fau admission essay prompt

Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine: FAU Secondary Application Essay Prompts and Tips

• Cracking Med School Admissions

Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine cares deeply about serving its community. FAU Admissions wants to recruit students who are passionate about improving community health and who care about social justice. It is important to write about how you have served your community in your FAU medical school secondary application. Read more of our FAU secondary application tips below. 

Pre-Writing Guidance: FAU removes some of its prompts each year, but there is always a leadership question, Why Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine question, a challenge question, and optional questions about your academic career. We would strongly suggest that you look at the FAU secondaries prompts for the last 4 years and pre-write the essays that don’t seem to change too much.

Our  Cracking Med School Admissions team has a track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to Schmidt FAU College of Medicine for the past several years. Get our help with writing FAU secondaries that stand out with our secondary essay editing packages . 

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• We study your application strengths to see what unique attributes we’ll bring to the medical school

FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2023 – 2024

• Use this area to justify and/or explain any academic hardships on your transcripts (any failed and/or repeated courses due to any reason). (1,600 characters max)
• Use this area to explain exceptions to these prerequisites at your institution.  (1,600 characters max)
• Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please provide details of your activities/employment for the application year. (1,200 characters max)
• Describe why you would like to attend the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. What values, skills, talents, and life experiences would you contribute to our community?  (1,600 characters max)  worded slightly differently this year
• Your AMCAS application should reflect your community service experiences. Tell us about your most meaningful community service experience that is  unrelated to direct patient care. How did you grow? What did you learn? What did you enjoy about serving others?  (1,600 characters max)
• What traits do you feel you have developed through your experiences thus far (such as paid or unpaid work experiences) that will help prepare you to be successful in medical school and a future physician. Experience does not need to be related to patient care.  (1,600 characters max)   New Prompt this year
• Leadership can be defined in many ways. One way of defining leadership is as a set of behaviors used to help people align their collective direction, or lead a group or an organization. Tell us about a time you executed your leadership skills.  (1,600 characters max) Slightly reworded from last year
• Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped shape you as a person. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during challenges you may face during medical school and as a future physician. Describe any support system and/or resources you had available and how you utilized them.  (1,600 characters max) Slightly reworded from last year

For the FAU secondaries prompt, “Use this area to justify and/or explain any academic hardships on your transcripts (any failed and/or repeated courses due to any reason)” you should strongly consider discussing the following:

• Receiving a grade of “C” or lower
• A semester when your Grade Point Average (GPA) was a lot lower than other semesters
• A downward trend in your Grade Point Average
• A semester when you took less credits than you normally do
• Times when you were not a full-time student 

Contact us if you have questions about what you should include.

Removed a couple of essays from last year.

Tips to Answer FAU Secondaries

FAU Secondaries Pre-Writing Guidance: FAU slightly tweaks the wording of its FAU secondary essay prompts each year. However, there are 4-5 prompts that stay fairly similar each year, and our FAU secondary application ti ps on how to answer these questions don’t change.  We think this is a great secondary to pre-write, especially given that FAU is a more time-sensitive school. 

• Download our Cracking Med Secondary Essay Workbook and Examples  to help you with all your secondary essays!

FAU Secondary Application Tip #1: Include as many anecdotes as possible. 1200-1600 characters may not seem like a lot, but our students are successful in incorporating anecdotes for many of their Florida Atlantic University Medical School secondary application essays. In our opinion, you can definitely add anecdotes and stories in the following FAU secondaries prompts: 

• Tell us about your most meaningful community service experience that is unrelated to direct patient care. How did you grow? What did you learn? What did you enjoy about serving others?
• What traits do you feel you have developed through your experiences thus far (such as paid or unpaid work experiences) that will help prepare you to be successful in medical school and a future physician. Experience does not need to be related to patient care.
• Leadership can be defined in many ways. One way of defining leadership is as a set of behaviors used to help people align their collective direction, or lead a group or an organization. Tell us about a time you executed your leadership skills.
• Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped shape you as a person. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during challenges you may face during medical school and as a future physician. Describe any support system and/or resources you had available and how you utilized them. 

FAU Secondary Application Tip #2:  Highlight your leadership, passion to change healthcare, and impact on society. After reading your entire FAU Medical School secondary application, the reader should understand: how are you committed to improving your community?

