College Essay Topics to Avoid: A Comprehensive Guide
The college essay is a crucial part of your application, offering admissions officers a glimpse into your personality, values, and potential contributions to their campus community. It's your chance to showcase who you are beyond grades and test scores. However, choosing the right topic is essential. Certain topics are considered cliché, inappropriate, or simply don't allow you to present your best self. This article will guide you through college essay topics to avoid and offer advice on how to approach potentially risky subjects in a way that highlights your strengths.
Why Topic Choice Matters
Admissions officers read countless essays, many of which cover similar themes. A common or overused topic can make your essay blend in, failing to leave a lasting impression. Moreover, some topics may be too personal, controversial, or reveal information that could negatively impact your application. The goal is to choose a topic that allows you to showcase your unique qualities, experiences, and perspectives.
The Four Core Questions
At the heart of every successful college essay are the answers to four core questions:
- Who are you?
- Why do you want to attend this school?
- What will you bring to the campus?
- What makes you tick?
By answering these questions, you share information that is otherwise hard to ascertain - things like personality traits, personal journey, interests, skills, and ambitions.
College Essay Topics to Avoid (and What to Write Instead)
Here's a breakdown of common college essay topics to avoid, along with suggestions for alternative approaches:
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1. The "Resume" Essay: Listing Achievements
Why to avoid: Rehashing your achievements from your transcript and activities list is boring for the reader and a missed opportunity to reveal something new about yourself. It misses the point of the essay.
What to do instead: Share something that admissions officers don't already know. Tell a story that reveals your values, voice, and personality. Share an event that shaped you and made you who you are today. Offer a montage of key moments that reveal something core about you and how you move in the world. Pick one experience that stands above the rest and write about how it shaped the person you are today. This is especially effective for any experiences that would benefit from further explanation, or those that have an interesting backstory.
2. The "Mission Trip" Essay
Why to avoid: These essays are often cliché and can sometimes come across as pretentious, condescending, and privileged. It's one of the most common college essay topics that admissions committees receive. There is a real danger in how you describe the communities that you helped. If you’re not careful, you may use the language of exclusion or xenophobia. Also, mission trips are all about helping other people. But when you write an essay trying to make yourself look good for helping people, you may end up seeming overly self-congratulatory.
What to do instead: Focus on a specific moment on your trip, rather than giving a chronological account of your time. Get really specific and bring the reader into the moment and share with them how it affected you. Focus on an unusual experience that happened during the volunteer trip. Focus on values that we’re not expecting.
3. The "Sports Challenge" Essay
Why to avoid: Admissions officers have heard enough about “the thrill of victory” and “the agony of defeat” in relation to high school athletics. These essays are very common, and tend to have very similar plot points, so it’s tough to make your own stand out. You have to use so many words to explain the context of the big game, what the major plays were, the ultimate outcome, and so on. This doesn’t leave much room for personal reflection or even stylistic writing.
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What to do instead: Approach your sports story from a creative and new angle. Sports should serve as the backdrop to something more deep and personal. Try to avoid common topics such as, grit, resilience, determination, learning to trust teammates, how you were thrilled at winning the big game, or how heartbroken you were to lose. Instead, try more unconventional topics like how a sports injury forced you to learn new skills or how it helped you discover a new passion. Focus on a unique way that sports shaped who you are.
Example:
- A star athlete football student tears his ACL, is out for the season or possibly longer, and goes through a deep depression…during which he starts knitting begrudgingly.
4. The "Big Performance" Essay
Why to avoid: As with sports challenge essays, these essays are very common, and tend to have very similar plot points, so it’s tough to make your own stand out. You will inevitably spend much of your essay word count describing what the performance is, how you actually performed, what made the performance great (or not so great), and so on.
What to do instead: Try not to spend too much time describing that performance. Instead, you should use the outcome of the performance as a springboard to discuss the new skills and life lessons you have learned. What makes the performance itself unusual?
