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• The four main types of essay | Quick guide with examples

The Four Main Types of Essay | Quick Guide with Examples

Published on September 4, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An essay is a focused piece of writing designed to inform or persuade. There are many different types of essay, but they are often defined in four categories: argumentative, expository, narrative, and descriptive essays.

Argumentative and expository essays are focused on conveying information and making clear points, while narrative and descriptive essays are about exercising creativity and writing in an interesting way. At university level, argumentative essays are the most common type. 

In high school and college, you will also often have to write textual analysis essays, which test your skills in close reading and interpretation.

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Table of contents

Argumentative essays, expository essays, narrative essays, descriptive essays, textual analysis essays, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about types of essays.

An argumentative essay presents an extended, evidence-based argument. It requires a strong thesis statement —a clearly defined stance on your topic. Your aim is to convince the reader of your thesis using evidence (such as quotations ) and analysis.

Argumentative essays test your ability to research and present your own position on a topic. This is the most common type of essay at college level—most papers you write will involve some kind of argumentation.

The essay is divided into an introduction, body, and conclusion:

• The introduction provides your topic and thesis statement
• The body presents your evidence and arguments
• The conclusion summarizes your argument and emphasizes its importance

The example below is a paragraph from the body of an argumentative essay about the effects of the internet on education. Mouse over it to learn more.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An expository essay provides a clear, focused explanation of a topic. It doesn’t require an original argument, just a balanced and well-organized view of the topic.

Expository essays test your familiarity with a topic and your ability to organize and convey information. They are commonly assigned at high school or in exam questions at college level.

The introduction of an expository essay states your topic and provides some general background, the body presents the details, and the conclusion summarizes the information presented.

A typical body paragraph from an expository essay about the invention of the printing press is shown below. Mouse over it to learn more.

The invention of the printing press in 1440 changed this situation dramatically. Johannes Gutenberg, who had worked as a goldsmith, used his knowledge of metals in the design of the press. He made his type from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, whose durability allowed for the reliable production of high-quality books. This new technology allowed texts to be reproduced and disseminated on a much larger scale than was previously possible. The Gutenberg Bible appeared in the 1450s, and a large number of printing presses sprang up across the continent in the following decades. Gutenberg’s invention rapidly transformed cultural production in Europe; among other things, it would lead to the Protestant Reformation.

A narrative essay is one that tells a story. This is usually a story about a personal experience you had, but it may also be an imaginative exploration of something you have not experienced.

Narrative essays test your ability to build up a narrative in an engaging, well-structured way. They are much more personal and creative than other kinds of academic writing . Writing a personal statement for an application requires the same skills as a narrative essay.

A narrative essay isn’t strictly divided into introduction, body, and conclusion, but it should still begin by setting up the narrative and finish by expressing the point of the story—what you learned from your experience, or why it made an impression on you.

Mouse over the example below, a short narrative essay responding to the prompt “Write about an experience where you learned something about yourself,” to explore its structure.

Since elementary school, I have always favored subjects like science and math over the humanities. My instinct was always to think of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right answer, I thought, why bother? But recently I had an experience that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was skeptical. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve—I really had no idea. I imagined something pretty abstract: long, stilted conversations pondering the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite different.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones—“but you can call me Rob”—was far from the white-haired, buttoned-up old man I had half-expected. And rather than pulling us into pedantic arguments about obscure philosophical points, Rob engaged us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own choices. To talk ethics, we looked at dilemmas we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most interesting ones.

The experience has taught me to look at things a little more “philosophically”—and not just because it was a philosophy class! I learned that if I let go of my preconceptions, I can actually get a lot out of subjects I was previously dismissive of. The class taught me—in more ways than one—to look at things with an open mind.

A descriptive essay provides a detailed sensory description of something. Like narrative essays, they allow you to be more creative than most academic writing, but they are more tightly focused than narrative essays. You might describe a specific place or object, rather than telling a whole story.

Descriptive essays test your ability to use language creatively, making striking word choices to convey a memorable picture of what you’re describing.

A descriptive essay can be quite loosely structured, though it should usually begin by introducing the object of your description and end by drawing an overall picture of it. The important thing is to use careful word choices and figurative language to create an original description of your object.

Mouse over the example below, a response to the prompt “Describe a place you love to spend time in,” to learn more about descriptive essays.

On Sunday afternoons I like to spend my time in the garden behind my house. The garden is narrow but long, a corridor of green extending from the back of the house, and I sit on a lawn chair at the far end to read and relax. I am in my small peaceful paradise: the shade of the tree, the feel of the grass on my feet, the gentle activity of the fish in the pond beside me.

My cat crosses the garden nimbly and leaps onto the fence to survey it from above. From his perch he can watch over his little kingdom and keep an eye on the neighbours. He does this until the barking of next door’s dog scares him from his post and he bolts for the cat flap to govern from the safety of the kitchen.

With that, I am left alone with the fish, whose whole world is the pond by my feet. The fish explore the pond every day as if for the first time, prodding and inspecting every stone. I sometimes feel the same about sitting here in the garden; I know the place better than anyone, but whenever I return I still feel compelled to pay attention to all its details and novelties—a new bird perched in the tree, the growth of the grass, and the movement of the insects it shelters…

Sitting out in the garden, I feel serene. I feel at home. And yet I always feel there is more to discover. The bounds of my garden may be small, but there is a whole world contained within it, and it is one I will never get tired of inhabiting.

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Though every essay type tests your writing skills, some essays also test your ability to read carefully and critically. In a textual analysis essay, you don’t just present information on a topic, but closely analyze a text to explain how it achieves certain effects.

Rhetorical analysis

A rhetorical analysis looks at a persuasive text (e.g. a speech, an essay, a political cartoon) in terms of the rhetorical devices it uses, and evaluates their effectiveness.

The goal is not to state whether you agree with the author’s argument but to look at how they have constructed it.

The introduction of a rhetorical analysis presents the text, some background information, and your thesis statement; the body comprises the analysis itself; and the conclusion wraps up your analysis of the text, emphasizing its relevance to broader concerns.

The example below is from a rhetorical analysis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech . Mouse over it to learn more.

King’s speech is infused with prophetic language throughout. Even before the famous “dream” part of the speech, King’s language consistently strikes a prophetic tone. He refers to the Lincoln Memorial as a “hallowed spot” and speaks of rising “from the dark and desolate valley of segregation” to “make justice a reality for all of God’s children.” The assumption of this prophetic voice constitutes the text’s strongest ethical appeal; after linking himself with political figures like Lincoln and the Founding Fathers, King’s ethos adopts a distinctly religious tone, recalling Biblical prophets and preachers of change from across history. This adds significant force to his words; standing before an audience of hundreds of thousands, he states not just what the future should be, but what it will be: “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.” This warning is almost apocalyptic in tone, though it concludes with the positive image of the “bright day of justice.” The power of King’s rhetoric thus stems not only from the pathos of his vision of a brighter future, but from the ethos of the prophetic voice he adopts in expressing this vision.

Literary analysis

A literary analysis essay presents a close reading of a work of literature—e.g. a poem or novel—to explore the choices made by the author and how they help to convey the text’s theme. It is not simply a book report or a review, but an in-depth interpretation of the text.

Literary analysis looks at things like setting, characters, themes, and figurative language. The goal is to closely analyze what the author conveys and how.

The introduction of a literary analysis essay presents the text and background, and provides your thesis statement; the body consists of close readings of the text with quotations and analysis in support of your argument; and the conclusion emphasizes what your approach tells us about the text.

Mouse over the example below, the introduction to a literary analysis essay on Frankenstein , to learn more.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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At high school and in composition classes at university, you’ll often be told to write a specific type of essay , but you might also just be given prompts.

Look for keywords in these prompts that suggest a certain approach: The word “explain” suggests you should write an expository essay , while the word “describe” implies a descriptive essay . An argumentative essay might be prompted with the word “assess” or “argue.”

The vast majority of essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Almost all academic writing involves building up an argument, though other types of essay might be assigned in composition classes.

Essays can present arguments about all kinds of different topics. For example:

• In a literary analysis essay, you might make an argument for a specific interpretation of a text
• In a history essay, you might present an argument for the importance of a particular event
• In a politics essay, you might argue for the validity of a certain political theory

An argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

The key difference is that a narrative essay is designed to tell a complete story, while a descriptive essay is meant to convey an intense description of a particular place, object, or concept.

Narrative and descriptive essays both allow you to write more personally and creatively than other kinds of essays , and similar writing skills can apply to both.

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By submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., 5 ways college application essays and high school essays are different.

Are you a high school junior? Your college application is probably your first experience writing a personal statement. From purpose to audience, here’s a quick run-down of how college essays are different than the essays you write for English class. 

High School Essay vs College Essay

1. understand purpose.

A high school essay generally demonstrates to your teacher what you know. An application essay should demonstrate who you are. Colleges want to find out what you're passionate about, and what you would add to the campus community.

2. Know your Audience

When your English teacher grades your essays, she puts them into the context of every interaction she’s ever had with you. Your personal statement is your one chance to speak directly to the admissions committee and demonstrate who you are beyond grades and test scores . Help colleges learn something about you that they cannot discover when reading the rest of your application. (Tip: Don’t treat your essay like a resume !)

Read More: Get Expert Essay Advice From Former Admissions Officers!

3. Show, Don't Summarize

College essay topics are often open-ended. (“Recount a time when you experienced failure.“) But at heart, all college essays are asking you to demonstrate the same things: your ability to reflect and think critically. Summaries are fine for book reports, but when writing your college essay take the opportunity to really examine how an experience taught you something you didn't previously know about yourself, got you out of your comfort zone, or forced you to grow.

4. Authenticity is Key

On a high school essay, it's generally not appropriate to use the first-person. Not only is it fine to make “I” statements in your application essays, but colleges expect your essays to sound like you, too!  Always be yourself in your application, not the candidate you think admissions committees want to see.

5. Originality Counts

When your teacher asks you to analyze the causes of the Civil War, he is going to receive a lot of essays that sound basically the same. But your college essay should be unique and individual to you. College admissions officers tell us that they see many essays about eye-opening travel experiences, the death of a loved one, or “The Big Game.” You can still write about these experiences, but the trick is in the details. No one sees the world quite the way you do, so let your personality shine through.

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Can I Write All My Essays on The Same Topic?