FAU Secondary Application Tip #3: To answer FAU Medical School’s diversity question, you don’t have to necessarily talk about your ethnic background. You can discuss working with immigrant populations or other talents / activities that have shaped who you are today. 

• Read our helpful blog post:  Medical School Diversity Essay Examples and Tips

FAU Secondary Application Tip #4: Of course, you should incorporate “Why FAU Medical School” in the FAU secondary application question, “ Tell us why you would like to be admitted to the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. What makes you a good fit for our College of Medicine?” But, you can definitely incorporate more “Why FAU Medical School” throughout your other responses. 

• Read our HIGH-YIELD blog post  Why this Medical School? Secondary Essay Example to learn how to write great “Why this medical school” essays. 

FAU Secondary Application Tip #5:  For the question,  “Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped shape you as a person. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during challenges you may face during medical school and as a future physician. Describe any support system and/or resources you had available and how you utilized them”  make sure you clearly discuss what the challenge was and how you overcame this.

Common mistakes students make include:

• Talking about a topic that is too common among premedical students, such getting a “C” in organic chemistry.
• Not providing enough context about the challenge they faced.
• Not discussing how they overcame the stressful situation.
• Not discussing how they grew from the challenge.

Great topics for the FAU Medical School secondary application challenge essay include:

• Challenge in leading a community service project
• Challenge in leading a team
• Challenge with helping a patient receive better healthcare access
• Challenge in a class (but not grade related) and how the applicant became better at studying
• Challenge during a study abroad program
• Challenge when immigrating to America as a new international student

If you have questions about whether your topic is a good topic to write about, send Dr. Mediratta and Dr. Rizal a question through our contact form  below. 

FAU Secondary Application Tip #6: Get our help to edit your FAU secondaries through our secondary essay editing packages . Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has a strong track record of several of our mentees getting accepted to Florida medical schools and residency programs. And, Dr. Rachel Rizal has visited her mentees at the Florida medical schools herself! Have questions about how you can stand out? Contact us below.

[ Read more secondary essay tips:  Florida State University (FSU) , Florida International University (FIU) , University of Central Florida , George Washington )

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FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2022 – 2023

• Tell us why you would like to be admitted to the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. What makes you a good fit for our College of Medicine? (1,600 characters max)
• Tell us about your leadership experience(s) and/or key leadership skills. (Organized a fundraiser, had club/organization officer role, etc.) How do you motivate or influence people?  If none, please write not applicable. (1,600 characters max)  Slightly reworded from last year
• Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician. If none, please write not applicable. (1,600 characters max) Slightly reworded from last year
• The Florida Atlantic University Schmidt College of Medicine has made a commitment to foster an inclusive environment in which every person in our medical school community has the ability to achieve their full potential. We are proud to have a medical school rich in cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. What values, skills, talents, and life experiences would you contribute to our community?  (1,600 characters max) Slightly reworded from last year
• You may have worked during or after college. Having to maintain paid employment can be challenging, yet it can also develop a number of qualities that can help you succeed in medical school, as well as beyond. Tell us about your most meaningful paid employment. What was it about the experience that made it meaningful? What qualities and skills did the job help you develop and strengthen? (Experience does not need to be related to patient care, if none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)

FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2021 – 2022

• Your AMCAS application should reflect your community service experiences. However, tell us more about your most meaningful community service involvement, particularly an experience that really inspired you. How did your involvement move you? (Experience does not need to be related to patient care) (1,600 characters max)
• Good leaders add value to the healthcare profession. They have passion, motivation, conflict resolution skills and integrity, among other attributes and traits. Tell us about your leadership experience(s) and/or key leadership skills. Have you organized a fund raiser, had a club organization/leadership role? How do you motivate or influence people? (1,600 characters max)
• Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome an obstacle or were faced by a difficult challenge or decision. What valuable lessons did you learn? How do you think the experience prepared you for a career as a future physician? (1,600 characters max)
• Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our individual differences. Describe what uniqueness you would bring to the Schmidt COM. We are proud to already have a medical school rich in cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity. What values, skills, talents, and life experiences would you add to our culture? (1,600 characters max)
• As a community FAU Schmidt COM has made a commitment to be anti-racist and address systemic racism in education and healthcare. Institutionalized racism can be defined as “macro level systems, social forces, institutions, ideologies, and processes that interact with one another to generate and reinforce inequities among racial and ethnic groups.” As a future medical student at FAU, how can you play an active role in addressing and dismantling systemic racism? (1,600 characters max)
• One of the values of the FAU Schmidt College of Medicine is to provide the best medical care for all people. A major challenge for all physicians to provide the best medical care are Social Determinants of Health (SDOH). These can be defined as “conditions in the social, physical, and economic environment in which people are born, live, work, and age.” What will you as a future doctor do to address SDOH? (1,600 characters max)

