Emerson: Choice: Life-Story Title or Community

100-200 words

Choose one. Option A: Much of the work that students do at Emerson College is a form of storytelling. If you were to write the story of your life until now, what would you title it and why? Option B: At its best, how does community benefit the individual, the whole, or both? (100-200 words)

What it’s really asking

You pick one of two options. Option A asks for a title for your life story so far, and the reasoning behind it; this is a voice-and-storytelling test. Option B asks you to think about how community helps people, ideally grounded in a community you actually belong to. Choose the one that does not duplicate your personal statement and that plays to your strength: wit and voice for A, perspective and reflection for B.

Why they ask it

Emerson uses this prompt to see how you think and how you sound. Option A rewards a writer with a distinctive voice and a sense of humor about themselves. Option B rewards a thinker who can hold a real idea and stay specific. Both are checking whether you can take a small frame and make it carry meaning, which is the whole job of an Emerson student.

Three ways in

For A, hunt for a small true title

Brainstorm a surprising, honest title (an inside joke, a recurring object, a habit) and let the why do the emotional work.

For B, anchor in one real community

Pick a marching band, a kitchen crew, a fandom, a neighborhood, and one concrete exchange you witnessed or lived.

Widen at the end, not the start

Whichever you pick, open small and concrete, then let the final line open the frame into something larger about you.

✕ Weak opening

“If I had to title the story of my life, I would call it The Journey, because life is a long and winding journey full of ups and downs.”

✓ Strong opening

“I would title it Some Assembly Required, after the eleven IKEA bookshelves I have built for other people and the one I have never finished for myself.”

✦ Annotated example · Life-Story Title (Option A). Written by EssayLens to teach, not a real applicant’s essay. Tap a highlighted line →

I would title it Some Assembly Required. ¹My father fixes things for a living, and our garage is a graveyard of half-repaired appliances waiting for the one part that never quite arrives on time. I grew up handing him screwdrivers and learning that most things are not broken so much as misunderstood. ²That is how I have built everything since: a stop-motion film shot frame by frame with my sister's old dolls, a school newspaper I started with two friends and a borrowed laptop, a podcast that took eleven failed episodes before one finally sounded right. ³The title fits because nothing I care about has ever arrived finished. ⁴It fits because I like the part where the pieces are still scattered on the floor and you cannot yet see the shape. ⁵I am not done assembling, and I would rather build the rest of it somewhere that hands you the tools and expects you to make something real.⁶

1Answers Option A's core demand (a title) immediately and memorably, and previews the making theme Emerson values.
2Grounds the abstract title in a specific, sensory scene rather than explaining it in the abstract.
3Stacks concrete made things, reinforcing 'evidence of making, not just liking,' with honest mention of failure.
4Returns to the title and earns it with a clear thesis, showing structural control in a short space.
5Reveals temperament and voice, suggesting curiosity and process, which align with a storytelling-driven campus.
6Closes with subtle Emerson fit (tools, making real work) while keeping the metaphor consistent to the final word.

Stuck? Start here

For Option A, what is one small, true, slightly odd title (an object, a habit, an inside joke) that you could actually defend for a paragraph?
For Option B, which single community do you genuinely belong to, and what is one concrete thing it gave you or cost you?
Which option avoids repeating the anecdote and tone of your personal statement?

Before you submit

Does the essay open with a concrete scene or surprising title rather than an abstract thesis?
Does it stay within 100-200 words and avoid reusing material from your other essays?
Does the final line widen the frame instead of restating the prompt?

Drafted it? Get an honest, admissions-style read, free.

Score my essay