Has anyone seen the official 2025-2026 college essay prompts yet?

The official 2025-2026 Common App essay prompts have been released, and the good news is that they remain the same as the previous year. You can find the official list on the Common App website, but here’s a quick summary: the prompts still include choices about reflecting on an experience, discussing gratitude, describing a time you challenged a belief or idea, sharing an accomplishment or realization, describing a topic or idea you find captivating, and more. So if you already started brainstorming last year’s topics, your ideas are still relevant and reusable!

For the UCs, their Personal Insight Questions have also stayed the same for several years. You choose four out of eight to answer, and their official site (University of California admissions) has the up-to-date prompts. They haven’t announced any changes for 2025-2026, so you’re safe to use the existing questions to guide your summer writing.

For Northeastern and BU: typically, both keep their supplemental essay prompts fairly similar from year to year, although each school usually releases their new prompts by late summer. BU, for instance, often asks some version of 'Why BU?' or a community-focused question. Northeastern has sometimes required a brief 'Why Northeastern?' response or a community contribution essay. Keep an eye on each school’s admissions websites over the next couple months, but in the meantime, reviewing last year’s supplements is a solid way to get started since radical changes are rare.

Here’s an example of how to select a Common App prompt: If you have a specific story or passion that shaped your high school years, match it to the prompt that gives you the best chance to explore it deeply. For example, if you’ve spent hours volunteering at a local aquarium and learned something about yourself, consider prompt #5 (an accomplishment or realization).

Since you’re planning to target both Common App and UC schools, a helpful strategy is to brainstorm a few stories and see how they can be tailored for different prompts or essays. This way, your summer writing can be efficient and flexible if future small changes appear when schools make official updates.

For official, up-to-date prompts:
- Common App: https://www.commonapp.org/blog/announcing-2025-2026-common-app-essay-prompts
- UC PIQs: https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/how-to-apply/applying-as-a-first-year/personal-insight-questions.html

Getting a head start now is smart, and by keeping existing drafts flexible, you’ll avoid getting caught off guard by last-minute changes!