essay about student job

Should Students Have Part-Time Jobs? Essay

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Introduction

Advantages of part-time jobs for students, disadvantages of part-time jobs for students, works cited.

The supreme desire of every parent to take their children to school is for them to get the best education and excel at their studies. Despite this fact, there comes a point in time when the student needs to supplement the income from their parents or rather source funds to even cater for their education (Sloman, 652).

As a result, most students end up engaging in part-time jobs. It can be due to the necessity or desire to have some extra money to spend. The decision to engage in part-time jobs is entirely the student’s choice. Some get support from their parents, tutors, and friends, while others don’t.

But should students have part-time jobs? This essay tries to answer this question.

Before any decision to engage in part-time jobs is reached, three things have to be critically considered. These are the students themselves, their financial situation, and, finally, the type of work. The listed factors will allow a person to make decisions that they will not live to regret.

Therefore, this part-time job essay is an in-depth analysis of the advantages of students having jobs and a little discussion on the disadvantages.

Part-time jobs are of great essentiality since students are able to earn while at the same time studying. Most part-time jobs require that one works for about three to four hours a day, something that is manageable by almost every student, given the fact that lessons don’t take the entire day. Some of the benefits associated with part-time jobs for students include the following;

Relief of financial burden

Students who engage in part-time jobs get paid for the services offered; hence the earnings obtained can be used to partly relieve the students’ financial burden they could have.

This is because the cost of education has in the recent past sky-rated, making students from poor families not able to afford yet the banking systems have also failed to loan such students; therefore, engaging in part-time jobs makes such students meet their education expenses (Somoski 1). In addition, part-time jobs give students pocket money that they can spend on their own without nagging their parents with money.

Promotion of education

Students who undertake part-time jobs are able to upgrade their studies, making them understand whatever they learn in school even better. For instance, an accounting student who gets a part-time job in an accounting firm will be able to experience the theory learned in school practically hence having a better understanding of the course. The same applies to medicine, engineering, law, and biology students, among others (Pickett 1).

Accumulation of work experience

Engaging in part-time jobs enables the students to gain experience in their field of work hence boosting their resumes. This is important when it comes to job hunting after completion of studies.

Research has shown that students that have undertaken part-time jobs and gained relevant experience have the upper hand when it comes to getting jobs, unlike those that are just fresh from school. On the other hand, working part-time for recognized organizations increases one’s chances of landing a better job.

Time Management Skills

Having a part-time job helps students to acquire time management skills in the sense that they treasure every time they get and use it efficiently. This happens because their study time is now preoccupied with the job, thus having to restructure their schedule to fit in the study time, work time, leisure time, etc.

Learn the value of money

Most parents have complained that their children who are students do not know the value of money until they get jobs. Therefore, students who take part in part-time jobs while in school are in a position to understand the value of money, thus using it well in the future (Pickett 1). For instance, they are now able to refrain from impulse buying and resulting in smart shopping hence making their money last longer than before. This, as a result, makes them responsible adults even in the future.

Other benefits associated with part-time jobs are that the students get new ideas while in the workplace (Somoski 1). This happens mostly for challenging courses that need great minds, such as web design, whereby the students learn new technologies as soon as they are generated. Last but not least is the improvement in communication skills since the student interacts with different people at the workplace.

As mentioned above, the decision to engage in part-time jobs is wholly dependent on the student. This is because there are disadvantages that come in handy with a student engaging in part-time jobs.

Among them is the effect it has on students’ performance, given the less time allocated for study (Anti Essays 1). Other students may be overwhelmed by their greed for money and end up forgoing their studies to indulge in full-time jobs hence affecting their education.

In a nutshell, it can be concluded that the pros of part-time jobs for students outweigh the cons. From the discussion above, the benefits that a student gets on deciding to engage in part-time jobs are endless. The good thing is that the disadvantages attached to part-time jobs for students are manageable depending on the mind and focus of the students in their education and life.

Anti Essays. Benefits of Part-Time Jobs . 2011. Web.

Pickett, Theresa. What are the Benefits of Part-Time Jobs for Students? 1999-2011. Web.

Sloman, John. Economics . 2004- Penguin.

Somoski, Nick. Should students work part-time during the school year ? 2010-2011. Web.

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What Students Are Saying About Having a Part-Time Job While in School

We asked teenagers about their after-school jobs and what they think young people can learn from working. Some said it’s not for everyone.

By The Learning Network

The week we asked teenagers: Should All High School Students Have Part-Time Jobs? The question was inspired by an Opinion essay by Pamela Paul , in which she argued that even while lots of American teenagers need to work to help support their families, “there’s a case to be made that those who don’t need to work should get a job anyway.”

Many students said they agreed. They shared the jobs they have had and the invaluable skills they have learned from them. But others said work isn’t for everyone — kids today are already under too much pressure, they argued, and their time is better spent studying, doing the extracurricular activities they enjoy, and being with friends and family.

Before you read their responses below, we want to take a moment to recognize the students this week who have been replying to others in the comments across our writing prompts, including those from Atrisco Heritage Academy High School, Centerville High School, Hoggard High School, Nashoba Regional High School, Reynoldsburg High School, and Roaring Fork High School . Thank you for keeping the conversation going!

And a warm welcome to the many others who joined us this week; we heard from students at The Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, Pa.; Girard College in Philadelphia; Kelseyville High School in Kelseyville, Calif. ; and many more places.

A reminder that teenagers anywhere in the world can join our Current Events Conversation any time they like by responding to our daily writing prompts . We round up a selection of comments each week.

Please note: Student comments have been lightly edited for length, but otherwise appear as they were originally submitted.

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Essay on Career for Students and Children

500+ words essay on career.

Career is a very important thing in one’s life. Whatever career path you choose to follow, it will impact your life greatly. Your career will define your status in a society in addition to your lifestyle. In other words, your career will determine your social circle and relationships.

Therefore, it is extremely important to choose the correct career path . From a very young age, we aspire to be something or the other. While someone aims to be a doctor, some wish to become a painter. Our career choices depend on a lot of things. Thus, it is important to consider all factors before choosing a career path.

How to Choose your Career?

You must consider a number of factors before deciding on your career. Each factor plays a significant role in your choice. Firstly, always assess yourself thoroughly. You must understand your area of interest to choose a career. For instance, someone who dances well can surely become a doctor, but his interest will always be in dance. Thus, ensure that you have the caliber to perform well in the field you choose. This will come from your area of interest itself.

After that, you look for the opportunities available as per your area of interest. Now that you are aware of what you like and dislike, you can easily look for occupations matching your passion. Make a list of the occupations you can get into following your interests. Furthermore, shorten the list you have prepared. You must do so as per what suits you best. Consult with your seniors and parents to make informed decisions.

Most importantly, acquire the skills for the career option you are interested in. Ensure you earn the qualifications and degrees for it. Try taking training programs to enhance your skills. This will give you an upper hand in knowing whether you are correct in choosing the specific career plan. Furthermore, create an impressive resume which can help you get the right opportunities.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

How to Achieve your Career Goal?

There are steps you need to take before achieving your career goal. As they say, success doesn’t come overnight. You must work along the way to accomplish your goals. There is always hope if you have the will. Firstly, create profiles on different job portals to attract the employer’s attention. When you maintain your profile well, you will be able to get good career opportunities.

Moreover, always maintain your network. Build a solid network and create sources in the field. This way you can update yourself with the latest happenings in the industry. In addition, try to attend the related seminars and workshops that happen related to your career choice. You will meet influential people of the same field who can broaden your thinking.

In short, always remember to stay determined. You can easily achieve your career goal if you set your mind to it. In other words, people usually distract themselves easily. You must not do so and focus on your career path to achieve your goals efficiently.

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Examples of Scholarship Essays for the “Career Goals” Question

Emily Wong is a writer at Scholarships360. She’s worked as a social media manager and a content writer at several different startups, where she covered various topics including business, tech, job recruitment, and education. Emily grew up and went to school in the Chicago suburbs, where she studied economics and journalism at Northwestern University.

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Maria Geiger is Director of Content at Scholarships360. She is a former online educational technology instructor and adjunct writing instructor. In addition to education reform, Maria’s interests include viewpoint diversity, blended/flipped learning, digital communication, and integrating media/web tools into the curriculum to better facilitate student engagement. Maria earned both a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from Monmouth University, an M. Ed. in Education from Monmouth University, and a Virtual Online Teaching Certificate (VOLT) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Writing an essay is often the trickiest part of the scholarship application, not to mention the most time-consuming. However, the essay section also allows room for creativity and individuality. If you can communicate effectively, you can use the essay portion to stand out from the crowd. Let’s go over some tips for writing, as well as a couple of scholarship essay examples about career goals.

How to write a scholarship essay 

At this point, you’ve probably gained plenty of experience writing papers for school. However, it may still take a couple of tries to nail the scholarship essay. Since scholarship teams often have to get through a lot of applications, it’s important to stand out while staying concise. Here are some simple guidelines for writing scholarship essays.

See also: How to write a winning scholarship essay (with examples!)

Take five minutes to brainstorm

Before you even start your essay, take some time to gather your thoughts. Think about what you’ll want the paper to focus on. Why did you choose to pursue your career path in the first place? Where do you want to be in five years? How would this scholarship help you further your studies and work toward your goals?

Once you’ve jotted down a few ideas, choose one or two to center your essay on. Identifying the focus of your paper, it’ll make it easier to keep your thoughts organized. In turn, it’ll make it easier for the reader to follow.

Related : How to start a scholarship essay (with examples!)

Stay within the word limit

Unlike the four-page essays that you may have written in English class, scholarship essays are often only a paragraph or two. In order to respect the selection committee’s time, be wary of going too far about the specified word count. A general rule of thumb is to stay within 20 words above or below the limit. That may entail a few rounds of edits to get the wording just right.

Stay positive!

Feel free to use part of your essay to talk about your life’s challenges. After all, the selection committee often wants to give the award to a candidate who needs it. However, make sure your anecdote doesn’t devolve into a sob story. If you’re going to bring up hardships you’ve endured, try to balance it by talking about how you’ve overcome them. By demonstrating resilience, you can show readers how you would use the scholarship to succeed in your current situation.

Leave time to proofread

Especially for a short scholarship essay, proofreading can take as little as 5-10 minutes. Still, it can be tempting to just hit “submit” after your first draft. However, being too impulsive can leave your essay riddled with typos and grammatical errors.

Try to avoid unnecessary mistakes by finishing your draft at least 24 hours before the scholarship deadline. That way, you can proofread it with fresh eyes before you submit it.

If you’re struggling to close out your essay, read how to end a scholarship essay in five steps .

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How to write a 100-word “career goals” essay.

When writing a 100-word essay, you’ll have to choose your content carefully. Since space is limited, you’ll want to identify the most important details to include beforehand.

First and foremost, make sure to clearly communicate your current pursuits. Talk about your academic and extracurricular activities related to your career goals. Additionally, it’s important to be specific about what you plan to do in the future. Then, if you have extra room, you can talk about how the scholarship will help you reach your goals.

My name is Alison MacBride, and I’m a sophomore at the University of Illinois. I’m currently pursuing a major in Journalism with a minor in Natural Resource Conservation. After completing my program, I plan to combine my areas of interest to become an environmental journalist.

During high school, I volunteered at an eco-conscious farm, where I learned about how our actions affect the earth. Since then, I’ve been set on raising awareness for the environment. This scholarship would go a long way in helping me finish my degree with the skills I need to investigate and report about critical issues.

Word count: 100

How to write a 250-word “career goals” essay

For the 250-word essay, you can go into more detail. Give the readers some context by talking about how you first got interested in your chosen career. Storytelling can be especially effective in engaging your audience. Try to capture their attention by choosing one or two concrete examples and relaying them vividly.

Additionally, you can spend more time talking about the scholarship and how it’ll make a difference in your studies. Go into more detail about how and why you need the award, but remember to keep it positive! For more help, check out how to write a 250 word essay . 

I first decided that I wanted to pursue a career in environmentalism in early high school. The summer after my freshman year, I joined a volunteer program at an eco-conscious farm in my community. In addition to helping out with the operations, I learned about current environmental issues related to farming and other consumer industries.

After learning about the agricultural industry’s impact on the planet, I was inspired to make a difference. The next year, I started a monthly earth magazine at my high school in which we broke down environmental issues and offered tips on how to be more eco-friendly. When I started college, I founded an on-campus publication with the same mission.

In recent years, I’ve been troubled to see how some media outlets downplay the gravity of issues like climate change and deforestation. I’ve admired reporters who publish trustworthy and comprehensible information about environmental issues, and I aim to follow in their footsteps.

When I entered college, I was initially concerned that I wouldn’t have enough money to finish my degree. Fortunately, I’ve been able to cover most of my tuition using merit scholarships and paychecks from my part-time job on campus. Receiving this scholarship would allow me more time to focus on acing my classes and pursuing environmental advocacy work on campus.

Word count: 261

Final thoughts

Planning is essential in making your “career goals” essay clear and concise. Hopefully, these scholarship essay examples about career goals can be your guide to writing a scholarship-winning essay. Good luck!

Additional resources

Maybe you need to write a longer scholarship essay? We can help with our writing a 500 word essay guide ! Be prepared and learn how to write essays about yourself and how to craft an impressive personal statement . Learn the differences between a personal statement and a statement of purpose as the terms might come up on college websites. If you haven’t decided on a college already, check out our guide on how to choose a college . No matter where you are in your educational journey, make sure that you apply for all the scholarships you qualify for!

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Writing Tips for a Career Goals Essay (2023)

Jennifer Finetti Mar 1, 2023

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For your college scholarship essay, you may be asked about your career goals. The scholarship committee wants to see how investing in your education will help your career. Do you have a definitive plan? Will a college education fit into that plan? These are the answers they want to see.

In this guide, we will provide some scholarship essay examples about career goals to jumpstart your essay writing.

Writing tips for career goals scholarship essays

Here are some quick tips for writing career goal scholarship essays:

• Write about career goals that tie into the scholarship. This doesn’t mean you have to lie about your career goals to make them fit. Find a way to relate them to the scholarship committee or other elements of the scholarship.
• Be precise about your career goals. Avoid vague statements that suggest you do not have a plan. Judges like to see determination because it shows they’re making a worthy educational investment.
• Discuss how your education will help you achieve your career goals. The scholarship will assist with your education. Show a connection between the two so they can see why you deserve this scholarship.
• If you mention multiple goals, indicate which one you feel most strongly about. Longer essays may allow you to mention a backup plan, but the committee needs to see where your focus lies.
• Avoid cliché statements. Describe how your specific talents, experiences, and degree pursuits will help you succeed.
• Point out solutions, not problems. You may mention struggles you’ve had in the past, but pinpoint how you will learn from them. Moreover, show how those struggles led to your career goals.
• Organize your thoughts in a fluid manner. This will most likely be in chronological order, starting with your degree and progressing through your career growth.
• Write, revise, rest, revise. This goes for any essay writing. Write the first draft from start to finish. Then read through it and edit any grammar or flow errors. Take a break, preferably overnight, and then re-read your content with fresh eyes.

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Example 1: Scholarship essay about career goals (100 words)

In a 100-word scholarship essay, you need to quickly make your point. There is not enough room for a lengthy intro or backstory. Use concise, comprehensive statements to deliver the most information in the fewest words.

I’m a sophomore at Texas Tech University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Companion Animal Science. After graduation, I hope to attend Texas A&M to become a veterinarian serving rescue organizations and animal shelters. I was born and raised in the south, where it is common for people to abandon animals in rural areas. Those animals then go into a rescue – emaciated, frightened, and confused. I want to work with rescues to provide affordable veterinary medicine to the animals they save. This scholarship would help me continue my education and potentially save thousands of abandoned animals in the future.