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FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2020 - 2021

• Tell us about your most meaningful community service experience. How did you grow? What did you learn? What did you enjoy about serving others? (not related to patient care, if none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)
• Tell us about your leadership experience(s) and/or key leadership skills. (Organized a fund raiser, club/organization officer role, how do you motivate or influence people, if none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)
• Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician (if none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)

FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2019 – 2020

• Use this area to justify and/or explain any academic hardships on your transcripts (any failed and/or repeated courses due to any reason) (1,600 characters max)
• What MCAT course and when did you take? (1,600 characters max)
• Your AMCAS application should reflect your community service experiences. However, tell us more about your most meaningful community service involvement, particularly an experience that really inspired you. How did your involvement move you? (Experience does not need to be related to patient care, if none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)
• Good leaders add value to the healthcare profession. They have passion, motivation, conflict resolution skills and integrity, among other attributes and traits. Tell us about your leadership experience(s) and/or key leadership skills. Have you organized a fund raiser, had a club/organization officer role? How do you motivate or influence people? (If none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)

FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2018 – 2019

• The college’s mission is to advance the health and well-being of our community by training future generations of humanistic clinicians and scientists and translating discovery to patient-centered care. Therefore, as a community-based medical school, community service is important to the College. What community service activity was your most meaningful and do you currently continue to give your time to the activity? (1,600 characters max)
• Our College believes in working collaboratively. Thus being able to work in a team is vital to the success of an FAU Medical Student, yet being able to lead is equally important. Give an example of when you were part of a team and had a leadership role. How did you influence your team members to carry out their tasks within the group? How did you perform in your role within the team? What did you learn from having to lead a team? Did any problems arise? How did you overcome them? What did you learn about being a part of a team, while also holding a leadership position? (1,600 characters max)
• The FAU College of Medicine Admissions Committee is interested in learning more about you as a person. Please describe a noteworthy personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral and/or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience and what you learned about yourself as a result. (1,600 characters max)
• Diversity is an array of things. What unique qualities and/or traits will you bring to our College? What distinctive attributes would you bring to the practice of medicine? What values, skills, talents, and life experiences – and how you would add to the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine? (1,600 characters max)
• Have you held any type of paid employment? If so, please tell us about your most meaningful employment experience. What traits do you feel you learned while with that employer? (If you have not held paid employment, please write none) (1,600 characters max)

FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2017 – 2018

• Tell us why you would like to be admitted to the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. (1,200 characters max)
• Tell us about your most meaningful community service experience. (not related to patient care if none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)
• Tell us about your leadership experience(s) and/or key leadership skills. (Organized a fundraiser, club/organization officer role, how do you motivate or influence people, if none, please write none) (1,600 characters max)
• Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician (if none, please write none)
• Describe what you would bring to the practice of medicine – your values, skills, talents, and life experiences – and how you would add to the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. (1,200 characters max)
• Tell us about your most meaningful employment experience. (not related to patient care, if none, please write none)

FAU Secondary Application Questions: 2016 – 2017

• Tell us about your most meaningful community service experience. (not related to patient care if none, please write none) (1,200 characters max)
• Tell us about your most meaningful employment experience. (not related to patient care, if none, please write none) (1,200 characters max)
• Tell us about your most meaningful leadership experience. (if none, please write none) (1,200 characters max)
• Tell us about any creative endeavors you participate(d) in. (e.g., art, dance, music, etc if none, please write none) (1,200 characters max)
• Describe a situation in which you interacted with a culturally diverse group. (if none, please write none) (1,200 characters max)

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Florida Atlantic University (Schmidt) Secondary Essay Prompts

These are the secondary application essay prompts for Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page .

