<p>I really liked UVA's short essay question "What's your favorite word and why?" and I've written a decent (I think) and personal essay for it. Would it be bad to use that as the topic of choice question for the common application (after extending the response for the short essay)? I had, originally, another essay in mind for the common app on a leadership position I had taken for a major school project when I worked with people who I didn't typically work with and how that taught me the importance of diversity or what not, but I was afraid that is cliche. </p>
<p>I'm applying to a few Ivies with the common app, and I really need strong essays so what are your thoughts please?</p>
<p>But the didn't really answer your question. "Topic of choice" gives you the freedom to write about anything. But I don't think writing about "your favorite word and why" is a good choice. It's one thing if the school asks you that sort of silly question - you are stuck with answering it the best you can. But given your own choice of topic I think writing about your favorite word is kind of lame. Just my opinion. I guess it could be crafted into a great essay, but I would be afraid it would look too much like a cut and paste from another application's canned question.</p>
<p>True "topic of choice" is rather generalized, but if I remember correctly the Common Application asks for you to tell them something about yourself that is not already stated in your application--test scores etc... Then it gives you four topics or "topic of your choice." We are talking about the Personal Statement, correct? I don't think the favorite word would work for the small essay on what extra curricular means the most to you. It could, however, be tailored if one of your passions is writing or entomology or even languages. On the other hand, you do run the risk of it being spotted as a reworked essay if the person reading your application is familiar with the UVa topic, or has seen a lot of reworking. Perhaps the best thing to do is use the good favorite word essay to generate ideas for your Personal Statement.</p>
<p>My son really liked his "mustard" essay for U Chicago, but that would never have fit any other essay requirement. He wrote his Personal Statement on political satire. My oldest wrote his on why he is a punk rock enthusiast and the political roots of punk rock. Both are interested in Poli Sci.</p>
<p>When you do choose "topic of your choice," should you put your choice at the top? (i.e. should you put the question/subject you're writing about at the top?)</p>
<p>Hm...I'm really having trouble with this...getting really mixed signals from all around. </p>
<p>Using that topic of choice for the essay I want to use is somewhat "risky" but then again, I'm afraid that if I go the safer route, it'll turn out bland and cliche. </p>
<p>What exactly is considered a "safe" but good topic for college essays?</p>
<p>My daughter wrote an essay for Stanford, and used it as a "topic of choice" essay for the rest of her apps (all common apps to very selective schools). She got into all of them. If the essay is good, it's OK to use it.</p>
<p>Topic of choice could be about anything you want. Any passion that you might not really have ECs for, a personality trait and a scene to explain it, etc. I wrote mine about how I overcame shyness in the classroom. I told about an incident from childhood and summed it up. There you go, 430 words.</p>
<p>The word essay could work well if you did it the right way. For instance, in my whole essay writing process, I wrote tons of potential essays whenever an idea came to mind and, coincidentally, wrote one about a word. I used the word precocious (not using its definition) but how in the rhyme of "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (sp?)...if you say it loud enough you'll surely sound precocious" everyone pays attention to "super..." but not to "precocious." I then related my personality, however weird it may seem, to precocious and talked about my interest in things that people generally ignore.</p>
<p>It actually turned out to be one of my favorite essays, and, IMHO, communicated a lot about my personality. (I actually would have used it as my main essay except I couldn't find a suitable way to conclude it)</p>
<p>My son took the route of slipstream, writing essays as they came to him and then having a great selection to choose from. This made the supplements easy, the applications easy, and almost everything a matter of copy/paste. And for him, if he couldn't fit the prompt with something he had pre-written, the savior was always topic of your choice. If there was that option, he used his "best" essay.</p>
<p>It seems that Greensleeves topic about shyness could fit under Choice #1 - Evaluate a significant experience and how it affected you, so it didn't really need to be called a topic of choice.</p>
<p>It definately could. Probably most of the essays could be applied to the other questions. But I found that I had more freedom to write if I wasn't trying to "answer" a question.</p>