<p>You know when you have like a million ideas buzzing in your head and you just wanna write down anything and everything? Then as soon as you feel like you have a solid topic, you begin to doubt it and come up with a "better" idea? Ugh literally me right now.</p>
<p>Originally, I was going to write about the death of my grandmother (I know, the typical). I was really really close with my grandmother and her death and series of other events lead to a sort of depression my freshman and sophomore year which really really really affected my grades (self harm, fighting in family, etc.). However, I know you're not supposed to write about negative events in your essay because especially in my case, the 650 word limit would barely allow me to explain the situation let alone my growth as a result of it.</p>
<p>So, my next idea was to write about my grandparents' home in India as the place where I am the most content. I was going to separate the essay into different paragraphs in chronological order. Each paragraph would focus on a trip to the house and specifically a memory for a room in the house. Ex. The first body paragraph would be about my first memory of the house and it would center on the kitchen. This essay was supposed to describe the evolution of the house along with the evolution of me. I wrote about half of this essay before being filled with sudden doubt.</p>
<p>Now, I'm thinking that I should write about the history of Alzheimer's on my mother's side (My grandmother, her sister, their mother) and how I want to go into the medical field.</p>
<p>Or should I write a quirky essay (maybe about shopping, teaching kids (how to read, write, and speak Hindi) for three years, etc.). The only worry I have about this is that the topic would be fairly light and technically anyone with good writing ability would be able to write it.</p>
<p>I am super confused haha. Any advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>Well I think the Alzheimer’s one sounds like a winner, but that might be because on surface level it’s the only one that gives ample opportunity for you to show how it shaped you. I think the most important part of any common app essay is the action vs consequence dynamic - ie “this is what happened to me and this is why I am now better for it”</p>
<p>I will preface this by saying that you should write whichever one comes most naturally for you, but yes, I agree with @nerdfighter23. The point of these essays, in part, is to show what makes you UNIQUE and DIFFERENT from other applicants, which is why quirky topics (usually) work well. Everyone has experienced a death in the family or something like that, and while I totally understand that this is an event that really changed you, it’s often hard to write about those types of events while still making yourself seem like a better applicant tan everyone else writing similar essays…</p>
<p>I think you already have a winner with your grandparent’s house one. I like the narrative approach you’re taking: each paragraph is a different “scene”/time that will demonstrate things about you/your values/your growth. I think it will stand out because you will be telling a story with an obvious narrative progression.</p>
<p>I actually think you can kill several birds with one stone with this idea/format. You can work in the death of your grandmother AND the history of Alzheimers (as well as your culture, since the house is in India) via the scenes/times in the house. If you’re artful about it, you can paint a really full picture for the admissions officers of who you are, where you come from… also that you’re a storyteller. You want to stand out from the crowd and not write a typical sob story essay. Your idea/approach is creative and reflective–I like that.</p>
<p>Look for other places on the Common App where you can write something short and quirky about teaching kids Hindi–isn’t there usually one question that asks you to elaborate on an EC? </p>
<p>The one thing I"ll add about the category of essays called “the grandmother theme.” The recruiter at Upenn noted that these essays don’t do well with them…as he put it, 'Your grandmother sound like she was a wonderful person and we wished she had applied here…but we don’t necessarily need to read an essay about her." So if its truly about you, maybe…but I will say that these essays sound fairly common…</p>
<p>I like the house in India idea. There is a fair amount of freedom to reveal what you want to about yourself, and still describe something that might not be something an admissions officer knows much about (and thus that they might find interesting). As @SouthernHope says, the idea is to make sure the essay focuses quite a bit on you.</p>