About Florida Atlantic University (Schmidt)

Secondary Deadline : December 31, 2023 Secondary Fee : $30 FAP Waiver : Full Fee Waived CASPer Required : Yes Screens Applications : Yes Accepts Application Updates : Yes/Portal

The college’s mission is to advance the health and well-being of our community by training future generations of humanistic clinicians and scientists and translating discovery to patient-centered care. The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is an integrated learning organization that fosters high-quality, humanistic, and patient-centered care. Our mission is to deliver high-touch, high-tech education to our students and residents, and to collaborate on high impact, interdisciplinary research with leading experts in the field. The College of Medicine is dedicated to integrating discovery with health care and education in order to contribute to the vitality of our immediate communities, to improve the health and well-being of people and populations, and to transform community-based health care.

As an integrated learning-organization, our values encompass collaboration, innovation, respect, compassion, lifelong learning and engagement. Through collaboration, we share knowledge and build trust and consensus. Through innovation, we embrace creativity and flexibility. By respecting one another, we strive to acknowledge and express our appreciation for the unique and diverse contributions of others. Through compassion, we empathize with our patients, students, and peers. Through lifelong learning, we value intellectual curiosity and the drive toward continuous knowledge acquisition and human development. Through engagement, we foster teamwork within our organization and within our community.

1. Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please provide details of your activities/employment for the application year. (1200 Character limit)

2. Tell us why you would like to be admitted to the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. (1600 Character Limit)

3. The college’s mission is to advance the health and well-being of our community by training future generations of humanistic clinicians and scientists and translating discovery to patient-centered care. Therefore, as a community-based medical school, community service is important to the College. What community service activity was your most meaningful and do you currently continue to give your time to the activity? (1600 Character Limit)

4. Our College believes in working collaboratively. Thus being able to work in a team is vital to the success of an FAU Medical Student, yet being able to lead is equally important. Give an example of when you were part of a team and had a leadership role. How did you influence your team members to carry out their tasks within the group? How did you perform in your role within the team? What did you learn from having to lead a team? Did any problems arise? How did you overcome them? What did you learn about being a part of a team, while also holding a leadership position? (1600 Character Limit)

5. The FAU College of Medicine Admissions Committee is interested in learning more about you as a person. Please describe a noteworthy personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral and/or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience and what you learned about yourself as a result. (1600 Character Limit)

6. Diversity is an array of things. What unique qualities and/or traits will you bring to our College? What distinctive attributes would you bring to the practice of medicine? What values, skills, talents, and life experiences – and how you would add to the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine? (1600 Character Limit)

7. Have you held any type of paid employment? If so, please tell us about your most meaningful employment experience. What traits do you feel you learned while with that employer? (If you have not held paid employment, please write none). (1600 Character Limit)

1. Use this area to justify and/or explain any academic hardships on your transcripts (any failed and/or repeated courses due to any reason)

2. Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please provide details of your activities/employment for the application year. (1200 Character limit)

3. Tell us why you would like to be admitted to the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. (1600 Character Limit)

4. Tell us about your most meaningful community service experience. (not related to patient care if none, please write none) (1600 Characters)

5. Tell us about your leadership experience(s) and/or key leadership skills. (Organized a fund raiser, club/organization officer role, how do you motivate or influence people, if none, please write none) (1600 Characters)

6. Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician (if none, please write none)

7. Describe what you would bring to the practice of medicine – your values, skills, talents, and life experiences – and how you would add to the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. (1600 Characters)

8. Tell us about your most meaningful employment experience. (not related to patient care, if none, please write none)

1.Tell us about your most meaningful community service experience. (not related to patient care if none, please write none) (1200 char)

2.Tell us about your most meaningful employment experience. (not related to patient care, if none, please write none) (1200 char)

3.Tell us about your most meaningful leadership experience. (if none, please write none) (1200 char)

4.Tell us about any creative endeavors you participate(d) in. (e.g., art, dance, music, etc if none, please write none) (1200 char)

5.Describe a situation in which you interacted with a culturally diverse group. (if none, please write none)

Disclaimer: The information on this page was shared by students and/or can be found on the medical school’s website. Med School Insiders does not guarantee the accuracy of the information on this page.

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Florida Atlantic University | FAU

• Cost & scholarships
• Essay prompt

Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University calls to the innovative and ambitious. FAU leads the state in research, diversity, and opportunity, thereby setting the pace for student success. With six strategic sites stretching along the southeast Florida coast, each one offers distinct programs and services to students and local communities. The largest FAU campus is located in Boca Raton, featuring modern academic and recreational facilities, a lush sub-tropical environment, and a vibrant community that breathes life into the surrounding areas. FAU graduates earn the second-highest starting salaries in Florida. With business partnerships across all industries in south Florida, FAU allows students to connect with employers and enter their desired field immediately. Additionally, FAU’s debt-to-salary ratio is among the lowest in the state—that means less debt and more success!