My passion is robotics, and I am hoping to go into the prosthetics field to work on robotic limbs eventually, so my major is biomedical engineering. I've been answering all of my essay/short answer questions about robotics. It's my favorite extracurricular, it's the subject of books I read, it's what I do in my free time, and it's my career dream. My counselor said colleges want to see a more well-rounded side of me so they know me better, so she thinks I should change some of the essay topics to talk about something other than robotics. But I'm not answering like this just to get accepted — these are all true answers. Should I change the subject of the essays?

Back in the (very) old days when "The Dean" was your age, we were told that being well-rounded was a college admission imperative. But today, many admission officials actually prefer applicants with clear-cut passions like yours. So my initial instinct is to say, "No! Don't change those essays because they're honest and they reveal what makes you tick."

However, your counselor MAY be right in advising you to make some changes, but only IF ...

- You are required to write more than one essay and one or two short-answer responses for the same college. If your applications demand answers to multiple essays and short-answer questions, then it is advisable that you highlight some other side of yourself in at least one of them.

- Your essays and short answer questions are repetitive. If they each reveal different aspects of your robotics experiences and your engineering-related activities and goals and thus complement each other, then writing about only robotics is fine. But if you find yourself saying more or less the same thing in each response, then you need to choose a new topic for at least one prompt.

Of course, it's impossible to advise you effectively without seeing the actual questions and answers. As noted above, perhaps a few changes are warranted, but certainly make sure that — if you do make any adjustments — your passion for robotics still comes across loud and clear.

About the Ask the Dean Column

Sally Rubenstone is a veteran of the college admissions process and is the co-author of three books covering admissions. She worked as a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years and has also served as an independent college counselor, in addition to working as a senior advisor at College Confidential since 2002. If you'd like to submit a question to The Dean please email us at [email protected].

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

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Is it OK to use the same material on different applications?

You can use the same essay or personal statement on different applications as long as it answers the question on the application. Think about how you can make each essay the best it can be, and don’t try to force similar material to fit different essay questions.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 177 college essay examples for 11 schools + expert analysis.

College Admissions , College Essays

The personal statement might just be the hardest part of your college application. Mostly this is because it has the least guidance and is the most open-ended. One way to understand what colleges are looking for when they ask you to write an essay is to check out the essays of students who already got in—college essays that actually worked. After all, they must be among the most successful of this weird literary genre.

In this article, I'll go through general guidelines for what makes great college essays great. I've also compiled an enormous list of 100+ actual sample college essays from 11 different schools. Finally, I'll break down two of these published college essay examples and explain why and how they work. With links to 177 full essays and essay excerpts , this article is a great resource for learning how to craft your own personal college admissions essay!

What Excellent College Essays Have in Common

Even though in many ways these sample college essays are very different from one other, they do share some traits you should try to emulate as you write your own essay.

Visible Signs of Planning

Building out from a narrow, concrete focus. You'll see a similar structure in many of the essays. The author starts with a very detailed story of an event or description of a person or place. After this sense-heavy imagery, the essay expands out to make a broader point about the author, and connects this very memorable experience to the author's present situation, state of mind, newfound understanding, or maturity level.

Knowing how to tell a story. Some of the experiences in these essays are one-of-a-kind. But most deal with the stuff of everyday life. What sets them apart is the way the author approaches the topic: analyzing it for drama and humor, for its moving qualities, for what it says about the author's world, and for how it connects to the author's emotional life.

Stellar Execution

A killer first sentence. You've heard it before, and you'll hear it again: you have to suck the reader in, and the best place to do that is the first sentence. Great first sentences are punchy. They are like cliffhangers, setting up an exciting scene or an unusual situation with an unclear conclusion, in order to make the reader want to know more. Don't take my word for it—check out these 22 first sentences from Stanford applicants and tell me you don't want to read the rest of those essays to find out what happens!

A lively, individual voice. Writing is for readers. In this case, your reader is an admissions officer who has read thousands of essays before yours and will read thousands after. Your goal? Don't bore your reader. Use interesting descriptions, stay away from clichés, include your own offbeat observations—anything that makes this essay sounds like you and not like anyone else.

Technical correctness. No spelling mistakes, no grammar weirdness, no syntax issues, no punctuation snafus—each of these sample college essays has been formatted and proofread perfectly. If this kind of exactness is not your strong suit, you're in luck! All colleges advise applicants to have their essays looked over several times by parents, teachers, mentors, and anyone else who can spot a comma splice. Your essay must be your own work, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with getting help polishing it.

And if you need more guidance, connect with PrepScholar's expert admissions consultants . These expert writers know exactly what college admissions committees look for in an admissions essay and chan help you craft an essay that boosts your chances of getting into your dream school.

Check out PrepScholar's Essay Editing and Coaching progra m for more details!

Links to Full College Essay Examples

Some colleges publish a selection of their favorite accepted college essays that worked, and I've put together a selection of over 100 of these.

Common App Essay Samples

Please note that some of these college essay examples may be responding to prompts that are no longer in use. The current Common App prompts are as follows:

1. Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. 2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? 3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome? 4. Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you? 5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. 6. 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?

7. 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.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of 177 college essay examples responding to current and past Common App essay prompts. 

Connecticut college.

• 12 Common Application essays from the classes of 2022-2025

Hamilton College

• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2026
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2022
• 7 Common Application essays from the class of 2018
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2012
• 8 Common Application essays from the class of 2007

Johns Hopkins

These essays are answers to past prompts from either the Common Application or the Coalition Application (which Johns Hopkins used to accept).

• 1 Common Application or Coalition Application essay from the class of 2026
• 6 Common Application or Coalition Application essays from the class of 2025
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2024
• 6 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2023
• 7 Common Application of Universal Application essays from the class of 2022
• 5 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2021
• 7 Common Application or Universal Application essays from the class of 2020

Essay Examples Published by Other Websites

• 2 Common Application essays ( 1st essay , 2nd essay ) from applicants admitted to Columbia

Other Sample College Essays

Here is a collection of essays that are college-specific.

Babson College

• 4 essays (and 1 video response) on "Why Babson" from the class of 2020

Emory University

• 5 essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) from the class of 2020 along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on why the essays were exceptional
• 5 more recent essay examples ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ) along with analysis from Emory admissions staff on what made these essays stand out

University of Georgia

• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2019
• 1 “strong essay” sample from 2018
• 10 Harvard essays from 2023
• 10 Harvard essays from 2022
• 10 Harvard essays from 2021
• 10 Harvard essays from 2020
• 10 Harvard essays from 2019
• 10 Harvard essays from 2018
• 6 essays from admitted MIT students

Smith College

• 6 "best gift" essays from the class of 2018

Books of College Essays

If you're looking for even more sample college essays, consider purchasing a college essay book. The best of these include dozens of essays that worked and feedback from real admissions officers.

College Essays That Made a Difference —This detailed guide from Princeton Review includes not only successful essays, but also interviews with admissions officers and full student profiles.

50 Successful Harvard Application Essays by the Staff of the Harvard Crimson—A must for anyone aspiring to Harvard .

50 Successful Ivy League Application Essays and 50 Successful Stanford Application Essays by Gen and Kelly Tanabe—For essays from other top schools, check out this venerated series, which is regularly updated with new essays.

Heavenly Essays by Janine W. Robinson—This collection from the popular blogger behind Essay Hell includes a wider range of schools, as well as helpful tips on honing your own essay.

Analyzing Great Common App Essays That Worked

I've picked two essays from the examples collected above to examine in more depth so that you can see exactly what makes a successful college essay work. Full credit for these essays goes to the original authors and the schools that published them.

Example 1: "Breaking Into Cars," by Stephen, Johns Hopkins Class of '19 (Common App Essay, 636 words long)

I had never broken into a car before.

We were in Laredo, having just finished our first day at a Habitat for Humanity work site. The Hotchkiss volunteers had already left, off to enjoy some Texas BBQ, leaving me behind with the college kids to clean up. Not until we were stranded did we realize we were locked out of the van.

Someone picked a coat hanger out of the dumpster, handed it to me, and took a few steps back.

"Can you do that thing with a coat hanger to unlock it?"

"Why me?" I thought.

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame. Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally. My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed. "The water's on fire! Clear a hole!" he shouted, tossing me in the lake without warning. While I'm still unconvinced about that particular lesson's practicality, my Dad's overarching message is unequivocally true: much of life is unexpected, and you have to deal with the twists and turns.

Living in my family, days rarely unfolded as planned. A bit overlooked, a little pushed around, I learned to roll with reality, negotiate a quick deal, and give the improbable a try. I don't sweat the small stuff, and I definitely don't expect perfect fairness. So what if our dining room table only has six chairs for seven people? Someone learns the importance of punctuality every night.

But more than punctuality and a special affinity for musical chairs, my family life has taught me to thrive in situations over which I have no power. Growing up, I never controlled my older siblings, but I learned how to thwart their attempts to control me. I forged alliances, and realigned them as necessary. Sometimes, I was the poor, defenseless little brother; sometimes I was the omniscient elder. Different things to different people, as the situation demanded. I learned to adapt.

Back then, these techniques were merely reactions undertaken to ensure my survival. But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The question caught me off guard, much like the question posed to me in Laredo. Then, I realized I knew the answer. I knew why the coat hanger had been handed to me.

Growing up as the middle child in my family, I was a vital participant in a thing I did not govern, in the company of people I did not choose. It's family. It's society. And often, it's chaos. You participate by letting go of the small stuff, not expecting order and perfection, and facing the unexpected with confidence, optimism, and preparedness. My family experience taught me to face a serendipitous world with confidence.

What Makes This Essay Tick?

It's very helpful to take writing apart in order to see just how it accomplishes its objectives. Stephen's essay is very effective. Let's find out why!

An Opening Line That Draws You In

In just eight words, we get: scene-setting (he is standing next to a car about to break in), the idea of crossing a boundary (he is maybe about to do an illegal thing for the first time), and a cliffhanger (we are thinking: is he going to get caught? Is he headed for a life of crime? Is he about to be scared straight?).

Great, Detailed Opening Story

More out of amusement than optimism, I gave it a try. I slid the hanger into the window's seal like I'd seen on crime shows, and spent a few minutes jiggling the apparatus around the inside of the frame.

