around how they spend their time in the age of COVID is going to be really important.”

The personal statement is often considered one of the most challenging pieces of the college application because students tend to overthink it, Pérez said. 

There isn’t one topic or “type” of essay schools are looking for, said Pérez, who was formerly head of admissions at Trinity College in Connecticut. Instead, students should write about a topic or personal story that is meaningful to them and speaks to their personality, passions and dreams.

“My favorite essay was about a student that worked at a coffee shop, because he was such a beautiful writer — he transported me to that coffee shop but he wrote about what he learned as a result of the job,” Pérez said. “He never really thought about how people in the service industry are invisible. He talked about the fact that all these people would come in to order their coffee and see right through him.”

Most applications, including the Common Application , which is used by nearly 900 universities and colleges across the country, will include an optional “COVID question” this year for students to talk about how the pandemic has affected them. Admissions directors caution students from doubling down with a personal essay about the pandemic, on top of the additional COVID essay question. 

“What we’re really encouraging students to do is leverage that COVID impact essay to really talk about how the pandemic has impacted them and how it’s impacted their academic and social experiences,” said James Miller, director of admissions for Seattle University. “Use the Common App essays and our supplemental essays to really talk about who they are as people and ultimately what the application is trying to project, which is: Who do you want to become?” 

Miller said one of the best essays he read last year was about a student’s ongoing argument with her mother about how disorganized her closet was.

“She kind of told the story through the lens of moving all these different pieces of clothing that represented phases in her life,” he said. “I got a sense for something the student is excited about and they value. But I also get an understanding, from a deeper perspective through an analogy, I get an example from the student of the journey they’ve gone on.”

Jim Rawlins, director of admissions for the University of Oregon, said students should use the essay to talk about things admissions counselors can’t see from their transcripts or activities lists. 

“If a student is simply using their essay to recite the things we can already see on their transcripts and activity list, they’re really missing an opportunity with us,” Rawlins said. “We really want those best essays to be just that — something that adds to our understanding of who the student is. Who they would be on our campus, not just as a classmate, but maybe as a roommate.” 

Paul Seegert, director of admissions at the University of Washington, said he urges students to be genuine in the essays they write. While the essay likely won’t make or break a student’s admission to the UW, Seegert said students should think less about how to stand out and more about how to present themselves in a genuine way. 

“The application writing section and the list of activities — that is an option for students to tell us about their challenges and their achievements, and we want to know about both of those things,” Seegert said. 

It’s clear that this year will be a little bit different, but admissions counselors say the fundamental aspects of what makes a student a good fit for their school hasn’t changed. If anything, they are more empathetic of what students are going through and urge students to “not stress” about the application. 

“I would urge seniors to just try to keep in mind that everybody has been affected by this,” Seegert said. “All the other students going to college have been affected by the pandemic as well. We expect everybody’s year to look a little different than they normally would have.”

Rawlins said the UO has tried to bring an “understanding lens” to the application review process during the pandemic. For example, if a student started high school with weaker grades but were just starting to get on track, that upward trend in grades from their junior year might not be as clear because of pandemic-related grading changes.

“Maybe writing about it in their essay … that really gives us a chance to say, all right, we understand a little bit better what’s going on here,” he said.

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While students are navigating a college application year like no other, Pérez said, in a way, it’s to their advantage.

“There has never been a harder time to go through this process, but in other respects, there has never been a more flexible time to go through this process, because schools are going to be the most forgiving that they ever have been,” Pérez said. “They are going to be thinking deeply about what it means to be admissible to their institutions.”

∙ Write about something that is meaningful to you. This is your chance to show who you are and, more importantly, who you are becoming.

The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times.

Where can I explain how COVID-19 had an impact on me?

Jul 25, 2023 • knowledge, information.

• Illness or loss within your family or support network
• Employment or housing disruptions within your family
• Food insecurity
• Toll on mental and emotional health
• New obligations such as part-time work or care for siblings or family members
• Availability of computer or internet access required to continue your studies
• Access to a safe and quiet study space
• A new direction for your major or career interests

Published October 03, 2023

3 Tips to Choose the Right Common App Essay Prompt

Lisa Mortini

Senior Assistant Director, NYU Abu Dhabi Admissions

It’s time to start preparing your application to NYU. If you’re wondering how to choose the right prompt amongst the seven offered by the Common Application, then keep reading.