Word count: 99

Example 2: Scholarship essay about career goals (250 words)

With a 250-word scholarship essay, you have a little more room to discuss the details of your career goals. You can explain situations from your past that inspired your career pursuits. You could use one paragraph to talk about your short-term goals and another to talk about your long-term goals. Just make sure the big picture ties into the scholarship.

My name is Patrick Holden and I am a freshman at the University of Michigan, majoring in English and minoring in linguistics. I plan to become an English teacher, but this wasn’t always what I had in mind.  When thinking about my future, I always saw myself in some sort of corporate office, perhaps as an executive assistant or a loan officer at a bank. My father works in the finance office for a car dealership and my mother works at a call center. I assumed I would follow a similar, albeit boring, path in life. In my junior year of high school, everything changed. My English teacher inspired me in ways I could have never imagined. She got me to love writing, literature, etymology, and everything about the English language. She made me want to be a better student in all of my classes, and she helped me see the value of education. I decided then that I wanted to inspire other students just as she did for me. My parents are unfortunately not able to contribute much toward my college expenses. I have earned a tuition scholarship based on my ACT score, but I still need additional funding for books and supplies. English majors have particularly high book costs because we have to purchase multiple books for each class. With the help of this scholarship, I could afford to continue my degree and become an English teacher.

Word count: 240

Example 3: Scholarship essay about career goals (500 words)

With 500 words or more to play around with, you have plenty of space to talk about your career goals. Maintain the same theme throughout the scholarship essay. Each paragraph should connect to the next, and they should all work together to describe your career plan. Avoid making disconnected statements for the sake of word count. In the end, the scholarship committee should have a clear view of your educational plans and professional aspirations.

Internet marketing has gone from an optional method of advertisement to a vital step in business outreach. Even small businesses in remote towns look to the internet to attract customers and spread the word about their services. I am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing with an emphasis on Digital Marketing. With this training, I will be able to enter a profession that will only grow year by year. When I was younger, I found print advertisements to be fascinating. I loved reading the newspaper with my father just to see the full-page ads in between stories. When I got older though, those ads became less appealing because they were not adaptive. They seemed dated, static and ill-fit for changes in society. That’s when I discovered internet marketing. It was still in its infancy when I was in middle school, but by the time I graduated high school, it had become a staple in business development. I loved the way internet marketers had to constantly adjust to fit Google’s algorithms, new mobile devices, and new audiences. I knew this was the career for me. Originally, I planned to focus solely on business marketing because there were not many digital marketing degrees available. Over the last two years though, several schools throughout the country have developed internet marketing courses that explain fundamental methods of search engine optimization, website analytics, and more. These are the foundations I will build my career around. The best part about internet marketing is that there is always something new to learn. I can use my creative mind and exploratory nature to try new advertising methods that help businesses succeed. Every time they do well, I do well. This is the kind of job fulfillment most people can only dream of, but my educational plan and job prospects will allow me to achieve it. I have picked up some freelance jobs online to supplement my studies and help pay for my education. It is difficult to maintain a steady stream of income in freelance because I spend so much time on my school work. This scholarship could offset some of the costs and reduce my workload as a whole. While I will still work throughout the semester and full-time in the summers, having extra financial aid would greatly reduce my stress in college. I look forward to a future where I can use my marketing skills to help business owners achieve their career goals. I plan to spend the first few years after graduation working for a successful, long-standing digital marketing company. After I have enough on-the-job training to feel confident in my abilities, I will open my own internet marketing company in Chicago, where my family lives. I have a clear picture of where I will be in the next 10 years, and I know this degree is going to help me get there.

Word count: 481

• Scholarship Essay

Jennifer Finetti

As a parent who recently helped her own kids embark on their college journeys, Jennifer approaches the transition from high school to college from a unique perspective. She truly enjoys engaging with students – helping them to build the confidence, knowledge, and insight needed to pursue their educational and career goals, while also empowering them with the strategies and skills needed to access scholarships and financial aid that can help limit college costs. She understands the importance of ensuring access to the edtech tools and resources that can make this process easier and more equitable - this drive to support underserved populations is what drew her to ScholarshipOwl. Jennifer has coached students from around the world, as well as in-person with local students in her own community. Her areas of focus include career exploration, major selection, college search and selection, college application assistance, financial aid and scholarship consultation, essay review and feedback, and more. She works with students who are at the top of their class, as well as those who are struggling. She firmly believes that all students, regardless of their circumstances, can succeed if they stay focused and work hard in school. Jennifer earned her MA in Counseling Psychology from National University, and her BA in Psychology from University of California, Santa Cruz.

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13 Freelance Writing Jobs for College Students (to Start an Online Side Hustle)

If there’s two things that are probably difficult to balance as a college student, it’s focusing on your studies while making money.

There’s really no point in stressing yourself with a full-time or part-time job if it’s going to negatively impact your academic success.

I know for me, when I was in college I was juggling working as an ABA therapist for children with autism and my Psychology courses. There were times when I had to go to work at 5 am and then class at 8:30 am and BE AWAKE and ready to learn!

Tough times for sure. But there is another way you can make money online and on your own terms, while taking very little time out of your busy study schedule.

Freelance writing is an amazing opportunity to earn money during your free time.

Yes, it will take some legwork to get started but, as long as you have the time to write, you can start earning some additional income.

So if you’re looking for a way to make money online as a student , freelance writing may just be for you.

And with many different types of freelance writing jobs available, there’s sure to be one that suits your skills and schedule.

If you’re interested in some freelance writing jobs for college students and other student jobs on the side, check out my post.

Online Writing Jobs for College Students

1. blog articles.

It may seem like every person and their dog is writing for a blog but the truth is that many site owners either don’t have time to write all of their own content or lack the skills to do so.

As long as you understand the basic structure of blog content, you can easily write and sell articles online.

Peruse online job boards to find clients seeking writers or approach small businesses with websites. You can even search for websites that pay for blog posts .

For those that don’t have blogs, pitch your ideas and emphasize how having fresh and relevant content on their site can help to boost their business.

2. Magazine Articles

Magazines, whether online in or print, cover a range of topics and niches. This makes it easy to find one that suits your interests and expertise.

Many of them seek freelance writers in order to provide a diverse range of perspectives and information.

As long as you can provide unique and well-written content, you can stand to earn around $1.25 per word .

While getting your pitches accepted can be a trying endeavor, even one acceptance can earn you a couple hundred dollars!

3. Social Media Content

Writing for social media is very different from writing blog or magazine content.

Social media posts are designed to be short and sweet while packing a punch when it comes to conveying the client’s message.

If you can write snappy and attention-grabbing content, you could market your services as a social media content creator.

And, if you’re really savvy with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you could expand your services into social media management.

This involves completely managing a client’s account, including content writing and customer communication.

Job boards are a great place  to start looking for social media content writing jobs.

4. Essay Writing

Despite popular belief, essay writing services are not a form of academic cheating.

This is because purchased academic papers are written as templates in order for students to produce their own original work.

With that being said, it is certainly a freelance writing job that could earn you some extra money while you are in college.

There are many job postings across the web looking for freelance essay writers. Your best bet is to get involved with an essay writing company to ensure you are following proper policy and procedure when it comes to selling essay templates.

5. Landing Pages

While many businesses use blogging to provide their clients with helpful information related to their service, they also use landing pages to detail what they have to offer and why a customer should purchase their services.

However, not everyone can write, so businesses often look to freelance writers to create compelling and converting landing pages.

A good landing page details a product or service while highlighting its benefits. The basic goal of a landing page is to have the reader become a paying customer.

With some convincing language and writing skills, you can easily write landing pages for businesses.

6. Emails and Newsletters

Successful businesses know the importance of marketing to their email subscribers list but may not have the time to craft compelling messages.

Just as busy businesses employ freelance writers to produce their content, they are also willing to pay to have emails and newsletters written for them.

They are also willing to pay freelance writers to answer emails and perform basic customer service duties.

When it comes to time management and businesses, there are multiple benefits to hiring freelance writers so the job opportunities are endless.

While some businesses and sites have the time to write, some lack the skills to create well-crafted content.

If you have an eye for spelling, grammar and punctuation, you could sell your services as a content editor.

These jobs tend to pay less than writing jobs do, but they also take less time. You could easily make a few extra dollars quickly by editing the work of others.

Check out freelance writing job boards for editing opportunities.

8. Resumes and Cover Letters

Many job seekers around the world are willing to pay writers to craft a compelling resume and cover letter in order to land their dream job.

You don’t necessarily have to work for a resume-writing agency in order to make money from writing resumes and cover letters. You can contract this work as a freelance service.

Seek out potential gigs by advertising around your school as well as mentioning your service to friends and family.

It also wouldn’t hurt to make mention of your resume and cover letter writing services on your social media accounts.

9. Video Game Writing

Look –

I’m sure as a college student you have spent hours in the common room playing video games with your friends, right? Nowadays you can play on your computer or phone.

The wold of video games and gadgets is constantly changing and one thing that is always needed is content about video games and gadgets. As a college student, this would be a great side hustle freelance writing job for you!

To learn more about getting started as a video game writer and some jobs to look into, check out my video game writing jobs post .

10. Sports Writing

If video game writing isn’t your jam, how about sports writing? From newspapers to magazines to fantasy football sites and more, there is great potential for sports writing jobs for college students.

To help you find some writing jobs in sports, check out my post on sports writing gigs .

Ad Hoc Writing Jobs for College Students

While those who freelance write for a living will caution you to stay away from ad hoc pieces, it can be a great place to start when you are looking to make a little extra cash.

Plus, writing articles on an ad hoc basis can be a great way to get some experience under your belt if you wish to pursue a career in freelance writing or simply increase your income.

The reason why I’m making this recommendation is that chasing after good-paying recurring clients is time consuming (although certainly worth the effort in the end) and I understand that, as a college student, extra time is not always on your side.

In the freelancing world, good money is made by pitching projects to high-paying brands but it can be difficult to have those pitches accepted if you’ve never written professionally before.

Therefore, ad hoc clients are a great way to build up your portfolio and experience while earning some extra money on the side.

Here are some sites you can check out to get started with freelance writing jobs for college students:

11. Contently

On Contently , you don’t need to dig through job boards to find writing jobs. Instead, you create a portfolio on the site where editors and clients can search for content.

This service is a bit more high-end than other content mills, so you can stand to make good money here.

However, rates are negotiated between the freelancer and the client, so it’s hard to gauge how much you’ll make.

12. ClearVoice

ClearVoice is a similar service to Contently, but instead of putting up a portfolio and waiting for work, you can actually pitch to clients.

Clients can then view these pitches and choose what freelancers they want to work with.

On ClearVoice, you can also set your minimum rate and only receive notifications that pay that amount (or more). Be wary of setting your rate too high – you may notice a significant lack of proposals.

13. Writers Work

WritersWork is a freelance writing job board, but what’s unique about this platform is that you can create your own portfolio like ClearVoice and then start looking for some freelance writing jobs for college students.

It’s also very budget-friendly for students!

Getting Started as a Freelance Writer

Apart from knowing what types of freelance writing jobs are out there for college students, and where to find them , there are other steps you can take to get your freelancing services successfully off the ground as a college student.

Start a Blog

Having a blog is not only a great way to demonstrate your writing skills but keeping up with one will help to hone your skills as well.

Choose a writing niche (your area of interest and expertise) and start writing articles. Even if you don’t know what to write about , that’s okay? Find something you want to learn more about – gardening, coffee, digital marketing – and read about it so you can write your writing samples.

Be sure to focus your posts on a challenge someone may face while providing clear and concise information on how to overcome it.

Part of good quality writing is knowing how to structure a blog post and take advantage of SEO (search engine optimization) tactics. Having your own blog will help you practice these skills.

To help you understand SEO better as a new freelance writer college student, check out my Fast Track to SEO Writing masterclass .

Create a Writing Portfolio

If you don’t have time to upkeep a blog to highlight your work, you can always create a writing portfolio of samples to demonstrate your writing skills.

Write up a few pieces in your niche and either upload them as a Google Doc or publish them on a free site such as Medium.

This way, when potential clients ask to see your work, you can simply send them a link.

Learn How to Pitch

While you can certainly respond to ads on various freelancing writing job boards , some of the best paying writing jobs result from pitching directly to potential clients and businesses.

A writing pitch is a short email that explains how your skills and ideas are a perfect fit for the person you are messaging. It highlights your talent as well as reinforces the benefits of hiring your services.

Writing an effective pitch can be time consuming, but sending out these simple emails will eventually land you some great paying writing gigs.

Set Up a PayPal Account

When you start freelance writing as a college student, you want to make sure you get paid. The most highly recommended site to use is PayPal. PayPal allows you to set up a business account and link it directly to your bank account.

This is a safe and legit way to get paid since PayPal offers features such as payment security and fraud protection.

Through PayPal, you can also send invoices to clients and keep track of who owes you what.

Ready to Get Started Writing as a College Student?

When it comes to balancing your academic success with earning an income, freelance writing may just be the key!

With a little bit of time and focus, you could be well on your way to making extra cash as a college student while still focusing on your studies and having fun.

Have you tried your hand at freelance writing? How did it work out for you? Let me know in the comments!

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Which program are you applying to?

Accepted Admissions Blog

Everything you need to know to get Accepted

February 29, 2024

• Writing Your Career Goals Essay

Check out all the blog posts in this series:

• Identifying the Ingredients of a Winning Essay
• Finding a Theme for Your Statement of Purpose
• Revise and Polish Your Application Essays

Your career goals essay demands a laser-like focus. A personal statement, by contrast, allows for some flexibility in its content, though you can – and often should – discuss your career goals. But a career goals essay has a particular and packed agenda. In fact, the prompt for a career goals essay could actually include multiple questions, and in such cases, you want to make sure you address each of them.

For example, in 2022, Kellogg asked applicants to its one-year program to respond to the following prompt: “Please discuss your post-MBA career goal, the current experience you will leverage to support the transition, and the Kellogg 1Y opportunities that will help you reach this goal.” 

This prompt has three parts: (1) What do you want to do post-MBA ? (2) Why is the 1Y program appropriate for you? And (3) what experience has so far prepared you to succeed in your target role? 

So, always pay close attention to your target school’s prompt to ensure that you answer all the questions within its “single” question. 

Three elements of a successful career goals essay

In addition to having a distinct theme , your career goals essay should achieve the following:

• Highlight specific career achievements. Choose from your most notable or defining experiences. These could be related to your work, community involvement, or extracurricular activities. The experiences you select should showcase your leadership skills , creative thinking, collaborative abilities, and personal reflections about what you learned or gained.
• Explain why your experiences and influences make your career goal a logical and wise choice.
• Demonstrate why you are suited to a particular field as a result of your education, experience, abilities, and enthusiasm. Ideally, the material you choose to include will also allow you to prove your knowledge about industry trends and suggest how your abilities and strengths can help you contribute to that field.

It’s a very tall order to achieve all this.

Putting these elements together to create your goals essay

Let’s take a look at a sample MBA Goals Essay and see how these three key elements are incorporated.  

You should be able to easily recognize why the writer’s opening is attention-getting for all the right reasons. The writer introduces herself as the supremely busy executive she visualizes becoming in the future. She trades large amounts of stock, rushes off to a Zoom conference, hurries downstairs, flags down a taxi, then hops on a plane. As she describes this whirlwind of activity, we can practically feel her heart pumping.

After establishing her voice and personality in this opening, she offers context for her MBA goal. Notice that in writing about her work as an accountant for a major firm, she provides relevant details, including how many years she has been in the field, her bilingualism, and her specialty area as an auditor. This information is her springboard to explain why she is pursuing an MBA: she’s bursting out of her limited role as an accountant. Her eyes and ambition are set on a larger playing field as an international investment manager.