It's the details that really make this small experience come alive. Notice how whenever he can, Stephen uses a more specific, descriptive word in place of a more generic one. The volunteers aren't going to get food or dinner; they're going for "Texas BBQ." The coat hanger comes from "a dumpster." Stephen doesn't just move the coat hanger—he "jiggles" it.

Details also help us visualize the emotions of the people in the scene. The person who hands Stephen the coat hanger isn't just uncomfortable or nervous; he "takes a few steps back"—a description of movement that conveys feelings. Finally, the detail of actual speech makes the scene pop. Instead of writing that the other guy asked him to unlock the van, Stephen has the guy actually say his own words in a way that sounds like a teenager talking.

Turning a Specific Incident Into a Deeper Insight

Suddenly, two things simultaneously clicked. One was the lock on the door. (I actually succeeded in springing it.) The other was the realization that I'd been in this type of situation before. In fact, I'd been born into this type of situation.

Stephen makes the locked car experience a meaningful illustration of how he has learned to be resourceful and ready for anything, and he also makes this turn from the specific to the broad through an elegant play on the two meanings of the word "click."

Using Concrete Examples When Making Abstract Claims

My upbringing has numbed me to unpredictability and chaos. With a family of seven, my home was loud, messy, and spottily supervised. My siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing—all meant my house was functioning normally.

"Unpredictability and chaos" are very abstract, not easily visualized concepts. They could also mean any number of things—violence, abandonment, poverty, mental instability. By instantly following up with highly finite and unambiguous illustrations like "family of seven" and "siblings arguing, the dog barking, the phone ringing," Stephen grounds the abstraction in something that is easy to picture: a large, noisy family.

Using Small Bits of Humor and Casual Word Choice

My Dad, a retired Navy pilot, was away half the time. When he was home, he had a parenting style something like a drill sergeant. At the age of nine, I learned how to clear burning oil from the surface of water. My Dad considered this a critical life skill—you know, in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed.

Obviously, knowing how to clean burning oil is not high on the list of things every 9-year-old needs to know. To emphasize this, Stephen uses sarcasm by bringing up a situation that is clearly over-the-top: "in case my aircraft carrier should ever get torpedoed."

The humor also feels relaxed. Part of this is because he introduces it with the colloquial phrase "you know," so it sounds like he is talking to us in person. This approach also diffuses the potential discomfort of the reader with his father's strictness—since he is making jokes about it, clearly he is OK. Notice, though, that this doesn't occur very much in the essay. This helps keep the tone meaningful and serious rather than flippant.

An Ending That Stretches the Insight Into the Future

But one day this fall, Dr. Hicks, our Head of School, asked me a question that he hoped all seniors would reflect on throughout the year: "How can I participate in a thing I do not govern, in the company of people I did not choose?"

The ending of the essay reveals that Stephen's life has been one long preparation for the future. He has emerged from chaos and his dad's approach to parenting as a person who can thrive in a world that he can't control.

This connection of past experience to current maturity and self-knowledge is a key element in all successful personal essays. Colleges are very much looking for mature, self-aware applicants. These are the qualities of successful college students, who will be able to navigate the independence college classes require and the responsibility and quasi-adulthood of college life.

What Could This Essay Do Even Better?

Even the best essays aren't perfect, and even the world's greatest writers will tell you that writing is never "finished"—just "due." So what would we tweak in this essay if we could?

Replace some of the clichéd language. Stephen uses handy phrases like "twists and turns" and "don't sweat the small stuff" as a kind of shorthand for explaining his relationship to chaos and unpredictability. But using too many of these ready-made expressions runs the risk of clouding out your own voice and replacing it with something expected and boring.

Use another example from recent life. Stephen's first example (breaking into the van in Laredo) is a great illustration of being resourceful in an unexpected situation. But his essay also emphasizes that he "learned to adapt" by being "different things to different people." It would be great to see how this plays out outside his family, either in the situation in Laredo or another context.

Example 2: By Renner Kwittken, Tufts Class of '23 (Common App Essay, 645 words long)

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver. I saw it in my favorite book, Richard Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go," and for some reason, I was absolutely obsessed with the idea of driving a giant pickle. Much to the discontent of my younger sister, I insisted that my parents read us that book as many nights as possible so we could find goldbug, a small little golden bug, on every page. I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Then I discovered a real goldbug: gold nanoparticles that can reprogram macrophages to assist in killing tumors, produce clear images of them without sacrificing the subject, and heat them to obliteration.

Suddenly the destination of my pickle was clear.

I quickly became enveloped by the world of nanomedicine; I scoured articles about liposomes, polymeric micelles, dendrimers, targeting ligands, and self-assembling nanoparticles, all conquering cancer in some exotic way. Completely absorbed, I set out to find a mentor to dive even deeper into these topics. After several rejections, I was immensely grateful to receive an invitation to work alongside Dr. Sangeeta Ray at Johns Hopkins.

In the lab, Dr. Ray encouraged a great amount of autonomy to design and implement my own procedures. I chose to attack a problem that affects the entire field of nanomedicine: nanoparticles consistently fail to translate from animal studies into clinical trials. Jumping off recent literature, I set out to see if a pre-dose of a common chemotherapeutic could enhance nanoparticle delivery in aggressive prostate cancer, creating three novel constructs based on three different linear polymers, each using fluorescent dye (although no gold, sorry goldbug!). Though using radioactive isotopes like Gallium and Yttrium would have been incredible, as a 17-year-old, I unfortunately wasn't allowed in the same room as these radioactive materials (even though I took a Geiger counter to a pair of shoes and found them to be slightly dangerous).

I hadn't expected my hypothesis to work, as the research project would have ideally been led across two full years. Yet while there are still many optimizations and revisions to be done, I was thrilled to find -- with completely new nanoparticles that may one day mean future trials will use particles with the initials "RK-1" -- thatcyclophosphamide did indeed increase nanoparticle delivery to the tumor in a statistically significant way.

A secondary, unexpected research project was living alone in Baltimore, a new city to me, surrounded by people much older than I. Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research. Whether in a presentation or in a casual conversation, making others interested in science is perhaps more exciting to me than the research itself. This solidified a new pursuit to angle my love for writing towards illuminating science in ways people can understand, adding value to a society that can certainly benefit from more scientific literacy.

It seems fitting that my goals are still transforming: in Scarry's book, there is not just one goldbug, there is one on every page. With each new experience, I'm learning that it isn't the goldbug itself, but rather the act of searching for the goldbugs that will encourage, shape, and refine my ever-evolving passions. Regardless of the goldbug I seek -- I know my pickle truck has just begun its journey.

Renner takes a somewhat different approach than Stephen, but their essay is just as detailed and engaging. Let's go through some of the strengths of this essay.

One Clear Governing Metaphor

This essay is ultimately about two things: Renner’s dreams and future career goals, and Renner’s philosophy on goal-setting and achieving one’s dreams.

But instead of listing off all the amazing things they’ve done to pursue their dream of working in nanomedicine, Renner tells a powerful, unique story instead. To set up the narrative, Renner opens the essay by connecting their experiences with goal-setting and dream-chasing all the way back to a memorable childhood experience:

This lighthearted–but relevant!--story about the moment when Renner first developed a passion for a specific career (“finding the goldbug”) provides an anchor point for the rest of the essay. As Renner pivots to describing their current dreams and goals–working in nanomedicine–the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” is reflected in Renner’s experiments, rejections, and new discoveries.

Though Renner tells multiple stories about their quest to “find the goldbug,” or, in other words, pursue their passion, each story is connected by a unifying theme; namely, that as we search and grow over time, our goals will transform…and that’s okay! By the end of the essay, Renner uses the metaphor of “finding the goldbug” to reiterate the relevance of the opening story:

While the earlier parts of the essay convey Renner’s core message by showing, the final, concluding paragraph sums up Renner’s insights by telling. By briefly and clearly stating the relevance of the goldbug metaphor to their own philosophy on goals and dreams, Renner demonstrates their creativity, insight, and eagerness to grow and evolve as the journey continues into college.

An Engaging, Individual Voice

This essay uses many techniques that make Renner sound genuine and make the reader feel like we already know them.

Technique #1: humor. Notice Renner's gentle and relaxed humor that lightly mocks their younger self's grand ambitions (this is different from the more sarcastic kind of humor used by Stephen in the first essay—you could never mistake one writer for the other).

My first dream job was to be a pickle truck driver.

I would imagine the wonderful life I would have: being a pig driving a giant pickle truck across the country, chasing and finding goldbug. I then moved on to wanting to be a Lego Master. Then an architect. Then a surgeon.

Renner gives a great example of how to use humor to your advantage in college essays. You don’t want to come off as too self-deprecating or sarcastic, but telling a lightheartedly humorous story about your younger self that also showcases how you’ve grown and changed over time can set the right tone for your entire essay.

Technique #2: intentional, eye-catching structure. The second technique is the way Renner uses a unique structure to bolster the tone and themes of their essay . The structure of your essay can have a major impact on how your ideas come across…so it’s important to give it just as much thought as the content of your essay!

For instance, Renner does a great job of using one-line paragraphs to create dramatic emphasis and to make clear transitions from one phase of the story to the next:

Suddenly the destination of my pickle car was clear.

Not only does the one-liner above signal that Renner is moving into a new phase of the narrative (their nanoparticle research experiences), it also tells the reader that this is a big moment in Renner’s story. It’s clear that Renner made a major discovery that changed the course of their goal pursuit and dream-chasing. Through structure, Renner conveys excitement and entices the reader to keep pushing forward to the next part of the story.

Technique #3: playing with syntax. The third technique is to use sentences of varying length, syntax, and structure. Most of the essay's written in standard English and uses grammatically correct sentences. However, at key moments, Renner emphasizes that the reader needs to sit up and pay attention by switching to short, colloquial, differently punctuated, and sometimes fragmented sentences.

Even with moving frequently between hotels, AirBnB's, and students' apartments, I strangely reveled in the freedom I had to enjoy my surroundings and form new friendships with graduate school students from the lab. We explored The Inner Harbor at night, attended a concert together one weekend, and even got to watch the Orioles lose (to nobody's surprise). Ironically, it's through these new friendships I discovered something unexpected: what I truly love is sharing research.

In the examples above, Renner switches adeptly between long, flowing sentences and quippy, telegraphic ones. At the same time, Renner uses these different sentence lengths intentionally. As they describe their experiences in new places, they use longer sentences to immerse the reader in the sights, smells, and sounds of those experiences. And when it’s time to get a big, key idea across, Renner switches to a short, punchy sentence to stop the reader in their tracks.

