RETURN TO STAGE HOMEPAGE
STAGE 2: Blueprint
IN THIS STAGE YOU WILL:
Finalize your essay topic with your coach
Explore your topic more deeply through guided free writing
Choose the best Common Application® prompt for your story
Create a flexible outline with your coach
FINALIZING YOUR COLLEGE ESSAY TOPIC
During your first essay coaching meeting, you and your coach discussed your personal qualities, experiences, memories, and values. By the end of that meeting, you may have already identified your essay topic. If not, that’s completely normal.
In STAGE 2, you’ll continue brainstorming and reflecting until your story becomes clear.
Once your topic is finalized, the next step is matching it to a Common App prompt. We intentionally wait to choose a prompt because the prompts are very broad and aren’t helpful for brainstorming. Almost any strong topic can fit more than one prompt, so it makes sense to choose the story first and the prompt second.
Your coach will review the current Common App prompts with you and help you choose the best fit.
Here are the 2026-2027 Common AppⓇ essay prompts:
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
EXPLORING YOUR ESSAY TOPIC THROUGH FREE WRITING
Before drafting your essay, you’ll complete free writing exercises.
Free writing means writing continuously for a short period of time without worrying about grammar, structure, or whether your ideas sound “good.” The goal is to let your brain spill ideas onto the page.
Why do we do this? Because strong college essays don’t just tell a story. They show it through moments, thoughts, reactions, and sensory details. Free writing helps you uncover those details before you start drafting.
What you’ll do:
If you finalized your topic in Meeting #1, you’ll complete three guided free writing exercises to dig deeper into your story.
If you did not finalize your topic in Meeting #1, your coach will assign alternative free writing prompts to help you explore multiple options before choosing one.
Either way, free writing takes the pressure off! Even small or random details can end up playing an important role later.
How to Free Write:
Set a 5-minute timer
Write the entire time without stopping
If you get stuck, write whatever comes to mind
Do not edit, reread, or judge your writing
Free writing is supposed to be messy!
ORGANIZING YOUR ESSAY BEFORE DRAFTING
After completing your free writing, you and your coach will review what you wrote and identify the strongest ideas, moments, and details. You’ll then use that material to create an outline.
Outlining matters because it helps your essay feel focused and intentional. Without a plan, even strong ideas can become scattered or repetitive. An outline also makes drafting much easier—you’ll never be staring at a blank page wondering where to start.
This essay may look different from the academic essays you’re used to. There’s no required five-paragraph structure. Paragraph length can vary, the tone is often more conversational, and creativity is encouraged.
Most strong personal essays follow a flexible structure like this:
Opening Hook: A moment, scene, or idea that pulls the reader in
Development: Context, key moments, and details
Shift/Reflection: Why the story matters and what it reveals about you
Conclusion: Looking forward and applying this quality to the future
WRITING A STRONG OPENING HOOK
The opening hook is one of the most important parts of your essay and often the hardest to write. The good news is that you don’t need to invent something out of thin air. Below are four proven techniques you can use:
In the Moment:
Start directly inside a scene or action. This will ‘hook’ your reader in! The sample essay Girl Boss in
Training uses this technique:
I scoured the streets for any sign of kid life – a basketball hoop, a swingset, even a stray bike. With 100 flyers in hand, a helpful dad at the wheel, and an entrepreneurial spirit, I was ready to find my first clients. Sure, it would have been easy to post Facebook ads, but I wanted to be different. I was going to show that I was the professional face behind my math tutoring business. Little did I know, though, that 100% effort plus 100 flyers would come to equal zero success.
The student writer had vivid memories of the moment she started looking for clients and wanted to share the excitement she was feeling with the reader. We love this opening because we feel like we’re sitting in the car with her, hoping her business goes well. And we really want to know why she had zero success. This last sentence, especially, makes us want to read further.
Freeze Frame:
Start with a vivid image or snapshot from your story. Describe it and connect it to your story. The sample essay Donald J. Woodruff and the Famous Tie Challenge uses this technique:
There’s one picture from middle school where I’m not sporting a forced, cheesy smile. It’s from my 8th grade graduation, and I’m standing next to J. Donald Woodruff, the most feared teacher to ever walk the hallways of Hill School. He has a proud arm around me, not because I made it through middle school, but because I’ve achieved something even greater: this moment marked the 180th consecutive day that I wore a tie. I officially completed Woodruff’s challenge. In many ways, this meant more than my diploma.
This photo was meaningful to the student writer because it represented his victory. He wanted to begin with this ‘freeze frame’ to show the pride he felt. We love this opening because we immediately feel the writer’s pride. Plus, we’re curious. What is Woodruff’s challenge, and why was it so great? We’ll keep reading to find out.
He Said, She Said:
Open with dialogue from a meaningful or tense moment. The sample essay Service With a Smile uses this technique:
My steak is rare! Is this really how you operate?” the man barked at me. Angry complaints were not what I was used to hearing when I had worked at Chipotle. However, I wasn’t at a fast-casual restaurant anymore; I had graduated to fine dining as a runner at Artie’s. I figured this job would be just as easy, but as I stared at the rare steak, I knew I was wrong.
The student writer chose this opening because the man’s angry words were so startling to him. This one simple line sets up the tension for the story. We also love this opening because we can almost hear the man yelling, and we’re eager to see how the writer handled the situation.
Twist It:
Start with a surprising fact, then twist your statement by making an unexpected connection to the rest of your story.
I’ve broken my toes 32 times, to be exact. That’s the price you pay for elegance. You see, I’m not clumsy; I’m a dancer. My entire life has been spent on my toes, carefully wrapped in satin slippers – the ones that look pretty but really just mask the painful wooden blocks underneath them. I put on my first pair when I was three years old, the same pair my mother wore when she was a young girl. She hoped that I would follow in her graceful footsteps, but I broke that tradition, along with all of my toes.
This writer begins with a surprising fact about herself: the number of times she has broken her toes. The unexpected detail immediately grabs the reader’s attention and makes us want to learn more. The introduction works because it doesn’t stop at shock value. Instead, it twists that fact into a meaningful reflection on family tradition. We’re left curious about how the writer broke with that tradition, which pulls us forward in the essay.
Your assignment:
STAGE 2: Blueprint is divided into three parts:
Topic Selection
Free Writing
Outlining
What to Do:
In your personal Google Drive folder, navigate to the “STAGE Essay Program Materials” subfolder. Open the STAGE 2: Blueprint document.
If you finalized your topic during Meeting #1: go to the document tab in your Blueprint document titled Part 2: Free Writing and complete.
If you did not finalize your topic: go to the document tab in your Blueprint document titled Part 2: Alternative Free Writing and complete.
When you are finished, submit your work no less than 48 hours before your next meeting using our Multi-Purpose Submission Form, making sure to copy and paste the Google Doc link from the STAGE 2: Blueprint document into the Asana form. Be sure to click ‘SUBMIT’ at the bottom of the form.
NOTE: Your free writing will be used in Meeting #2, where you and your coach will complete Part 3: Outlining together.
THE STAGE PROGRAM
RETURN TO STAGE HOMEPAGE