I remember my college adviser saying that you should avoid certain topics in your essays, most notably sex. For all you juniors out there, I want to let you know, that if you have a special sexual experience that really defines a part of who you are, who are they to say no?
I wrote my common app essay last fall on my first sexual encounter with my girlfriend. It was life-changing for me because afterwards, I realized how meaningless premarital sex is. I ended up dumping her for allowing me to have sex with her and now I lead a chaste life, having made promises to have sex with nobody other than my future spouse.
Yes, it’s quite a wild story, but it had all the qualities of a good PERSONAL essay. I got accepted to 12/13 schools I applied to with it, including 3 Ivies. One admissions officer even wrote back to me telling me how touched he was by my writing. Of course, my other stats + my research on the Langlands program may have helped too…but the point is: if you have a story, TELL IT!