In this article, we’ll be covering how to answer the Common App essay prompt 3. We’ll also be sharing an interesting example essay for prompt 3.
You may use this essay as inspiration for your own essay. As a tip, don’t forget that you can draw themes and motifs from our example and use them for essays outside of prompt 3 —even if they’re supplemental school-specific essay prompts outside the main Common App prompt list.
While our example essay worked well for prompt 3, you can still translate its themes to other prompts.
With that said, let’s get to it!
- Common App Prompt 3
- How to Answer the Common App Prompt 3 (Challenged Belief)
- Common App Prompt 3 Example Essay
Common App Prompt 3
“Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?”
650 Word Limit
Common App Prompt 3
How to Answer the Common App Prompt 3 (Challenged Belief)
There are many great ways to answer Common App Prompt 3. But, these 5 points are our biggest recommendations.
Note: you do NOT need to have all 5 of these points to successfully answer the 3rd Common App prompt. Having just a few of these points is enough to make a winning essay that stands out from the rest.
1. Remember: Challenging Beliefs Isn’t Always Black and White.
When you’re answering Common App prompt 3 about challenging a belief, it’s not always going to be black and white. Situations aren’t always as cut and dry as “good guy vs bad guy” or “Liberal vs Conservative.” Often there are nuances to different beliefs. Life is full of gray areas.
It’s these gray areas that make life vivid and interesting. It’s these nuances that show depth in your topics. And, that’s why nuances and gray areas in your Common App Prompt 3 essay works beautifully.
You can apply this nuance of gray areas to the rest of the prompt too.
That is, when you challenge a belief, you don’t always have to have the exact opposite idea. You can show you challenged a belief by qualifying or even steel-manning the other side’s belief.
For what prompted your thinking, you don’t have to have a clear disagreement. You can even say you just had a subtle gut reaction; or, perhaps you even mostly agreed with 99% of the other side, and just disagreed with just 1%.
Perhaps the most interesting thing you can do in the Common App prompt 3 essay is to have a nuanced outcome. In life, not everyone will agree with you. And, you may even have some people agreeing with you whilst others disagree. For many, big consistencies in beliefs can even tear apart family relationships. And, depending on how you articulate this in your application essay, it can actually show even more depth of character.
2. Emphasize the Consequences.
One great way of standing out in your Common App Prompt 3 essay is to emphasize the gravity of consequences.
This works wonderfully for impressing admissions officers in two ways.
- You show courage in accepting the consequences of standing out.
- You demonstrate the kinds of value systems you’re willing to fight for in spite of consequences, which works well when they’re aligned with a university’s specific culture or values.
So, show admissions officers that questioning a challenge or belief isn’t going to be easy. Show them that you’re not taking the easy way out of challenging a belief; and, you’re willing to fight for your beliefs even if the consequences are dire.
For instance, there’s not much to risk when you protest for gender equality in a community that is mostly pro-gender equality. However, protesting in a highly conservative region with a tight-knit community is impressive because there’s more at stake: your friendships, your public face, and your reputation, etc.
Choosing a topic for Common App prompt 3 with high consequences shows admissions officers you’re not afraid to fight for what is right.
3. Don’t Force Things.
This is one of the most important aspects to consider when answering not just prompt 3 but all the Common App prompts in general.
Most students understand the main Common App essay is the most important essay in their college application process. For one, it’s one of the longest at 650 words. Additionally, it’s also sent to all of the other schools that use the Common App. So, messing up the Common App essay means messing up every college application essay section you send.
As a result, it’s quite common for students to believe they need to make their essay perfect in every way possible. This perfectionism leads to students forcing certain attributes into their essay. For instance, they’ll force themselves to sound inclusive and diverse when there is no situation for it. Or, they’ll shoehorn ways that their extracurriculars were impressive when the prompt doesn’t warrant any context about it.
This forcefulness can make admissions officers feel uneasy about your character. For, it shows them that you’re willing to bend and twist words just to force them into thinking you’re someone you’re not. As a general rule, for all Common App essay prompts, don’t force yourself to appear more of anything when it’s not organic. That way, you’ll show your honesty and true self to your readers, earning their trust in the process.
4. Exercise Humility.
This prompt is inexorably a bold and brash prompt. Common App prompt 3 requires you to discuss how you went against the grain of public opinion. You’re essentially challenging beliefs with the implication that there are consequences to it.
Thus, there is a bit of subtle arrogance that can come with the 3rd Common App prompt. You’re essentially imposing your own opinion above that of others.
So, it can be quite useful to show admissions officers that you can temper your fiery opinions with humility. In fact, showing humility in your Common App prompt 3 essay is a great way of showing admissions officers your maturity.
