An admissions or application essay, sometimes also called a personal statement or a statement of purpose, is an
essay or other written statement written by an applicant, often a prospective student applying to some
college,
university, or
graduate school. The application essay is a common part of the
university and college admissions process.
Some applications may require one or more essays to be completed, while others make essays optional or supplementary. Essay topics range from very specific to open-ended.
United States
The
Common Application
The Common Application (more commonly known as the Common App) is an undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to over 1,000 member colleges and universities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as we ...
, used for undergraduate admissions by many American colleges and universities, requires a general admissions essay, in addition to any supplemental admissions essays required by member institutions. The Common Application offers students six admissions essay prompts from which to choose. According to ''
Uni in the USA'', the Common Application essay is intended as a chance to describe "things that are unique, interesting and informative about yourself".
The
University of Chicago is known for its unusual essay prompts in its undergraduate admissions application, including "What would you do with a foot-and-a-half-tall jar of
mustard"?
College Report
" ''Chicago Journal''.
United Kingdom
A personal statement is part of an application sent to UCAS by a prospective student at a UK university. In a personal statement, the student writes about what they hope to achieve in a UK university course, what they hope to do after the course and why they are applying to this particular university.
See also
*
* College application
References
University and college admissions
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