Admissions Blog

Undergraduate Admissions Uncensored

  • admissions.blog

Common App Essay: Size Does Matter

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Craig Meister

Every year students ask me the same question:

“How long should my Common Application essay be?”

I am never shy about providing them with the response that best summarizes how they need to approach both the Common Application essay and the Common Application in general:

“Go Big or Go Home!”

Despite what the official directions on the Common App indicate, students writing a 250-word essay – the lowest end of the range that is officially acceptable to complete this essay – have a far lower chance of convincing college admissions officers of their admissions-worthiness than students who believe in the maxim, ‘bigger is better.” The official upper limit in acceptable length on the Common App essay is 650 words.

A well-thought out and well-developed essay of any true substance is not only not possible in 250 words, it’s barely possible in 450 words. This is why none of my students have ever submitted a Common App essay consisting of fewer than 450 words. With that said, the true sweet spot in Common Application essay writing, for this current year’s prompts and prompts going back over a decade, is 500 to 650 words. This was even the case a few years ago when the Common App limited students to a mere 500 words. That experiment lasted for such a short time because colleges were getting such transparently superficial essays that they were a waste of time and effort for students and lacking in any valuable insight helpful to college admissions officers.

Think of a 500- to 650-word essay as a smooth and enjoyable flight from D.C. to Disney World. In 500 to 650 words students have the space they need to achieve proper cruising altitude: writing a strong introductory paragraph that both grabs readers’ attention and clearly states the essay’s thesis. Next, just as one wants to have an enjoyable in-flight experience with the fasten seatbelt light off and flight attendants passing out drinks and snacks, so too does a 500- to 650-word essay allow readers to relax a bit. In 500 to 650 words students are able to produce non-rushed, non-turbulent, highly valuable descriptive and specific body paragraphs that go a long way toward proving the essay’s thesis. Finally, landing a plane takes great skill, as does writing a conclusion to a college application essay. It’s not a simple rehash of the lift off (inclusive of a thesis statement); it should be complementary to it. Students who have 500 to 650 words to work with are able to smoothly touch down in a way that nicely tops off of the entire flying/essay reading experience. At the end of the day, admissions officers read your essays because they want to fly the friendly skies with you into your world. 500 to 600 words allows you to give them a proper flying experience and gives you the words necessary to differentiate your world from the world of other applicants.

In order to produce a great final draft essay, your rough drafts should be even longer than 650 words. It’s very common for my students to create first, second, and third draft essays of nearly 1,000 words. Only through consistent and high quality editing can any essay be ready for submission to colleges and universities, and starting with too few words on initial drafts is a recipe for a puny little final draft essay.

So, the big take-away ideas on the Common App Essay are these:

  • Don’t do the minimum because you are officially allowed to do the minimum
  • Go big or go home – your final draft should be 500 to 650 words and your first draft should be even longer
  • In your final draft, ensure that paragraph transitions are smooth – just as a good pilot and great weather conditions allow a flight to be smooth from lift-off to landing

Before I share more extremely important Common App essay advice, let’s zero in on what students are going to be writing about on this year’s Common App. None of the essay prompts are easy, and all require a great deal of time, thought, and drafting before members of the Class of 2022 can confidently hit submit on their applications.

The 2024-2025 Common Application essay prompts are as follows:

Choose the option below that best helps you write an essay of no more than 650 words.

1. 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.

2. 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?

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

4. 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?

5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

6. 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?

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.

Honestly, I miss the old questions that existed through the 2016-2017 iteration of the Common App. The current questions indicate that the people behind the Common App are less and less interested in reading essays from normal teenagers and more and more interested in pushing teens to appear exceptional, idiosyncratic, or downright eccentric for the purpose of entertaining application readers and putting on a show of some sort of diversity. I would be surprised if many of the admissions officers could portray themselves accurately with these prompts. But we take the world we are given; this is what students in the high school Class of 2025 applying to Common App colleges and universities have to work this admissions cycle.

One of my favorite Common App essay prompts of all time sadly got cancelled long ago: “Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?” I guess the great minds behind the Common App simply don’t want students to be too happy when reflecting on the content of and writing their Common App essays, because if they did, they would have kept that one. Oh well. If you insist on using the current #7 prompt, you could always write your essay in response to this put-out-to-pasture prompt.

Remember that it’s always better to start brainstorming sooner rather than later, and if your essay is still not where you want it after working on it for a while, make sure to check out why your essay may be really bad or downright awful. You should aim to wrap up your Common App essay no later than early August, which will give you plenty of time to draft and perfect your essays for Common Application supplements.