One way of doing this is to play devil’s advocate. Instead of putting all your word count into showing why you were right in your topic, you can discuss how and why one may have empathized with the other side. Consider which side you’re opposing in the Common App prompt 3 topic, then show admissions officers that you can empathize and perhaps even understand their reasoning.
This is an incredible way to show your readers that you’re not just someone who is humble, but you also have the depth of perception to second guess your own opinions.
Additionally, you can connect this characteristic to your learning experience at the university level. You can even connect this humility to your major. For instance, business and entrepreneurship majors may want to show humility as a powerful trait for starting a business in a competitive niche.
5. Be Creative!
Finally, it’s helpful to be creative in this prompt.
The Common App essay is, as we mentioned before, one of the most important elements in the essay section of your application. You’ll be sharing this essay with all the schools that subscribe to the Common App service. So, being unique in this essay is crucial.
As you’ll see in our Common App prompt 3 example essay below, creativity goes a long way in really helping our applicant stand out from the rest of the admissions pool.
Don’t forget: creativity can exist in multiple ways.
You can be creative in how you show imagery. And, you can be creative when discussing the solutions to disagreement that was presented. You can even be creative in what kinds of symbolism or representations you use in your essay.
In our Common App prompt 3 example essay, we helped our client demonstrate creativity by using the analogy of cooking a steak. And, it’s not about cooking it well; but, cooking it in a way that was less than satisfactory. Unusual and creative topics like these help students catch the reader’s attention much better.
Common App Prompt 3 Example Essay
“Behold: the best way to cook a steak!
Here’s how it works. You take a steak —straight out of the freezer; that’s right, we’re talking about frozen steaks here— and you sear it on both sides with just salt and pepper. No olive oil. No butter. No thyme. No butter basting. No shaved egg yolk. No shaved truffle. No caviar. Nada. Zip.
Yeah, yeah; I’m sure I’ve signed my rejection letters to Le Cordon Bleu with that statement alone —let alone a Declaration of War with France and all of culinary culture itself.
Don’t believe me? Try it at home. Seriously. I know it sounds like it’ll taste like a crime against meat itself. And, well…
It is.
Okay, maybe not that hyperbolic. Perhaps it’s just “okay.” Not as great as it would be when you’re channeling all your culinary energy into the dish, that’s for sure. But, I’m insistent that this is the best way to cook a steak. At least, it’s been the best way for me. Why? Well, I developed this method starting the summer of my Sophomore year.
I was what my family and relatives loved to boast “a perfect student who held leadership positions in everything.” But, I’ll be frank. I wasn’t really quite happy with anything —especially with myself. For, I always felt like I fell short of things. I always fell short of perfection.
One day, my father brought home a grill. And, like most dads, it was in his DNA to find every excuse possible to use the grill and “make some burgers or steaks or summin’ I dunno.” In full transparency, he and I made the best-tasting steak conceivable. Herb-infused butter. Crusty surface. And, of course, blushing pink in the center, like a dainty painting of an embarrassed Rococo princess.
But, here’s the thing. We never really cooked another steak like that again. After all, what could we possibly cook that could top that? Not to mention: it took a century and a half to prepare everything from scratch just for a few steaks. Every meal henceforth was Chinese takeout. “Ehh, that’s e’nough cooking at home fer today.” It was a high cost —both in money and time— high reward strategy; but, it exhausted what little executive function we had for cooking.
Well, we’re a family of hard workers; but, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to cook at home. And, cooking at home would have been healthier in the long run.
That’s why my simple steak method worked the best for me. It tasted “okay” in comparison to our fancy version. And, frankly, I offended my father and all his dad-friends who equally let out an exasperated “huh?!” at my choice of steak cooking.
Nonetheless, it was about cooking kinda okay-ish. Not perfectly. Imperfectly. And, it was in letting go of this trap of perfection that I managed to nurture motivation and desire to cook again; but, just a little better. Then, a little better again. Then, again. And, again. By cooking poorly in the beginning against the “empirically best way” I managed to instantiate a habit of slow improvement over time that incentivized consistent work. It wasn’t about doing things the best way from the get-go; rather, it was about nurturing the habit of cooking throughout time. See, here’s the thing. “Best” can exist laterally. It doesn’t have to be good in taste and texture alone; and, in my case, I developed a method of cooking steak that reshaped my life completely.
And, well, as a result, my dad still picks on me sometimes for “cooking steaks back then when they’re frozen.” And hey, fair enough: from a purist perspective, that’s heinous. But, it also actualized in me a philosophy of steady improvement over time, a suspension of perfectionism, and a love for trying —all things at that— without fear of mistakes.”
Common App Prompt 3 Example Essay —The Best Way to Cook a Steak
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