should you write the covid essay common app

How to Write The Common App’s New “Optional” COVID-19 Essay

Stacey Brook, Founder and Chief Advisor

Since the start of the pandemic, the question we have most frequently been asked by college applicants is, “Should I write about the Coronavirus in my college essay?” The Common Application has provided what we interpret to be a direct response to that query in the form of a brand new optional essay prompt. The prompt, which has a maximum word count of 250 and can be found in the Additional Information section of the Common App reads:

“Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.”

Of course, the release of this new prompt has generated new questions about how students can make the most of their essays and present themselves authentically and holistically on their 2020-21 applications. Below, we answer your burning questions and dispense tips and tricks to help applicants craft sincere and impactful responses to this highly-specific prompt.

Q: What is this question really asking?

A: This prompt does students many favors in its clarity and straightforward nature. Schools want to know how the pandemic has impacted your life and world. Some students will have very obvious ways in which they have been affected by COVID-19 . If you or someone close to you has been afflicted with the virus, this is the space in which to detail the experience and related challenges. Are you immunocompromised and in heightened danger of contracting the virus? Do you have a parent who works in the healthcare system and who is not living with your family temporarily to protect you? Has someone in your family lost their job because of the economic impact of quarantine? What about your ability to access educational instruction and materials? Is wi-fi hard to come by at home? Do you live in an apartment with very little privacy and space for concentration? Be honest about how your life has changed because of the pandemic and resultant quarantine. Admissions knows that many students have been stretched thin during these challenging times and they want as much context as possible to help them evaluate your application in a fair light.

For students who have not faced the circumstances above, keep a few things in mind when approaching this prompt. It goes without saying that all students’ lives and modes of operation have been impacted by the pandemic. What you want to avoid in your response is elaboration on the obvious. Pretty much all applicants have endured the challenges of transitioning from in-person to online learning. They have all adapted in one way or another to the shifted schedules, truncated curriculums and imperfect grading metrics. What admissions wants to know is, how did you respond to these enormous shifts in learning and lifestyle?

Did you take the initiative to form a study group with five of your classmates to review class material for an extra hour each day? Have you started to deliver groceries to the elderly and other at-risk populations in your community in place of your usual in-person volunteer work at a nursing home? If you are an athlete, what does the abrupt end of your sports season mean to you? How have you been working on your own to stay in shape and mitigate that sense of loss? What have you committed yourself to accomplishing off the court or field instead? There are many opportunities to showcase your resilience and determination in the face of one of the greatest challenges of our lifetimes. Show admissions that you haven’t given up and that COVID has not dampened your will to succeed.

Q: Does this mean I can’t write about COVID-19 in my personal statement?

A: Yes. And no. It certainly should not be the core focus for most students. Before the pandemic, you spent sixteen or seventeen years on this earth engaging in meaningful activities, following your curiosity and building yourself into the complex and ambitious human you are today. Don’t allow yourself to be defined by this crisis. You are, and have always been, so much more than just a person who has lived through an epidemic. (Not that living through an epidemic isn’t impressive.) Of course, some students will have experiences during quarantine that are truly worth the personal statement’s full allotment of 650 words. And inserting a line or two in your essay about how your actions during quarantine are reflective of your core characteristics and goals could be very powerful. But it is important to keep in mind that you are trying to distinguish yourself from similarly qualified applicants, and one of the things you definitely all have in common is having weathered the challenges of this epidemic. So unless you have a truly unique take on COVID-19 and how it has impacted your life, think about who you have been, not just since March, but in all the months that have come before quarantine. When your friends and family think about what makes you you , what qualities might they highlight? What are the accomplishments and challenges that have driven your ambitions? Who do you want to be when the epidemic finally ends and we settle into a new normal? These are the kinds of messages you should try to convey in your personal statement. And with the addition of the new prompt, the Common App has made it easy for you to separate stories about COVID-19 from everything else you’ve lived through and worked for.

Q: Is this prompt really optional?

