A Question about the Essay

Sikorsky
Sat, 29 Jun 2013 14:15:24 +0000

There are essay prompts for the Common Application. I believe the prompts (or at least some of them) will be new in Fall 2013, but you can see last year’s essay prompts on page 5 of last years’ Common Application here: https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/2013AppFY_download.pdf. You select one of the prompts and write an essay of 250-500 words on that subject.

Generally, teachers write a letter of recommendation in support of a student’s applications to college, and send a copy of the same letter to every college or university that the student is applying to. (Sometimes if a teacher has a particular connection to a college–for example, if he is a graduate of a college that the student is applying to–he might customize a letter, but that’s not what usually happens.) Teachers can either send these recommendations electronically through the Common Application web site, or they can send them through the U.S. Mail. And generally, you won’t need 3 teacher recommendations. Many colleges and universities ask for one, and even Harvard and Yale ask for two.