Had to be one of the funniest lines from the Common App representative at a conference this week. Apparently admissions folks got way, way too many essays about the bedroom as a place of contentment. Or nature. And thus that prompt is gone for next year.
Glad about that one for sure!
My daughter would have totally run with that one, I suspect, about a specific installation art exhibit at a museum up the road. Oh well, so it goes.
I didn’t think that topic would lead to much interesting. My oldest did the MIT prompt (which then became write your own prompt for everyone else.) Youngest wrote a bunch of essays both Chicago and Georgetown had their own prompts, and he then did another one that was basically do your own prompt as well.
Oh my goodness, that is hilarious! My son chose that question (and did NOT write about what he does in the bedroom or in nature). But once you’ve read the prompt with that in mind, it is hard to take it seriously any more. Those poor admissions officers!
And we have Emma Sulowicz in the background on the response… Ick.
My daughter’s place of contentment was the cemetery in our neighborhood! She used to go to a spot up on a hill, under a Japanese maple, to do her homework.
I’m actually sorry that they took out that prompt. A number of my students used it well. One in particular, did speak about the bedroom as the place he was most content. He talked about physically building his bedroom, laying sheetrock and painting the walls, so that he had his own place and didn’t have to share with a younger sibling. The prompt that replaces it strikes me as so much pretentiousness.
What has replaced the place of contentment prompt?
“Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma-anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain it’s significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.”
My kid used the contentment prompt and it had nothing to do with bedrooms or nature
CB Rep said the new prompt was in response to colleges asking for one that more easily let the student demonstrate intellectual curiosity and creativity.
One of the reps joked that it was particularly depressing to have to read essay after essay about nature, mountains, seashores, ski hills, gliders, sailboats and deep sea diving, all while stuck at home reading hundreds of applications.
Huh. None of my students wrote about their bedrooms. Too predictable. I did have to dissuade one from writing about the bathroom…
When I first read “We’re sorry about all the bedroom essays” I was imagining something else entirely…
What was wrong with “topic of your choice”? That gave the admissions officers some variety and offered insight into the applicant through the act of selection in addition to its development. I’ve never heard a good reason for why it was dropped.
There wasn’t much support for “topic of your choice” according to the Common App blog:
“3% of Member (College Admissions Offices) respondents suggested Topic of Your Choice as a new prompt
6% of constituent respondents suggested Topic of Your Choice as a new prompt, with the breakdown as follows: independent educational consultants (47%), community-based organizations (7%), school counselors (5%), parents (2%), other (2%), students (<1%)”
What’s the new prompt?
I thought the flaw with the old prompt was the word “contentment.”
If they had just asked “what’s your favorite place and why” they would have gotten great essays and few bedrooms.
“6% of constituent respondents suggested Topic of Your Choice as a new prompt, with the breakdown as follows: independent educational consultants (47%), community-based organizations (7%), school counselors (5%), parents (2%), other (2%), students (<1%)”"
Well, that’s interesting. I was a respondent in the 47%. Note the drastic difference. IECs help our clients come up with interesting and novel approaches to “topic of your choice.” Maybe more importantly, we can tell them when they are getting lost in the weeds. It’s a great option for our students.
Frankly, I tell my students to proceed with the idea that “topic of your choice” is still an option. If you write something fantastic, good schools don’t care whether it fits the Common App prompts or not. Almost any good piece can be shoehorned into one of these prompts, anyway. (Supplements are a different story – answer the question on those!)
“Topic of your Choice” sounds like a great concept, but I don’t see how it qualifies as an ‘essay prompt’. In fact, to me it sounds like the exact opposite of what ‘essay prompt’ means. That’s not a reason to get rid of it though.
@Hanna, I wasn’t going to respond to this until I saw your message above about dissuading kids from writing about the bathroom. My son actually did write about the bathroom, and he received an almost full scholarship to the school He applied to that used the common app. I thought it was a little risky, but he and my husband both liked it, it was funny and well written. You just never know what someone is going to like.
Edited to add - Hanna, I actually agree with you. Not generally a good pick, but I guess it worked for him.