Are these good essay topics for the common app?

College Essays
1

I have a few ideas for essay topics, and I would grateful for some feedback, be harsh. I’m mostly applying to ivy leagues such as Cornell and Dartmouth, and other privates like WUSTL, JHU, and NU. Thanks!

  1. (Prompt 1) Swearing - I have a weird rule of never swearing. I have never sworn in public, even when I got hurt real bad or under peer pressure. It's just something I've decided to do, and have kept that discipline. I could talk about finding innovative ways of creating humour or insulting people without cussing, and how it builds willpower.
  2. (Prompt 1) Accents - being a British Indian, I speak in an Indian accent to my family but in an English accent to my friends. This happens subconsciously. Sometimes the boundaries blur with friends who are also Indian. I could talk about conflicting identity and how I think and act when using the different accents.
  3. (Prompt 6) Daydreaming - I'm a pretty introverted person, and I like to talk people in my head and discuss my problems and issues with them. I do quite a lot of daydreaming and like to develop new story arcs and scenarios. However, this might be a common topic, and I don't really know how I would make this into a good essay.
2

Ultimately you should be able to connect your ideas to some core thing about yourself that you want admissions officers to know about you. Why should they admit you? What will you bring to their campus?

I guess I can see commitment and a sense of humor in #1, but I wouldn’t recommend taking pride in the ways in which you can insult people even if you aren’t swearing, haha. I think that the theme of “conflicted” identity is more common (at least in my essay-reading experience) than daydreaming (although many people do “stream-of-consciousness” style essays where they write what they’re thinking). However, #2 is not necessarily a bad theme; it just means that you need to add plenty of details and specifics instead of writing generalities (telling stories is the best way to go). #3 could definitely make an interesting essay if you could figure out how to connect it to that ultimate goal of showing admissions something about yourself.

3

Thanks, that really helped! I think I’m going to scrap the second option, not really passionate about it and I don’t think I’ll be able to stand out from the rest, like you said it’s a common topic. I’ll decide between the first and third.