Write an essay, not a list or CV

Outstanding career goals essays are not lists of an applicant’s roles and achievements. Instead, they have a narrative flow and arc that convey the candidate’s palpable excitement about their career choice. This writer’s enthusiastic, dreamy first paragraph achieves this, and she returns to that image at the end, where she paints her idealized (if frantically busy) future. She also proves her seriousness by noting that she registered for the CFA exam.

Connect your career goals to your reasons for choosing a particular program

Many essay questions, especially those for MBA programs , will ask why you have chosen the school you’re applying to. Be prepared to respond knowledgeably and enthusiastically. And the only way to become knowledgeable – and enthusiastic – is by visiting campus in-person or virtually, attending student recruitment meetings, participating in forums, reading student blogs, watching videos of students speaking about their experiences, communicating directly with students and/or recent alumni, and otherwise doing your homework. As part of your research, make sure you have familiarized yourself with the courses and specializations that are relevant to your goals.

Summary Tips

• Focus on answering each and every question asked in a career goals essay prompt. Often, there is more than one.
• Highlight specific achievements vividly and in a way that shows that your career choice is logical for you.
• Do the research so you can write about why the school is a good fit for you and do so with genuine enthusiasm.

In the next post in this series , we’ll explain how to take all this advice and apply it to create an exemplary first draft.

Work one-on-one with an expert who will walk you through the process of creating a slam-dunk application. Check out our full catalog of application services . Our admissions consultants have read thousands of essays and know the exact ingredients of an outstanding essay.

By Judy Gruen, former Accepted admissions consultant. Judy holds a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. She is also the co-author of Accepted’s first full-length book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools . Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related resources:

• The Winning Ingredients of a Dynamic MBA Goals Essay , a free guide
• Grad School Personal Statement Examples
• Focus on Fit , podcast Episode 162

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Edit for Scribbr

Join the top 2% of academic editors worldwide. Apply to become a Scribbr editor now:

• Pass the Scribbr Academy
• Double your editing speed and learn new skills
• Exchange knowledge with a community of editors
• Help students become stronger writers
• Make extra money

• Our editors
• Become an editor

About Scribbr

We believe that all students deserve guidance as they learn how to communicate effectively and put their ideas on paper. With every edit, we provide personalized feedback to help students learn from their mistakes and become better writers.

Did you know that we have a Trustpilot score of 4.7 out of 5 ? We take pride in the quality of our service and our highly skilled editors .

What makes Scribbr unique?

• Passionate team of experts
• New orders every day, all year round
• 24/7 support by phone, email, and chat
• Courses, mentorship, and skills development
• Open community and community events

Flexible work on your terms

As a Scribbr editor, you’ll help students all over the world from your home office. All you need is a laptop and a wifi connection.

How does it work?

• Set your availability calendar.
• Accept or decline assignments.
• Edit with track changes.
• Share constructive feedback.
• Work whenever, wherever.

We have transparent per-word fees and pay you every two weeks. You can earn an average of €145 for reviewing a 10,000-word thesis .

Our support team and community of editors are available every day to help you. You’ll have the best of both worlds: the flexibility you’ve always dreamed of and an awesome team that has your back.

Develop and grow

We value growth, and it’s at the heart of everything we do. As part of your application process, you will join the Scribbr Academy, where you’ll learn how to perform our services and receive personalized coaching. If you’re successful it doesn’t stop there. A lot more is waiting for you!

Learning culture at Scribbr

• Skills roadmap for editors
• Courses and mentorship opportunities
• Bi-weekly newsletters with valuable tips
• 24/7 help with editing questions

Freelancing simplified

As a Scribbr editor, you’ll receive work directly to your inbox. Our HQ team works behind the scenes to keep the work flowing.

Here’s what we do for you:

• Our support team handles customer communication and logistics
• Our marketing team drives new customers to our platform
• Our finance team does the invoicing to pay you every two weeks
• Our operations team collects and implements your feedback

Let us handle the business, so you can focus on editing.

Make a real impact

See how you help students every day!

After students review your feedback, they can send you a digital thank you note. We receive words of gratitude from students all the time.

As a qualified editor, you’ll be able to see the positive difference you make in students’ lives on your thank you wall. Until then, check out these Trustpilot review from happy customers.

Join the community!

Welcome to the Scribbr community!

As part of this community, you’ll be in the top 2% of academic editors worldwide.

Tap into this network:

• Ask questions and get advice
• Meet fellow editors all over the world
• Participate in workshops and events
• Help other editors realize their untapped potential

We are on a mission to make Scribbr a place where freelance editors love to work. When you join our team, you join a supportive and thriving community of like-minded editors from all over the world!

Qualifications

Do you want to join our editor team? We’d love to invite you to start the application process !

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree or higher
• Interest in a wide range of subjects
• Microsoft Word skills and tech skills
• Availability to edit 10,000 words per week
• Prior academic editing experience
• Freelance and remote work experience
• Interest in a long-term collaboration

Why the top 2%?

We promise students that we work with highly skilled editors—and to keep this promise, we’ve developed a unique (and admittedly demanding) application process for our editors.

Out of every 100 applicants, we only qualify 2 new editors. We use our challenging language quiz to identify the applicants who are the best fit for our team. As you advance through the process, you’ll receive more support and feedback from our Academy Coaches. With every step, you’ll get closer to becoming a qualified editor.

Do you have what it takes? We look forward to welcoming you to our team!

Language quiz

Only 2% of applicants pass our challenging grammar and style quiz. If you’re up for the challenge and make the grade, we’ll invite you to apply.

Test Document

You’ve proven that you know your grammar — now, we want to see how you apply that knowledge through three short sample edits.

Scribbr Academy

This is the final stage of your application process. During the Scribbr Academy you will learn how to edit according to Scribbr guidelines, and get tested via simulation orders (the quantity depends on your performance). Throughout this stage you’ll receive support from our Academy Coaches every step of the way.

Thank you for your interest in working as an editor! Unfortunately, we are not recruiting at the moment, but we will make sure to update this page whenever we start our recruitment process again.

Ask our team

Want to contact us directly? No problem.  We  are always here for you.

• Email [email protected]
• Start live chat
• Call +1 (510) 822-8066
• WhatsApp +31 20 261 6040

Frequently asked questions

All Scribbr editors are native speakers, which means that they have spoken English since early childhood. We only work with native speakers because these editors understand the cadence of the language and have mastered its idiomatic forms.

It is difficult for non-native speakers to acquire these traits, even if they are fluent and have spoken the language throughout their adult lives. Since our customers wish to work only with native speakers, we have no flexibility in this requirement.

We don’t rely solely on nativeness. Our editors are vetted through a rigorous application process, through which they are asked to demonstrate technical grammar knowledge, familiarity with academic writing, and an understanding of editing principles. All successful applicants also complete our Scribbr Academy training program, where they learn how to edit for students.

Editor application process

Editing for students is different from other kinds of editing. The Scribbr Academy is the last step of your application process, but it comes with some benefits. During your time in the Academy, we will train you on how to perform Scribbr’s services and edit in the Scribbr style . The training also features practical elements, such as one-on-one coaching, that are beneficial to you . In this way, we will prepare you to face real-life student orders and jump start your editing career at Scribbr.

In order to become a qualified editor at Scribbr, you will need to apply the learnings from the Academy and pass 2 – 5 simulation orders (the exact number depends on performance).

You must apply through our website and complete all the steps in the Scribbr editor application process.

It is not possible to see the answers to our quiz . If you’re looking for more insights on related issues, check out Scribbr’s language articles and websites that address grammar and writing issues.

If you’re accepted as an editor in the Scribbr Academy , the information package you gain access to includes an article with the correct answers to a previous version of our language quiz.

On average, you can expect to earn approximately €20 to €30 per hour as a Scribbr editor .

The earnings are calculated based on fixed per-word rates that we have set for different kinds of assignments. We will communicate these rates to you as soon as you are in your Scribbr Academy .

The per-word rate for each order is determined by:

• The editing deadline (the shorter the deadline, the higher the rate); and
• The services purchased (whether a Structure or Clarity Check is booked on top of standard proofreading and editing ).

In our Scribbr Academy , we train you to edit as efficiently as possible—which will help you to increase the speed at which you work. For example, we include a Scribbr Word macro that you can use to easily utilize standardized in-text comments.

Incoming editors should be highly knowledgeable regarding grammar, academic style, and the conventions of both US English and UK English.

You’ll need this knowledge to not only edit student papers but also provide individualized feedback for students.

We also expect new editors to have read widely in a variety of fields and to feel comfortable editing academic texts in a range of subjects, including the hard sciences and the social sciences. New editors likewise need to be familiar with the structure of different types of academic texts, including dissertations, theses, reports, and essays.

Finally, you’ll need to be comfortable working with Microsoft Word, including its Track Changes feature.

Since Scribbr specializes in academic editing for students , we require our editors to be thesis and academic writing experts. Every Scribbr editor has a thorough understanding of academic writing conventions and research concepts used in higher education.

Most of the papers we receive are theses and dissertations. We prefer to work with editors who know first-hand how difficult it is to write a thesis, as they can offer constructive and relevant advice to our students.

Therefore, we only accept applications from editors with a university degree.

However, a university degree alone is not enough. All applicants must also demonstrate technical grammar knowledge and fundamental editing skills during the application process.  Applicants must also complete our rigorous Scribbr Academy training program before they can join the editor team.

Incoming editors must be familiar with the conventions of both US English and UK English and able to consistently follow the related rules. However, if you’re only familiar with one of these dialects, don’t despair! Getting up to speed on the major differences between the two systems is definitely doable. Our Knowledge Base is a good place to start.

If you are familiar with the conventions of US and UK English and can edit according to them, you are more than welcome to apply. At this time, however, we cannot accept applicants who are only familiar with other English dialects. The reason is that the vast majority of our clients require their papers to be written in US or UK English.

The application process consists of three steps that you must successfully complete to become an active editor within our system:

• Scribbr language quiz : 30 minutes
• Scribbr application assignment : 2.5 hours
• Scribbr Academy : 2 – 3 weeks (the Academy has to be completed within 4 weeks to be able to pass)

The speed at which you are able to complete the application process depends on your availability and the level of your work you submit. For us, it is important not only that you edit according to our guidelines, but also that you feel you have enough experience with us to make the leap to being an active Scribbr editor.

Throughout the process, you will receive feedback from experienced editors – so no matter what happens, you won’t be wasting your time!

When we receive a new order, we choose the most suitable Scribbr editor based on the following factors:

• Availability . If you would like to receive a lot of orders, you can indicate that you are available immediately. We will then try to send more assignments your way.
• Interest in the subject . We will not be as fast to send you orders that are from fields you have not marked as preferred.
• Returning client . We will automatically send you orders from a returning student whose work you have already edited, unless he or she specifically requests otherwise.

The moment we have a new order for you, we will send you an email, an SMS and a notification via your Scribbr account on our website. You may then choose to accept or decline that assignment. You make this decision for every order we send you.

All orders are classified into 1 of 9 categories:

• Business and Management : Business Administration, Hotel Management, Accounting, Marketing
• Economics : Commercial Economics, Econometrics, Finance
• IT and Engineering: ICT, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Applied Mathematics, Civil Engineering, Industrial Design, Electrical Engineering
• Natural and Life Sciences : Biomedical Sciences, Biology, Chemistry
• Geography, Agriculture and Environment : Ecology, Earth Sciences, Environmental Studies, Urban Planning
• Health and Medical Sciences : Medicine, Obstetrics, Pharmacy, Nutrition, Dentistry
• Arts and Humanities : Philosophy, History, Literature, Cultural Studies, Theology
• Law and Policy : Law, Political Science, Public Policy, Human Rights
• Social and Behavioral Sciences : Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Communication Science, Education

You can specify the fields that you are interested in. When we send you an order , we always take your preferences into account.

More information about the categories

No, you don’t.

As an editor, you are affiliated with us on a freelance basis. You can work for us from anywhere in the world and from any time zone.

It is important that you are frequently online and have a phone with Internet access, as we will send you both an e-mail and an SMS as soon as we have a new assignment for you .

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

How to Write the Common Application Essays 2024-2025 (With Examples)

The Common App essay is one of the most important parts of your application, but it can be extremely daunting if you’re not familiar with creative writing or what admissions officers are looking for.

In this blog post, we’ll provide advice on how to break down these prompts, organize your thoughts, and craft a strong, meaningful response that admissions officers will notice. If you’d like more free personalized help, you can get your essays reviewed and explore school-by-school essay help on CollegeVine.

Why the Common App Essay Matters

Admissions is a human process. While admissions committees look at grades, test scores, and extracurriculars, there are five students that have great qualifications in those areas for every spot in a university’s class. As an applicant, you need an admissions counselor to choose you over everyone else — to advocate specifically for you. 

This is where essays come in; they are an opportunity for you to turn an admissions counselor into an advocate for your application! Of your essays, the Common App is the most important since it is seen by most of the colleges to which you apply. It is also your longest essay, which gives you more space to craft a narrative and share your personality, feelings, and perspective.

It’s not hyperbole to say that getting the Common App essay right is the single most important thing you can do to improve your chances of admission as a senior. 

Overview of the Common App

The Common App essay is the best way for admissions committees to get to know you. While SAT scores, your past course load, and your grades provide a quantitative picture of you as a student, the Common App essay offers adcoms a refreshing glimpse into your identity and personality. For this reason, try to treat the essay as an opportunity to tell colleges why you are unique and what matters to you.

Since your Common App essay will be seen by numerous colleges, you will want to paint a portrait of yourself that is accessible to a breadth of institutions and admissions officers (for example, if you are only applying to engineering programs at some schools, don’t focus your Common App on STEM at the expense of your other applications — save that for your supplemental essays).

In short, be open and willing to write about a topic you love, whether it is sports, music, politics, food, or watching movies. The Common App essay is more of a conversation than a job interview.

What Makes a Great Common App Essay?

A great Common App essay is, first and foremost, deeply personal. You are relying on the admissions committee to choose you over someone else, which they are more likely to do if they feel a personal connection to you. In your essay, you should delve into your feelings, how you think about situations/problems, and how you make decisions.

Good essays also usually avoid cliche topics . A couple overdone themes include an immigrant’s journey (particularly if you’re Asian American), and a sports accomplishment or injury. It’s not that these topics are bad, but rather that many students write about these subjects, so they don’t stand out as much. Of course, some students are able to write a genuine and unique essay about one of these topics, but it’s hard to pull off. You’re better off writing about more nuanced aspects of your identity!

You should also, of course, pay close attention to your grammar and spelling, use varied sentence structure and word choice, and be consistent with your tone/writing style. Take full advantage of the available 650 words, as writing less tends to mean missed opportunities.

Finally, it’s a good practice to be aware of your audience – know who you are writing for! For example, admissions officers at BYU will probably be very religious, while those at Oberlin will be deeply committed to social justice.

See some examples of great Common App essays to get a better idea of what makes a strong essay.

How your Common App Essay Fits with Your Other Essays

The Common App is one part of a portfolio of essays that you send to colleges, along with supplemental essays at individual colleges. With all of your essays for a particular college, you want to create a narrative and tell different parts of your story. So, the topics you write about should be cohesive and complementary, but not repetitive or overlapping. 

Before jumping in to write your Common App essay, you should think about the other schools that you’re writing essays for and make sure that you have a strategy for your entire portfolio of essays and cover different topics for each. If you have strong qualifications on paper for the colleges you are targeting, the best narratives tend to humanize you. If you have weaker qualifications on paper for your colleges, the best narratives tend to draw out your passion for the topics or fields of study that are of interest to you and magnify your accomplishments. 

Strategy for Writing the Common App Essays

Because the Common App essay is 650 words long and has few formal directions, organizing a response might seem daunting. Fortunately, at CollegeVine, we’ve developed a straightforward approach to formulating strong, unique responses.

