Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced

I wrote about how I took an online class after maxing out the CS courses at my high school. My goal was to a) show that I’m hella into CS and b) that I’m independent and can be responsible for my own education.

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

My creative side was... arguing about stupid shit in book club. Tbh this was my weakest essay but the overarching point was that I loved engaging with ridiculous arguments because they lead to wonderful ideas.

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others

Wrote about the one time I got my Scout troop lost (and how I got us back home afterwards). Emphasized that I’m okay making mistakes and that, most importantly, I can recover handily from them.

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place

Can’t really talk about this one without doxxing myself but I spent about four years working on an app which was really influential for both me and an online community I was very close to.

But general advice for writing your essays? I’d honestly make a list of the “zones” of your personality. Like I had CS, books, Scouts, and my online community. I then went through the prompts and tried to find the best prompt to attack/show off each of my zones. If you can’t think of the zones right off hand, go back to your EC list and look to where all your time is going. You’re a complex multifaceted person, let your essay topics reflect that!