Currently, I’m writing mines on Net Neutrality…is this too political for an college essay or will i be okay?
It doesn’t sound like the point of the college essay. The college essay isn’t about some political or societal issue. It isn’t supposed to be a persuasive essay. The point is to reveal something about yourself. Now… if you’d decided a couple of years ago that net neutrality was a thing you wanted to take action on, had worked to get some legislation or rule passed on it, faced some obstacles along the way, and/or learned through that experience that maybe your initial understanding of it hadn’t been complete, and it had taught you something – THAT might be the sort of essay that would work because you could make it more about YOU than about the topic. Don’t take the essay prompt too seriously – think of something that is interesting/unique about you and may make the colleges want you on campus, and see if you can fit it to a prompt.
The only essay I can think of that might be appropriate for a topic like that is when a college has a supplemental essay when they specifically ask you to write about a political or international relations issue (I can think of one college that does that). Otherwise, you are likely missing the point of the essay.
Unlike the poster above, OP I think you should write your essay on whatever you want. Your passion, rhetoric, and research are linked entities that give admissions a sense of your intellectual quality.
PM me your essay if you’d like a good reader.
Good luck!
Sorry, I have to agree with @intparent . The adcoms reading your essay aren’t looking to be educated. They’re trying to decide whether or not you’re the best choice-- from a stack of other applications-- as a person to admit to their campus. They want to know about YOU… why they should choose you over other applicants with similar qualifications. Your essay should be uniquely yours, not something they could research if they so chose.
For some, not all, intellect is indelibly the essence of the “I” who writes the essay.
Snobbish “faux intellectual” essays are a sure way to get rejected, though. So many students try to write something they see as high brow and “worthy” of a top school. They just come across as pretentious a lot of the time. And that isn’t really the impression you want to give admissions.
One of my kids was asked to moderate the philosophy discussion forum on a website for gifted students, and did it throughout HS. She probably could have written an essay on philosophy and her interest/engagement that would have been personal and included references to schools of philosophy or specific philosophies without coming across as a pretentious git. She didn’t end up doing it, picked a different topic. Her calling card really was being an intellectual. But she didn’t need to come across as a pretentious git to get it across. Her app reeked of intellectual – her recommendations, ECs, and some small components of her essays got the point across. Bludgeoning them with an almost unreadable essay shouting, “Look at me, I am an intellectual!” isn’t going to help in admissions. Not that the OP is doing that. But it is a trap for most students who try it.
The real question is WHAT IS THE PROMPT?
It could be that the prompt asked to talk about a problem that you’d like to solve, or an issue that means a lot to you, or something like that. In that case, the topic might fit – but there are also tons of other prompts for which it wouldn’t be a good match.
Anti-intellectualism has mercifully little influence over genuinely engaged academic circles.
are you choosing to write about net neutrality because it is a hot topic or are you somehow directly affected/involved?
there is a difference between a leader and a follower, particularly in issues such as net neutrality which is shaped by powerful people - are you a leader or a follower on this issue?