The varying syntax and sentence lengths pull the reader into the narrative and set up crucial “aha” moments when it’s most important…which is a surefire way to make any college essay stand out.

Renner's essay is very strong, but there are still a few little things that could be improved.

Connecting the research experiences to the theme of “finding the goldbug.”  The essay begins and ends with Renner’s connection to the idea of “finding the goldbug.” And while this metaphor is deftly tied into the essay’s intro and conclusion, it isn’t entirely clear what Renner’s big findings were during the research experiences that are described in the middle of the essay. It would be great to add a sentence or two stating what Renner’s big takeaways (or “goldbugs”) were from these experiences, which add more cohesion to the essay as a whole.

Give more details about discovering the world of nanomedicine. It makes sense that Renner wants to get into the details of their big research experiences as quickly as possible. After all, these are the details that show Renner’s dedication to nanomedicine! But a smoother transition from the opening pickle car/goldbug story to Renner’s “real goldbug” of nanoparticles would help the reader understand why nanoparticles became Renner’s goldbug. Finding out why Renner is so motivated to study nanomedicine–and perhaps what put them on to this field of study–would help readers fully understand why Renner chose this path in the first place.

4 Essential Tips for Writing Your Own Essay

How can you use this discussion to better your own college essay? Here are some suggestions for ways to use this resource effectively.

#1: Get Help From the Experts

Getting your college applications together takes a lot of work and can be pretty intimidatin g. Essays are even more important than ever now that admissions processes are changing and schools are going test-optional and removing diversity standards thanks to new Supreme Court rulings .  If you want certified expert help that really makes a difference, get started with  PrepScholar’s Essay Editing and Coaching program. Our program can help you put together an incredible essay from idea to completion so that your application stands out from the crowd. We've helped students get into the best colleges in the United States, including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.  If you're ready to take the next step and boost your odds of getting into your dream school, connect with our experts today .

#2: Read Other Essays to Get Ideas for Your Own

As you go through the essays we've compiled for you above, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can you explain to yourself (or someone else!) why the opening sentence works well?
• Look for the essay's detailed personal anecdote. What senses is the author describing? Can you easily picture the scene in your mind's eye?
• Find the place where this anecdote bridges into a larger insight about the author. How does the essay connect the two? How does the anecdote work as an example of the author's characteristic, trait, or skill?
• Check out the essay's tone. If it's funny, can you find the places where the humor comes from? If it's sad and moving, can you find the imagery and description of feelings that make you moved? If it's serious, can you see how word choice adds to this tone?

Make a note whenever you find an essay or part of an essay that you think was particularly well-written, and think about what you like about it . Is it funny? Does it help you really get to know the writer? Does it show what makes the writer unique? Once you have your list, keep it next to you while writing your essay to remind yourself to try and use those same techniques in your own essay.

#3: Find Your "A-Ha!" Moment

All of these essays rely on connecting with the reader through a heartfelt, highly descriptive scene from the author's life. It can either be very dramatic (did you survive a plane crash?) or it can be completely mundane (did you finally beat your dad at Scrabble?). Either way, it should be personal and revealing about you, your personality, and the way you are now that you are entering the adult world.

Check out essays by authors like John Jeremiah Sullivan , Leslie Jamison , Hanif Abdurraqib , and Esmé Weijun Wang to get more examples of how to craft a compelling personal narrative.

#4: Start Early, Revise Often

Let me level with you: the best writing isn't writing at all. It's rewriting. And in order to have time to rewrite, you have to start way before the application deadline. My advice is to write your first draft at least two months before your applications are due.

Let it sit for a few days untouched. Then come back to it with fresh eyes and think critically about what you've written. What's extra? What's missing? What is in the wrong place? What doesn't make sense? Don't be afraid to take it apart and rearrange sections. Do this several times over, and your essay will be much better for it!

For more editing tips, check out a style guide like Dreyer's English or Eats, Shoots & Leaves .

What's Next?

Still not sure which colleges you want to apply to? Our experts will show you how to make a college list that will help you choose a college that's right for you.

Interested in learning more about college essays? Check out our detailed breakdown of exactly how personal statements work in an application , some suggestions on what to avoid when writing your essay , and our guide to writing about your extracurricular activities .

Working on the rest of your application? Read what admissions officers wish applicants knew before applying .

The recommendations in this post are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Anna scored in the 99th percentile on her SATs in high school, and went on to major in English at Princeton and to get her doctorate in English Literature at Columbia. She is passionate about improving student access to higher education.

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Can You Use the Same Essay for Multiple College Apps?

Cece Gilmore is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cece earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University. While at ASU, she was the education editor as well as a published staff reporter at Downtown Devil. Cece was also the co-host of her own radio show on Blaze Radio ASU.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

You might be asking yourself, “can you use the same essay for multiple colleges?” The short answer is yes, but that it sometimes depends on a few factors. It is important to ensure that the essay you are reusing is general enough to be used for multiple college apps. Read more in our guide about instances where it makes sense to use the same essay for multiple college applications. 

Before we start, we should recognize that the college admission process often involves writing multiple responses, including personal statements,  Common App essays, college specific essays, supplemental essays, and more. 

Can you submit the same personal statement to different schools? 

The good news is that you can submit the same personal statement to different schools. 

The personal statement is usually attached to the Common Application and the Coalition Application . The personal statement aims to get to know the applicant as a unique person. Students can do this by writing about a unique aspect of their lives, an accomplishment they are most proud of, or ultimately anything that shows who they are. It would be unnecessary to write a different personal statement for every college since the personal statement is all about you. 

Also see: How to write a successful college essay by showing, not telling

Can you submit the same college-specific supplemental essays for multiple college applications? 

“why us” question.

The “Why us” essay questions typically will not be able to be reused. This is because they are specifically designed to elicit a response regarding the uniqueness of their college. “Why us?” questions are supposed to be answered by sharing specific aspects of the school the applicant enjoys such as the campus, a specific course, the alumni connection, etc. Therefore, since every college is unique in its own way, it is nearly impossible to write a “Why us?” response that would work for multiple college applications. 

Supplemental essays

There is a chance you can reuse a supplemental essay for multiple college applications. Colleges ask supplemental questions on a variety of topics, and some questions are broader than others. This is a time to be very careful, as you don’t want any kind of a mix-up like praising the perpetually warm and sunny weather at the University of Minnesota!

Related: How to write about yourself

Tips for using the same essay for multiple college applications

Read the essay question carefully.

To begin, you must read the question carefully to ensure that any previous essay you have written will answer all parts of the question. It is critical that you are not ignoring parts of the question just because you have an essay that answers the other part of the question. 

Make sure that your response is college specific

If the question asks specifically about the college it is important to put specific details into your essay. You should be as detailed as possible when responding to a college specific question to show that you care about attending that college!

Don’t miss : How to ask for letters of recommendation for college and scholarships

Proofread!! 

It is so important to read over your essay to ensure that there is no mention of a different college in it. Proofreading your essay will also avoid any grammatical errors and typos. 

Write a new essay if necessary

When in doubt, the best thing to do is completely write a new essay. This will result in the most specific and detail oriented essay possible that does not seem to be general or non-question specific. Reusing essays is an efficient way to fill out college applications, but it may not always be the one that results in the best essays. So, when in doubt, write a new essay! 

Key Takeaways

• Reusing your personal statement essay for multiple colleges is not only allowed, but sometimes encouraged
• When in doubt, write a new essay and do not reuse!
• Always proofread before submitting a supplemental essay to ensure you did not leave any “College A” specific details when submitting something to “College B” 

Also see: How many colleges should I apply to? and   10 tips for successful college applications

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College Essays vs. Scholarship Essays: 4 Important Differences

Applying to college is a huge amount of work. On top of that, you may be applying for scholarships to help ease the financial burden of your tuition and other expenses. Many scholarship applications require essays—and these are in addition to the essays you’re already writing for your college applications.

So, what’s the difference? Can you use the same essay or parts of it for both purposes? Read on to find out.

The Differences

College essays help adcoms get a sense of students’ personalities. They want to see whether you’re a good fit with their institution and student body and what you will contribute. That’s why tone is so important—you need to convey that you’ll mesh well with the school and understand what that means. Find out more in What Is a College Personal Statement? .

Meanwhile, scholarship committees are looking for students who stand for the interests of the organization and will represent it well. These organizations often align with and support particular talents, industries, demographics, or causes, so the students to whom they award scholarships must embody these ideals as well. For example, there are scholarships for first-generation students , Hispanic/Latino students , and STEM scholars . Your essay must demonstrate that you believe in the mission the organization represents.

Many colleges use the Common or Coalition applications, and their prompts are often very broad. You’ll also have a choice of topic. Many colleges also have school-specific supplemental essays , whose topics can be a bit more narrow, such as asking you why you want to attend that particular school .

Scholarship prompts tend to be more specific and focused on the organization and its mission. For example, Digital Responsibility’s Don’t Text and Drive Scholarship asks you to complete the statement “ I pledge to not text and drive because… ” in 140 characters.

3. Approach

Since college essays are about you and how you’ll fit in at the school, you’ll need to do some brainstorming to generate broad ideas around which to center your statement. Check out Where to Begin: 3 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises for ideas.

For scholarship essays, you want to demonstrate that you agree with the company philosophy. That means you need to do some research to understand what that philosophy is and incorporate the organization’s ideals. Often, you can find out a lot by simply browsing the organization’s website and social media accounts and finding stories and examples of current and past projects.

College essays tend to be on the longer side. The Common App has a 650-word maximum for its main essay, while the Coalition Application allows 300-550 words.

Scholarship essays tend to be shorter, usually under 500 words. Sometimes the essays are even shorter still, as with the Don’t Text and Drive example. And, of course, some scholarships don’t require essays at all.

The Commonalities

1. representation.

Both your college essays and scholarship essays should represent you and what you stand for. Even though scholarship essays are usually about a cause that the organization sponsoring the award supports, if you’re applying for it, you should believe in that cause as well. Of course, it goes without saying that you should be the one actually writing the essays as well.

Your essays need to be well-written. You should make use of rhetorical devices and other language tools, as well as follow grammatical rules . Make sure to read over all your essays and get second opinions.

