How to Start Your Common App Personal Statement: A Step-by-Step Guide for High School Juniors
If you're a rising senior starting the college application process, you may be wondering how to start writing your Common App personal statement. As an Independent Educational Consultant (IEC), I work with many students who feel overwhelmed at this stage. They often ask: How do I choose my college essay topic?
The truth is, before you even start writing, the most important step is selecting the right topic — one that reflects who you are and stands out to admissions officers. If you take time now to brainstorm and reflect, writing the actual essay will become much easier.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to start your Common App essay, including tips for brainstorming, self-reflection, and narrowing down your best topics.
Why Start Your College Essay Now?
For most juniors, summer break is the perfect time to start your college essay brainstorming. Here’s why:
Junior year is wrapping up, and the workload is lighter.
Senior year and college applications will arrive quickly.
Summer offers uninterrupted time to reflect and write.
You are mature enough to take a deeper look at your experiences.
Starting now also reduces the pressure of the fall college application season and gives you plenty of time to create a strong, polished personal statement.
Step 1: Introspection – Understand Who You Are
The best college application essays are personal, authentic, and reflect your values and experiences. Before you brainstorm topics, start with some self-reflection.
Identify Your Core Values
Start by reviewing a college essay values list. Two great resources include:
College Essay Guy's "Values List"
Dr. Steven Antonoff's "Values List"
Choose the 3 values that feel most important to you and write a few sentences about how they show up in your life.
Identify Your Roles
Think about the roles you play in your daily life. Are you a leader, volunteer, friend, sibling, team captain, or problem solver? These roles often provide rich material for college essay topics.
Step 2: Brainstorming Essay Topics
Once you’ve identified your values and roles, start brainstorming possible essay topics.
In her book Write Your Way In, Rachel Toor suggests writing down 20 short essay ideas. These should be no more than 3-5 words long — just quick snapshots of moments, quirks, or personal experiences. For example:
First job at summer camp
Baking with grandma
Moving to a new school
Learning to swim
Don't overthink it. Your list doesn’t have to be perfect. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible.
Step 3: Evaluate Your Topics
Now it's time to narrow your list by asking these key questions:
Is this topic unique to me? Could thousands of other students write about this same thing?
Do I offer a unique perspective? Even if the topic is common, do I have a distinct viewpoint or lesson?
Is it recent or meaningful? If it happened years ago, can I connect it to who I am today?
Can I write at least 650 words? Make sure the topic allows for enough depth and reflection.
If your ideas still feel weak, revisit your values and roles to uncover additional topics.
Why This Process Works
Many students make the mistake of jumping straight into writing their college essays without first doing this kind of reflection and brainstorming. Taking time now to clarify your values, roles, and experiences makes the actual writing process much smoother—and produces a stronger, more personal essay.
Next Steps
Once you’ve chosen your topic, you’ll be ready to start writing your first draft. I’ll cover that process in next week’s post.
If you’re feeling stuck, you don’t have to go through this alone. As an Independent Educational Consultant (IEC), I specialize in guiding students through every stage of the college admissions process — including brainstorming, writing, and editing the Common App essay.
Looking for 1:1 college essay coaching?
Contact me today to schedule a free consultation and learn how I can help your student craft a standout college application.