This section outlines how to: 1) Brainstorm , 2) Organize , and 3) Write a Common App essay.

Before reading the prompts, brainstorming is a critical exercise to develop high-level ideas. One way to construct a high-level idea would be to delve into a passion and focus on how you interact with the concept or activity. For example, using “creative writing” as a high-level idea, one could stress their love of world-building, conveying complex emotions, and depicting character interactions, emphasizing how writing stems from real-life experiences.

A different idea that doesn’t involve an activity would be to discuss how your personality has developed in relation to your family; maybe one sibling is hot-headed, the other quiet, and you’re in the middle as the voice of reason (or maybe you’re the hot-head). These are simply two examples of infinitely many ideas you could come up with.

To begin developing your own high-level ideas, you can address these Core Four questions that all good Common App essays should answer:

• “Who Am I?”
• “Why Am I Here?”
• “What is Unique About Me?”
• “What Matters to Me?”

The first question focuses on your personality traits — who you are. The second question targets your progression throughout high school (an arc or journey). The third question is more difficult to grasp, but it involves showing why your personality traits, methods of thinking, areas of interest, and tangible skills form a unique combination. The fourth question is a concluding point that can be answered simply, normally in the conclusion paragraph, i.e., “Running matters to me” or “Ethical fashion matters to me.”

You can brainstorm freeform or start with a specific prompt in mind.

Sometimes, it can be helpful to start by jotting down the 3-5 aspects of your personality or experiences you’ve had on a piece of paper. Play around with narratives that are constructed out of different combinations of these essential attributes before settling on a prompt. 

For example, you might note that you are fascinated by environmental justice, have had success in Model Congress, and are now working with a local politician to create a recycling program in your school district. You may also have tried previous initiatives that failed. These experiences could be constructed and applied to a number of Common App prompts. You could address a specific identity or interest you have associated with public advocacy, discuss what you learned from your failed initiatives, explore how you challenged the lack of recycling at your school, fantasize about solving waste management issues, etc. 

Selecting a prompt that you identify with

For example, consider the following prompt: The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Perhaps you had been a dedicated and active member of your school’s debate team until one of your parents lost their jobs, leaving you unable to afford the high membership and travel dues. You decided to help out by getting a job after school, and responded to your familial hardship with grace and understanding (as opposed to anger). A few months later, and after speaking with your former debate coach and your parents, you set up a system to save up for your own trips so that you could still participate in debate!

In general, the most common mistake CollegeVine sees with Common App essays is that they aren’t deeply personal. Your essay should be specific enough that it could be identified as yours even if your name wasn’t attached. 

If you get stuck, don’t worry! This is very common as the Common App is often the first personal essay college applicants have ever written. One way of getting unstuck if you feel like you aren’t getting creative or personal enough is to keep asking yourself “why”

For example: I love basketball…

• Because I like having to think on the fly and be creative while running our offense.

It can often help to work with someone and bounce ideas off them. Teachers are often a bad idea – they tend to think of essays in an academic sense, which is to say they often fail to apply the admissions context. Further, it is unlikely that they know you well enough to provide valuable insight. Friends in your own year can be a good idea because they know you, but you should be careful about competitive pressures applying within the same high school. Older friends, siblings, or neighbors who have successfully navigated the admissions process at your target universities (or good universities) strike that medium between no longer being competitive with you for admissions but still being able to help you brainstorm well because they know you.

Overall, there is no single “correct” topic. Your essay will be strong as long as you are comfortable and passionate about your idea and it answers the Core Four questions.

Common App essays are not traditional five-paragraph essays. You are free to be creative in structure, employ dialogue, and use vivid descriptions—and you should! Make sure that context and logic are inherent in your essay, however. From paragraph to paragraph, sentence to sentence, your ideas should be clear and flow naturally. Great ways to ensure this are using a story arc following a few major points, or focusing on cause and effect.

The traditional approach

This involves constructing a narrative out of your experiences and writing a classic personal essay. You are free to be creative in structure, employ dialogue, and use vivid descriptions—and you should! Make sure that context and logic are inherent in your essay, however. From paragraph to paragraph, sentence to sentence, your ideas should be clear and flow naturally. Great ways to ensure this are using a story arc following a few major points, or focusing on cause and effect.

The creative approach

Some students prefer to experiment with an entirely new approach to the personal essay. For example, a student who is passionate about programming could write their essay in alternating lines of Binary and English. A hopeful Literature major could reimagine a moment in their life as a chapter of War and Peace, adopting Tolstoy’s writing style. Or, you could write about a fight with your friend in the form of a third person sports recap to both highlight your interest in journalism and reveal a personal story. Creative essays are incredibly risky and difficult to pull off. However, a creative essay that is well executed may also have the potential for high reward.

Your Common App essay must display excellent writing in terms of grammar and sentence structure. The essay doesn’t need to be a Shakespearean masterpiece, but it should be well-written and clear.

A few tips to accomplish this are:

• Show, don’t tell
• Be specific
• Choose active voice, not passive voice
• Avoid clichés
• Write in a tone that aligns with your goals for the essay. For example, if you are a heavy STEM applicant hoping to use your Common App essay to humanize your application, you will be undermined by writing in a brusque, harsh tone.

“Show, don’t tell” is vital to writing an engaging essay, and this is the point students struggle with most.  Instead of saying, “I struggled to make friends when I transferred schools,” you can show your emotions by writing, “I scanned the bustling school cafeteria, feeling more and more forlorn with each unfamiliar face. I found an empty table and ate my lunch alone.”

In many cases, writing can include more specific word choice . For example, “As a kid, I always played basketball,” can be improved to be “Every day after school as a kid, I ran home, laced up my sneakers, and shot a basketball in my driveway until the sun went down and I could barely see.”

To use active voice over passive voice , be sure that your sentence’s subject performs the action indicated by the verb, rather than the action performing onto the subject. Instead of writing “this project was built by my own hands,” you would say “I built this project with my own hands.”

Finally, avoid clichés like adages, sayings, and quotes that do not bring value to your essay. Examples include phrases like “Be the change you wish to see in the world” (it’s also important to know that sayings like these are often seriously misquoted—Gandhi did not actually utter these words) and lavish claims like “it was the greatest experience of my life.”

A few tips for the writing (and re-writing!) process

• If you have enough time, write a 950 word version of your personal statement first and then cut it down to the official word limit of 650. In many cases, the extra writing you do for this draft will contain compelling content. Using this, you can carve out the various sections and information that allow you to tell your story best. 
• Revise your draft 3-5 times. Any more, you are probably overthinking and overanalyzing. Any less, you are not putting in the work necessary to optimize your Common App essay.
• It can be easy for you to get lost in your words after reading and rereading, writing and rewriting. It is best to have someone else do your final proofread to help you identify typos or sentences that are unclear.

Deciding on a Prompt

This section provides insights and examples for each of the 7 Common App essay prompts for the 2024-2025 cycle. Each of these prompts lends itself to distinct topics and strategies, so selecting the prompt that best aligns with your idea is essential to writing an effective Common App essay.

Here are this year’s prompts (click the link to jump to the specific prompt):

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. how did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience, reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. what prompted your thinking what was the outcome, reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. how has this gratitude affected or motivated you, discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others., describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. why does it captivate you what or who do you turn to when you want to learn more, share an essay on any topic of your choice. it can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design..

This prompt offers an opportunity to engage with your favorite extracurricular or academic subject, and it allows you to weave a narrative that displays personal growth in that area. An essay that displays your personality and a unique interest can be attention-grabbing, particularly if you have an unconventional passion, such as blogging about Chinese basketball or unicycling.

Don’t feel intimidated if you don’t have a passion that is immediately “unique,” however. Even an interest like “arctic scuba diving” will fail as an essay topic if it’s not written with insight and personality. Instead of attempting to impress the Admissions Officer by making up unusual or shocking things, think about how you spend your free time and ask yourself why you spend it that way. Also think about your upbringing, identity, and experiences and ask yourself, “What has impacted me in a meaningful way?”

Here Are A Few Response Examples:

Background – A person’s background includes experiences, training, education, and culture. You can discuss the experience of growing up, interacting with family, and how relationships have molded who you are. A background can include long-term interactions with arts, music, sciences, sports, writing, and many other learned skills. Background also includes your social environments and how they’ve influenced your perception. In addition, you can highlight intersections between multiple backgrounds and show how each is integral to you.

One student wrote about how growing up in a poor Vietnamese immigrant family inspired her to seize big opportunities, even if they were risky or challenging. She describes the emotional demand of opening and running a family grocery store. (Note: Names have been changed to protect the identity of the author and subjects in all the examples.)

The callouses on my mother’s hands formed during the years spent scaling fish at the  market in Go Noi, Vietnam. My mother never finished her formal education because she  labored on the streets to help six others survive. Her calloused hands not only scaled fish, they  also slaved over the stove, mustering a meal from the few items in the pantry. This image  resurfaces as I watch my mother’s calloused hands wipe her sweat-beaded forehead while she  manages the family business, compiling resources to provide for the family. 

Living in an impoverished region of Vietnam pushed my parents to emigrate. My two  year-old memory fails me, but my mother vividly recounts my frightened eyes staring up at her on my first plane ride. With life packed into a single suitcase, my mother’s heart, though,  trembled more than mine. Knowing only a few words of English, my mother embarked on a  journey shrouded in a haze of uncertainty. 

Our initial year in America bore an uncanny resemblance to Vietnam – from making one  meal last the entire day to wearing the same four shirts over and over again. Through thin walls, I  heard my parents debating their decision to come to the United States, a land where they knew  no one. My grandparents’ support came in half-hearted whispers cracking through long-distance  phone calls. My dad’s scanty income barely kept food on the table. We lived on soup and rice for  what seemed an interminable time. 

However, an opportunity knocked on my parents’ door: a grocery store in the town of  Decatur, Mississippi, was up for rent. My parents took the chance, risking all of their savings.  To help my parents, I spent most of my adolescent afternoons stocking shelves, mopping floors,  and even translating. My parents’ voices wavered when speaking English; through every attempt to communicate with their customers, a language barrier forged a palpable presence in each  transaction. My parents’ spirits faltered as customers grew impatient. A life of poverty awaited us in Vietnam if the business was not successful. 

On the first day, the business brought in only twenty dollars. Twenty dollars. My mother and my father wept after they closed the shop. Seeing the business as a failure, my mom commenced her packing that night; returning to Vietnam seemed inevitable. 

The next business day, however, sales increased ten-fold. More and more customers  came each successive day. My mom’s tears turned into—well, more tears, but they were tears of  joy. My mother unpacked a bag each night. 

Fifteen years later, my parents now own Blue Bear Grocery. My parents work, work,  work to keep the shelves stocked and the customers coming. The grocery store holds a special  place in my heart: it is the catalyst for my success. My parents serve as my role-models, teaching  me a new lesson with every can placed on the shelf. One lesson that resurfaces is the importance  of pursuing a formal education, something that my parents never had the chance of. 

When the opportunity to attend the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science  (MSMS) presented itself, I took it and ran, as did my parents by leaving Vietnam and by buying  the store. Although I am not managing hundreds of products, I am managing hundreds of  assignments at MSMS – from Mu Alpha Theta tutoring to lab reports to student government to British literature. 

Had I not immigrated, my hands would be calloused from the tight grip of the knife  scaling fish rather than from the tight grip on my pencil. My hands would be calloused from scrubbing my clothes covered in fish scales rather than from long hours spent typing a research paper. 

Although the opportunities that my parents and I pursued are different, our journey is  essentially the same: we walk a road paved with uncertainty and doubt with the prospect of success fortified by our hearts and our hands.

Identity – this can mean racial identity, sexual orientation, gender, or simply one’s place within a specific community (even communities as unique as, say, players of World of Warcraft). With the topic of racial identity, it’s important to remember the audience (college admissions counselors often lean progressive politically), so this might not be the best place to make sweeping claims about today’s state of race relations. However, reflecting on how your culture has shaped your experiences can make for a compelling essay. Alternatively, focusing on a dominant personality trait can also make for a compelling theme. For example, if you’re extremely outgoing, you could explain how your adventurousness has allowed you to learn from a diverse group of friends and the random situations you find yourself in. One important thing to note: the topic of identity can easily lack originality if you cover a common experience such as feeling divided between cultures, or coming out. If such experiences are integral to who you are, you should still write about them, but be sure to show us your unique introspection and reflection.

One student detailed how growing up as an American in Germany led to feelings of displacement. Moving to America in high school only exacerbated her feelings of rootlessness. Her transcultural experiences, however, allowed her to relate to other “New Americans,” particularly refugees. Helping a young refugee girl settle into the US eventually helped the writer find home in America as well:

Growing up, I always wanted to eat, play, visit, watch, and be it all: sloppy joes and spaetzle, Beanie Babies and Steiff, Cape Cod and the Baltic Sea, football and fussball, American and German. 

My American parents relocated our young family to Berlin when I was three years old. My exposure to America was limited to holidays spent stateside and awfully dubbed Disney Channel broadcasts. As the few memories I had of living in the US faded, my affinity for Germany grew. I began to identify as “Germerican,” an ideal marriage of the two cultures. As a child, I viewed my biculturalism as a blessing. I possessed a native fluency in “Denglisch” and my family’s Halloween parties were legendary at a time when the holiday was just starting to gain popularity outside of the American Sector. 

Insidiously, the magic I once felt in loving two homes was replaced by a deep­rooted sense of rootlessness. I stopped feeling American when, while discussing World War II with my grandmother, I said “the US won.” She corrected me, insisting I use “we” when referring to the US’s actions. Before then, I hadn’t realized how directly people associated themselves with their countries. I stopped feeling German during the World Cup when my friends labeled me a “bandwagon fan” for rooting for Germany. Until that moment, my cheers had felt sincere. I wasn’t part of the “we” who won World Wars or World Cups. Caught in a twilight of foreign and familiar, I felt emotionally and psychologically disconnected from the two cultures most familiar to me. 

After moving from Berlin to New York state at age fifteen, my feelings of cultural homelessness thrived in my new environment. Looking and sounding American furthered my feelings of dislocation. Border patrol agents, teachers, classmates, neighbors, and relatives all “welcomed me home” to a land they could not understand was foreign to me. Americans confused me as I relied on Urban Dictionary to understand my peers, the Pledge of Allegiance seemed nationalistic, and the only thing familiar about Fahrenheit was the German after whom it was named. Too German for America and too American for Germany, I felt alienated from both. I wanted desperately to be a member of one, if not both, cultures. 

During my first weeks in Buffalo, I spent my free time googling “Berlin Family Seeks Teen” and “New Americans in Buffalo.” The latter search proved most fruitful: I discovered New Hope, a nonprofit that empowers resettled refugees, or “New Americans,” to thrive. I started volunteering with New Hope’s children’s programs, playing with and tutoring young refugees. 

It was there that I met Leila, a twelve-­year-­old Iraqi girl who lived next to Hopeprint. In between games and snacks, Leila would ask me questions about American life, touching on everything from Halloween to President Obama. Gradually, my confidence in my American identity grew as I recognized my ability to answer most of her questions. American culture was no longer completely foreign to me. I found myself especially qualified to work with young refugees; my experience growing up in a country other than that of my parents’ was similar enough to that of the refugee children New Hope served that I could empathize with them and offer advice. Together, we worked through conflicting allegiances, homesickness, and stretched belonging. 

Forging a special, personal bond with young refugees proved a cathartic outlet for my insecurities as it taught me to value my past. My transculturalism allowed me to help young refugees integrate into American life, and, in doing so, I was able to adjust myself. Now, I have an appreciation of myself that I never felt before. “Home” isn’t the digits in a passport or ZIP code but a sense of contentedness. By helping a young refugee find comfort, happiness, and home in America, I was finally able to find those same things for myself.

