I just wrote the first draft of my college essay, and I wrote it about what I learned from my grandma both before and after she passed, but I feel like this is too common an essay topic to stand out and benefit me?
Depends on the prompt and what you learned from the experience. But it’s your grandmother and that is something unique to you. If you write it well, it can be an excellent essay
I think it can be good if there is something truly unique that you learned from your grandmother and you can tell that story. Just be careful that the essay is about you and and not your grandmother.
It is not the topic that is important, it is the essay. If you wrote something vibrant, interesting, that will give the reader insight into who you are then it should work just fine. When you get back to school ask a trusted English teacher to read it over for you.
If you’re going to write about it, make sure the essay is about YOU, not grandma. I know it will be hard-- it sounds as though she was a special person in your life. But she’s not the one applying; you are. So a very little about her, and a lot about you, OK?
Make sure the opening is absolutely “different” from the thousands of “What I learned from (inspired by) a dead relative” essay. This is a tricky topic but can be done with skill. The #1 problem to avoid is the “eye-roll” from the admissions office. you don’t want them to assume the rest of your essay be one of those generic ones and get the “holy, here we go again” feeling. JMHO.