A Must-read for 2024 US Undergraduate Applications! Comprehensive Analysis of CA Main Document Topics (Part 2)

Date：2023-09-08   Author：admin

As is well known, the main application essay for American undergraduate programs can be said to be an important written material apart from the hard requirements. This is also a good opportunity for students to showcase their uniqueness to the admissions officers through personal voice.

So, what kind of application documents can win the favor of the admissions officers? From which perspectives can we start to explore our own growth experiences and tell a good story of self-exploration?

We previously analyzed the first four main essay questions of the Common App system in the US (click to view the comprehensive analysis of the CA main essay questions (Part 1)). Today, let's take a look at the analysis of the remaining three questions together, hoping to bring some inspiration to the students.

05. Personal Growth

Personal growth
Discuss an accomplishment, event,  or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Describe an achievement, event or realization that has made you grow or enabled you to re-understand yourself or others.

Thought analysis
This question is somewhat similar to Question Four, but it is not limited to gratitude. Instead, it focuses on the changes during growth. By describing experiences that have left a deep impression on you or hold special significance, you can demonstrate your intellectual maturity, growth and self-awareness.
When solving this problem, there are several points to note. First of all, the words "achievement" and "event" themselves can have multiple meanings. From formal events to insignificant trifles, they can all serve as materials for documents. Formal events or achievements may include obvious significant events such as birthdays and weddings, as well as accomplishments like awards or promotions. Informal examples might include simple daily chores such as meeting someone special, taking a ride or having a particularly meaningful meal. In fact, those less formal and minor matters are more likely to produce unexpected and memorable documents. But just like other questions, as long as you can answer the questions specifically and offer a unique interpretation of the topic, all ideas are fair.
Admissions officers will focus on assessing the applicant's reflection on the knowledge they have acquired and their growth process. Therefore, it is necessary to highlight their intangible qualities in the application documents, which are often not reflected in the application form.

Key issue

What's your reaction to the transitional period? What prompted your shift in perspective?

What moments of "sudden inspiration" have you had, and what impact did they have on your lifestyle later on?

Which moments in life have fundamentally changed you?

When did you learn something that made you feel more mature and capable?

Reference example

Did your expansion of your hobby of making stationery by hand into a mature business model give you the motivation and financial resources to overcome the disease?

The replay training of the football team forces you to constantly examine your mistakes and point out the direction for self-improvement. Have you fallen in love with the replay training of the football team because of this?

Did playing the role of the US President during a summer vacation of simulated government and diplomatic exercises inspire leadership skills you had never realized before?

Playing bridge at the nursing home every week has taught you what the value of enjoyment rather than competition is? How has this changed the way you interact with others?

When searching for these fragments in your mind, it is important to keep in mind the elements of growth, understanding and transformation. The events, achievements or insights you discuss should help you understand the world around you from different and more mature perspectives.

06. Intellectual Curiosity

Academic interest
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?
Describe a topic, idea or concept that fascinates you. Why does it fascinate you? When you want to explore in depth, what or who will you turn to for help?

Thought analysis
This question is similar to Question Three and needs to test the applicant's initiative and learning ability. During this process, it is important to highlight the applicant's motivation and ability to learn, and more importantly, it should be interesting.
It can be said that going to university is largely about pursuing knowledge. If admissions officers can understand your level of self-study and better understand how and why you choose to focus on things that interest you, it will be very attractive. This is a window to understand you - how do you handle information, how do you seek new content and sources of inspiration? When your curiosity is pushed to the extreme, how much intelligence and wisdom will you bring out?
The response to this prompt should also reveal the breadth or depth of your interest. For instance, if you are interested in the study of astrophysics, you can choose to discuss a concept to demonstrate to what extent your exploration of science has reached.

Key issue

What do you like? Do you have a thirst for knowledge about certain specific things?

How much effort have you made to obtain new information or new experiences related to the topics you are interested in?

When something is attractive to you, how do you usually enrich your knowledge? Do you have a favorite corner of the library (or the Internet)? Is there a mentor who is willing to answer the questions you urgently need to solve?

During the learning process, especially when studying those topics that attract you, what aspects make you satisfied?