College Essays and Scholarship Essays: The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, both adcoms and scholarship committees want to get to know you through your writing. Taking care to understand the institution or organization and truly representing your authentic self will come through, so put in the effort. It really counts!

For more advice, check out How to Write an Impressive College Essay: A Step-by-Step Guide .

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links, meaning that when you make a purchase, I earn a small commission. For more information, see the site  Disclaimer .

Can I use the same essay for different colleges?

Can you submit the same essay to different colleges? Yes, no, and maybe.

You have so many essays to write for college applications! 

There’s your main college admissions essay, or the personal statement . 

There are college specific “ Why this college? ” essays. 

Then there are a variety of supplemental , additional information essays. 

Add to that all the scholarship essays and merit aid essays….  

Then multiply that number by all the schools you plan to apply to!  

Thinking about all these essays might lead you to ask: 

Can I use the same essay for different college applications?

Do I have to write a different essay for each college application?

Will colleges know if I use the same essay?

This article will answer some common questions about using the same essay for different colleges.

Writing a few solid, well-crafted essays, then tweaking and revising them for different schools, can be a smart and effective strategy for maximizing your time and effort. (So you can do all the other important things you have to do you senior year , like improving your test scores or preparing for AP exams.)

Can I submit the same Personal Statement to different schools?

Your personal statement college essay is your main college essay. There’s a lot riding on this essay. If you do it right, you’ll spend a great deal of time coming up with the story you want this essay to tell about yourself–then writing, rewriting, and editing this essay. 

The good news is that you can definitely reuse your personal statement for all your college applications. 

Your personal essay is the signature piece of your college applications. You absolutely can send this essay to all the colleges you apply to. In fact, colleges expect you to.

Do colleges know if you use the same essay?

Colleges don’t have a secret way to know if you submit the same essay to different schools. 

Admissions officers are too busy reading all the admissions essays to compare notes on the essays with admissions representatives from other schools! 

And remember, the admissions committee from one university is competing against other colleges to attract the best and brightest applicants. So admissions committees are unlikely to share notes, even if they did have time to do so!

That said, colleges expect you to use the same main personal statement essay for all the colleges that you apply to. They understand you are applying to multiple schools and you can’t write a different main essay for all of them. No one has that much time!

However, if you simply copy and paste your “Why this college?” essay without carefully editing it, and College B gets the essay you wrote for College A, then colleges will know that you didn’t write a new essay for that college application.

So either write new essays for the college-specific essay prompts, or be very careful about reusing those essays.

Note that colleges will probably find out if you plagiarize an essay or use AI to write it. College admissions counselors have read thousands of admissions essays, and they know if an essay isn’t in a student’s own voice. Plagiarism and AI checkers make it very easy for school admissions officers to know if you’ve submitted someone else’s essay instead of writing your own!

Need help writing a great college essay ?

Can you use the same essay for the common application and the coalition application?

Yes, you can use the same essay for the Common Application essay and the Coalition for College application essay. 

You can also use the same college application essay for any individual colleges that don’t participate in either of those application systems.

While most colleges, from state universities to the Ivy League, do participate in either the Common App or the Coalition App (or both), many don’t. You’ll have to apply directly to those colleges. 

The point of the Common App and the Coalition App is to simplify the college application process and save time and effort. So, if you end up applying to schools through both apps, you can use the same essay. 

Actually, colleges expect that the Coalition App or Common App Essay you submit will be the same one you submit to every college where you apply.

Both the Common App and the Coalition App essay prompts are the same (or very similar) every year. So if you know you’ll apply to colleges using both apps, just choose an essay topic that fits a prompt from both apps. 

If you can’t find an essay question you want to write about, you can always write on the topic of your choice.

If, for any reason, you decided you want to edit or even change the essay you are using on either app, you can do that at any point. This won’t change the essay for applications you’ve already submitted, but the new essay will be used in future applications you submit. 

Should College-specific essays be unique for each school?

The answer to this question depends on the prompt.  Some essays are so college-specific that you have to write a new essay for each college.

Other supplemental essay questions are general enough that you can write short essays about your personal experiences that would work for multiple colleges’ essays.

It really just depends on the prompt. Let’s look at some common supplementary essay topics.

Why this college?

The “Why this college?” essay is one that you can’t really reuse.

When a college asks you to write about why you want to attend that college, you should write a college-specific answer. You should mention what appeals to you most about that college, how you would contribute to the school, and why you want to attend that college. 

This essay is your opportunity to demonstrate your genuine interest in and fit with a particular university.

This is your chance to show the college admissions officers that you’ve carefully researched the school’s academic programs, faculty, and campus culture–and why you believe that college is a good fit for your goals and talents.

If you could send school-specific essays to multiple schools without making any changes, then you didn’t do a good job of answering the question!

Be really specific about why you want to attend that college! Is it the intellectual life of the student body? The research opportunities and specific programs in your major? Colleges want to know that prospective students have a good reason for applying!

Note: selective colleges might list this as an optional essay. However, if asked to write a “Why this college?” essay, you should. It might make a difference in your application.

Supplemental essays

You may be able to use the same supplement essays (or variations of them) at different colleges.

Many colleges request supplemental essays on a variety of topics. Often, these are so specific that it’s unlikely you’d get the same question from different colleges. So you might find it difficult to reuse these essays. But if you did have the opportunity to reuse them, you could. 

This might include questions like “What’s your perfect day?,” “Tell us about an aspect of your life that has not been addressed elsewhere in the application,” or “What does privilege mean to you?” 

Supplemental essays are your chance to share your unique perspective on a certain topic. They are a great opportunity for you to share more about yourself. Talk about things that you haven’t showcased in other parts of your application materials.

Even though these essay topics seem general, it’s best if your answer somehow ties back to the specific college you’re applying to. Colleges are looking for students who want to be at that school and who will be all in for participating that school’s social and academic culture. 

If you reuse a supplemental essay, be very careful to remove any reference to another college!

Common Supplemental Essay Topics

Are you curious what you might have to write about in a supplemental essay? The possibilities are endless, but here are some common topics.

1. Personal growth

Reflect on a challenging experience that transformed your perspective or helped you develop as a person. How has this experience made you ready for college and shaped how you see your future?

2. Diversity and identity

Discuss your unique background, cultural heritage, or personal values. How does your identity shape your worldview? How can you foster inclusivity on campus?

3. Intellectual curiosity

What are you passionate about learning? How will the college’s academic environment nurture your intellectual growth?

4. What major

Explain why you are interested in your first-choice major. If undecided, what areas do you expect to study in college  first?

5. Adversity

How have you navigated through a challenge or difficult circumstances? What have you learned from those experiences and how have they influenced your goals?

6. Extracurricular activities

Tell us about one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences that have had an impact on you.

7. Future aspirations

Share your dreams and aspirations beyond college. What are your ambitions for your particular career path, entrepreneurial endeavors, or professional goals?

What’s the best way to reuse essays for college applications?

Personal statement.

For your main essay, you only need to write one personal statement. Choose from all the college essay prompts to find the topic you feel like you can do a great job writing about.

Write, edit, and re-write. Get feed back from a trusted family member or one of your high school teachers.

Keep working on your personal statement until you feel like it’s the perfect essay to share your story with the college admissions committees.

Then you can send the same essay to every college on your list, whether through the Common App or Coalition App application platform, or through a school’s own portal.

The fact is, you’ll almost certainly have to write several supplemental essays.

You might be able to reuse some. But remember, it’s not a good idea to copy and these essays without carefully considering the text. 

Often, colleges try to ask unusual questions for their supplemental prompts, so you will have to write a new college-specific essay. 

Or, colleges ask why you want to attend that institution—in which case, you don’t want to risk copying and pasting the name of a different school into that essay space. 

However, there are times when you can reuse a supplemental essay. 

Here’s how to manage and reuse supplemental essays

In order to keep track of all your extra essays, I recommend that you save every version of every essay you submit. Here are all the steps to take to reuse essays at different colleges: 

1. Read the essay guidelines closely

Note what your essay needs to include and what the word count is. Be sure you answer the question. Use all the words allowed, but don’t go over the limit. 

2. Start by writing the essay in a Word file or Google doc

Do not write the essay directly into the essay submission box. Writing in Word or a Google doc will make it easier to edit and save the essay.

3. Review the prompt and make sure you stayed on topic

It’s always smart to refer back to the essay question and make sure you answered it.

4. Make sure the essay is college specific

If possible, reference the school’s values, organizations, and unique programs. Personalize the essay by mentioning the college’s name. 

5. Edit, revise, and proofrea d

The importance of this cannot be overstated. Avoid grammatical errors, incomplete thoughts, or typos.

6. Save the essay

Use the name of the college and a word that will help you remember what the essay is about. 

7. Copy and paste

After you’re done revising, and you’re ready to submit the essay, copy and paste the essay into the application’s essay response box. 

Make sure the formatting is okay and all the text is there before clicking submit.

8. Refer back

When you have to write another supplemental essay with a similar prompt, look through your files to find previously written essays that could be relevant. 

9. See what you can reuse

Review the new prompt, guidelines, and word count. See if you can edit and reuse an old essay. 

10. edit and reuse the old essay as a whole

See if it would work to use an already written essay as-is or with just a few tiny changes. You will save a lot of time if you can do this!

11. Pull paragraphs or ideas from the old essay to help you craft a new essay

Use parts of an already-written essay as the starting point of a new essay. This is a great way to quickly create short, personal essays.

12. Start over with step one for A new essay

Sometimes you just don’t have an essay that you could repurpose, so you may have to write an additional essay. Always be sure each essay meets the specific essay requirements of each supplemental prompt!

By keeping a copy of all your supplemental college essays, you’ll be able to craft new essays more quickly and efficiently. 

A bonus of this system is that if you end up having to write more essays for any one college, you’ll quickly be able to find your original essay, so you can write about something different in the later essay.

By the time you complete the college admissions process, you are likely to have many files with variations of the same themes. By carefully editing essays before reusing them, each essay will be tailored to a specific prompt.

What NOT to write in your college essay !

Final thoughts on using the same essay for different college applications

You probably found this article because you wondered: Is it okay to use the same essay to apply to different colleges?

Yes, it’s completely okay to send the same main application essay to each university on your list.  Your essay demonstrates who you are, your unique life experiences, and what you stand for. 

You only need to write one main personal statement, and you can use that for all the schools you apply to. 