The above essay was written by Lydia Schooler, a graduate of Yale University and one of our CollegeVine advisors. If you enjoyed this essay and are looking for expert college essay and admissions advice, consider booking a session with Lydia .

Interests – Interest are basically synonymous to activities, but slightly broader (you could say that interests encompass activities); participation in an interest is often less organized than in an activity. For instance, you might consider cross country an activity, but cooking an interest. Writing about an interest is a way to highlight passions that may not come across in the rest of your application. If you’re a wrestler for example, writing about your interest in stand-up comedy would be a refreshing addition to your application. You should also feel free to use this topic to show what an important activity on your application really means to you. Keep in mind, however, that many schools will ask you to describe one of your activities in their supplemental essays (usually about 250 words), so choose strategically—you don’t want to write twice on the same thing.

Read a successful essay answering this prompt.

This prompt lends itself to consideration of what facets of your personality allow you to overcome adversity. While it’s okay to choose a relatively mundane “failure” such as not winning an award at a Model UN conference, another (perhaps more powerful) tactic is to write about a foundational failure and assess its impact on your development thereafter.

There are times in life when your foundation is uprooted. There are times when you experience failure and you want to give up since you don’t see a solution. This essay is about your response when you are destabilized and your actions when you don’t see an immediate answer.

For example, if you lost a friend due to an argument, you can analyze the positions from both sides, evaluate your decisions, and identify why you were wrong. The key is explaining your thought process and growth following the event to highlight how your thinking has changed. Did you ever admit your fault and seek to fix the problem? Have you treated others differently since then? How has the setback changed the way you view arguments and fights now? Framing the prompt in this way allows you to tackle heavier questions about ethics and demonstrate your self-awareness.

If you haven’t experienced a “big” failure, another angle to take would be to discuss smaller, repeated failures that are either linked or similar thematically. For example, if you used to stutter or get nervous in large social groups, you could discuss the steps you took to find a solution. Even if you don’t have a massive foundational challenge to write about, a recurring challenge can translate to a powerful essay topic, especially if the steps you took to overcome this repeated failure help expose your character.

One student described his ignorance of his brother’s challenges — the writer assumed that because his brother Sam was sociable, Sam  was adjusting fine to their family’s move. After an angry outburst from Sam  and a long late-night conversation, the writer realizes his need to develop greater sensitivity and empathy. He now strives to recognize and understand others’ struggles, even if they’re not immediately apparent.

“You ruined my life!” After months of quiet anger, my brother finally confronted me. To my shame, I had been appallingly ignorant of his pain.

Despite being twins, Max and I are profoundly different. Having intellectual interests from a young age that, well, interested very few of my peers, I often felt out of step in comparison with my highly-social brother. Everything appeared to come effortlessly for Max and, while we share an extremely tight bond, his frequent time away with friends left me feeling more and more alone as we grew older.

When my parents learned about The Green Academy, we hoped it would be an opportunity for me to find not only an academically challenging environment, but also – perhaps more importantly – a community. This meant transferring the family from Drumfield to Kingston. And while there was concern about Max, we all believed that given his sociable nature, moving would be far less impactful on him than staying put might be on me.

As it turned out, Green Academy was everything I’d hoped for. I was ecstatic to discover a group of students with whom I shared interests and could truly engage. Preoccupied with new friends and a rigorous course load, I failed to notice that the tables had turned. Max, lost in the fray and grappling with how to make connections in his enormous new high school, had become withdrawn and lonely. It took me until Christmas time – and a massive argument – to recognize how difficult the transition had been for my brother, let alone that he blamed me for it.

Through my own journey of searching for academic peers, in addition to coming out as gay when I was 12, I had developed deep empathy for those who had trouble fitting in. It was a pain I knew well and could easily relate to. Yet after Max’s outburst, my first response was to protest that our parents – not I – had chosen to move us here. In my heart, though, I knew that regardless of who had made the decision, we ended up in Kingston for my benefit. I was ashamed that, while I saw myself as genuinely compassionate, I had been oblivious to the heartache of the person closest to me. I could no longer ignore it – and I didn’t want to.

We stayed up half the night talking, and the conversation took an unexpected turn. Max opened up and shared that it wasn’t just about the move. He told me how challenging school had always been for him, due to his dyslexia, and that the ever-present comparison to me had only deepened his pain.

We had been in parallel battles the whole time and, yet, I only saw that Max was in distress once he experienced problems with which I directly identified. I’d long thought Max had it so easy – all because he had friends. The truth was, he didn’t need to experience my personal brand of sorrow in order for me to relate – he had felt plenty of his own.

My failure to recognize Max’s suffering brought home for me the profound universality and diversity of personal struggle; everyone has insecurities, everyone has woes, and everyone – most certainly – has pain. I am acutely grateful for the conversations he and I shared around all of this, because I believe our relationship has been fundamentally strengthened by a deeper understanding of one another. Further, this experience has reinforced the value of constantly striving for deeper sensitivity to the hidden struggles of those around me. I won’t make the mistake again of assuming that the surface of someone’s life reflects their underlying story.

This prompt is difficult to answer because most high schoolers haven’t participated in the types of iconoclastic protests against societal ills that lend themselves to an awe-inspiring response. A more tenable alternative here could be to discuss a time that you went against social norms, whether it was by becoming friends with someone who seemed like an outcast or by proudly showing off a geeky passion.

And if you ever participated in a situation in tandem with adults and found some success (i.e., by blogging, starting a tutoring organization, or participating in political campaigns), you could discuss your experiences as a young person without a college degree in professional circles. However, avoid sounding morally superior (as if you’re the only person who went against this convention, or that you’re better than your peers for doing so).

Another way to answer this prompt is to discuss a time when you noticed a need for change. For example, if you wondered why medical records are often handwritten, or why a doctor’s visit can be long and awkward, maybe you challenged the norm in healthcare by brainstorming an electronic-recording smartphone app or a telemedicine system. In a similar way, if you led a fundraiser and recognized that advertising on social media would be more effective than the traditional use of printed flyers, you could write about a topic along those lines as well. Focus on what action or experience caused you to recognize the need for change and follow with your actions and resulting outcome.

As a whole, this prompt lends itself to reflective writing, and more specifically, talking the reader through your thought processes. In many cases, the exploration of your thought processes and decision-making is more important than the actual outcome or concept in question. In short, this essay is very much about “thinking,” rumination, and inquisition. A good brainstorming exercise for this prompt would be to write your problem on a sheet of paper and then develop various solutions to the problem, including a brief reason for justification. The more thorough you are in justifying and explaining your solutions in the essay, the more compelling your response will be.

While this prompt may seem to be asking a simple question, your answer has the potential to provide deep insights about who you are to the admissions committee. Explaining what you are grateful for can show them your culture, your community, your philosophical outlook on the world, and what makes you tick. 

The first step to writing this essay is to think about the “something” and “someone” of your story. It is imperative to talk about a unique moment in your life, as the prompt asks for gratitude that came about in a surprising way. You will want to write about a story that you are certain no one else would have. To brainstorm, ask yourself: “if I told a stranger that I was grateful for what happened to me without any context, would they be surprised?” 

Note that the most common answers to this prompt involve a family member, teacher, or sports coach giving the narrator an arduous task ─ which, by the end of the story, the narrator becomes grateful for because of the lessons they learned through their hard work. Try to avoid writing an essay along these lines unless you feel that your take on it will be truly original.

Begin your essay by telling a creative story about the “something” that your “someone” did that made you thankful. Paint a picture with words here ─ establish who you were in the context of your story and make the character development of your “someone” thorough. Show the admissions committee that you have a clear understanding of yourself and the details of your world. 

Keep in mind, however, that the essay is ultimately about you and your growth. While you should set the scene clearly, don’t spend too much time talking about the “something” and “someone.”

Your story should then transition into a part about your unexpected epiphany, e.g. “Six months after Leonard gave me that pogo stick, I started to be grateful for the silly thing…” Explain the why of your gratitude as thoroughly as you can before you begin to talk about how your gratitude affected or motivated you. Have a Socratic seminar with yourself in your head ─ ask yourself, “why am I grateful for the pogo stick?” and continue asking why until you arrive at a philosophical conclusion. Perhaps your reason could be that you eventually got used to the odd looks that people gave you as you were pogoing and gained more self-confidence. 

Finally, think about how learning to be grateful for something you would not expect to bring you joy and thankfulness has had a positive impact on your life. Gaining more self-confidence, for example, could motivate you to do an infinite number of things that you were not able to attempt in the past. Try to make a conclusion by connecting this part to your story from the beginning of the essay. You want to ultimately show that had [reference to a snippet of your introduction, ideally an absurd part] never have happened, you would not be who you are today.

Remember to express these lessons implicitly through the experiences in your essay, and not explicitly. Show us your growth through the changes in your life rather than simply stating that you gained confidence. For instance, maybe the pogo stick gift led you to start a pogo dance team at your school, and the team went on to perform at large venues to raise money for charity. But before your pogo days, you had crippling stage fright and hated even giving speeches in your English class. These are the kinds of details that make your essay more engaging. 

This prompt is expansive in that you can choose any accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked personal growth or new understanding.

One option is to discuss a formal accomplishment or event (whether it is a religious ritual or social rite of passage) that reflects personal growth. If you go this route, make sure to discuss why the ritual was meaningful and how specific aspects of said ritual contributed to your personal growth. An example of this could be the meaning of becoming an Eagle Scout to you, the accomplishment of being elected to Senior Leadership, or completing a Confirmation. In the case of religious topics, however, be sure to not get carried away with details, and focus on the nature of your personal growth and new understanding — know your audience.

Alternatively, a more relaxed way to address this prompt is using an informal event or realization, which would allow you to show more personality and creativity. An example of this could be learning how to bake with your mother, thus sparking a newfound connection with her, allowing you to learn about her past. Having a long discussion about life or philosophy with your father could also suffice, thus sparking more thoughts about your identity. You could write about a realization that caused you to join a new organization or quit an activity you did not think you would enjoy, as doing so would force you to grow out of your comfort zone to try new things.

The key to answering this prompt is clearly defining what it is that sparked your growth, and then describing in detail the nature of this growth and how it related to your perception of yourself and others. This part of the essay is crucial, as you must dedicate sufficient time to not undersell the description of how you grew instead of simply explaining the experience and then saying, “I grew.” This description of how you grew must be specific, in-depth, and it does not have to be simple. Your growth can also be left open-ended if you are still learning from your experiences today.

One student wrote about how her single mother’s health crisis prompted her to quickly assume greater responsibility as a fourteen-year-old. This essay describes the new tasks she undertook, as well as how the writer now more greatly cherishes her time with her mother.

Tears streamed down my face and my mind was paralyzed with fear. Sirens blared, but the silent panic in my own head was deafening. I was muted by shock. A few hours earlier, I had anticipated a vacation in Washington, D.C., but unexpectedly, I was rushing to the hospital behind an ambulance carrying my mother. As a fourteen-year-old from a single mother household, without a driver’s license, and seven hours from home, I was distraught over the prospect of losing the only parent I had. My fear turned into action as I made some of the bravest decisions of my life. 

Three blood transfusions later, my mother’s condition was stable, but we were still states away from home, so I coordinated with my mother’s doctors in North Carolina to schedule the emergency operation that would save her life. Throughout her surgery, I anxiously awaited any word from her surgeon, but each time I asked, I was told that there had been another complication or delay. Relying on my faith and positive attitude, I remained optimistic that my mother would survive and that I could embrace new responsibilities.

My mother had been a source of strength for me, and now I would be strong for her through her long recovery ahead. As I started high school, everyone thought the crisis was over, but it had really just started to impact my life. My mother was often fatigued, so I assumed more responsibility, juggling family duties, school, athletics, and work. I made countless trips to the neighborhood pharmacy, cooked dinner, biked to the grocery store, supported my concerned sister, and provided the loving care my mother needed to recover. I didn’t know I was capable of such maturity and resourcefulness until it was called upon. Each day was a stage in my gradual transformation from dependence to relative independence.

Throughout my mother’s health crisis, I matured by learning to put others’ needs before my own. As I worried about my mother’s health, I took nothing for granted, cherished what I had, and used my daily activities as motivation to move forward. I now take ownership over small decisions such as scheduling daily appointments and managing my time but also over major decisions involving my future, including the college admissions process. Although I have become more independent, my mother and I are inseparably close, and the realization that I almost lost her affects me daily. Each morning, I wake up ten minutes early simply to eat breakfast with my mother and spend time with her before our busy days begin. I am aware of how quickly life can change. My mother remains a guiding force in my life, but the feeling of empowerment I discovered within myself is the ultimate form of my independence. Though I thought the summer before my freshman year would be a transition from middle school to high school, it was a transformation from childhood to adulthood.

This prompt allows you to expand and deepen a seemingly small or simple idea, topic, or concept. One example could be “stars,” in that you could describe stargazing as a child, counting them, recognizing constellations, and then transforming that initial captivation into a deeper appreciation of the cosmos as a whole, spurring a love of astronomy and physics.

Another example could be “language,” discussing how it has evolved and changed over the course of history, how it allows you to look deeper into different cultures, and how learning different languages stretches the mind. A tip for expanding on these topics and achieving specificity is to select particular details of the topic that you find intriguing and explain why.

For example, if you’re passionate about cooking or baking, you could use specific details by explaining, in depth, the intricate attention and artistry necessary to make a dish or dessert. You can delve into why certain spices or garnishes are superior in different situations, how flavors blend well together and can be mixed creatively, or even the chemistry differences between steaming, searing, and grilling.

Regardless of your topic, this prompt provides a great opportunity to display writing prowess through elegant, specific descriptions that leverage sensory details. Describing the beauty of the night sky, the rhythms and sounds of different languages, or the scent of a crème brûlée shows passion and captivation in a very direct, evocative way.

The key to writing this essay is answering the question of why something captivates you instead of simply ending with “I love surfing.” A tip would be to play off your senses (for applicable topics), think about what you see, feel, smell, hear, and taste.

In the case of surfing, the salty water, weightlessness of bobbing over the waves, and fresh air could cater to senses. Alternatively, for less physical topics, you can use a train of thought and descriptions to show how deeply and vividly your mind dwells on the topic.

Well-executed trains of thought or similar tactics are successful ways to convey passion for a certain topic. To answer what or who you turn to when you want to learn more, you can be authentic and honest—if it’s Wikipedia, a teacher, friend, YouTube Channel, etc., you simply have to show how you interact with the medium.

When brainstorming this particular essay, a tip would be to use a web diagram, placing the topic in the middle and thinking about branching characteristics, themes, or concepts related to the topic that are directly engaging and captivating to you. In doing so, you’ll be able to gauge the depth of the topic and whether it will suffice for this prompt.

In the following example, a student shares their journey as they learn to appreciate a piece of their culture’s cuisine.

As a wide-eyed, naive seven-year-old, I watched my grandmother’s rough, wrinkled hands pull and knead mercilessly at white dough until the countertop was dusted in flour. She steamed small buns in bamboo baskets, and a light sweetness lingered in the air. Although the mantou looked delicious, their papery, flat taste was always an unpleasant surprise. My grandmother scolded me for failing to finish even one, and when I complained about the lack of flavor she would simply say that I would find it as I grew older. How did my adult relatives seem to enjoy this Taiwanese culinary delight while I found it so plain?

