1. Essay #3 Common Application

2. Answer the prompt directly and completely Essay Prompt Three: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? Break it down: What are the key words in the prompt?

3. Answer the prompt directly and completely Essay Prompt Three: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again? ****After describing the “belief” and your “action” be sure to show your thought process regarding whether you would make the same decision again. **** This is a wonderful opportunity to show your use of transition words, phrases, sentences. **** This is a wonderful opportunity to show how you are a college student willing to interact with diverse people and ideas

4. Ideas ACADEMIC: Did you decide to offer a different-from-the-accepted and possibly unpopular perspective in your English or history class? Have you ever attempted to do some ethical consciousness raising with your classmates? Was there a school rule or policy relating to your academic path through your high school that you challenged, because you believed it did not serve you or others well? Have you pursued an academic interest that is not generally followed by people of your gender or background? EXTRACURRICULAR: When you learned that certain students were being bullied or excluded from an activity at your school, did you tackle the inequity? Were you ever told by a coach or activity director that you would not be successful in a particular activity, yet you chose to pursue it? Have your parents felt you couldn’t handle a new passion on top of your other commitments, leading you to seek ways to manage your time so you could prove your ability to balance your busy schedule? PERSONAL: Have you begun to question the precepts of your religious or cultural upbringing? Are you resisting the pressure in your community to do it all—and do it all perfectly—and instead are seeking balance in your life? Have you ever made a well-thought-out effort to convince your parents to give you more independence and freedom?

5. Essay 3 Draft Day Make sure you express what you learned:  I never thought about it before, but now I believe that…  When I looked back at what happened, I realized that…  It took me a while, but after talking about it with my friends, I saw things differently. Now I think that…  For the first time, I started to wonder about…  Things slowly started to change. I began to notice that…and realize that…and care about…  At first, it seemed as though nothing had changed. But then I started to understand that…

6. Essay 3 Draft Day  Did you answer the prompt directly and completely?  Is your beginning engaging?  Did you include details? Is it an essay with details that nobody else could write?  What is the message you are conveying about yourself?  Did you include sufficient transitions to make a clear narrative?  Is there a variation to the sentence length and structure?

7. Essay 3 Draft Day Use dialogue in your essay