<p>I just finished my junior year in high school and I've been trying to decide between engineering and political science as a major. I'm currently doing some work with my state legislature trying to get a law repealed; I've been meeting with state senators/representatives and the like. Even if I don't ultimately get the law, repealed, I figure it will be a great thing to put in college apps and essays. However, if I end up majoring in engineering, will this actually help me at all? Could I still write my essays about the political work?</p>
<p>Trust me, the best essays aren’t about your great accomplishments. Yes, they care about the topic, but the writing makes the essay. I’ve read great essays called “Why I Shop at Walmart” and “Dad’s Pancakes,” but I’ve read horrible essays about students’ biggest accomplishments. Be yourself and write your best essay, not what you think will impress colleges.</p>
<p>Your essay does not, in any way, need to be related to your prospective major. Basically you want to give some insight about yourself, and that may include topics you are passionate about, demonstrating that you get off your butt and take action, work with a team, have skills, commitment etc. Good topic.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Careful. Also, your essay is a chance for Ad Comms to find out something about you that they can’t find elsewhere in your app. If your work isn’t listed somewhere else on the app, then I’d say go for it. Just make sure it fits the prompt. And the topic of your essay doesn’t really matter. What is important is how it is written and what it says about you. My daughter wrote her CA essay about how she got her nickname, and for the old expand-on-an-activity short answer that used to be part of the CA she wrote about her summer work at a physics program at ND, and she applied as a history major.</p>
<p>They want you to tell a story about you. They want to learn about who you are. My older daughter wrote her essay two years ago about a scavenger hunt that she did with her friends. She was accepted to 8 out of 8 schools, two with merit $.</p>
<p>It would be wiser to write about something that you aren’t already putting on your application. Admissions officers want to know something about you that they can’t get from your extracurrics, grades, etc. Writing an essay about your great accomplishment would not only seem redundant but may also come off as bragging.</p>
<p>The essay is really your only time to speak for yourself in your application, the rest is others speaking on your behalf or just plain facts. Take advantage of that opportunity and really write about something you are passionate about, not just something that you think will sound good or what you think the admissions committee will want to hear, because it will shine through in your essay. I do not think the topic matters as much as how you write the actual essay (as long as the topic you chose is appropriate). As mentioned above, it would be smart to write about something that is not in your application anywhere else - something that colleges might not know about you unless you told them in your essay.</p>