During my journey to discover the essence of mantou, I began to see myself the same way I saw the steamed bun. I believed that my writing would never evolve beyond a hobby and that my quiet nature crippled my ambitions. Ultimately, I thought I had little to offer the world. In middle school, it was easy for me to hide behind the large personalities of my friends, blending into the background and keeping my thoughts company. Although writing had become my emotional outlet, no matter how well I wrote essays, poetry, or fiction, I could not stand out in a sea of talented students. When I finally gained the confidence to submit my poetry to literary journals but was promptly rejected, I stepped back from my work to begin reading from Whitman to Dickinson, Li-Young Lee to Ocean Vuong. It was then that I realized I had been holding back a crucial ingredient–my distinct voice. 

Over time, my taste buds began to mature, as did I. Mantou can be flavored with pork and eggplant, sweetened in condensed milk, and moistened or dried by the steam’s temperature. After I ate the mantou with each of these factors in mind, I noticed its environment enhanced a delicately woven strand of sweetness beneath the taste of side dishes: the sugar I had often watched my grandmother sift into the flour. The taste was nearly untraceable, but once I grasped it I could truly begin to cherish mantou. In the same way the taste had been lost to me for years, my writer’s voice had struggled to shine through because of my self-doubt and fear of vulnerability.

As I acquired a taste for mantou, I also began to strengthen my voice through my surrounding environment. With the support of my parents, peer poets, and the guidance of Amy Tan and the Brontё sisters, I worked tirelessly to uncover my voice: a subtle strand of sweetness. Once I stopped trying to fit into a publishing material mold and infused my uninhibited passion for my Taiwanese heritage into my writing, my poem was published in a literary journal. I wrote about the blatant racism Asians endured during coronavirus, and the editor of Skipping Stones Magazine was touched by both my poem and my heartfelt letter. I opened up about being ridiculed for bringing Asian food to school at Youth Leadership Forum, providing support to younger Asian-American students who reached out with the relief of finding someone they could relate to. I embraced writing as a way to convey my struggle with cultural identity. I joined the school’s creative writing club and read my pieces in front of an audience, honing my voice into one that flourishes out loud as well.

Now, I write and speak unapologetically, falling in love with a voice that I never knew I had. It inspires passion within my communities and imparts tenacity to Asian-American youth, rooting itself deeply into everything I write. Today, my grandmother would say that I have finally unearthed the taste of mantou as I savor every bite with a newfound appreciation. I can imagine her hands shaping the dough that has become my voice, and I am eager to share it with the world.

Your GPA and SAT don’t tell the full admissions story

We’ll let you know what your chances are at your dream schools!

This prompt allows you to express what you want to express if it doesn’t align directly with the other prompts. While this prompt is very open-ended, it doesn’t mean you can adapt any essay you’ve written and think it will suffice. Always refer back to the Strategy section of this article and make sure the topic and essay of your choice addresses the Core Four questions necessary for a good Common App essay.

This prompt, more than the others, poses a high risk but also a high-potential reward. Writing your own question allows you to demonstrate individuality and confidence. Here, you can craft an innovative essay that tackles a difficult topic (for example, whether to raise or lower taxes) or presents information with a unique format (such as a conversation with an historical figure).

We encourage you to try something unconventional for this prompt, like comparing your personality to a Picasso painting, using an extended philosophical metaphor to describe your four years of high school, or writing in a poetic style to display your love of poetry. If you are extremely passionate about a topic or an expert in a certain area, for example Renaissance technology or journalism during World War II, you can use this prompt to show your authority on a subject by discussing it at a high level.

Be careful to frame the essay in a way that is accessible to the average reader while still incorporating quality evidence and content that would qualify you as an expert. As always, exercise caution in writing about controversial social or political topics, and always make sure to consider your audience and what they’re looking for in a student.

Sometimes an unconventional essay can capture Admissions Officers’ attention and move them in a profound way; other times, the concept can fly completely over their heads. Be sure to execute the essay clearly and justify your decision by seeking high-quality feedback from reliable sources. As always, the essay should demonstrate something meaningful about you, whether it is your personality, thought process, or values.

Here’s what the experts have to say about this prompt…

This prompt, like the others, is really asking you to tell the story of who you are. Your essay should be personal and should talk about something significant that has shaped your identity.

Here are a few broad themes that can work well: academic interest; culture, values, and diversity; extracurricular interests; and your impact on the community. You should highlight one of these themes using creative, vividly descriptive narrative. Make sure to not fall into the common pitfall of talking about something else -- an extracurricular activity, for example -- more than yourself.

A student I advised had a great idea to respond to this prompt -- an essay about how they do their best thinking while sitting on a tree branch near their home. Not only was it unique and personal, but it allowed the student to show what they think about, dream about, and value. That's the main goal for any applicant responding to prompt 7.

Alex Oddo Advisor on CollegeVine

All of the Common App prompts are broad in scope, but this one really takes the cake! I typically advise using the first six prompts as guardrails for your brainstorm, but in doing so, you may come up with a topic that doesn’t cleanly fit with any of the first six prompts. That’s where this prompt can come in handy.

Or, you might have an idea that’s really out there (like writing about your love of sonnets as a series of sonnets). Essentially, this prompt is a good fit for essays that are anywhere from slightly unconventional to extremely atypical.

If this all feels a bit confusing - don’t worry! How you write your story is much more important than what prompt you end up choosing. At the end of the day, these are just guides to help you cultivate a topic and are not meant to stress you out.

Priya Desai Advisor on CollegeVine

Students who want to complete the CommonApp’s seventh prompt need to have already gone through the other prompts and determined that their story cannot fit with those. Thus, generally speaking, I advise my students to not use the final prompt unless it is absolutely necessary.

If an admission officer believes that your essay could have been used with one of the other prompts, this may lead them to have a perception about you as a student that might not be accurate.

Nevertheless, as my colleagues have pointed out, what matters is the essay the most and not necessarily the prompt. That being said, the test of whether or not you as a student can follow directions is part of the prompt selection and how well you answer it. If you choose the final prompt and yet your answer could work with another available prompt, this will not put you in your best light.

In conclusion, only use this prompt when absolutely necessary, and remember that the purpose of the personal statement is to give the admissions officers a glimpse into who you are as a person, so you want to use this space to showcase beautiful you.

Veronica Prout Advisor on CollegeVine

Where to get your common app essay edited.

At selective schools, your essays account for around 25% of your admissions decision. That’s more than grades (20%) and test scores (15%), and almost as much as extracurriculars (30%). Why is this? Most students applying to top schools will have stellar academics and extracurriculars. Your essays are your chance to stand out and humanize your application. That’s why it’s vital that your essays are engaging, and present you as someone who would enrich the campus community.

Before submitting your application, you should have someone else review your essays. That’s why we created our free  Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools.  Find the right advisor for you  to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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• School Education /

Essay on Dream Job for School Students

• Updated on  
• Jan 24, 2024

Essay on Dream Job: A dream job is more than just a place to work; it is a source of passion, fulfillment, and purpose. It’s the place where ambitions and talents combine to create a profession that makes people excited every day. A dream job is a medium for personal development and self-expression rather than just a way to earn money. Check out the sample essay on dream job in English for school students to learn more about the same. 

Table of Contents

• 1 Essay on Dream Job in 100 Words
• 2 Essay on Dream Job in 300 Words
• 3 Essay on Dream Job in 400+ Words

Also Read: What are the Best Jobs in India?

Essay on Dream Job in 100 Words

Serving humanity is another way to serve mankind. Since childhood, I wanted to be a doctor. There is no other profession that takes care of sick people. That is the reason it is regarded as one of the noblest professions. Hearing unfortunate news about the deaths of people with a lack of basic healthcare facilities helped me make up my mind to go into the field of medicine. 

In addition to providing medical assistance to the underprivileged, I have a strong curiosity about the operations of various human body-related topics. One of my childhood dreams is to become a cardiologist and learn more about related diseases, and diagnoses. 

My goal is to serve underprivileged people and provide them with the best healthcare facilities possible. I am aware of the difficulties doctors have in their line of work. It is undoubtedly not an easy one. However, the satisfaction of providing for the poor and the needy is greater than all difficulties.

Also Read: How to Find Your Dream Job?

Essay on Dream Job in 300 Words

My dream job is to become a teacher. Since childhood, I have been inspired by many teachers who helped their students in academics as well as in building their moral character. It is my personal belief that a good teacher always helps students make progress at every stage of life.

From my earliest memories, I have held a deep admiration for teachers. Their ability to guide the students, not just in academics but also in shaping their character, has been a constant inspiration. Becoming a teacher is just not a career choice for me; instead, it is a passion that is rooted in my belief that a good teacher helps contribute to the progress of students at every stage of life.

My childhood experiences have left an impression on me regarding the importance of experiential learning. Teachers who went beyond the traditional classroom methods such as textbooks, methods of instruction, readings, and likewise left a lasting impact on me. These teachers helped me understand that education is just not about facts and figures and developing theoretical knowledge instead it is about shaping well-rounded individuals with practical skills like inquiry-based learning, query-based learning, competency-based learning, and project-based learning. 

To pursue my dream job as a teacher I will emphasize more on learning outside the classroom. Any location, activity, or workshop helps students to learn with a real-world learning experience instead of a school curriculum. My idea behind this experiential learning is based on the motive that I want the students to grow and engage in a broader range of soft skills learning such as adaptability, time management, teamwork, and leadership. 

In conclusion, my dream job is to guide students not only with conventional methods of learning but also with practical skills that will help the students to grow toward a brighter future. 

Also Read: India of My Dreams Speech for ASL

Essay on Dream Job in 400+ Words

The dream of serving the country in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is more than a professional aspiration. An IAS officer not only contributes towards the betterment of society but also maintains the law and order of the country, which clearly explains that IAS merely doesn´t mean a bureaucrat; instead, they are the agents of change, policy influencers, and champions of the public. 

My ambition to become an IAS has been there in my mind since childhood. An annual function has allowed me to meet a bureaucrat who has not only inspired me but also strengthened my point of view to get into Administrative services. I am aware of the challenges and setbacks that might come my way while pursuing my dream but living a dream job is something that is beyond all hurdles. 

To pursue my dream job, I have to work consistently on brushing up on my learning and growth. Exposure to various domains, such as getting a graduate degree from a recognized university in good percentages with a minimum of 21 years and not more than 32 years of age, with relaxation of age in certain categories with certain limitations of the number of attempts. Furthermore, the three important stages of the preliminary, main, and interview examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) are the challenges to strive upon. 

Any ordinary candidate who has the zeal to work hard consistently can clear the IAS examination. The best part of the preparation process is that the candidate need not be financially, culturally, and physically sound. Although some perceptions regarding the examinations such as only good academic performances, and coaching institutes can only help you in getting success are vague. Success stories of candidates from Hindi medium, disabled candidates, lack financial soundness and those from rural areas have motivated me to keep faith in the attempts with the correct approach. 

The best part of being an IAS is that it offers a wide range of diversity and opportunities. If one is dedicated to the service then one can easily live the dream of serving the country by working in the fields, managing crises, and implementing policies for the betterment of people as well as of society. 

IAS examination needs perseverance as well as patience. There will be many challenges that will obstruct my path. Sometimes it will be a failure, lack of guidance, family obligations, stress, or anxiety but the spirit of learning and updating oneself will help me to work on shortcomings. Working on continuous learning will not only help add an extra layer of knowledge but will also help in achieve my childhood dream of becoming an IAS.

Also Read: Essay on My Aim in Life

Ans: A job that satisfies one with the use of talent, skills, and passion with chances to earn money is called a dream job.

Ans: A dream job allows one to use their passion, ability, and skills while earning a living. It’s crucial to understand that one can start preparing in childhood for the job of their dreams. Emphasizing subjects, branching out, and honing abilities will help one land their dream job.

Ans: A dream job is stimulating and demanding. A job can also be a dream since it keeps you engaged, allows you to work with supportive people, and helps you to continuously hone your skills.

Ans: Defining a job as a dream job requires many criteria like a good workplace, a handsome salary, career advancement, and likewise. But getting a job with all good possibilities has fewer chances therefore it can be said that a dream job is unrealistic. 

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Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with educational and informative content expertise. She has hands-on experience in Education, Study Abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and analysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particularly in the education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs related to her field to expand her expertise further. In her personal life, she loves creative writing and aspires to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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• Career Advice

Finding Jobs in Student Affairs

By  Sonja Ardoin

You have / 5 articles left. Sign up for a free account or log in.

Although the process of lifelong learning is vital, if you are anything like me, you know there is also practical value in being able to put that learning into practice to assist others in their growth and development (and pay back your student loans and afford to support yourself). The job search process in student affairs can be a time-consuming endeavor full of self-assessment, anxiety, excitement, and a host of other emotional and logistical complexities. It is also a numbers game. For example, in my last job search after my Ph.D. program, I applied for 46 jobs, participated in 12 phone interviews, visited 5 campuses for in-person interviews, and received 3 job offers. I like to think I am a solid candidate; the numbers also show you that I did not receive interviews with half of the places to which I applied. In fact, if you do the math, I was asked to interview with only 23 percent of the institutions to which I applied.

That’s real talk. I do not tell you this to discourage you. I tell you this because it is factual. You may need to apply to many jobs to find a job. So, let’s discuss a bit about the job search process. Because whether it is your first time or 10th time on the market, the job search is quite the process.

Perusing Postings

The first aspect of the job search process is locating positions that are open and seeking applicants. There is no right way to look for job postings. There are, however, a few methods of searching that allow you to make the most of your time. Several online higher education job repositories – including one on this website -- provide options of filtering your search by job type, location, and so on.

Realize, though, that colleges and universities have to pay to have their positions posted on these sites, and not all institutions have the desire or financial resources to market to a national, or international, audience. Thus, it is also important for you to review the human resources websites for any specific institutions in which you have an particular interest because institutions are required to post any position they have open on their own human resources job postings list. This even applies for internal-only positions that are posted for short stints of time.

Outside of websites, you can learn about postings from various email lists, colleagues, your own connections and network, and search firms (for upper-level positions). Similar to “word of mouth,” these tactics let individuals spread information about open positions to groups of people or individuals with whom they share a common interest. It is likely that your graduate program has an email list for alumni where others connected to the program or institution can post open positions. National organizations and other professional development groups have email lists or job boards where they send out opportunities. Colleagues may send things along to people they see as potential fits for open roles, and if you inform them of your search, your connections can keep an eye out for anything fitting your needs and notify you when opportunities arise. Finally, search firms are entities that not only head-hunt for institutions for upper-level positions but also serve as resources for job seekers. You can sign up with search firms and send in your résumé in order to be on email lists for postings for which they think you may qualify.

Finding Your Filters

As you peruse job postings, you will realize that there are hundreds of options that you could pursue. Even if you feel like your search has no limitations, it does. Seriously. You just may not have thought about it long enough yet to realize it. Why? Because there are places where you do not want to live. There are types of institutions you prefer. There are functional areas to which you are drawn. You probably have a range of salary and benefits that you need in order to live comfortably. You may need to consider loved ones and whether you need, or want, to live in proximity to them. See? There are things that will shape, or filter, your search. So, as you review those open position postings, consider the following as elements to help filter your search:

• Institution
• Supervisor and colleagues
• Salary and benefits (insurance, retirement, gym memberships, meal plans, professional development opportunities and funding, free academic courses, etc.)
• Opportunities outside the job
• Balance and quality of life
• Fit (with the position, staff, office, institution, location, etc.)

Narrowing your search by determining which filters matter most to you will help you focus on positions that more accurately meet your professional and personal needs.

Decoding Job Descriptions

Once you find position postings that fit your filters, it is important to critically assess what they are saying. Job descriptions are not always simple or easy to read. Often, they involve jargon or acronyms that may not be easily defined, they leave out key pieces of the everyday realities of the position, and they incorporate that elusive phrase “other duties as assigned.”

It is extremely important for you to learn how to decode job descriptions. So, how do you do that? Good question. First, print out (or bring up on your electronic device) a job description that appeals to you. Next, use the following suggestions to make notes on, and sense of, that job description.

