Common Application Essay Option 2 - Learning from Failure
2016-12-25 11:46:05
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The second essay option on CA4, the new version of the Common Application launched in 2013, asks you to discuss failure F
The second essay option on CA4, the new version of the
Common Application launched in 2013, asks you to discuss failure. For the 2015-16 admissions cycle, the question was edited slightly to give more emphasis to the connection between the failure and your personal growth:
The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Many college applicants will be uncomfortable with this question. After all, a college application should highlight your strengths and accomplishments, not draw attention to your failures. But before you shy away from this essay option, consider these points:
- Growing and maturing is all about learning from our failures.
- No college anywhere, ever, has admitted a student who hasn't failed at times.
- It's easy to boast about our accomplishments. It takes a greater level of confidence and maturity to acknowledge and examine our failures.
- A student who can learn from failure is a student who will be successful in college.
- Every single one of the thousands of applications a college receives will highlight successes, awards, honors, and accomplishments. Very few will show the type of confidence and introspection required to explore failures.
If you can't tell, I'm a fan of this prompt. I would much rather read about an applicant's learning experience from failure than a catalog of triumphs. That said, know yourself. Prompt #2 is one of the more challenging options. If you aren't good at introspection and self analysis, and if you aren't comfortable with exposing a wart or two, then this may not be the best option for you.
Break Down the Question:If you do choose this prompt, read the question carefully. Let's break it down into four parts:
- The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. This text was added to the prompt in 2015. We can conclude from this addition that the colleges and universities that use the Common Application really want you to show how the failure fits into the big picture of your personal growth and later accomplishments (more on this in the fourth bullet point below).
- Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. This is the exposition of your essay -- the description of the failure that you are going to analyze. Keep in mind that the action requested here -- "recount" -- is the easy part of your essay. Recounting doesn't require a lot of high-level thinking. This is the plot summary. You'll need clear, engaging language, but you want to make sure you do the "recounting" as efficiently as possible. The real meat of your essay that is going to impress the admissions officers comes later...
- How did it affect you... This is the second most important part of your essay. You failed, so how did you respond? What emotions did failure evoke? Were you frustrated? Did you want to give up or did failure motivate you? Were you angry at yourself or did you project blame onto someone else? Were you surprised by your failure? Was this a new experience for you? Be honest as you assess your reaction to failure. Even if you were affected in a way that now seems inappropriate or an over-reaction, don't hold back as you explore the way that failure affected you.
- what did you learn from the experience? This is the heart of your essay, so make sure you give this part of the question significant emphasis. The question here -- "what did you learn?" -- is asking for higher level thinking skills than the rest of the prompt. Understanding what you learned requires self-analysis, introspection, self-awareness, and strong critical thinking skills. This is the one part of prompt #2 that is truly asking for college-level thinking. The best students are those who assess their failures, learn from them, and move on. Here is your chance to prove that you are capable of this type of thoughtfulness and personal growth.
What Counts as a "Failure"?Another challenge with this prompt is deciding on your focus. What type of "failure" will lead to the best essay? Keep in mind that your failure does not need to be, as my son would phrase it, an epic fail. You don't need to have run a cruise ship aground or ignited a million-acre forest fire to choose this essay option.
