Essay question

[Braves fan]

For the second part of the prompt- “describe a personal experience you have had which you feel had contributed to your own character development and integrity,” is it okay to write about being class president in general? Or are they looking for a more specific event?

 

[Don't Give Up the Ship]

For the second part of the prompt- “describe a personal experience you have had which you feel had contributed to your own character development and integrity,” is it okay to write about being class president in general? Or are they looking for a more specific event?

Well it depends...typically good essays will describe a unique circumstance(s) that you have been in and how you have learned from it. So in general, talking about being the Class President may not hit the mark...unless you had a unique "Personal experience" related to that role that could be talked about. USNA will know that you were a Class President from you application...better approach may be to answer the "personal experience" and how that experience contributed to "your own character". A difficult experience is often the most rewarding to talk about.

 

[justdoit19]

That seems too general to me. Have you had an experience where you had to do a hard, correct thing? One where you discovered something about yourself? Found courage you didn’t know you had? Think about character development. Often these are impactful, difficult choices a person had to make…hence the prompt ‘character development’.

USNA is trying to get to know WHO you are, through your words. Both of my guys wrote about difficult, painful ‘life lessons’. NOT saying that’s what you have to write about, but rather expressing they were personal and impactful to who they are now.

As already mentioned, perhaps there is something pertaining to Class President that you can write about.

 

[bopper]

Write the essay only you could write.

What do I mean? Read this.
https://www.hackthecollegeessay.com/uploads/1/0/9/5/109505679/hack_the_college_essay_2017.pdf

obviously this is for college essays but the underlying principles still hold. Admissions people see your numbers...SAT/ACT, GPA..but essays are designed to get to know more about YOU personally. So why write an impersonal essay that others could have written?

So you could write about Class President...but you want to show, not tell. You want it to be personal. You want to make sure some other class president couldn't write the same essay.

 

[shiner]

As stated above, if you just want to make sure they know you were Class President - they already have that from your student resume.

However, if you had an experience in the roll of Class President that would demonstrate character development or how your integrity was challenged - this is great. It shows that you have experienced a morally challenging event while in a position of authority, recognize(d) it, and learned from it. A well thought out response would demonstrate maturity and self awareness, while providing an opportunity to document leadership experience.