Choosing a topic for common app essay

College Essays
1

<p>I had some essay ideas in mind, but I am not sure which one would be the best choice. This is for the common app essay, and all for the first prompt (tell something about your background).</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Talk about my Spanish class, how I went from getting a B+ in my first semester of Spanish 2 and generally disliking the class to loving the subject and overall being much more enthusiastic and hard working in the class. I like this one but it kind of feels like I'm just giving an excuse for the one B I will (most likely have) on my application, and also my Spanish teacher will probably be writing me a rec letter so the content might overlap quite a bit.</p></li>
<li><p>Talk about the differences between my first 2 sports experiences in high school (cross country and basketball), and how each one contributed something different to who I am as a person, and how those qualities have helped me in school and outside of it. It would be like how cross country I was very shy, but then basketball made me more outgoing, and stuff like that. </p></li>
<li><p>How my school lack of wealth (we are a pretty poor school) has affected me. I was thinking of focusing this one on how my teacher basically converted a classroom into a theatre, showing students from my school are forced to learn how to deal with limited resources in order to accomplish things. I am much more on the fence about this one, it is definitely not quite as genuine as the other two, not all that personal and honestly kind of cheesy.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Anyone have any advice on what I should choose?</p>

2

<p>1) No
2) Sounds pretty unique
3) Okay idea but sounds like you wouldn’t write enough about yourself, which is the point of the essay</p>

3

<p>Honestly, I would choose the 3rd. It’s the most unique and rare topic. Just make sure that, like ribbonroad224 said, show enough about your character and how this event impacted you. Good luck!</p>

4

<p>bump</p>

5

<h1>2 I could see as being hard to condense into 650 words.</h1>

6

<p>Topic #1 should be avoided at all costs.</p>

<p>As far as topic #2 goes, essays about sports almost always come out boring and cliche. However, if you really put in the time and approach it from a creative angle, it could be fantastic. Possible suggestion: maybe just focus on one of those sports. Focusing on both may get a little messy.</p>

<p>I must admit topic #3 caught my interest the most, but if you do not feel you can be genuine and you don’t have enough to say, then forget it. If you do choose #3, however, I would caution you to ensure that it is an essay about you and your takeaways, rather than an essay about how awesome your teacher is. </p>

<p>The logical solution is to dabble with both topics #2 and #3. Write a very rough draft for each topic just so you can get an idea of what they’d actually be like. Don’t worry about grammar or how sentences sound (for now); just see where your fingers take you. You may very well surprise yourself and I promise is worth the extra time. Good luck :slight_smile: </p>