Notice numbers. As you review a job description, notice numbers that are included. How many staff or students would you supervise? How many student groups would you advise? What, if any, is the size of the budget you would manage? Are the salary and benefits listed? What about the number of days of annual leave and sick leave? Numbers like this will clue you in on the scope of the job itself and the package that comes with it.

Pay attention to percentages. Some job descriptions will list job responsibilities with approximate percentages of how much time you will be spending on each aspect of the job. It may say 10 percent next to supervising staff, 25 percent next to advising students, 50 percent next to event planning and execution, and 10 percent next to other duties. That tells you that the role is primarily centered on events with student support as a secondary focus. That may work for you. It may not. But you need to recognize what the expectations will be about how you spend your time and decide if that will suit your work style. And if the job description does not list percentages next to the responsibilities, you should ask for them or for a general sense of where the majority of your time will and should be spent on a weekly basis.

Scope out similarities. Speaking of responsibilities, when you are decoding a job description, you need to determine how the listed responsibilities are similar to your past or current experiences. If the position lists supervision, what supervision do you have on your résumé? If it talks about adjudicating conduct cases, when have you worked with conduct, crises, or personal counseling? If it speaks to extensive collaboration, what examples do you have of projects where you partnered with multiple constituents? In other words, how does your current portfolio of experiences and skills stack up against the job description responsibilities? You will need to assess this in order to write a solid cover letter, to prepare for any interviews, and to feel confident going into the job. It also allows you to reflect on how you will get to put theory and prior experience into further practice.

Glance for growth areas. Jobs should also, ideally, provide you with opportunities for continued growth. Look in the job description for a few areas with which you may have only tangential or no prior experience. Are these areas that you want to learn about? Will these areas fill gaps in your portfolio? What new skills or knowledge could you gain? This is important to think about for your own lifelong learning and also for elements to mention in the interview process that excite you about the job and serve as areas for development. It is also a way to assess where the holes may be between your experiences and skills and the job’s qualifications and helps you to determine how to sell your transferable skills (see the following section) or your ability to be trained and continue developing.

Question the qualifications. Another key aspect of the job description is the section that lists the required and preferred qualifications for the ideal job candidate. This is where employers tell you what formal education, training, experiences, and skill sets they are looking for in the future employee. They want you to read it and determine if you “fit the bill” or not. A great piece of advice that someone shared with me once about the job search process has always stuck with me, and I think it applies well here. I was told to “never tell yourself no; let them tell you no.” Wise words. If you are interested in the job but may not meet all of the listed qualifications, apply anyway. Let them tell you no.

Because maybe you have something they did not even realize they wanted. Or maybe they see something in you that makes them want to bend their qualifications a bit. Now, I wouldn’t suggest applying for a vice president role upon graduating with your master’s degree; let’s not get too outlandish. But let them interpret if your graduate assistant years count as “years of experience” (personally, I think they should), if your undergraduate study abroad covers the “international education” requirement, or if your personal involvement with alumni clubs in the various cities where you have lived meets the “experience with alumni engagement” facet of the job.

Ask about what may be missing. Sometimes what is not listed is just as telling as what is covered in the job description. Is the salary range listed? Does it mention whether you will receive professional development funding? Are committee roles specified? Are there any details about the “other duties as assigned” bullet point? Although job descriptions have only so much space to work with, if you want to know more about missing items in the description, it is O.K. to ask questions about them. Just be smart about to whom and when you ask those questions. It would not be the best idea to ask about salary when they call you to offer a phone interview. Rather, it is more appropriate to call human resources to inquire about some things before ever applying for the job, to wait until they call you with an on-campus interview offer to ask some of the financial details in order to not “waste” the interview, or to ask certain things in person during the on-campus interview process. Whatever you do, ask about things that are red flags or gut checks before you accept and start the job.

Rewrite to reflect the realities. Finally, it is vital that the job description reflect what you actually do within the role. Once you get into a job and have experienced an entire cycle (probably a year or so), you need to revisit the job description to determine if it is an accurate reflection of the job realities. If it is, superb! If it is not, then you need to talk to your supervisor about rewriting the description to be more representative of what you really do and how much time you spend doing it. This will be helpful in the expectations people have of you, in how you manage those expectations, and in any future scenarios if and when you decide to look for another position.

A subsequent essay will discuss interviews in student affairs.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Professions & Career — Career Goals

Career Goals Essay Examples

Career goals essay topic examples, argumentative essays.

Argumentative career goals essays require you to present and defend a viewpoint or strategy related to your professional aspirations. Consider these topic examples:

• 1. Argue why pursuing higher education, such as a master's degree, is essential for achieving your long-term career goals.
• 2. Defend your perspective on whether adaptability or specialization is more important in today's ever-changing job market.

Example Introduction Paragraph for an Argumentative Career Goals Essay: The journey toward achieving our career goals often involves important decisions. In this essay, I will argue that pursuing a master's degree is not only personally fulfilling but also a strategic step toward realizing my long-term career aspirations in [your chosen field].

Example Conclusion Paragraph for an Argumentative Career Goals Essay: In conclusion, the argument for pursuing a master's degree underscores the significance of advanced education in shaping our professional futures. As we contemplate our career paths, we are challenged to make choices that align with our ultimate goals.

Compare and Contrast Essays

Compare and contrast career goals essays involve analyzing the differences and similarities between various career paths, industries, or strategies for achieving your goals. Consider these topics:

• 1. Compare and contrast the career trajectories of professionals in two different fields, highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities each path offers.
• 2. Analyze the differences and similarities between pursuing entrepreneurship and working in a corporate environment to achieve your career goals.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Compare and Contrast Career Goals Essay: The pursuit of career goals often involves making informed choices about our professional paths. In this essay, we will compare and contrast the career trajectories of professionals in [Field A] and [Field B], shedding light on the challenges and opportunities each path presents.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Compare and Contrast Career Goals Essay: In conclusion, the comparison and contrast of career trajectories in [Field A] and [Field B] reveal the diverse avenues available for achieving our goals. As we navigate our career choices, we are encouraged to explore the unique advantages each path offers.

Descriptive Essays

Descriptive career goals essays enable you to vividly depict your envisioned career, highlighting the responsibilities, impact, and personal fulfillment it offers. Here are some topic ideas:

• 1. Describe your ideal job in detail, emphasizing the specific role, responsibilities, and the positive contributions you aim to make.
• 2. Paint a detailed portrait of the work culture and environment you aspire to be a part of in your future career.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Descriptive Career Goals Essay: Our career goals are often shaped by our dreams and aspirations. In this essay, I will immerse you in the vivid details of my ideal job, showcasing the role, responsibilities, and the sense of purpose it offers on my journey toward professional fulfillment.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Descriptive Career Goals Essay: In conclusion, the descriptive exploration of my ideal job underscores the importance of aligning our career goals with our aspirations. As we envision our professional futures, we are inspired to pursue opportunities that resonate with our passions and values.

Persuasive Essays

Persuasive career goals essays involve convincing your audience of the importance of a specific career path or the value of setting ambitious goals. Consider these persuasive topics:

• 1. Persuade your readers that pursuing a career in [your chosen field] will contribute significantly to societal progress and innovation.
• 2. Argue for the inclusion of career development programs in educational institutions to empower students in defining and pursuing their career goals.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Persuasive Career Goals Essay: Our career choices have the potential to impact not only our lives but also society as a whole. In this persuasive essay, I will present a compelling case for the societal importance of pursuing a career in [your chosen field] and the need for educational institutions to support students in their career aspirations.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Persuasive Career Goals Essay: In conclusion, the persuasive argument for the societal value of careers in [your chosen field] emphasizes the transformative impact individuals can have on society. As we contemplate our career journeys, we are urged to consider the broader implications of our choices.

Narrative Essays

Narrative career goals essays allow you to share personal stories or experiences related to your career aspirations and the journey toward achieving them. Explore these narrative essay topics:

• 1. Narrate a personal experience that shaped your career goals and ignited your passion for [your chosen field].
• 2. Share a story of overcoming obstacles and setbacks on your path to realizing your long-term career aspirations.

Example Introduction Paragraph for a Narrative Career Goals Essay: Our career goals are often inspired by personal experiences and pivotal moments. In this narrative essay, I will take you on a journey through a defining experience that ignited my passion for [your chosen field], shaping my career aspirations and determination to succeed.

Example Conclusion Paragraph for a Narrative Career Goals Essay: In conclusion, the narrative of my journey toward realizing my career goals underscores the resilience and determination required to overcome obstacles. As we reflect on our own experiences, we are reminded that our career aspirations are within reach with dedication and perseverance.

10 Most Popular Career Goals Essay Topics in 2024

• Adapting Career Aspirations in the Age of Automation and AI
• The Role of Personal Branding in Achieving Career Success
• Navigating Career Changes: Strategies for Lifelong Learning
• Empowering Career Goals: The Impact and Importance of Scholarships
• The Impact of Globalization on Career Opportunities and Choices
• Mentorship's Role in Shaping Future Leaders and Professionals
• Success: The Importance of Setting Career Goals
• The Impact of Cultural Influences on Career Goals and Aspirations
• The Importance of Work-Life Balance in Career Planning
• Entrepreneurship as a Career Goal: Opportunities and Challenges

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Writing a Personal Statement

Preparing to Write

Brainstorming, don't forget, sample prompts.

A personal statement is a narrative essay that connects your background, experiences, and goals to the mission, requirements, and desired outcomes of the specific opportunity you are seeking. It is a critical component in the selection process, whether the essay is for a competitive internship, a graduate fellowship, or admittance to a graduate school program. It gives the selection committee the best opportunity to get to know you, how you think and make decisions, ways in which past experiences have been significant or formative, and how you envision your future. Personal statements can be varied in form; some are given a specific prompt, while others are less structured. However, in general a personal statement should answer the following questions:

• Who are you?
• What are your goals?
• How does this specific program/opportunity help you achieve your goals?
• What is in the future?

A personal statement is not:

• A variation of your college admissions essay
• An academic/research paper
• A narrative version of your resume
• A creative writing piece (it can be creative, though)
• An essay about somebody else

Keep in mind that your statement is only a portion of the application and should be written with this in mind. Your entire application package will include some, possibly all, of the materials listed below. You will want to consider what these pieces of the application communicate about you. Your personal statement should aim to tie everything together and fill in or address any gaps. There will likely be some overlap but be sure not to be too repetitive.

• Personal Statement(s)
• Transcripts
• Letters of recommendations
• Sample of written work
• Research proposal

For a quick overview of personal statements, you might begin by watching this "5 Minute Fellowships" video!

If you are writing your first personal statement or working to improve upon an existing personal statement, the video below is a helpful, in-depth resource.

A large portion of your work towards completing a personal statement begins well before your first draft or even an outline. It is incredibly important to be sure you understand all of the rules and regulations around the statement. Things to consider before you begin writing:

• How many prompts? And what are they? It is important to know the basics so you can get your ideas in order. Some programs will require a general statement of interest and a focused supplementary or secondary statement closely aligned with the institution's goals.
• Are there formatting guidelines? Single or double spaced, margins, fonts, text sizes, etc. Our general guideline is to keep it simple.
• How do I submit my statement(s)? If uploading a document we highly suggest using a PDF as it will minimize the chances of accidental changes to formatting. Some programs may event ask you to copy and paste into a text box.
• When do I have to submit my statement(s)? Most are due at the time of application but some programs, especially medical schools, will ask for secondary statements a few months after you apply. In these instances be sure to complete them within two weeks, any longer is an indication that you aren't that interested in the institution.

Below is a second 5 Minute Fellowships video that can help you get started!

Before you start writing, take some time to reflect on your experiences and motivations as they relate to the programs to which you are applying. This will offer you a chance to organize your thoughts which will make the writing process much easier. Below are a list of questions to help you get started:

• What individuals, experiences or events have shaped your interest in this particular field?
• What has influenced your decision to apply to graduate school?
• How does this field align with your interests, strengths, and values?
• What distinguishes you from other applicants?
• What would you bring to this program/profession?
• What has prepared you for graduate study in this field? Consider your classes at Wellesley, research and work experience, including internships, summer jobs and volunteer work.
• Why are you interested in this particular institution or degree program?
• How is this program distinct from others?
• What do you hope to gain?
• What is motivating you to seek an advanced degree now?
• Where do you see yourself headed and how will this degree program help you get there?

For those applying to Medical School, if you need a committee letter for your application and are using the Medical Professions Advisory Committee you have already done a lot of heavy lifting through the 2017-2018 Applicant Information Form . Even if you aren't using MPAC the applicant information form is a great place to start.

Another great place to start is through talking out your ideas. You have a number of options both on and off campus, such as: Career Education advisors and mentors ( you can set up an appointment here ), major advisor, family, friends. If you are applying to a graduate program it is especially important to talk with a faculty member in the field. Remember to take good notes so you can refer to them later.

When you begin writing keep in mind that your essay is one of many in the application pool. This is not to say you should exaggerate your experiences to “stand out” but that you should focus on clear, concise writing. Also keep in mind that the readers are considering you not just as a potential student but a future colleague. Be sure to show them examples and experiences which demonstrate you are ready to begin their program.

It is important to remember that your personal statement will take time and energy to complete, so plan accordingly. Every application and statement should be seen as different from one another, even if they are all the same type of program. Each institution may teach you the same material but their delivery or focus will be slightly different.

In addition, remember:

• Be yourself: You aren’t good at being someone else
• Tragedy is not a requirement, reflection and depth are
• Research the institution or organization
• Proofread, proofread, proofread
• How to have your personal statement reviewed

The prompts below are from actual applications to a several types of programs. As you will notice many of them are VERY general in nature. This is why it is so important to do your research and reflect on your motivations. Although the prompts are similar in nature the resulting statements would be very different depending on the discipline and type of program, as well as your particular background and reasons for wanting to pursue this graduate degree.