It’s also okay to reuse parts of your supplemental essays, but only when it makes sense to do so. Be sure your supplemental essay answers the question asked by each different college’s prompt. Make sure your answer fits with how you want to portray yourself at that college. 

Give yourself plenty of time to write your main college essay (including revising, editing, and proofreading it). Also allow extra time to write your supplemental essays—and revise, edit and proofread them! You may be surprised how many additional essays you have to write.

Remember, your essays let college admissions counselors learn more about you. Every supplemental essay you write tells more of your story. Let your passion and personality shine through.

Ultimately, using the same essay for different college applications allows you to streamline the process, save time, and present your best self to multiple institutions. With creativity and strategic thinking, you can craft essays that leave a lasting impression on more than one admissions committee.

9 tips for How to Write a College Essay That Stands Out

How to Choose a Unique College Essay Topic

Using the same essay for different college scholarships

Graduate of Brown University, higher ed professional, and mom of three. Sharing everything I’ve learned about college with you.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, can i use the same essay for multiple college applications.

Hey everyone, I'm starting to work on my college essays and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Is it generally okay to use the same essay for multiple college applications, or should I write a unique essay for each school? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hey there! I totally understand how overwhelming the college application process can be. When it comes to using the same essay for multiple college applications, it's generally okay to do so, as long as the essay prompt is similar or the same. Keep in mind, though, that some colleges may have specific and unique essay prompts that you'll need to cater your response to. In those cases, it's important to write a unique essay that directly addresses the prompt. One helpful tip is to create a strong, well-written 'base essay' that you can modify slightly to fit the requirements of each individual college. This can save you a lot of time and effort while still allowing you to craft a tailored response for each school. Ultimately, the most important thing is to make sure your essay effectively communicates who you are and why you'd be a great fit at the college you're applying to. Best of luck with your applications!

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Should college essays touch on race? Some feel affirmative action ruling leaves no choice

When the supreme court ended affirmative action in higher education, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions..

By The Associated Press

5:20 AM on Mar 28, 2024 CDT

CHICAGO — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle.

Then she deleted it all.

“I would just find myself kind of trauma-dumping,” said the 18-year-old senior at Lincoln Park High School in Chicago. “And I’m just like, this doesn’t really say anything about me as a person.”

When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action in higher education, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. For many students of color, instantly more was riding on the already high-stakes writing assignment. Some say they felt pressure to exploit their hardships as they competed for a spot on campus.

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Related: Gov. Abbott issues executive order fighting antisemitism at Texas colleges

Amofa was just starting to think about her essay when the court issued its decision, and it left her with a wave of questions. Could she still write about her race? Could she be penalized for it? She wanted to tell colleges about her heritage but she didn’t want to be defined by it.

In English class, Amofa and her classmates read sample essays that all seemed to focus on some trauma or hardship. It left her with the impression she had to write about her life’s hardest moments to show how far she’d come. But she and some of her classmates wondered if their lives had been hard enough to catch the attention of admissions offices.

“For a lot of students, there’s a feeling of, like, having to go through something so horrible to feel worthy of going to school, which is kind of sad,” said Amofa, the daughter of a hospital technician and an Uber driver.

This year’s senior class is the first in decades to navigate college admissions without affirmative action. The Supreme Court upheld the practice in decisions going back to the 1970s, but this court’s conservative supermajority found it is unconstitutional for colleges to give students extra weight because of their race alone.

Still, the decision left room for race to play an indirect role: Chief Justice John Roberts wrote universities can still consider how an applicant’s life was shaped by their race, “so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability.”

“A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination,” he wrote.

Scores of colleges responded with new essay prompts asking about students’ backgrounds. Brown University asked applicants how “an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you.” Rice University asked students how their perspectives were shaped by their “background, experiences, upbringing, and/or racial identity.”

Do schools ‘expect a sob story’?

When Darrian Merritt started writing his essay, he knew the stakes were higher than ever because of the court’s decision. His first instinct was to write about events that led to him going to live with his grandmother as a child.

Those were painful memories, but he thought they might play well at schools like Yale, Stanford and Vanderbilt.

“I feel like the admissions committee might expect a sob story or a tragic story,” said Merritt, a senior in Cleveland. “And if you don’t provide that, then maybe they’re not going to feel like you went through enough to deserve having a spot at the university. I wrestled with that a lot.”

Related: Texas colleges risk millions if they break DEI ban, lawmaker says

He wrote drafts focusing on his childhood, but it never amounted to more than a collection of memories. Eventually he abandoned the idea and aimed for an essay that would stand out for its positivity.

Merritt wrote about a summer camp where he started to feel more comfortable in his own skin. He described embracing his personality and defying his tendency to please others. The essay had humor — it centered on a water gun fight where he had victory in sight but, in a comedic twist, slipped and fell. But the essay also reflects on his feelings of not being “Black enough” and getting made fun of for listening to “white people music.”

“I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to write this for me, and we’re just going to see how it goes,’” he said. “It just felt real, and it felt like an honest story.”

The essay describes a breakthrough as he learned “to take ownership of myself and my future by sharing my true personality with the people I encounter. ... I realized that the first chapter of my own story had just been written.”

Ruling prompts pivots on essay topics

Like many students, Max Decker of Portland, Ore., had drafted a college essay on one topic, only to change direction after the Supreme Court ruling in June.

Decker initially wrote about his love for video games. In a childhood surrounded by constant change, navigating his parents’ divorce, the games he took from place to place on his Nintendo DS were a source of comfort.

But the essay he submitted to colleges focused on the community he found through Word is Bond, a leadership group for young Black men in Portland.

As the only biracial, Jewish kid with divorced parents in a predominantly white, Christian community, Decker wrote he constantly felt like the odd one out. On a trip with Word is Bond to Capitol Hill, he and friends who looked just like him shook hands with lawmakers. The experience, he wrote, changed how he saw himself.

“It’s because I’m different that I provide something precious to the world, not the other way around,” he wrote.

As a first-generation college student, Decker thought about the subtle ways his peers seemed to know more about navigating the admissions process. They made sure to get into advanced classes at the start of high school, and they knew how to secure glowing letters of recommendation.

If writing about race would give him a slight edge and show admissions officers a fuller picture of his achievements, he wanted to take that small advantage.

His first memory about race, Decker said, was when he went to get a haircut in elementary school and the barber made rude comments about his curly hair. Until recently, the insecurity that moment created led him to keep his hair buzzed short.

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Through Word is Bond, Decker said he found a space to explore his identity as a Black man. It was one of the first times he was surrounded by Black peers and saw Black role models. It filled him with a sense of pride in his identity. No more buzzcut.

The pressure to write about race involved a tradeoff with other important things in his life, Decker said. That included his passion for journalism, like the piece he wrote on efforts to revive a once-thriving Black neighborhood in Portland. In the end, he squeezed in 100 characters about his journalism under the application’s activities section.

“My final essay, it felt true to myself. But the difference between that and my other essay was the fact that it wasn’t the truth that I necessarily wanted to share,” said Decker, whose top college choice is Tulane, in New Orleans, because of the region’s diversity. “It felt like I just had to limit the truth I was sharing to what I feel like the world is expecting of me.”

Spelling out the impact of race

Before the Supreme Court ruling, it seemed a given to Imani Laird that colleges would consider the ways that race had touched her life. But now, she felt like she had to spell it out.

As she started her essay, she reflected on how she had faced bias or felt overlooked as a Black student in predominantly white spaces.

There was the year in math class when the teacher kept calling her by the name of another Black student. There were the comments that she’d have an easier time getting into college because she was Black.

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“I didn’t have it easier because of my race,” said Laird, a senior at Newton South High School in the Boston suburbs who was accepted at Wellesley and Howard University, and is waiting to hear from several Ivy League colleges. “I had stuff I had to overcome.”

In her final essays, she wrote about her grandfather, who served in the military but was denied access to GI Bill benefits because of his race.

She described how discrimination fueled her ambition to excel and pursue a career in public policy.

“So, I never settled for mediocrity,” she wrote. “Regardless of the subject, my goal in class was not just to participate but to excel. Beyond academics, I wanted to excel while remembering what started this motivation in the first place.”

Will schools lose racial diversity?

Amofa used to think affirmative action was only a factor at schools like Harvard and Yale. After the court’s ruling, she was surprised to find that race was taken into account even at some public universities she was applying to.

Now, without affirmative action, she wondered if mostly white schools will become even whiter.

It’s been on her mind as she chooses between Indiana University and the University of Dayton, both of which have relatively few Black students. When she was one of the only Black students in her grade school, she could fall back on her family and Ghanaian friends at church. At college, she worries about loneliness.

“That’s what I’m nervous about,” she said. “Going and just feeling so isolated, even though I’m constantly around people.”

The first drafts of her essay focused on growing up in a low-income family, sharing a bedroom with her brother and grandmother. But it didn’t tell colleges about who she is now, she said.

Her final essay tells how she came to embrace her natural hair. She wrote about going to a mostly white grade school where classmates made jokes about her afro. When her grandmother sent her back with braids or cornrows, they made fun of those too.

Over time, she ignored their insults and found beauty in the styles worn by women in her life. She now runs a business doing braids and other hairstyles in her neighborhood.

“I stopped seeing myself through the lens of the European traditional beauty standards and started seeing myself through the lens that I created,” Amofa wrote.

“Criticism will persist, but it loses its power when you know there’s a crown on your head!”

By Collin Binkley, Annie Ma and Noreen Nasir of The Associated Press

The Associated Press

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Caitlin clark was ‘queen among women’ to reach final four in latest glimpse of her iowa greatness.

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ALBANY — Caitlin Clark did it the way the superstars do it, in any sport. She lifted her team, and lifted the entire state of Iowa at the same time, after these last two years of elevating women’s basketball to soaring, unprecedented heights.

When it was over, after she had dribbled out the final seconds of Iowa 94, LSU 87 , after she had joined her teammates in a joyous embrace, after she had flung the basketball to her older brother who was standing alongside her father in the stands behind the Iowa bench, after she had posed on the court with her parents and held up a final four fingers, she lay on a bed of confetti, the Most Outstanding Player trophy on her chest, the picture of euphoria, of a dream chased and captured.

Caitlin Clark goes back to the Final Four in Cleveland.

It was 9:56 p.m, when she stood atop a ladder and gazed up at the celebratory Iowa crowd with a big smile, scissors in hand. Snip.