Remember, if you want or need help with any part of your essay brainstorming and drafting, I’m here to help you.

Good luck!

—

Important Related Links:

2024-2025 Common App essay prompts: the best and worst for you

The Stats You Need: Most Popular & Least Popular Common App Essay Prompts

Why Your College Application Essay is So Bad

Why Your College Application Essay is Awful

Ultimate College Application Essay Brainstorm

Secret to a Successful College Application Essay First Draft

The Common Application

About Craig Meister

Craig Meister is a college admissions expert who, for nineteen years, has had the great fortune of providing personalized post-secondary guidance to students and families from around the world.

Filed Under: Advice & Analysis, Common App, Essays Tagged With: Applications

Related posts:

Most and Least Popular Common App Essay Prompts How to Approach 2020-2021 Common App Essay Prompts Common App Confirms Essay Prompts for 2024-2025 Another Reason Why Your Common Application Essay is So Bad

Subscribe to our mailing list

Trending Posts

Dear 9th Grader: Don’t get rejected from the Ivy League so soon!

2025 Admissions Cycle Brings Change at US Naval Academy

The Best and Worst 2025-2026 Common App Essay Prompts

AP vs. IBDP. Which is best for you?

This is what Affirmative Action and Test-Optional looks like at University of Wisconsin-Madison

Make the most of a college visit this spring

5 Smart Summer Tips for Wise Rising Seniors

Another Reason Why Your Common Application Essay is So Bad

The top 23 songs to listen to while completing your college applications in 2023 are…

How to Deal with Anxiety During College Admissions (Especially Now)

New Dartmouth Essay Prompts Feature Football and Wild Chimpanzees

ACT Mastery Begins with a Schedule: The Importance of Structured Studying

Digital SAT: All You Need to Know

The 5 Most Ridiculously Underrated Colleges in America

Dear 12th Grader: Don’t Blow Your Ivy Chances Now

Comparing Undergraduate Life at University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University

Yale Receives 1,000 Fewer Early Action Applications

8 Ways to Reduce the Cost of College

How to get into the Ivy League – Ethically

Caltech to require SAT or ACT scores again

Northwestern Releases Regular Decisions, Class of 2027 Statistics

Making the most of the summer before senior year

Wesleyan University Ends Legacy Preferences in Admissions

Rolling Admission vs. Regular Decision

Oh, Canada! The Definitive List of Canadian University Application Deadlines

You CAN apply Restrictive Early Action and Early Action under the right conditions

