The Short Answer on the Common Application
Wednesday November 4, 2009
If you're applying to one of the nearly 400 selective colleges that accepts the Common Application, then you'll need to elaborate on one of your activities in 150 words or fewer. The short answer can be a frustrating part of a college application. How can you say something meaningful in a single little paragraph?
Central to this challenge is picking the right activity to discuss and avoiding these 5 short answer mistakes. To learn more about what makes a short answer work well, check out these sample responses and critiques:
Comments
Allen:
These are great examples of short answers, something that I’ve found that helps also is to have my students who are looking to get into the a college or university getting a list of descriptive words and use these to substitute for a longer descriptive phrase.
I’ve recommended that they practice with homework or other things that they’re less attached to so that when it’s more personal it comes naturally.
It’s been pretty successful, once your used to writing concisely this is an excellent skill in college and in your career.
Sophie Maddox