<p>Hi!:)
I'm an international and I'm getting myself to write a Common App essay.
I have two ideas for it in my mind. I'd be grateful if someone with bigger knowledge of which essays work, could help me with choosing what to write about :)</p>
<p>My first idea is to write about an actress who is a huge inspiration to me. I ''got to know her'' when I was becoming a mature person, more aware of the world surrounding us. I believe she inspired me to do what I'm doing right now: take up activities, enroll into particular courses at school and apply to universities abroad. I could write a long essay about her influence on my life. The only thing that worries me is that after reading my essay, admission officers would be more in awe with her than me, haha ;)) I'm afraid the essay would praise my favorite actress rather than it would present me as an interesting candidate (of course I'd love it to serve the first function but maybe not this time).</p>
<p>My second idea is to write about languages. I love learning them and I spend hours getting excited about amazingly sounding words, foreign names, surnames and stuff like this :D
I could write what languages mean to me and write something about my experience with learning them.</p>
<p>I'm planning to apply to Ivy League colleges and some other ones (=the ones that offer financial aid for internationals - usually top ranked schools that are hard to get into :( )</p>
<p>Thank you in advance for any suggestions!</p>
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<p>I like the 2nd idea better. It is easy to fall into traps like your mention when talking about an influential person Also it is unclear how much you knew this person.</p>
<p>I don’t see what prompts either of these fit, though.</p>
<p>Thank you @BrownParent!
I hope I will manage to make it fit this prompt: “Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure, though, as writing college application essays is something completely new for me as I’m an international student :)</p>
<p>Thank you once again for your advice!</p>
<p>I agree with BrownParent that your second idea offers a stronger start. As you personally stated, it’s actually quite easy to fit it to prompt. I say run with it.</p>
<p>Tips for Idea #1: </p>
<p>a. You can write about this actress and still keep yourself in the limelight by portraying yourself as an active participant. She does A, you responded by doing B. She does C, you do D. As long as it doesn’t blow up into a long inspiration-response list, it can work.</p>
<p>b. You can describe in your intro and use it as a leader into one of your own activities.</p>
<p>c. The one thing I would caution against is talking too much about colleges and college classes. This isn’t the place for that (unless you are a transfer student).</p>
<p>Tips for Idea #2:</p>
<p>a. Create a centralized story with a plot</p>
<p>b. DO write out the words that interest you, and show how to pronounce them. Make your story fun and interactive.</p>
<p>You can check out the drafting section here for more tips - <a href=“http://www.theappstyle.com/guide/[/url]”>http://www.theappstyle.com/guide/</a></p>
<p>Wow, @SplashofScience, thank you so much for your help!
Now I feel much more confident about my ideas as I know how I can fit them into a nice essay :)</p>