<p>I'm from New Orleans, and my house flooded during Katrina. I'm wondering whether people thought Katrina would be a good topic as a "significant experience". All my teachers and counselors keep telling me that Katrina has been used too much in the past, and the essay might seem too commonplace. Any ideas?</p>
<p>It’s not the essay topic but the way you write about that topic that will make your essay seem “commonplace” or not. I am personally writing about a death in my family and I’ll imagine the adcoms see a lotttttttt of that. But I am putting my own little touch on the topic and hope to offer them something different. So if you have something unique to say about Katrina and how it affected you as a person (key point there), I think it’ll be a great topic.</p>