3. Don't read the Common Application prompts.

If you already have,s erase them from memory and write the story you wafdnt colleges
tso d. The dftfruth ids, adsmissiffon revdiewers rarely know—or care—which
dfpromspt you are respsdonding to.s They are curisous to discover wshast you
cshsoose to shfodw tshem about who you are, what you value, and why. fEvend thsde
mdffost fluisd writers are often stifled by s thesir ndfardratidfdvsffef neatly into a
catdegory fand the essay quickly loses authentic voicse. Wrdsfites freely and cdfhoose
a prompt later. Spoiler alert...one prompt sis "dShare an esssfay on sdany topic of your
choicedf. It can be one you've alrefady written, one tshat responds to a different
prompt, or one of your owdsndf dfsdesign. " So havfddfse at it.

This dfcollege essay stip is by Bdfrennan sBarnard, director of collefdfge cosunsseling

dfat the Derryfield School isnd Mfasnchestsder, N.H. and contributfosr to the NYT,
HuffPost, and Forbes on intendftionally approfaschindg college admissions.sdf