5. The "Cliche Immigration Story" Essay
Why to avoid: Countless students move or switch schools each year. The vast majority of college essays focusing on immigration emphasize the same things: moving to a new home, feeling out of place, and eventually learning to accept both one’s cultural heritage and one’s new surroundings.
What to do instead: If moving was really integral to your high school experience and identity, think about why that is. Did it push you to try new interests or become more outgoing? Focus your essay on a unique aspect. Focus on something like a single specific moment (like what you did the first time you encountered racism or xenophobia) or a much less conventional challenge you faced.
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Example:
- After moving, you decided to go by the proper pronunciation of your Spanish name, rather than the anglicized version. How moving led you to start an organization that picks up unwanted furniture for free, and resells or donates items in good condition. For items in bad condition, you find ways to repair and upcycle them.
6. The "My Hero" Essay
Why to avoid: If you spend too much time talking about the amazing things this person has done, the admissions officer may want to admit them instead of you! The essay is often focused more on the other person than the applicant.
What to do instead: Focus your essay around you. Highlight a specific moment where they exemplified an attribute or action that they commend in a person that they admire. If the person they admire is historical, they can talk about how they are trying to live their life according to those ideals. Help us see what you learned from them, how you’ve applied those lessons, and how they’ve shaped you into the thinker and scholar you are today.
7. The "Bad Grade" Essay
Why to avoid: It pales in comparison to the challenges other applicants have faced and isn’t something you necessarily want to present to the admissions committee. It’s hard to shed light on your greatest strengths when talking about bad grades. It’s raising not-great questions, such as, why weren’t you working hard in the first place?
What to do instead: You can use bad grades as an essay topic if you frame it positively. If a grade is truly bad and you feel you can explain the circumstances, save that for the Common App Additional Info section or its equivalent. Pick another trait to feature in your essay. Make the essay less about the class and more about the writer.
8. The "First Heartbreak" Essay
Why to avoid: Epic teen romance is usually far less important to those outside the relationship. Writing about a heartbreak means you’ll spend plenty of time writing about the other person. It may make the committee worry about how easily you could get distracted by romance and start losing focus on your actual studies.
What to do instead: Think about what traits that story would’ve brought out. Was it your ability to overcome a setback? Is it being emotionally intelligent or finding a compromise during conflict?
9. Essays About Illegal or Unethical Activities
Why to avoid: Admitting to the admissions committee that you’ve engaged in this kind of activity could demonstrate a lack of judgment and maturity. It will make the college worry about you partaking in illegal drugs while at the college.
What to do instead: Avoid this topic entirely.
10. The "Privileged Life" Essay
Why to avoid: Essays that are overtly privileged or present a life of constant good fortune can come across as out-of-touch or lacking perspective.
What to do instead: Discuss the time or experience that awakened you to your life circumstances. Talk about how it changed you - and not just a perspective shift. What did you DO in response to your awakening?
11. The "Cultural Heritage" Essay
Why to avoid: Unlike you, the admissions officer doesn’t feel deeply about your background, family, culture, ethnicity, or religion.
What to do instead: Write about how you have interacted with and shone through that heritage. Focus on the actions you have taken.
Example:
- Your school didn’t celebrate Chinese New Year. You decided to change this. You worked hard, amassing support, figuring out when and where and who could come in to do a lion dance, persisting when you were initially told it wouldn't work and making it happen.
12. The "Makes Me Feel Alive" Essay
Why to avoid: If you talk about how performing in the school play “makes you feel alive,” what are you really saying about yourself? The admissions officer is learning nothing about your personal characteristics.
What to do instead: Switch the focus from “playing soccer makes me feel alive”- to “my relationship with soccer shows what a potential-filled person I am.” Find ways to tie your love of the extracurricular or activity to your personality traits.
13. The "Political Beliefs" Essay
Why to avoid: It’s so easy to upset your reader, who may disagree with you. This is not the impression you want to leave on admission officers. This topic can lead you away from you to focus on something extraneous, in this case: goings-on in the world.
