Can anyone share examples or tips for writing the college disagreement essay prompt?

The "disagreement" prompt isn't really about the disagreement. It's about how you think when you're challenged.
Admissions officers don't care whether you argued with your lab partner about experimental design or your parents about curfew. They care about: Did you actually engage with the other side's reasoning? Did you change your mind, hold your ground, or find some third position? Can you articulate why you believe what you believe?

So no, disagreements with friends or teachers aren't inherently cliché. What's cliché is the structure most people use:
"I thought X. They thought Y. After talking, I realized we were both right in different ways. I learned to see other perspectives."
That's not an essay. That's a greeting card.

What works is specificity and intellectual honesty. The best versions of this essay usually involve one of these:

You changed your mind. Not in a "they opened my eyes" way, but genuinely, you believed something, encountered a better argument, and updated your position. This is hard to write because most people don't want to admit they were wrong. But it signals intellectual maturity better than almost anything else.

You didn't change your mind, and you can explain why. You heard their argument, you took it seriously, and you still disagree. But you can articulate their position accurately and explain specifically where your reasoning diverges. This shows you're not just stubborn, you've actually thought it through.

The disagreement revealed something you hadn't examined. Maybe you realized your position was based on an assumption you'd never questioned. Maybe the argument exposed a tension between two things you value. The resolution matters less than the quality of your reflection.

As for how vulnerable to be: the prompt isn't asking for trauma. "Disagreement" is not code for "conflict that scarred you." A debate about whether your school should change its mascot can work just as well as a fight with your parents about your future, if you write it well.

Pick something where you remember the actual arguments, not just the emotions. If you can't reconstruct what the other person said and why it was at least somewhat reasonable, pick a different topic.

And don't manufacture stakes. "This disagreement taught me that relationships require compromise" is the kind of generic takeaway that makes admissions officers' eyes glaze over. What specifically did you learn about this issue, this relationship, or your own reasoning? That's the essay.