• This statement should illustrate your academic background and experiences and explain why you would excel in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (UMass Amherst - M.S. in Civil Engineering).
• Describe your academic and career objectives and how the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies can help you achieve them. Include other considerations that explain why you seek admissions to the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and your interests in the environmental field (Yale - Master of Environmental Management).  
• Please discuss your academic interests and goals. Include your current professional and research interests, as well as your long-range professional objectives. Please be as specific as possible about how your objectives can be met at Clark and do not exceed 800 words (Clark University - M.A. in International Development and Social Change).
• Write a 500- to 700-word statement that describes your work or research. Discuss how you came to focus on the medium, body of work, or academic area you wish to pursue at the graduate level. Also discuss future directions or goals for your work, and describe how the Master of Fine Arts in Studio (Printmedia) is particularly suited to your professional goals (School of the Art Institute of Chicago - MFA in Studio, Printmaking).
• Your statement should explain why you want to study economics at the graduate level. The statement is particularly important if there is something unusual about your background and preparation that you would like us to know about you (University of Texas at Austin - Ph.D in Economics).
• Your personal goal statement is an important part of the review process for our faculty members as they consider your application. They want to know about your background, work experience, plans for graduate study and professional career, qualifications that make you a strong candidate for the program, and any other relevant information (Indiana University Bloomington - M.S.Ed. in Secondary Education).
• Your autobiographical essay/personal statement is a narrative that outlines significant experiences in your life, including childhood experiences, study and work, your strengths and aspirations in the field of architecture, and why you want to come to the University of Oregon (University of Oregon - Master of Architecture).
• Personal history and diversity statement, in which you describe how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. You may refer to any educational, familial, cultural, economic or social experiences, challenges, community service, outreach activities, residency and citizenship, first-generation college status, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how your life experiences contribute to the social, intellectual or cultural diversity within a campus community and your chosen field; or how you might serve educationally underrepresented and underserved segments of society with your graduate education (U.C. Davis - M.A. in Linguistics).
• A Personal Statement specifying your past experiences, reasons for applying, and your areas of interest. It should explain your intellectual and personal goals, why you are interested in pursuing an interdisciplinary degree rather than a more traditional disciplinary one, and how this degree fits into your intellectual and personal future (Rutgers University - Ph.D in Women’s and Gender Studies).
• Your application requires a written statement to uploaded into your application and is a critical component of your application for admission. This is your opportunity to tell us what excites you about the field of library and information science, and what problems you want to help solve in this field. Please also tell us how your prior experiences have prepared you for this next step toward your career goals and how this program will help you achieve them (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill - Master of Science in Library Science).
• After watching the video, please describe what strengths and preferences as a learner you have that will facilitate your success in this innovative curriculum. What challenges in our curriculum do you anticipate and what strategies might you use to address these challenges? (MGH Institute of Health Professions PT - They recently redesigned their curriculum)
• Your personal goal statement should briefly describe how you view the future of the field, what your goals are to be part of that future, and what brought you to pursue an advanced education degree in your chosen field. You may include any other information that you feel might be useful. (Northeastern PT)
• Personal Statement: In 500 words or less, describe a meaningful educational experience that affected your professional goals and growth and explain how it impacted you. The educational experience does not need to be related to this degree. Focus on the educational experience and not why you think you would be a good professional in this field. (Simmons PT)
• Personal Statement (500 word minimum): State your reasons for seeking admission to this program at this institution. Include your professional goals, why you want to pursue a career in this field and how admission to this program will assist you in accomplishing those goals. (Regis College Nursing)
• “Use the space provided to explain why you want to go to this type of program.” (AMCAS)
• Address the following three questions(Though there is no set limit, most statements are 1–2 pages, single-spaced.): What are your reasons for pursuing this degree? Why do you wish to pursue your degree at this institution? How do you intend to leverage your degree in a career of this field? (Boston University MPH)
• Please submit a personal statement/statement of purpose of no more than 500 words for the department/degree of choice. Professional degree essays require a clear understanding of the _______ field and how you hope to work within the field. Be sure to proofread your personal statement carefully for spelling and grammar. In your statement, be sure to address the following: what interests you in the field of _____ what interests you in a specific degree program and department at this institution and what interests you in a particular certificate (if applicable). Please also describe how you hope to use your ________ training to help you achieve your career goals. (Columbia PhD in Public Health - Epidemiology)
• Because each Home Program requires significant original research activities in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, we are interested in obtaining as much information as possible about your previous research experiences. Those who already have such experience are in a better position to know whether they are truly interested in performing ______ research as part of a graduate program. Please include specific information about your research experience in your Statement of Purpose. You may also use the Statement to amplify your comments about your choice of Home Program(s), and how your past experiences and current interests are related to your choice. Personal Statements should not exceed two pages in length (single spaced). Make sure to set your computer to Western European or other English-language setting. We cannot guarantee the ability to access your statement if it is submitted in other fonts. (Stanford Biosciences PhD)
• Your statement of purpose should describe succinctly your reasons for applying to the Department of ____ at ___ University. It would be helpful to include what you have done to prepare for this degree program. Please describe your research interests, past research experience, future career plans and other details of your background and interests that will allow us to evaluate your ability to thrive in our program. If you have interests that align with a specific faculty member, you may state this in your application. Your statement of purpose should not exceed two pages in length (single spaced). (Stanford Bioengineering PhD)
• Statement of purpose (Up to one page or 1,000 words): Rather than a research proposal, you should provide a statement of purpose. Your statement should be written in English and explain your motivation for applying for the course at this institution and your relevant experience and education. Please provide an indication of the area of your proposed research and supervisor(s) in your statement. This will be assessed for the coherence of the statement; evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study; the ability to present a reasoned case in English; and commitment to the subject. (Oxford Inorganic Chemistry - DPhil)

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‘Time poverty’ can keep college students from graduating − especially if they have jobs or children to care for

Professor of Urban Education, CUNY Graduate Center

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Claire Wladis receives funding from the National Science Foundation.

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Many college students don’t have enough time for their studies. This “ time poverty ,” as we call it, is often due to inadequate child care access or the need to work to pay for college and living expenses.

In an effort to understand how much time poverty affects student outcomes, we surveyed more than 41,000 U.S. college students. We found that the more time poverty, the greater the chances of a student earning fewer credits or dropping out . This is especially true for Black and Hispanic students and for women, who have significantly less time for college compared with their peers, largely due to time spent on their jobs and caring for children.

Our research describes how differences in time available for college are often the result of structural inequities in higher education, such as insufficient financial aid for students who have children or who have to work to pay the bills.

Why it matters

Time poverty explains major differences in student outcomes. In one study, students who dropped out of college had on average nine fewer hours per week available for college than those who did not drop out. And students who earned over 12 credits in a term had on average 18 more hours per week available for college than students who earned only six credits or less. Thus, student outcomes are highly correlated with available time for academics.

Often, there are gaps in college credit attainment between students from different racial or ethnic groups or by gender. However, those gaps shrink significantly – or disappear altogether – when we compare students with similar time available for college. This shows just how important time is as a resource for finishing a college degree.

Time poverty also leads to overwork, which can cause burnout. For example, Black women had the least time for college of any group . Compared with the group with the most time – Asian and Pacific Islander men – Black women had on average 24 fewer hours per week to devote to their studies. However, both groups spent the same amount of time on college.

How is this possible?

Black, Hispanic and women students sacrificed an even greater proportion of their free time – time left over after paid work, housework and child care – on college than their peers. The average total time Black women spent on college as well as paid and unpaid work was 75 hours per week, or equivalent to more than two full-time jobs.

Our findings show that this holds true for all students. On average, the more time-poor they are, the more free time they sacrifice for their studies.

This sacrifice comes at a cost: Students must give up time spent on sleep, meals, health care, leisure and exercise to make time for college. This is particularly worrisome because overwork has been linked to negative impacts on mental and physical health .

In prior research, my colleagues and I have also found that students who are parents – particularly mothers – and students who choose to take online courses have less time available for college than their peers. This explains differences in academic outcomes. Time poverty affects students from many different groups, yet existing college policies, practices and structures rarely take it into account.

What’s next?

Even though nearly 1 in 4 current undergraduates have children , the availability of on-campus child care has been shrinking for decades , and child care costs are not automatically included in financial aid. Student-parents also have to work extra hours to pay for their children’s living expenses, which are not covered by federal financial aid .

Even for students without children, financial aid rarely covers actual expenses. Federal financial need calculations often underestimate actual need , especially for students with lower socioeconomic status or more family responsibilities. Current federal financial aid meets the needs of only 35.7% of U.S. undergraduates . Accordingly, most U.S. students have to work to pay for college, taking away time that would likely be better spent studying.

Providing students with enough financial aid to enroll in college, but not enough to complete college, is counterproductive. Providing students with enough time – and thus money – for college is therefore not only a sound investment but also critical to honoring the values of fairness and opportunity for all.

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College essays matter. Here's how to write one that stands out | College Connection

Students facing the college application process typically dread one component: the Common App essay. 

Students are presented with six essay prompts, as well as a seventh option, which is “topic of your choice.” Students therefore have limitless possibilities for this essay which will be carefully reviewed by each college to which the student applies.

The goal of college admissions officers is to learn about the student who is applying: personal qualities, struggles, ambitions, priorities. On other parts of the application a student’s “data” is detailed. So, this is not the place to write about one’s SAT scores, GPA, or intended major, or to enumerate one’s activities. It is the place to write about an event, situation, or life circumstance that has influenced the student’s attitudes, goals, and perceptions of life.

The options are limitless. Students can write about life occurrences that impacted them: an illness, a learning disability, a relocation. They can use a sport, club, organization, or volunteer group as the overarching framework within which they learned important life lessons. 

More: The biggest key to college acceptance | College Connection

One student’s essay, which went viral after its author was accepted to a multitude of Ivy League schools, focused on lessons she learned from visits to Costco over the years. In short, students can write about anything that has impacted them – hopefully in a positive way.

Then, students face supplemental essays. Many colleges, including almost all the most competitive ones, require an essay that is specific to the school. Typically, the question is along the lines of, “Why do you want to attend this institution?” or “Why did you choose your particular major and how will our school prepare you to meet your future goals?”

More: These are the latest trends in college admissions | College Connection

Colleges are aware that students typically apply to 8 to 12 different schools, and they are trying to discern “demonstrated interest,” or, in other words, the likelihood of a student enrolling if accepted. So, students should utilize each supplemental essay as an opportunity to demonstrate their interest in the particular college, and should specifically state the courses, programs, study abroad options, internships, and any other characteristics that make the institution a perfect match for their college ambitions.

By showing enthusiasm for each school and sharing their attributes through the Common App and supplemental essays, students will greatly enhance their prospects of experiencing a successful college application process.   

Susan Alaimo is the founder & director of Collegebound Review, offering PSAT/SAT ® preparation & private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362 .

Socioeconomic Status Matters in Student Achievement—But It’s Not Everything

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Corrected : An earlier version of this article misidentified the lead author of the report. Eric Hengyu Hu was the lead author.

Data suggests socioeconomic factors play an important role in explaining the gaps in knowledge and skills that emerge between different racial groups as early as kindergarten—but that class doesn’t explain everything. That’s according to new research from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.

The report , released Aug. 21, builds on extended research from two decades ago that analyzed the achievement gap between Black and Hispanic students and their white peers, which suggested that a family’s socioeconomic status accounts for a large swath of the achievement gap. But it also isn’t the whole story.

“To us, there’s sort of two big takeaways,” said Paul Morgan, a professor at the University of Albany, one of the researchers for the report. “One: Class does seem to matter in terms of explaining racial and ethnic achievement gaps. And, two: Class, while important, doesn’t explain everything.”

Morgan and Eric Hengyu Hu, an education policy and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Albany, studied how 11 indicators of socioeconomic status within several measures, looking at background like household income, parents’ education, single parent status, etc. Their analysis found that socioeconomic factors explain between 34 and 64 percent of the Black-white achievement gap, depending on the subject (for example, math, science, or reading) and grade level, and between 51 and 77 percent of the Hispanic-white achievement gap.

The researchers used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2011, a nationally representative data sample collected and released by the federal government that tracked the same students through 5th grade. The findings are made from correlation and regression analysis.

Different factors influence different students, Hu said. The research showed that household income best explains the Black-white achievement gap, while the mother’s level of education best explains the Hispanic-white gap. The researchers found that the role of each indicator didn’t change much between an older student data set, from 1998-99, and the 2011 data.

“Basically, we are saying that a mother’s education mattered 20 years ago, but also 10 years ago,” Hu said.

The study lists four proposed solutions—“none of which are novel but all of which might help,” the report notes—to address the gaps:

• Support programs to help parents earn high school diplomas or higher education credentials,
• Focus on early childhood education,
• Economic support and financial aid for low-income families, and
• Addressing racial and ethnic disparities through culturally responsive teaching and learning materials.

Hu added that the study intentionally did not include looking at the school factors. He recalled, as a graduate student, reading research papers about the school effect and feeling like there was too much burden placed on teachers and schools.

“At a certain point, we already see the [teacher] shortage, a high turnover rate in school. And if you interview the teachers, some teachers would say there’s a lot of pressure and a burden on them,” he said. “Definitely, school has to play a role, but what other kind of socially constructed indicators could we help?”

Still, socioeconomic status does not account for everything. The achievement gap between Black and white students continued to grow across elementary grades, and socioeconomic status explained less than half of the gap in math, science, and reading. For Hispanic students, socioeconomic status better explained achievement gaps over time.

The results, Morgan added, show that socioeconomic status is related to achievement and help explain it initially.

“But that doesn’t mean it’s ever too late to help,” he said.

Socioeconomic status isn’t the ‘silver bullet’ to achievement gaps

The adult education program in the Alexandria, Va., city public schools helps students over 18 get their GED, learn English, and complete workforce development training. Director of Adult Education Teri Barnett has seen parents come through her door: immigrants learning English and updating their skills, students who dropped out of K-12 and are coming back to pursue their high school diploma, mothers in daytime programs who then go home and care for their children.

Her program has federal and state funding and has done a lot, but it still has few resources, she said.

“Adult education is undervalued. It is underrecognized, because it’s not seen as K-12,” she said. “But it serves the community. Because these are the parents that serve the students that we serve, and serve the citizens we serve.”

Educated parents can better address issues their children may be having in their schools, she said, and give them a level of confidence to better support their children’s learning. But it ultimately doesn’t only fall to parents.

Keri Rodrigues, the founding president of the National Parents Union, said her constituencies—parents—are often indicted for not doing enough.

“The parents of today are the underserved kids of the previous generation,” she said. “While [socioeconomic status] is a really important factor, systemic inequities within the public education system—unequal access to quality teachers, advanced coursework, and extracurricular opportunities, all of those things need to be addressed.”

Black and Latino students are more likely to have teachers with one year or less of experience in the classroom , despite federal efforts to change that, according to previous EdWeek reporting. The United States spends billions more on white school districts than it does on predominantly nonwhite districts, according to previous EdWeek reporting.

One of the reasons All4Ed, a national advocacy organization working to expand education opportunities for students of color and students from low-income families, focuses on federal Title I funding and funding equity is to ensure that dollars are targeting the student communities that need that money the most, said Anne Hyslop, the director of policy development for the organization. Those conversations need to happen on the local level, too.

“When you have a budget, are you ensuring that you are targeting resources to your higher poverty schools? If you are recruiting teachers and your community that serves predominantly Latino students, do you have educators who are Latino in your schools?” she said. “There is no silver bullet here, but there are pieces that are completely within the control of the school that they can also focus on.”

Policy solutions outside of the education system—expanding the child tax credit, affordable childcare, expanding pre-K—are also vital, she said.

“This is sort of an all-hands-on-deck-crisis,” she said.

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One NYU Student's 2024 Move-In Journey: A Photo Essay

For any first year student, move-in marks a major transition, whether the journey starts across the world or just a few miles uptown.

All photos by Jonathan King.

This year, NYU photographer Jonathan King tagged along with incoming Tisch musical theatre student Brooke Gomez Saturday, August 24 as she left her family home in the Bronx to start her  #NYU2028  adventure at Lipton Hall on Washington Square.

Brooke's day of farewells and hellos included a goodbye to the family's mini schnauzer Bruno, lugging suitcases in and out of elevators, making her new bed and finding the perfect placement for her Squishmallows, meeting her roommates, and, of course, one last tight squeeze from her mom (Keila), dad (Will), and brother (Ryan). More move-in rites of passage appear below.

Can Technical Education in High School Smooth Postsecondary Transitions for Students with Disabilities?

Participation in Career Technical Education (CTE) programs has been proposed as a valuable strategy for supporting transition to independence among students with disabilities. We exploit a discontinuity created by admissions thresholds from a statewide system of CTE high schools. Our findings suggest attending CTE high schools has large positive effects on completing high school on time, employment, and earnings, including for individuals 22 years or older. Attending CTE schools also results in more time spent with non-disabled peers and higher 10th grade test scores. These results appear concentrated among male students, but the sample of female students is too small to support strong conclusions about outcomes. Notably, these estimates are for a system of CTE high schools operating at scale and serving students across a wide spectrum of disabilities, and the estimated effects appear broad based over disability type, time spent with non-disabled peers in 8th grade and previous academic performance.

We thank the Institute for Education Sciences for financial support under grant number R305A160195, and personnel at the State of Connecticut Departments of Education and Labor, as well as the State P20Win program, for their support in completing this project. We thank Blake Heller and other participants in the Career and Technical Education and Advances in Student Outcomes session of the American Economic Association 2024 meetings. We also thank Shangyue Jiang for excellent research assistance. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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