What to do instead: Focus on your actions. Talk about the intellectual curiosity you’ve exhibited in learning deeply about politics, or talk about the drive and initiative that went into your run for office or your taking on a political issue. Be extremely cautious in choosing what political issues to share with admission readers.
14. The "Sick Family Member" Essay
Why to avoid: You don’t want to focus your essay on someone other than yourself. You don’t want your essay to come off as too self-pitying or passive.
What to do instead: Focus on how the illness changed you, and particularly on what actions you take now that are different. What important skills did you develop?
Example:
- A teen is facing the slow death of his grandma from cancer as he starts high school…but the essay focuses on their relationship in his childhood and into his early teens, when his dyslexia made it hard for him in school. His grandma coached him nightly through his workbooks, and did not let him avoid the challenge. When she got old and very sick, he made and brought her daily chicken sandwiches (a ritual and source of shared joy).
15. The "Tragedy" Essay
Why to avoid: Tragedies are often a universal experience. It could sound like you’re writing about this tragedy for the sake of scoring points. Some people aren’t comfortable sharing the intimate details of a tragedy they’ve faced, and that’s okay. Admissions officers may also worry that an applicant who has experienced major trauma is not in a good mindset for the rigors of college life.
What to do instead: Write about a tragedy you’ve experienced, but talk about what you learned or how you overcame it. Highlight how the tragedy affected the writer. Write about shifting family dynamics, new responsibilities, and increased challenges.
16. The "Family Pressure" Essay
Why to avoid: It will only make it look like you lack independence from your parents.
What to do instead: Talk about your situation growing up and how that influences your perspective and choices.
17. The "Humorous" Essay
Why to avoid: The college essay is supposed to be serious, not funny.
What to do instead: You can use bits of humor throughout your college essay, but only in ways that feel natural. Don’t try to force the jokes or “be” funny.
18. The "Edgy" Essay
Why to avoid: Controversial, inappropriate, or taboo topics should be avoided.
What to do instead: Acknowledge your life circumstances. Criticizing or calling out perceived flaws in the school is an extremely risky move that is very unlikely to pay off. Show the college how creative you are once you’re a student on campus.
19. The "Childhood Story" Essay
Why to avoid: Admissions officers are looking for more recent events and experiences that describe who you are now and how they’ve shaped you.
What to do instead: Choose events and experiences that have occurred during your high school years. Relate it to how your love of science grew over time to lead you to your school choices now.
20. The "Anti-Essay"
Why to avoid: Admissions officers have to read thousands of personal statements, so unconventionally presenting the information, like a poem or song, may just come across as gimmicky.
What to do instead: You can take some risks and be a little creative in your admissions essay, but don’t go over the top. Show the college how creative you are once you’re a student on campus.
General Tips for Essay Writing
- Be Authentic: Write in your own voice and use language that comes naturally to you.
- Focus on You: The essay should be about you and your experiences, not someone else.
- Show, Don't Tell: Use vivid language and specific examples to illustrate your points.
- Reflect and Analyze: Don't just describe events; reflect on what you learned from them and how they shaped you.
- Proofread Carefully: Ensure your essay is free of typos, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes.
- Get Feedback: Ask teachers, counselors, or trusted adults to read your essay and provide constructive criticism.
- Revise, Edit, Proofread: Check the word count (the typical personal statement must be between 250-650 words).
The Role of AI
While you shouldn’t let AI write your admissions essay, you can use it to help you brainstorm ideas, proofread your essay, and ask for feedback. For example, you can input your essay and ask AI if it’s clear and makes sense to the reader. If it doesn’t, you can ask AI what’s unclear and even for a suggestion or two on how to rephrase something.
Examples of Good College Essay Topics
- A unique hobby or passion: Delve into what drives you and how it has shaped your perspective.
- A time you failed and what you learned from it: Demonstrate your resilience and ability to grow.
- An experience that challenged your beliefs: Show your open-mindedness and willingness to learn.
- How playing soccer helped you find your voice and advocate for housing rights in your neighborhood.
- A student has been raised in a deeply religious household, and she has always found comfort, faith and support in her religion/church community.
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