Reference example

Has the concept of open-source code inspired you and a few friends to start a tech startup? Which new projects of the company are you looking forward to participating in?

Does an internship at an accounting firm motivate you to start by focusing on the market every day? Have you joined a simulated trading club that enables you to leverage the expertise you have gathered from economic news and analyses online and elsewhere?

On a Sunday morning, do you get lost in the literary works of Kurt Vonnegut or immerse yourself in the story collection of Isaac Asimov?

Have you mastered the works of Mozart and Beethoven by self-study in your spare time and understood the songs of Bruno Mars?

Have you started learning to cook because you have a special fondness for a certain kind of food? How can the scientific and/or artistic aspects of food preparation exceed the general public's understanding?

In conclusion, no matter what you like, please show it to your heart's content. This topic is about your pursuit of knowledge and your desire to actively challenge yourself. Whether you are reading classic works on Kindle or painstakingly researching a delicious dish, your obsession with something might inspire an admissions officer to want to know more about it and yourself.

07. Topic of your Choice

Self-determined topic
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.
Open-ended questions. You can choose your own questions. It can be the answers you once wrote about the above questions, or it can be other questions you designed yourself.

Thought analysis
This is a question that asks you to write whatever you want. It seems simple but is actually very difficult. Students who choose this question must be cautious.
Although in theory you can write whatever you want, some students may find themselves at a loss during the brainstorming stage because this topic offers too broad a range of choices. If you are worried about having too many or not enough ideas, especially in the early stage of topic selection, then you can use other topics as the starting point of your inspiration. You can even start keeping a diary right now, recording the themes, events and memories that come to mind. Once you have figured out what you want to say, and perhaps even after you have drafted the core content of your article, you can go back and check whether your ideas meet the requirements of the previous six topics. Then try to adjust the content of the document based on more specific questions. This might spark your interest in the story you are going to tell and eventually present a form and content that you never expected.

Key issue

What information do you want the admissions officers to know that they cannot obtain from your transcripts, test scores or recommendation letters?

Which stories do you keep bringing up when chatting with friends at the dinner table or in the cafeteria? These stories might help admissions officers understand what kind of person you are and what things are important to you.

If you had ten minutes alone with the admissions officer, what would you like to talk about or tell him/her about yourself?

What can you bring to the university campus that others cannot or cannot bring?

Reference example

Do you have a congenital eye disease that affects the way you view the world? What's unique about your perspective on the world?

Do you spend 40 minutes tutoring primary school students every Friday evening? What impact does this have on the way you allocate your time? What is the value of 40 minutes?

Did your parents ask your elder brother to give you your name? Where does his inspiration come from? What does your name represent? How does it affect your interpersonal communication? (What's in the name?)"

If you find that the topic you have carefully considered does not meet the requirements of the first six questions, don't worry. The highly inclusive seventh topic might become a great opportunity for you to showcase yourself.

Faced with a wide variety of questions, many students have such confusion: Will choosing different questions have an impact on the application results? Will open-ended questions be more favored by admissions officers than proposition questions?
Here, we would like to clearly inform all the students that American universities do not have a complete preference for these seven questions. Choosing which question to choose has no impact on the outcome.

Scott Anderson, the senior director of the Common App, once said that these Essay Prompts are not topics or titles; they are just some questions that inspire applicants to think. You need to show what else you want the college admissions officer to know about you besides your courses, grades and standardized test scores. Although there are only seven topics, your essay story has unlimited possibilities.

Explore suggests that applicants start by enriching their own hard power:
With unique personal experiences, outstanding academic achievements, actively participated in some high-value competitions/activities related to the applied major, and stood out among many students.
Have a persistent passion for hobbies and have achieved good results, possess outstanding qualities (such as being caring, dedicated, and willing to serve the community and others), as well as have leadership and innovation capabilities, etc...

These unique highlights that belong to you are the core and the finishing touch of your essay writing, and they are also what you need to focus on cultivating and shaping during your high school years. If you need any assistance in your US undergraduate application, please feel free to add the wechat of our assistant and match it with our professional US undergraduate application mentors to answer your questions and solve your doubts.

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