College of Your Dreams
Sample College Admission App
Sample College Admission Application and Essay Questions
Many colleges now require the Common Application as part of their college admissions process. This form is a good sample for a college admission application, and it can be used to examine the information that colleges will want to know about you when you apply.
The first four sections are Applicant, Future Plans, Demographics, and Family. These sections are for general information regarding you (Applicant), what type of application and forms you will be filling out (Future Plans), your nationality and ethnicity (Demographics), and information about your immediate family (Family). While some of these answers may have an impact on your admissions chances, the information here is almost entirely out of your control. Just answer truthfully and move on.
The next two sections are Academics and Tests. These are sections over which you have control. This is where you put in information about your classes and your test scores. After these two sections is the area to list your Activities. This section covers extracurricular activities as well as work experience. While the Academics and Tests sections are a good place to showcase your intellectual achievements, the Activities section is where you can show your interests and leadership roles. These sections from the sample college admission application really show the quantitative data that colleges will be evaluating. So, get to work on with studying, improving your test taking abilities, and participating in your interests and hobbies.
The next section is Writing. This contains some good sample college admission essay questions as well as a space to elaborate on your extracurricular activities or your work experience. The five options from the 2010 Common Application for essay topics are:
- Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.
- Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
- Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
- Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
- 5) A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
These are good samples to get you thinking about how you will approach the college application process.