<p>I just got accepted into my school’s NHS. 
Kind of shocked to be honest. I thought my application was crap because I lost my first application the day it was due, so I had to fill out another one during school, which was difficult. My induction ceremony is next week. :)</p>
<p>Thanks TinnyT…
but i feel somehow unprepared. I guess i will go over them. which i think is pretty hard in 1 week… do u know any shorcuts. like videos o free prep material… etc?!</p>
<p>Anyone has any other advice?</p>
<p>5 finals down, 1 to go.</p>
<p>So has anyone else looked at the Common App prompts that have been released? I’m absolutely at a loss for what to write about :/</p>
<p>The failure one seems really easy. You say you did bad at something, felt bad, worked hard, then got better.</p>
<p>I’m doing the happy place one.</p>
<p>@HateBeinSober do you really want to be that generic?</p>
<p>@collegeluva101 If you don’t mind me asking what is your happy place?</p>
<p>I’m probably gonna use the happy place one.</p>
<p>None of the universities I’m applying to use the common app. Imagine that.</p>
<p>Anyone have a link to the prompts?</p>
<p>I’m doing the one about challenging beliefs. But if that doesn’t turn out, I’ll just revise my UC app to match the first prompt of the common app…</p>
<p>And also here’s the link: <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/EssayAnnouncementFinal.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2013/EssayAnnouncementFinal.pdf</a></p>
<p>no one say common app again or i’ll scream … :/</p>
<p>I mean I am so afraid it’ll suck BIG TIME… What do they want want from us? Especially International students?! to invent a nuclear bomb?! </p>
<p>Bah!
Apps are my worst nightmare… and I’m not even started! I’m ruing them from now X(
(No pessimism or anything :P)</p>
<p>@ATPmolecule</p>
<p>How else would you address that prompt? Sure, there’s going to be lots of people who write some variation of do bad>feel bad>try hard>do good, but I don’t see how that’s problematic if the situation is unique enough. You just have to write about failing at something that other people haven’t done.</p>
<p>I think the failing one is risky. Do you really want to show the adcoms a weak side of you? Also, I’m thinking they know that everyone is going to choose something that isn’t too bad, so they can spin it into a positive.</p>
<p>Lol I don’t think I have anything to write.</p>
<p>Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons
did you learn?</p>
<p>I got rejected by the girl I like. I learned nice guys finish last.</p>
<p>I think I’m using the first prompt (the vague one about a story you want to share), and I’m going to write about the first time I dyed my hair. I’ve already written the essay, and I’m not thrilled with it but it’s the best I can do. </p>
<p>“You just have to write about failing at something that other people haven’t done.”</p>
<p>It’s not the topic that makes an essay cliche, it’s the way the person writes about it. You can write a cliche sentence about absolutely any type of failure. For the most part, you can only write a good failure essay if it’s actually something you failed at and learned from, and that’s why I think it’s a stupid prompt because most people don’t learn from their failures. They just fail. </p>
<p>The other prompts are more fun anyway.</p>
<p>“Do you really want to show the adcoms a weak side of you?”</p>
<p>IMO, showing a weak side (that you’re hopefully trying to improve, though) makes you likable and human. I think it’s better to convey this by being self-deprecating (i.e. laughing at your idiosyncrasies) throughout the essay rather than just saying “this is why I’m a failure,” though. </p>
<p>“I got rejected by the girl I like. I learned nice guys finish last.”</p>
<p>I love how guys always think they were rejected because they’re too nice. :D</p>
<p>@HateBeingSober I can think of a lot of situations in life where people fail and never get better…but they still learn from it! Sometimes it is actually nice not to have the cliche failure–> Rise to Glory story…maybe a story about failure actually shows a big side of you. </p>
<p>In other words I really think I figured out what I want to write about…and I think I know exactly how I’ll do it!!</p>
<p>Haha, my teacher just made us do a fake College application for a grade (essay and all), and now I never want to look at the common app again.</p>
<p>Of course, I have to work on it over the summer.</p>
<p>Even if I didn’t like the failure prompt, I couldn’t even imagine writing one of the other prompts.</p>
<p>Background central to my identity - White, upper middle class, male. No dice.</p>
<p>Challenged a belief - Conformity is my most deeply held belief. </p>
<p>Place where I’m content - Doesn’t exist.</p>
<p>Became an adult - I’m not an adult by anyone’s standards.</p>
<p>I just want to write an essay that is good enough not to be the reason I don’t get into a school. I’m not writing my way into any college, but I’d really hate to write my way out of one. This is gonna be bad.</p>
<p>The “central to your identity” one = topic of your choice. They made it sound a lot more grandiose than it needs to be. </p>
<p>“I’d really hate to write my way out of one.”</p>
<p>Unless you’re applying to somewhere insanely selective (or a liberal arts college, probably), that would probably be pretty hard to do as long as it was grammatically correct and unoffensive.</p>