Common app essay prompts

[Anonymous]

My child's essay fits imperfectly into several prompts. Does it matter which she chooses? Is there a downside to the last, catch-all prompt?

[Anonymous]

No.
You are way overthinking this.

They are looking for an essay that tells them something about your kid that the rest of the application does not. They don't care what he writes about. The prompts are just to get the kids started.

[Anonymous]

The prompts are all acceptable or they wouldn’t be there.

Seems like maybe she could refine her essay to have a better fit for the prompt she likes best, if this is a concern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No.
You are way overthinking this.

They are looking for an essay that tells them something about your kid that the rest of the application does not. They don't care what he writes about. The prompts are just to get the kids started.

Ok, good. That's what I had thought, but when DC provided a draft to her school college counselor, he asked which prompt she had chosen, so I wasn't sure.

[Anonymous]

It does not matter which prompt you choose. Admission officers do not look to see which prompt was chosen before reading the essay. There is no downside to the last, catch-all prompt.