A: We here at CEA believe that, with very few exceptions, almost no prompts are truly optional. Why would you sacrifice another valuable opportunity to speak to admissions in your own voice and relay your experiences, motivations and aspirations? This new prompt is especially valuable in the current climate. It’s hard to believe there is a student out there that won’t have something to say about how COVID-19 has impacted their lives. Additionally, as mentioned above, writing about the pandemic in this space frees you up to relay something that represents you more completely in your personal statement. Plus, once you start drafting, you’ll find that 250 words isn’t very many words at all. We guarantee you will fill up that space in no time, and any information you are able to share with admissions about this time in your life will only help them better understand how you can be an asset on campus in times of crisis and otherwise.

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A guide to writing the covid-19 essay for the common app.

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Students can use the Common App's new Covid-19 essay to expand on their experiences during the ... [+] pandemic.

Covid-19 has heavily impacted students applying to colleges in this application cycle. High schools have gone virtual, extracurricular activities have been canceled and family situations might have changed. Having recognized this, the Common App added a new optional 250-word essay that will give universities a chance to understand the atypical high school experience students have had. The prompt will be: 

“Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.”

Should I Write About The Coronavirus Pandemic?

For many high schoolers, the pandemic will have had a lasting impact on their education and everyday lives. Some students might have had a negative experience: a parent laid off or furloughed, limited access to online classes or a family member (or the student) having fallen ill from the virus. 

Other students might have had the opposite experience. Even though they might have undergone a few negative events or stressful times, they might have learned something new, started a new project or gained a new perspective that changed their future major or career choice. 

If you fit into either of these categories, writing the optional essay might be a good idea. 

Remember, the admission officers have also been dealing with the crisis and understand the situation students are going through. They are well aware that the AP exams were administered remotely, SAT/ACT test dates were canceled and numerous schools transitioned to a virtual learning model. There is likely no need to reiterate this in an essay unless there was a direct impact on an aspect of your application.

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As with every college essay you write, it is important to think about the tone and word choice. You want to remain sensitive to the plight of other students during this global crisis. While every student has likely been affected by the pandemic, the level of impact will vary greatly. For some, classes moved online, but life remained more or less the same. For these types of students, it might not be a strategic move to write about the coronavirus if you don’t have anything meaningful, unique or personal to say. If you only have a limited time to impress the admission officer, you want to ensure that each word is strategically thought out and showcases a new aspect of your personality. 

Using this space as a time to complain about how you weren’t able to go to the beach, see friends or eat out could be seen as you flaunting your privilege. Careful consideration of how you portray yourself will be key. 

Nearly every student has had an activity or event canceled. It likely won’t be a good use of your word count lamenting on the missed opportunities. Instead, it would be more illuminating to talk about how you remained flexible and pivoted to other learning opportunities.  

How To Write The Covid-19 Essay

The Covid-19 essay was introduced so universities could gain a better understanding of how their applicants have had their lives and education disrupted due to the pandemic. You’ll want to give the admission officers context to understand your experiences better. 

Here are some examples of how to write this optional essay. 

• Outline any extenuating circumstances related to Covid-19. Some students might find themselves crammed in a small apartment or home with their entire family. This disruptive environment might have made it difficult for the student to concentrate on their classes. Some students might be required to care for younger siblings during the day. In many areas of the country, lack of access to high-speed internet or smart devices meant that students couldn’t participate in online learning. Now is the time to share those details. 
• Include the impact. Ultimately, this essay is about you. Things likely happened to family members, friends or your community, but you need to show how it altered your life specifically. 
• Provide specific details. Give the admission officers a peek into your everyday life. Including specific details can help make your story come alive. For example, don’t just say that it was hard dealing with the emotional trauma of seeing friends and family fall ill. Instead, be specific and talk about how your friend was diagnosed with Covid-19 and had to be hospitalized. Seeing the long-term effects caused you to take the pandemic much more seriously and moved you to take action. Perhaps you were inspired to start a nonprofit that makes masks or to help your neighbors through this difficult time. 

Covid-19 Essay for School Counselors 

It’s not just students who will get to submit an additional statement regarding the impact of the coronavirus: Counselors will also get a chance to submit a 500-word essay. Their prompt will be: 

Your school may have made adjustments due to community disruptions such as COVID–19 or natural disasters. If you have not already addressed those changes in your uploaded school profile or elsewhere, you can elaborate here. Colleges are especially interested in understanding changes to:

• Grading scales and policies
• Graduation requirements
• Instructional methods
• Schedules and course offerings
• Testing requirements
• Your academic calendar
• Other extenuating circumstances

The counselor’s response will populate to all the applications of students from the high school. They will cover any school or district policies that have impacted students. No specific student details will be included. 