TIP 1 – Which YOU are you presenting to NYU?

Don’t just jump on the first prompt you read and start writing. Before you choose a prompt, you may want to ask yourself: are you excited to talk to us about a specific achievement? Do you want to give us insight into a hardship you faced and conquered? Are you keen to tell us about how you challenged the world around you? Are you so passionate about something that it’s all you can talk about these days?

Each of the seven essay questions in the Common Application will highlight and reveal a different facet of your personality. Do your research on NYU to truly understand why we are the school for you. Use your findings to decide which of your own qualities, skills, and character traits show that you are a good match for NYU. Then choose the prompt that will help us best understand that you are indeed the right fit for the school.

TIP 2 – Are you sure you’ve read this right?

While the seven prompts from the Common Application seem straightforward, are you sure you’ve really understood what they are asking?

Do read each question—and especially the one you will choose to answer—very carefully. These prompts are not as simple as they appear. Many of them have layers and sub-questions. Do not latch only on one key word and run away with it! You want to make sure you are actually understanding the question before you answer it fully.

I heard this tip from a colleague once and it never left me. To make sure you’ve actually answered the question, ask someone you trust to read your essay draft but remove the question first. Ask them afterwards what they think the questions was. If they get it, bingo! You’ve answered the question. If they are off-base, then you may want to rework your answer to make sure it covers what is actually being asked.

TIP 3 – Trust your instinct

Many of you will already have, in the back of your mind, an interesting story about your life that you’d like to share with NYU. It’s an interesting anecdote that would accentuate your fit within our student community. But then, you hesitate. You’re unsure if you should choose this story or another one. Or another one. Maybe this other one would do?

Bottom line is trust that you know yourself.  If you feel a specific story would represent your personality well and convey your fit to NYU better than another, then choose that one. Don’t debate forever. No time to waste!

Be careful if choosing prompt 7: “ Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. ”

While great personal statements can come from this prompt, my application reviewer experience tells me it’s not always the savviest choice. As this question is very open, you may be tempted to use an essay that you’ve already written for a completely different reason. These essays tend to be more impersonal. They often focus on a school subject, a project or activity you were a part of. They don’t really tell us about YOU. What makes you interesting, unique, and a good fit for NYU. My recommendation would be to write your application essay for this purpose specifically and choosing one of the six other prompts will ensure that you do just that.

EXTRA BONUS TIP

As we are still navigating uncertain times, you may be tempted to use prompt 7, the open essay, to write about recent events and how they have most certainly affected your life. “How the COVID-19 Pandemic Impacted Me” might well be on its way to become a recurring essay topic.

Before you chose this particular subject for your main essay, do ask yourself: What have I lived through that thousands (if not millions) of other high school students around the world have not also gone through? What is my angle on this? How would choosing this subject help me differentiate myself from others and help reveal my true personality? If you are struggling to find satisfying answers to these questions, another topic may be more appropriate.

Additionally, don’t forget that the Common Application has given you a dedicated space in the ‘Additional Information’ section to talk about your experience with COVID-19 or another recent natural disaster that may have impacted your academic career. This should give you ample space to share with us any Covid-19 details that you deem relevant.

Finally....

If you are still unsure what to do with your essay, let me refer you to my earlier post about writing a great application essay . While written with international candidates in mind, it should prove useful to all who apply to NYU. Another great article about strengthening your writing is my colleague David’s post about how to proofread your college essay .

Happy writing! We really look forward to reading your application very soon.

Lisa is a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions for NYU Abu Dhabi and the Global Admissions Team, based in the London office. Born and raised in France, Lisa also lived in Denmark and spent a couple of years in leafy upstate New York.  She is a dedicated gardener, a keen traveler to India and Japan, and loves watching the tennis at Wimbledon. She now spends her free time playing with her little rescue terrier dog, Cooper.