Academic programs.

• Art & Design
• Communication
• Engineering
• Health Science
• Marine Sciences
• Social Science

Student experience

• Co-op/Internship Opportunities
• Disability Services
• Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)
• LGBTQIA Services
• Military/Veteran Services
• On-Campus Housing
• ROTC Program
• Study Abroad
• Undergraduate Research

Application information

Find out about requirements, fees, and deadlines

A First-Year (Freshman) applicant is someone who has graduated from high school and not taken any college credits after graduation. A First-Year applicant may bring in college credits through AP/IB/AICE courses and exams, and or dual enrollment.

Additional Information

Florida Atlantic welcomes prospective students and their families to visit campus and see first-hand the beautiful, sub-tropical grounds where discovery and learning take place. Campus visits are offered daily Monday-Friday and most Saturdays during the academic year. Visit https://www.fau.edu/visit/ for availability and scheduling.

Admissions office

777 Glades Road , SU 80 Boca Raton , FL 33431 , United States of America

[email protected]

Phone number

561-297-3040

For first-year students

Admissions website.

www.fau.edu/admissions

Financial aid website

www.fau.edu/finaid/

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FAU Admission "Essay"

<p>When applying to FAU 2015, the directions for the short essay are:Please write a short essay (like a tweet with up to 140 characters) regarding one of the following essay topics.</p>

<p>But 140 characters is approximately 1 sentence, so why does it say to write a short essay?</p>

<p>they put short essay , but they don’t really mean that , they chose a wrong choice in wording.</p>

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How to Write the Florida State University Essays 2021-2022

Located just west of Tallahassee, Florida State University is a suburban public university that hosts over 41,000 students on its campus. FSU offers its students a wide selection of 351 programs, including 107 undergraduate majors across various disciplines.

Florida State is well known for its vibrant social scene and its top varsity athletic programs. The beloved “Seminoles” have won many Atlantic Coast conferences and national championships. The intensity of the football team’s rivalry with the University of Florida’s Gators spreads throughout the entire student body and reaches a climax at the annual Sunshine Showdown.

Approximately 37% of applicants gain admission. Calculate your chances of acceptance to FSU using our free chancing engine.

Florida State accepts its own FSU Application, the Common Application, or the Coalition Application. For the FSU and Coalition Applications, there are 5 essay topics you can choose from. You only need to choose one and write a 650-word essay. We’ve broken those 5 down below. For the Common Application, you can choose from the Common App prompts .  

FSU Application Essay Prompts

Essay prompt instructions.

Candidates are to compose one 650-word essay after deciding on one of the five prompts published on the school’s website.

The purpose of the essay is to help the admissions committee learn more about you as a person. Although the essay is described as only “highly recommended,” in reality admissions officers are expecting serious applicants to submit an essay (unless under extenuating circumstances). Your writing will paint a personal picture for the admission officers and demonstrate serious interest in the school.

Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

The first prompt asks for you to discuss a memory or story of a situation that either showcased or affected you personally. FSU’s goal here is to assess your storytelling ability and better understand your values and character through a specific example.

It is crucial for you to connect your story and its effect on your character to who you are as a person. It would be an easy mistake to use all 550 words to discuss this important narrative and ignore the crux of the question: its “demonstration of your character.”

Impactful essays do not have to be based on extreme physical or mental experiences. In fact, it is the accumulation of small experiences that defines how we react during turbulent times. An act of any scale that was especially memorable to you can work; it’s about how you analyze the incident, not what the incident was.

For instance, you might choose to write about being friends with someone who faced mental health issues and how that changed your feelings toward such illnesses and led you to participate in a campaign for raising mental health awareness. You could take it a step further, explaining how the experience shaped your behavior not only around that particular friend, but also around everybody else you know.

Keep in mind that the scope of the question also includes experiences that helped shape your character, so you can even choose to write about something you’ve witnessed others do. Remember to use concise but vivid imagery to describe the situation in the first 150-250 words and then devote the rest of the words to analyzing its impact on character.

It may be wise to write longer drafts at first (in the 700-word range). This allows the editing process to filter for the essence of the writing, instead of trying to add more content, thereby ensuring the fluency of the writing.

Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution.

This question appears to be more challenging than the previous one, as you have to detail a selfless act of sacrifice while explaining your motivations and avoiding corny wording.

Note that this “greater good” contribution does not limit you to instances in which you interacted with groups of “great” numbers. No matter the scale of your impact, if there existed a beneficiary to your actions, then you can write about it. Remember that “greater good” excludes class assignments or other activities that were required of you.

The key to this essay is making sure your motivations for the contribution are portrayed as personal and unique to you.

Many students will choose to write about a volunteer experience they participated in. If you choose to discuss a community service activity, make sure you differentiate your experience by highlighting your motivations and your emotions during the experience (rather than describing simply the activity you participated in).  

For example, you might choose to write about a mission trip to another country that you took in your sophomore year of high school. However, rather than discussing the trip as a whole, it would be more effective to focus on a particular moment or problem that you encountered during the trip.

For instance, you could elaborate on the experience of visiting one of the children’s homes and the feeling of speaking to his parents directly. Describing a particular moment, as well as the specific emotions you felt and how your perspectives changed because of it, would help the essay stand out in a pile of volunteering essays.

In addition, focus on the process of the contribution and how you felt emotionally throughout the act.

Try to answer the following questions:

• What would have happened if you did not make that sacrifice/contribution? How would you have felt then?
• How did the contribution make you feel? How did it make others around you feel? How did it make the beneficiaries feel?
• What did you learn?

Emphasizing the internal development that occurred during your experience is key to making this essay shine.

Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?

This third prompt asks to hear about a philosophical difference you have had with a family member, teacher, peer, society at large, or even yourself. In a sense, this prompt is similar to the previous one about the “meaningful contribution.” In both cases, FSU wants to learn about a process occurring in your mind. The previous prompt emphasizes actions and their effects, while this focuses more on an ideological struggle.

For example, though you’ve believed in religion all your life, perhaps you learned of a different viewpoint while reading a research paper and began questioning the validity of adhering to the religion in which you grew up. The research paper may have been the stimulus that led you to develop your own feelings toward particular values or even the presence of the supernatural.

An average essay would discuss an incident in which you completely disregarded the challenging viewpoint or, on the other end of the spectrum, completely threw away your previous tenet and grasped onto the new idea. Such an essay does not show any meaningful growth or internal re-evaluation. Instead, a great essay would elucidate the internal struggle stemming from confronting a new viewpoint and the difficulties associated with challenging your own beliefs.

As with the first prompt, remember to focus the essay on your response to someone/something’s questioning of your tenant. Using too much of the essay for a description of the conundrum will render it ineffective in answering the latter two parts of the question.

What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

This prompt is the wild card. It allows more room for creativity and “fun” writing than any of the other questions. FSU’s goal here is not only to evaluate your ability to reflect on experiences, but also to understand what you value in life.

This essay can be particularly difficult to write well because it requires additional effort to compose an engaging, intriguing, fun, but also appropriate essay. There are universal challenges to being a teenager: arguments with parents; teenage angst; finding one’s place in school, family, and life, etc. It is completely fine to write about “common” obstacles, but you need to be able to differentiate your stories from others.

Humor and style of writing will play large roles in this essay, so we recommend this prompt if you sincerely enjoy creative writing, particularly short stories, novels, and comedies. Keep in mind, however, that the majority of admissions officers reading these essays are going to be in a generation older than you. It is not a bad idea to consider what kinds of teenage experiences would be relatable to them.

Additionally, the essay is asking for the “hardest part” as well as the “best part;” answering both of those separately in 550 words can make both answers short and ineffective. We recommend that you choose one single story that can relate to both of those questions. For example, you could use stories from your part-time job at Dairy Queen to connect the difficulties of adjusting to added responsibility in conjunction with the increased respect you received from your parents.

Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

This last question is a catch-all.

Do not let your guard down because you can write about anything here. Unless you already have a great essay prepared from answering another school’s prompts, without a prompt here your creative idea may lose focus. Oftentimes, candidates are so engrossed in telling the story that they lose sight of what is really important: selling yourself.

As with the previous essays, you should decide and write down concretely what exactly you want the admissions officers to think about you upon finishing this essay. Build the rest of the essay around how you want them to perceive you, and dedicate more than half of the writing to demonstrating that main point through various anecdotes, not general statements.

We here at CollegeVine wish you the best of luck on your FSU essay!

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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