Students can ask to see a copy of this statement so they know what information has already been shared with colleges. For example, if the school states that classes went virtual starting in March, you don’t need to repeat that in your Covid-19 essay. 

Should I Write About The Covid-19 In My Personal Statement?

The world before Covid-19 might seem like a distant memory, but you did spend more than 15 years engaging in a multitude of meaningful activities and developing your passions. It’s important to define yourself from more than just the coronavirus crisis. You likely will want to spend the personal statement distinguishing yourself from other applicants. With the Covid-19 optional essay and the additional information section, you should have plenty of space to talk about how you’ve changed—for better or for worse—due to the pandemic. Use the personal statement to talk about who you were before quarantining.

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How to Respond to the Common App COVID-19 Question (+ Examples)

What’s covered:, what is the “additional information” section, what is the covid-19 and community disruption question, should you respond to the community disruption question.

• How to Respond and How Not to Respond

Where to Get Your Essays Edited

The “Additional Information” section of the Common App has a new question: have you suffered any long-term impacts from COVID or natural disasters? The Common App notes this question is optional, but many students might be unsure whether filling out this question will give them an advantage over other applicants (like most “optional” essay prompts).

Here are some tips on how to navigate the prompt.

The “Additional Information” section is a place to provide necessary context that is not already present in your application. The question asks:

“Do you wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application?”

For example, if your grades dropped due to an extenuating circumstance, or if you self-studied for your AP exams, those would be worth mentioning here in this section. 

Keep in mind though that the “Additional Information” section is completely optional: you will not be penalized for skipping it. While most optional essay prompts are in fact necessary to stand out in a crowded admissions field, this section is meant more for circumstances which do not apply to everyone. That’s why we recommend skipping it if you don’t have something to say — adding an extra essay or overstating adversity can backfire on your application.

The community disruption question states: 

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. For more information, check out our COVID-19 FAQ .

Notice the comparison between COVID and natural disasters: this is not an essay that everyone is expected to fill out. Instead, think of this as an extension of the original “Additional Information” prompt that is meant to filter in answers related to these subjects.

Admissions officers are human, and they will genuinely want to know if you struggled with those events. This prompt is meant as a way for students to provide context so they are not adversely affected in the admissions process.

The linked FAQ specifically states: “the question is not intended to be an extra essay.” The examples they give that would justify a response include loss of family employment, lack of internet access, or a related shift in your career interests. 

Here is the full list of examples from the Common App of circumstances that could warrant a response:

• Illness or loss within your family or support network
• Employment or housing disruptions within your family 
• Food insecurity
• Toll on mental and emotional health
• New obligations such as part-time work or care for siblings or family members
• Availability of computer or internet access required to continue your studies
• Access to a safe and quiet study space
• A new direction for your major or career interests

In short, you should not use this space to describe things experienced by the general public or everyone at your school (your counselor’s recommendation will let colleges know of things like school closures or grading changes). This is a place to acknowledge how COVID or other disruptions negatively impacted you relative to other students . 

If you feel your application would be incomplete without this context, then you should fill out the section.

How to Respond (and How Not to Respond) to the Community Disruption Question

How to respond.

The most important thing to remember is that this is not an essay prompt. Your response (as with the “Additional Information” question) should be factual and to the point. Avoid the narrative style you would use for normal essays and treat it more as a footnote to your application.

Also, double check and make sure the information you provide is not already listed in other parts of your application, like your personal statement or extracurriculars list. If you want to give a more personal account than the format allows, then consider using the story in your personal statement or supplementals. 

And lastly, even though this is not a creative writing sample, make sure your answer is as polished as the other parts of your application — use complete sentences and avoid careless grammatical errors. You want to make sure this response, like everything else in your application, is reflective of you as an applicant.

Here are some examples:

Example 1: In 2020 my school district shut down and switched to remote learning. However, living in a rural area on the outskirts of my school district, I did not have access to stable internet for Zoom classes. My teachers were helpful in providing accommodations, but I ultimately decided to take a reduced courseload for that year. Though I will still be able to graduate on time, I have only had room in my schedule for required courses and have not been able to take as many electives as I would have liked.