More from Lisa:

6 Proofreading Habits for Your College Essay and Beyond

Finished your first draft of your college essay? Here’s the next part—proofreading and editing. These tips will guide you through the treacherous proofreading process to make your writing as sharp as possible.

Tips for International Candidates Writing the Common App Essay

If you’re an international candidate who keeps staring in wonder at the Common App essay with no clue where to start, this article is for you!

NYU’s Common Application Questions

Thinking about submitting an application to NYU? Learn what to expect when you add NYU to your My Colleges list on the Common Application.

Common App announces 2024–2025 Common App essay prompts

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We are happy to announce that the Common App essay prompts will remain the same for 2024–2025.

Our decision to keep these prompts unchanged is supported by past research showing that overall satisfaction with the prompts exceeded 95% across our constituent groups - students, counselors, advisors, teachers, and member colleges. Moving forward, we want to learn more about who is choosing certain prompts to see if there are any noteworthy differences among student populations and incorporate feedback into future decisions.

While some schools are beginning discussions with juniors and transfer students about college options, it's important to clarify that this doesn't mean students need to start writing their essays right away. By releasing the prompts early, we hope to give students ample time for reflection and brainstorming. As you guide students with their planning, feel free to use our Common App Ready essay writing resource, available in both English and Spanish .

For students who wish to start exploring the application process, creating a Common App account before August 1 ensures that all their responses, including their personal essays, will be retained through account rollover .

Below is the full set of essay prompts for 2024–2025.

• 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 retain the optional community disruption question within the Writing section. Over the next year, we'll consult with our member, counselor, and student advisory committees to ensure we gather diverse perspectives and make informed decisions.

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Seniors -- Should you write about COVID on your College APP?

Our College Office shared information at their annual Information Night for Senior Families on September 16. Here are some more tips from the College Office:

Students are best served discussing any COVID related concerns in the new Common App question rather than in their primary college essay.  Teachers also need not describe how Stuy has been affected by COVID in their letters as we (College Office) have a special section in our High School Profile dedicated to exactly that, along with an update posted on the College Office website.  A line with hyperlinks to both that will be included in every school counselor rec letter this year.   This ensures that each rep reading applications from Stuy will see how we were (and continue to be) impacted by the pandemic.  We will also continue to be in communication with reps from many of the institutions to which our students apply via phone/email/Zoom as we have been since the spring.

Standardized testing will still play a large role in the admissions process at many colleges this cycle; test-optional colleges still utilize testing for those applicants who choose to submit ACT/SAT scores, and over 90% of our seniors have taken at least one of these exams. But students without scores will not be penalized as a  result. At test - blind  colleges , however, such as the entire CUNY system, the UC system, and CalTech, ACT/SAT scores are not used at all; so for this small group of institutions, testing plays no role whatsoever. 

Regarding writing about COVID-19, there will be a question concerning the pandemic on the Common App.

https://www.commonapp.org/blog/COVID-19-question-common-app

COVID-19 Question on 2020-2021 Common App Counselors will also find space in their Common App counselor forms to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on their school communities. The following optional question will be located within the School Profile section. www.commonapp.org

College Office

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Do I need to write the covid-19 essay/additional info on the common app? Answered

I'm a rising senior who's currently working on my college apps. I'm not sure if I should write this essay because the only impacts on my life have been activity cancellations and school closures which affect everyone equally. I'm not sure there's much need for me to write this essay but I've seen some sites say it's essentially required. To add to my confusion I heard in a collegevine webinar that you shouldn't force this essay if you weren't impacted as much by the crisis as others and should instead list activity cancellations in the additional info section. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Earn karma by helping others:

The Covid section is essentially a Covid/natural disaster additional info section it is most certainly not an essay and 100% shouldn’t be.

I can write xyz tournement was canceled due to Covid 19. Essentially its more space to explain the impact Covid has/had on you and consider it an extension of the additional info section

Hope this helps and please comment if you need clarification as I’d be happy to help clarify!

I'm sorry I meant the additional information part that's covid-19 specific.

Oh in that case I’ll edit my answer

It’s editted

Yeah, I thought that was right but I've seen articles that say otherwise so I wasn't so sure anymore. Although it was on an essay consulting company's website so the motives are dubious.

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