We often talk about male players who rise to the occasion as a man among boys.

Now we should marvel at Caitlin Clark as a woman among girls.

“There were a lot of great players on the floor out there — she was just like a queen among women if you could even say it that way,” ESPN color analyst Rebecca Lobo told The Post.

Betcha little boys watching were inspired, too.

This was compelling theater every step of the way, and with every 3 she rained down from the heavens, with every pinpoint pass she delivered, it sounded as if the entire state of Iowa was inside MVP Arena.

“I’m not worried about what the other team’s doing, I’m not worried about what call the ref is making, I’m worried about what Iowa needs,” Clark said. “I’ve always had basketball skills, it’s just been making my mind better.”

Her legacy would have been intact as a forever legend even had she not scored 41 points to avenge last year’s loss to Angel Reese and LSU in the championship game.

Resting on her laurels was no option for her.

Neither was losing, and neither was never getting to play another game with teammates she loves for a school and a state she loves.

“There could have been nobody in the gym and both teams would have competed the exact same way,” Clark said.

Much has been made of how she and Reese have been the women’s basketball version of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Caitlin Clark (9-for-20 from Des Moines, 13-for-29 overall, seven rebounds, 12 assists, five turnovers) showed up as both, and Steph Curry and Michael Jordan in Game 7s.

She was an unstoppable force of nature, a cold-blooded assassin who was not going to be denied.

“Every single time the moment is big, she meets the moment,” Lobo said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

She is the face of women’s basketball, and she is a marketer’s delight. Yes, that’s her in the State Farm commercial. She is the all-time leading scorer in major college basketball history, women and men. She is an inspiration to young girls, from Iowa and beyond who wear her No. 22 and aspire to be a Caitlin Clark, and she embraces it all.

Team USA wants her to join. She will be the first pick of the WNBA draft.

It’s good to be Caitlin Clark.

“I thought my shot felt good in warm-ups,” she said.

When she hit a 3 that gave Iowa an 80-69 lead, she pounded her chest and looked up at the Iowa fans and exulted.

“I think I just got hyped for a second,” she said, and laughed. “Sometimes you get a little hyped for yourself and you do things that you don’t even realize you’re doing. But I think that was the only 3 I celebrated.”

Reese (17 points on 7-for-21 shooting, 20 rebounds) had sprained her ankle and left the game for a couple of minutes in the second quarter. She fouled out with 1:45 remaining. A year ago she flipped Clark the ring finger on her way to the national championship. She sat at the end of the bench and looked up at the scoreboard when Clark sank a pair of free throws at the end. It read Clark 39 — as in points.

“We want to win two more and I think we have the power to do that,” Clark said.

LSU coach Kim Mulkey had a message for Caitlin Clark: “I sure am glad you’re leaving.” She would add: “Never seen anything like it.”

Reese, teary-eyed at her press conference, her immediate future uncertain, said this to Caitlin Clark: “Go win it.”

Who would bet against Greatlin Clark?

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Guest Essay

It’s Not You: Dating Apps Are Getting Worse

By Magdalene J. Taylor

Ms. Taylor is a writer covering sex and culture.

“The golden age of dating apps is over,” a friend told me at a bar on Super Bowl Sunday. As we waited for our drinks, she and another friend swiped through Bumble and Hinge, hunting for new faces and likes. Across the bar were two young men: phones out, apps open, clearly doing the exact same thing. Never did the duos meet.

What’s lamentable here isn’t only that dating apps have become the de facto medium through which single people meet. Since 2019, three in 10 U.S. adults have reported using them, with that figure rising to roughly six in 10 for Americans under 50 who have never been married. Not only are people not meeting partners in bars or any of the once normal in-person venues — they’re barely meeting them on the apps, either.

Maybe most of us just aren’t as hot as we used to be. Maybe it’s time our inflated egos got knocked down a notch. Maybe the market of people still willing to put themselves out there in an attempt to date has gotten smaller. Or maybe the apps have functionally, intentionally gotten worse, as have our romantic prospects. The more they fail to help us form relationships, the more we’re forced to keep swiping — and paying.

The internet, where so many of us spend so much of our time, has not been spared from the decline in quality that seems to plague so much of consumer life. This phenomenon was described by the writer Cory Doctorow in a November 2022 blog post and is sometimes called “platform decay”: Tech platforms like Amazon, Reddit and X have declined in quality as they’ve expanded. These sites initially hooked consumers by being almost too good to be true, attempting to become essential one-stop shops within their respective spaces while often charging nothing, thanks to low interest rates and free-flowing venture capital funding . Now that we’re all locked in and that capital has dried up, those initial hooks have been walked back — and there’s nowhere else to go.

This is precisely what is happening with dating apps now, too, with much more urgent consequences. What’s worsening isn’t just the technological experience of online dating but also our ability to form meaningful, lasting connections offline.

The collapse of dating apps’ usability can be blamed on the paid subscription model and the near-monopoly these apps have over the dating world. While dozens of sites exist, most 20-something daters use the big three: Tinder, Hinge and Bumble. (Older people often gravitate toward Match.com or eHarmony.) All three sites offer a “premium” version users must pay for — according to a study conducted by Morgan Stanley , around a quarter of people on dating apps use these services, averaging out at under $20 a month. The purpose, many believe, is to keep them as paid users for as long as possible. Even if we hate it, even if it’s a cycle of diminishing returns, there is no real alternative.

In the early heyday of Tinder, the only limits on whom you could potentially match with were location, gender and age preferences. You might not have gotten a like back from someone you perceived to be out of your league, but at least you had the chance to swipe right. Today, however, many apps have pooled the people you’d most like to match with into a separate category (such as Hinge’s “Standouts” section), often only accessible to those who pay for premium features. And even if you do decide to sign up for them, many people find the idea of someone paying to match with them to be off-putting anyway.

“If I don’t pay, I don’t date,” a friend in his 30s told me. He spends around $50 a month on premium dating app subscriptions and digital “roses” to grab the attention of potential matches. He’s gone on 65 dates over the last year, he said. None have stuck, so he keeps paying. “Back in the day, I never would have imagined paying for OKCupid,” he said.

Yet shares (Bumble’s stock price has fallen from about $75 to about $11 since its I.P.O.) and user growth have fallen , so the apps have more aggressively rolled out new premium models. In September 2023, Tinder released a $500 per month plan. But the economics of dating apps may not add up .

On Valentine’s Day this year, Match Group — which owns Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, OKCupid and many other dating apps — was sued in a proposed class action lawsuit asserting that the company gamifies its platforms “to transform users into gamblers locked in a search for psychological rewards that Match makes elusive on purpose.” This is in contrast to one of the group’s ad slogans that promotes Hinge as “designed to be deleted.”

People are reporting similar complaints across the apps — even when they aren’t taking the companies to court. Pew Research shows that over the last several years, the percentage of dating app users across demographics who feel dissatisfied with the apps has risen . Just under half of all users report feeling somewhat to very negative about online dating, with the highest rates coming from women and those who don’t pay for premium features. Notably, there is a gender divide: Women feel overwhelmed by messages, while men are underwhelmed by the lack thereof.

With seemingly increasing frequency, people are going to sites like TikTok , Reddit and X to complain about what they perceive to be a dwindling group of eligible people to meet on apps. Commonly, complaints are targeted toward these monthly premium fees, in contrast to the original free experience. Dating has always cost money, but there’s something uniquely galling about the way apps now function. Not only does it feel like the apps are the only way to meet someone, just getting in the door can also comes with a surcharge.

Perhaps dating apps once seemed too good to be true because they were. We never should have been exposed to what the apps originally provided: the sense that the dating pool is some unlimited, ever-increasing-in-quality well of people. Even if the apps are not systematically getting worse but rather you’ve just spent the last few years as a five thinking you should be paired with eights, the apps have nonetheless fundamentally skewed the dating world and our perception of it. We’ve distorted our understanding of how we’d organically pair up — and forgotten how to actually meet people in the process.

Our romantic lives are not products. They should not be subjected to monthly subscription fees, whether we’re the ones paying or we’re the ones people are paying for. Algorithmic torture may be happening everywhere, but the consequences of feeling like we are technologically restricted from finding the right partner are much heavier than, say, being duped into buying the wrong direct-to-consumer mattress. Dating apps treat people like commodities, and encourage us to treat others the same. We are not online shopping. We are looking for people we may potentially spend our lives with.

There is, however, some push toward a return to the real that could save us from this pattern. New in-person dating meet-up opportunities and the return of speed dating events suggests app fatigue is spreading. Maybe we’ll start meeting at bars again — rather than simply swiping through the apps while holding a drink.

Have you ditched dating apps for a new way to meet people, or are you still swiping left?

Opinion wants to hear your story.

Magdalene J. Taylor (@ magdajtaylor ) is a writer covering sex and culture. She writes the newsletter “ Many Such Cases .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , X and Threads .

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🏀 Women's Tournament

🍿 Stories all over the Final Four

🏀 Behind NCAA president Charlie Baker's love of hoops

Bueckers vs. Watkins

Mike Lopresti | NCAA.com | April 1, 2024

• History-making storylines we could see at the 2024 Men’s Final Four

Before the Final Four takes over State Farm Stadium this weekend in Glendale, a brief orientation is in order. Like deciding on the most important event to ever happen in the place so far.

Maybe the Super Bowl in 2008, when the New York Giants denied the New England Patriots an unbeaten season. The Patriots later returned to win a different Super Bowl there, and so did the Kansas City Chiefs.

But no, that’s not it.

Or the 2017 Final Four, when North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 71-65 in the title game, making Roy Williams a three-time champion for the Tar Heels, passing Dean Smith. “I don’t think Roy Williams should ever be put in the same sentence with Dean Smith,” Williams said that night.

⛹️  2024 MARCH MADNESS:  Men's NCAA tournament schedule, dates

Nope, not that either. We’re talking something heard around the planet.

State Farm Stadium — are you ready? — was the site of the opening concert to kickoff the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. Glendale temporarily renamed itself Swift City, Arizona to get with the program. The momentous occasion was March 17, 2023 — the same night Purdue was losing to Fairleigh Dickinson, and from that evening onward, Swift went out into the world to make billions and the Boilermakers began the long road to redemption at this Final Four.

So what memorable moments might happen this weekend? These four teams are no Taylor Swift, but still, consider the possibilities.