Example 2: In October 2022 my town was flooded by Hurricane Ian and my home largely damaged. My family moved in with relatives in North Carolina, which is why I went to school there for the rest of the semester. Not all of my classes were transferable, so I did not finish with any honors or AP courses. I ultimately suffered worse grades for the school year.

How Not to Respond

Do not use this space to discuss common disruptions faced by many other students — like missing out on extracurriculars, transitioning to online classes, or experiencing lockdowns. Most relevant changes, like new grading policies, will be explained by your counselor in their part of the application.

Also avoid playing up a minor impact, like your grades dropping slightly or missing out on an extracurricular, as it can make your response come across as relatively privileged.

In short, just remember that this space is for exceptional or unusual circumstances — misusing it will be seen as inappropriate.

Do you want feedback on your college essays? While the Common App COVID question isn’t a traditional essay, you may still want feedback on it or your other essays. After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

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How to Answer the COVID-19 Question on the Common App

August 21, 2022

With COVID-19 having been an omnipresent force in all of our lives, including the entire educational universe, it should come as little surprise that the virus even managed to infiltrate the college application itself two years ago. This will remain the case as the Class of 2023 applies to college this fall. As of August 2022, over 1,000,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and many have felt the economic impact of inflation and supply chain challenges. In addition to feeling the health-related and economic consequences, American teenagers had to deal with interruptions to in-person learning, the cancellation of long-awaited events and milestones, and an unnatural period of social isolation.

In an acknowledgement that the Class of 2023 has universally been impacted by the coronavirus crisis, the Common Application, which is used by over one million students each year to apply to one of 1,000+ member institutions, announced that the following COVID-19 prompts, introduced last cycle, will remain part of the application in 2022-23.

1) A 250-word optional question for applicants

2) A 500-word question for guidance counselors

Let’s dive in and look at both coronavirus questions in detail and talk about how students may want to approach this offering.

COVID-19 Question for Students on Common App

The prompt, which appears in the Additional Information section of the Common App reads as follows:

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.

• Do you wish to share anything on this topic? Y/N
• Please use this space to describe how these events have impacted you.

The response length will be limited to 250 words. It does not eat into the 650 words allotted for any other entry to the Additional Information section. The application will also feature an FAQ to help students consider the kinds of impacts they may wish to report, including:

• Illness and loss
• Housing and employment disruptions
• Shifting family obligations

Now that you understand the scope of the question, let’s tackle the first big decision point…

Should I answer the COVID-19 question on the Common App?

Applicants should keep in mind that college admissions officers are not alien beings who just touched down on Earth yesterday. They are human beings who have lived through the pandemic themselves. Therefore they do not need to be introduced to the very nature of the situation. Admissions officers are all fully aware of all of the basic facts pertaining to secondary education. For example, that schools shifted to online instruction in March 2020, that SAT/ACT tests were cancelled, the AP exams were administered remotely, etc.

There is no need to chronicle school-related challenges that were faced by literally every high school student, unless you believe that:

• Your grades were negatively impacted by the shift online.
• Your AP scores were lower because of the lack of instruction/online format.
• Your standardized test results (should you choose to submit them) were negatively impacted by the multiple SAT/ACT cancellations.

If you feel that the disruptions caused by coronavirus negatively impacted what appears on your transcript in any way, you should definitely use this space to explain. If you ended up with all “A”s and “5”s on your AP tests, then there is no need explain the obstacles you faced, unless you feel this communicates something about you (grit, perseverance, etc.).

Of course, if the pandemic impacted you in any personal way—loss of a family member’s job/income, death or serious illness of a family member, or, more tangentially, in the form of anxiety/depression, then you should, without question, use these 250 words to convey the full extent of your suffering.

How Should I Approach the COVID-19 Question?

If you emerged from reading the previous section certain that it is in your best interest to answer the question, the next issue is figuring out how to do so in an effective manner. Unlike with your Common App essay, 250 words does not give you the space with which to tell a complex and personal story in full technicolor. As such, we recommend following these two simple rules:

1) Lead off with the facts

Don’t start with a flowery or literary opening. There is likewise no reason to introduce the coronavirus and explain its broader impact. Did your mother lose her job? Did your grandfather pass away? Was there an uptick in childcare duties for your younger siblings, nieces, nephews, or cousins? Get right to the meat of the story in the first sentence or two.

