How to Write for Common App Prompt #4 – On Gratitude
by Lillie W.
Two years ago, a new prompt showed up among the Common App’s standard seven personal statement options, a question that invited students to talk about an experience that made them grateful. As several public commentators remarked at the time, Prompt #4 stood out against the other six essay options in a couple of significant ways.
Its wording is, “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?”
This prompt is distinctive because it’s not soliciting a tale of your accomplishments, intellectual epiphanies, or challenges met and mastered. Instead, it’s asking quite specifically about your emotional appreciation of another person’s help. It’s probing your capacity for positivity and the depth of your response to someone else’s contribution to your welfare.
The Common App’s CEO herself [Jenny Rickard] said the question was designed to “help students think about something positive and heartfelt in their lives.”
The words “positive” and “heartfelt” jump out here. If this sounds like your style and you have a story to go with it, you may well have a winning essay topic ready to go.
Naturally, the story itself will be crucial. Even with this straight-from-the-heart green light, you’ll need to observe guiderails. The danger of spilling over from “heartfelt” into maudlin or mushy is always a real one, even for talented writers. Here’s where consulting with your essay mentor is going to make a real difference.
Writing about one of your life’s genuinely positive events in an authentic voice can be inspirational for both you and your (in this case, all-important) reader. This was not lost on the Common App prompters when they decided to include the prompt in 2021, as the COVID pandemic slogged on and students and educators alike chafed, slumped or stewed over public health fears and relentless remote learning.
“An essay prompt can’t erase the loss and anxiety of the last 12 months, but it can validate the importance of gratitude and kindness,” read the Common App’s release when it published the 2021-22 prompt list. “We hope students see the new prompt for what it is: an invitation to bring some joy into their application experience.”