UConn could become only the eighth program to repeat as national champion and just the second in more than three decades.

Alabama could become the first team this century to win the title in its maiden voyage to the Final Four. The last to do it was UConn in 1999. That’s the only one in the past 57 years.

NC State could become the first No. 11 seed to ever play in a national championship game.

Purdue could play in only its second national championship game in history. The first was 55 years ago when the Boilermakers lost to UCLA in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s final college game.

UConn could become the first No. 1 ranked team in the final Associated Press poll to end up champion in 12 years.

MEN'S BRACKET CHALLENGE GAME:  Check your bracket here

Alabama could become the first SEC team to play in a championship game in a decade.

NC State could win the title with 14-season defeats. That would be three more than any other champion in history.

Purdue could be the third team from the state of Indiana to play in a title game in the past 22 tournaments. Butler was there in 2010 and ’11. Indiana was there in 2002.

UConn could win its sixth national championship, which would pass Duke and Indiana, and tie North Carolina for third on the all-time list.

NC State could win its third title, which would tie Villanova for eighth place.

Purdue and Alabama could each win its first title.

Alabama could become the first school to ever clinch a national championship in both football and basketball in the same building. The Tide beat Clemson there in the College Football Playoff title game for the 2015 season.

TOP DAWGS:  Tracking 2024 March Madness men's records by conference

NC State could make Kevin Keatts the fifth Black coach to win the national championship and first in a decade, joining John Thompson, Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith and Kevin Ollie.

Purdue could become the second team to go from losing to a 16 seed in the first round to a national championship in one season. When Virginia did it in 2019, that was considered an amazing, unprecedented turnaround. Now it could happen twice in five years. If the Boilermakers pull it off, imagine the expectation that will surround the next No. 1 seed to lose to a 16.

UConn could give the Big East its fourth national championship since 2016. The Big East would own as many titles in the past eight years as the rest of the nation combined.

Purdue could be the first Big Ten team to win a title in 24 years.

NC State could become the ACC's fourth different school to win the title in the past nine tournaments.

Alabama could be the first SEC team not named Kentucky or Florida to win a national championship in three decades.

THE JOURNEY:  What defines UConn, Purdue, Alabama and NC State's path to the 2024 Men's Final Four

NC State could become the first unranked team in 36 years to win the title. That goes back to Kansas and Danny Manning in 1988.

UConn could continue its tournament love affair with the Phoenix area. Between State Farm Stadium and the former America West Arena — now Footprint Arena — in downtown Phoenix, the Huskies won regionals in 1999, 2004 and 2009. They’re 6-0 in the desert. “We do love coming out here,” coach Jim Calhoun said in 2009. “I’m buying a house. I’ll come out here once every five years.”

Ironic now, some of the Huskies victims back then. Arizona is where Alabama played its first Elite Eight game ever in 2004, losing to... UConn. It's where Matt Painter coached his first Purdue Sweet 16 team in 2009, losing to... UConn. Anyone else spot a trend here?

Purdue could make Painter the fifth man to coach his alma mater to the national championship in 45 years, joining Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, UConn's Kevin Ollie and Maryland’s Gary Williams.

Connecticut could add to an already glowing Final Four record. The Huskies are 10-1, the only loss to Michigan State in 2009. That’s the best all-time percentage for any program that has played at least three games.

North Carolina State could win the championship and Connecticut could lose, meaning the Wolfpack would pass the Huskies for the best Final Four record at 7-1.

Purdue could thrive now that UCLA is not in the way. The Boilermakers have played in two Final Fours and lost to the Bruins both times.

UConn and Seton Hall could win and give the Big East the title in both the NCAA and NIT, something no league has accomplished since 2006.

Alabama and Georgia could do the same thing for the SEC.

NC State could win next Monday, and either Indiana State or Seton Hall could win this Thursday, meaning the NCAA national champion would have more losses than the NIT champion.

Zach Edey could win Most Outstanding Player even if Purdue doesn’t end up champion. Imagine if he has two Edey-like games but the Boilers fall short against, say, UConn. It could happen. It hasn’t happened for a non-winning player in 41 years, but it could.

CHOO CHOO:  Purdue heads to the Final Four, starting a celebration 44 years in the making

They will arrive near and far to attend this Final Four. Actually mostly far. Alabama is the closet participating team to Glendale and Tuscaloosa is 1,500 miles away. They're all heading west on the road to State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. The facility was once called the University of Phoenix Stadium, which always seemed a little odd. An NFL franchise playing in an arena named after a college that has no football team.

Basketball is the focal point now, to be played on the same site where Anti-Hero was once sung from the stage for the adoring multitudes. The operative song this week is One Shining Moment . The Final Four is coming to Swift City.

2024 NCAA tournament schedule, scores, highlights

Saturday, April 6 (Final Four)

• (1) Purdue vs. (11) NC State | 6:09 p.m. ET | TBS/TNT/tru TV
• (1) UConn vs. (4) Alabama | 8:49 p.m. ET | TBS/TNT/tru TV

Monday, April 8 (National championship game)

• TBD vs. TBD | 9:20 p.m.

Tuesday, March 19 (First Four in Dayton, Ohio)

• (16) Wagner 71 , (16) Howard 68
• (10) Colorado State 67 , (10) Virginia 42

Wednesday, March 20 (First Four in Dayton, Ohio)

• (16) Grambling 88 , (16) Montana State 81
• (10) Colorado 60 , (10) Boise State 53

Thursday, March 21 (Round of 64)

• (9) Michigan State 66 , (8) Mississippi State 51
• (11) Duquesne 71 , (6) BYU 67
• (3) Creighton 77 , (14) Akron 60
• (2) Arizona 85 , (15) Long Beach State 65
• (1) North Carolina 90 , (16) Wagner 61
• (3) Illinois 85 , (14) Morehead State 69
• (11) Oregon 87 , (6) South Carolina 73
• (7) Dayton 63 , (10) Nevada 60
• (7) Texas 56 , (10) Colorado State 44
• (14) Oakland 80 , (3) Kentucky 76
• (5) Gonzaga 86 , (12) McNeese 65
• (2) Iowa State 82 , (15) South Dakota State 65
• (2) Tennessee 83 ,   (15) Saint Peter's 49
• (7) Washington State 66 , (10) Drake 61
• ( 11) NC State 80 , (6) Texas Tech 67
• (4) Kansas 93 , (13) Samford 89

Friday, March 22 (Round of 64)

• (3) Baylor 92 ,   (14) Colgate 67
• (9) Northwestern 77 , (8) Florida Atlantic 65  (OT)
• (5) San Diego State 69 , (12) UAB 65
• (2) Marquette 87 ,   (15) Western Kentucky 69
• (1) UConn 91 , (16) Stetson 52
• (6) Clemson 77 , (11) New Mexico 56
• (10) Colorado 102 , (7) Florida 100   
• (13) Yale 78 , (4) Auburn 76 
• (9) Texas A&M 98 , (8) Nebraska 83
• (4) Duke 64 , (13) Vermont 47
• (1) Purdue 78 , (16) Grambling 50
• (4) Alabama 109 , (13) College of Charleston 96
• (1) Houston 86 , (16) Longwood 46
• (12) James Madison 72 , (5) Wisconsin 61
• (8) Utah State 88 , (9) TCU 72 
• (12) Grand Canyon 77 , (5) Saint Mary's 66

Saturday, March 23 (Round of 32)

• (2) Arizona 78,  (7) Dayton 68
• (5) Gonzaga 89 , (4) Kansas 68
• (1) North Carolina 85 , (9) Michigan State 69
• (2) Iowa State 67 , (7) Washington State 56
• (11) NC State 79 , (14) Oakland 73
• (2) Tennessee 62 , (7) Texas 58
• (3) Illinois 89 , (11) Duquesne 63 
• (3) Creighton 86 , (11) Oregon 73 (2OT)

Sunday, March 24 (Round of 32)

• (2) Marquette 81,  (10) Colorado 77
• (1) Purdue 106,  (8) Utah State 67
• (4) Duke 93 , (12) James Madison 55 
• (6) Clemson 72 , (3) Baylor 64
• (4) Alabama 72 , (12) Grand Canyon 61
• (1) UConn 75 , (9) Northwestern 58
• (1) Houston 100 , (9) Texas A&M 95 (OT)
• (5) San Diego State 85 , (13) Yale 57 

Thursday, March 28 (Sweet 16)

• (6) Clemson 77 , (2) Arizona 72
• (1) UConn 82 , (5) San Diego State 52
• (4) Alabama 89 , (1) North Carolina 87
• (3) Illinois 72 , (2) Iowa State 69

Friday, March 29 (Sweet 16)

• (11) NC State 66 , (2) Marquette 58
• (1) Purdue 80 , (5) Gonzaga 68
• (4) Duke 54 , (1) Houston 51
• (2) Tennessee 82 , (3) Creighton 75

Saturday, March 30 (Elite Eight)

• (1) UConn 77 , (3) Illinois 52
• (4) Alabama 89 , (6) Clemson 82

Sunday, March 31 (Elite Eight)

• (1) Purdue 72 , (2) Tennessee 66
• (11) NC State 76 , (4) Duke 64

• What defines UConn, Purdue, Alabama and NC State's path to the 2024 Men's Final Four

• 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship Final Four Tips Off Saturday, April 6, on TBS, TNT and truTV

This year's Elite Eight teams are all looking to change narratives with a Final Four run

March madness.

• 🗓️ 2024 March Madness schedule, dates
• 👀 Everything to know about March Madness
• ❓ How the field of 68 is picked
• 📓 College basketball dictionary: 51 terms defined

Greatest buzzer beaters in March Madness history

Relive Laettner's historic performance against Kentucky

The deepest game-winning buzzer beaters in March Madness history

College basketball's NET rankings, explained

What March Madness looked like the year you were born

Di men's basketball news.

• Basketball has stolen heart of NCAA’s Charlie Baker
• Never-before-seen college basketball fairytales set to converge at the Final Four
• NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee names game officials for 2024 men’s Final Four
• Purdue heads to the Final Four, starting a celebration 44 years in the making
• 2024 March Madness: Men's NCAA tournament schedule, dates
• Latest bracket, schedule and scores for 2024 NCAA men's tournament
• The lowest seeds to make the men's Final Four, Elite Eight and Sweet 16

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