30 Summer STEM Camps for High School Freshmen

Top 5 Ways Applying to US Colleges is Different than Applying to UK Universities

The Perfect Gifts to Celebrate Getting Into College

Search Posts By Topic

  • 3 Year Degree (3)
  • Accommodations (2)
  • Admissions Policies (130)
  • Admissions Statistics (87)
  • Advice & Analysis (460)
  • Alabama (2)
  • Amherst (2)
  • AP (6)
  • Applications (93)
  • Applying from India (1)
  • Arizona (4)
  • Arts (1)
  • ASU (1)
  • Austin College (1)
  • Babson (1)
  • Baylor (1)
  • Berry College (1)
  • Boston College (2)
  • Boston University (6)
  • Bowdoin (1)
  • Brown (6)
  • Bryn Mawr (1)
  • Business (2)
  • BYU (1)
  • Caltech (5)
  • Canada (2)
  • Career and Technical Education (33)
  • Case Western (4)
  • China (1)
  • CMC (1)
  • Coalition (13)
  • Colby (3)
  • College Costs (1)
  • College Counselor (18)
  • College Fairs (5)
  • College Life (37)
  • College List (39)
  • College List Deathmatch (5)
  • College Visit (25)
  • Colorado College (1)
  • Colorado School of Mines (1)
  • Columbia (7)
  • Common App (42)
  • Community Colleges (4)
  • Cornell (5)
  • Counseling (3)
  • COVID-19 (8)
  • CSS PROFILE (3)
  • CSU (1)
  • CSULB (1)
  • CU Boulder (2)
  • Cybersecurity (1)
  • Dartmouth (6)
  • Davidson (1)
  • Demonstrated Interest (17)
  • DePaul (1)
  • Dickinson (1)
  • Direct Admissions (1)
  • Duke (3)
  • Early Action (44)
  • Early Childhood Education (1)
  • Early Decision (45)
  • Education (6)
  • Educational Consulting (1)
  • Elon (2)
  • Emergency Management (1)
  • Emory (1)
  • Engineering (3)
  • Enrichment (18)
  • Entrepreneurship (2)
  • Environmental Science (2)
  • Essays (58)
  • Europe (7)
  • Exercise Science (1)
  • Exeter (1)
  • Experiential Learning (1)
  • Extracurricular Activities (37)
  • FAFSA (6)
  • Feature (2)
  • Financial Aid (30)
  • First Person (12)
  • Fly-In (1)
  • France (1)
  • FSU (1)
  • Gap Programs (2)
  • GED (1)
  • Georgetown (4)
  • Germany (2)
  • Gifts (3)
  • Gonzaga (1)
  • GPA (7)
  • Graduate School (11)
  • Hamilton (1)
  • Harvard (7)
  • Healthcare (3)
  • High School (25)
  • Higher National Diplomas (1)
  • HiSET (1)
  • IB (4)
  • IEC (1)
  • IELTS (1)
  • Indiana (3)
  • Industrial Hygiene (1)
  • International (9)
  • Internships (8)
  • Interviews (10)
  • Iowa (2)
  • Italy (2)
  • Ivy League (20)
  • JHU (3)
  • Journalism (2)
  • Kettering University (1)
  • Lafayette (1)
  • Law (4)
  • LD (1)
  • Lists & Rankings (8)
  • Loans (1)
  • Majors (17)
  • Marketing (1)
  • Math (1)
  • Medicine (1)
  • Mental Health (3)
  • Middlebury (1)
  • MIT (6)
  • Montana State University (1)
  • Moving (1)
  • Naviance (2)
  • NCAA (3)
  • New Mexico State University (1)
  • News (124)
  • Northwestern (5)
  • Notification News (4)
  • Notre Dame (3)
  • Nursing (13)
  • NYU (3)
  • Of Note (14)
  • Ohio State (2)
  • Oklahoma (1)
  • Online Learning (14)
  • Open Admission (2)
  • Parents (7)
  • Penn (8)
  • Pharmacy (1)
  • Pitt (2)
  • Popular Posts (10)
  • Princeton (5)
  • Priority (2)
  • Professor of the Month (1)
  • PSU (3)
  • Psychology (3)
  • Public Universities (8)
  • Purdue (3)
  • Rankings (10)
  • Reader Questions (11)
  • Recommendations (10)
  • Regular (26)
  • Research (4)
  • Resume (20)
  • Rice (4)
  • Robotics (1)
  • Rochester (1)
  • ROI (4)
  • Rolling (5)
  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (1)
  • Santa Clara University (2)
  • Scholarships (2)
  • SEL (1)
  • Sewanee (1)
  • Skiing & Snowboarding (1)
  • SMU (1)
  • Social Work (7)
  • Soft Skills (1)
  • South America (2)
  • Southwestern (TX) (1)
  • Spotlight Series (1)
  • SRAR/SSAR (1)
  • St. Edward's University (1)
  • St. John's College (1)
  • Standardized Tests (43)
  • Stanford (4)
  • STEM (2)
  • Stevens Institute of Technology (1)
  • Student Trips (1)
  • Summer (24)
  • Swarthmore (1)
  • Syracuse (1)
  • TASC (1)
  • Teacher Recommendations (8)
  • Temple (1)
  • Texas (4)
  • Texas A&M (1)
  • Ticker (26)
  • Trending Posts (44)
  • Trinity University (TX) (1)
  • Tufts (4)
  • Tuition (3)
  • Tulane (8)
  • UBC (1)
  • UC Berkeley (8)
  • UC Davis (2)
  • UC Santa Barbara (2)
  • UCAS (5)
  • UCF (1)
  • UCI (1)
  • UCLA (8)
  • UCSD (1)
  • UDub (1)
  • UF (4)
  • UGA (3)
  • UIUC (3)
  • UMass (3)
  • UMD (5)
  • UNC (2)
  • United Kingdom (8)
  • Universal College Application (1)
  • University of Chicago (3)
  • University of Dallas (1)
  • University of New Mexico (1)
  • University of Rochester (1)
  • University of Vermont (1)
  • USC (4)
  • USNA (1)
  • UT Austin (4)
  • Utah (2)
  • UVA (7)
  • Vanderbilt (2)
  • Video Game Design (1)
  • Villanova (3)
  • Virtual Information Session (1)
  • Virtual Visit (2)
  • Wake Forest (1)
  • Wash U (7)
  • Wesleyan (2)
  • Williams (3)
  • Wisconsin (3)
  • Work Study (1)
  • Yale (13)
  • ZeeMee (1)

News Tips | Write for Us | Sponsored Posts
All content © 2025 | Admissions.Blog
Terms of Service | +1 410-526-2558

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in