2) Explain how these changes impacted YOU

Don’t forget to make this response about you . Citing things that happened to your family, friends, or community without explaining how these events made you feel and how they altered your everyday life would not make for an impactful answer. Also, make sure to provide specific details about causation when applicable. For example, don’t just say that dealing with caring for a younger sibling was “hard” or “a distraction.” Instead, be explicit about how that newfound responsibility prevented you from being able to study sufficiently for your AP Chemistry exam.

One additional consideration when pondering how/whether to address the coronavirus question is what the admissions officers will already know about the impact of the crisis on your particular high school. This brings us to the other new section on the Common App…

COVID-19 Question for School Counselors on Common App

Applicants should be fully aware of what is being asked of school counselors in their section of the Common Application as well as—even more importantly—how their counselor answers the question. The prompt for counselors is as follows:

Your school may have made adjustments due to community disruptions such as COVID–19 or natural disasters. If you have not already addressed those changes in your uploaded school profile or elsewhere, you can elaborate here. Colleges are especially interested in understanding changes to:

• Grading scales and policies
• Graduation requirements
• Instructional methods
• Schedules and course offerings
• Testing requirements
• Your academic calendar
• Other extenuating circumstances

Your guidance counselor will have 500 words to address this question. They can also upload additional files or send URLs to pages containing school or district-specific policies. Once a counselor crafts their response, it can be populated into the applications of all students on their caseloads. Nothing personal to your situation will be disclosed by your counselor in this section.

What Students Should Know About the Counselor Question

We encourage students to ask their counselor to see a copy of this statement. Some guidance departments will undoubtedly craft a blanket statement to be used by all counselors. Others will see counselors pen their own descriptions. Seeing this will be helpful to students because you will know what will automatically be communicated to your prospective colleges. For example, if your counselor explains that you were forced to be on virtual instruction for 70% of the 2020-21 school year and that all SAT administrations at your high school were cancelled in the fall, then there is no need for you to repeat that information in your own COVID-19 response.

College Transitions’ Final Thoughts

Every college admissions officer out there already knows a good deal about the COVID-19 pandemic because a) they lived through it themselves and b) your guidance counselor will have provided a summary of how it impacted your high school. The pandemic has victimized everyone on the planet in one way or another—even if it’s “just” injecting increased doses of anxiety, uncertainty, and loneliness into our lives. If you have a personal story to tell, we encourage you to do so. If not, feel free to skip this section in 2022-23.

For advice directly from the Common App, check out this FAQ .

For a look at the main Common App essays, click here .

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Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

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‘When Normal Life Stopped’: College Essays Reflect a Turbulent Year

This year’s admissions essays became a platform for high school seniors to reflect on the pandemic, race and loss.

By Anemona Hartocollis

This year perhaps more than ever before, the college essay has served as a canvas for high school seniors to reflect on a turbulent and, for many, sorrowful year. It has been a psychiatrist’s couch, a road map to a more hopeful future, a chance to pour out intimate feelings about loneliness and injustice.

In response to a request from The New York Times, more than 900 seniors submitted the personal essays they wrote for their college applications. Reading them is like a trip through two of the biggest news events of recent decades: the devastation wrought by the coronavirus, and the rise of a new civil rights movement.

In the wake of the high-profile deaths of Black people like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers, students shared how they had wrestled with racism in their own lives. Many dipped their feet into the politics of protest, finding themselves strengthened by their activism, yet sometimes conflicted.

And in the midst of the most far-reaching pandemic in a century, they described the isolation and loss that have pervaded every aspect of their lives since schools suddenly shut down a year ago. They sought to articulate how they have managed while cut off from friends and activities they had cultivated for years.

To some degree, the students were responding to prompts on the applications, with their essays taking on even more weight in a year when many colleges waived standardized test scores and when extracurricular activities were wiped out.

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2022-2023 Common App Essay Prompts

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"We share this news in January because it’s when some schools begin conversations about college options. It’s a time for learning, reflecting, and planning. That’s where the prompts can be useful: in helping students understand the aspects of their lives that colleges are curious about." Scott Anderson, Senior Director, Common App

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