Essay topics - what did your senior write about? Tips/suggestions?

[scualum]

<p>On one of the college tours that I took with my DS (I don’t remember which but perhaps Stanford), the admission officer suggested making a list of the seven things you want to come out about you in your application. Decide where each of these is going to be represented. One might be persistence - perhaps your teacher can work that into their recommendation letter. Another might be adaptability - perhaps this becomes one of the themes of GC letter. </p>

<p>The essay is the one chance you have to directly impact the picture the admissions officer has drawn in their head of you - so use it to fill the gaps in the list of 7.</p>

[northeastmom]

<p>My son wrote his long essay about an unusual hobby. It was quite a bit longer than the suggested length, but it worked well with respect to admission.</p>

<p>The short essay was about his participation in a club and what he learned from the experience.</p>

[Lafalum84]

<p>I agree with some previous posters - don’t worry about the first sentence, or the introduction. Pick something that interests you, or is interesting about you, or an experience you had, and just throw something down on paper. Start with the 2nd paragraph if you want to.</p>

<p>Do that a couple times about a couple of different topics, and one will start to be easier to write than the others. Go with that one. You can set them all aside for 2 weeks or so, then go back and re-read them and see which one hits home, too.</p>

<p>My son wrote about his love of skiing. My daughter wrote about her most embarrassing moments and how she overcame them (ie, the importance of being able to laugh at yourself). Her friend wrote about the two things that had gotten her thru an extremely difficult childhood - a good friend and a sport. Her boyfriend wrote about a man he met while doing a service project at a homeless shelter. My nephew wrote about meeting a fellow guitarist while touring Spain, and how they managed to communicate with each other while neither spoke the other’s language very well. (I loved his opening, it was something to the effect of: I’ll be honest, I took up learning to play the guitar because I thought it would impress girls. It didn’t work very well.)</p>

[CaliforniaDancer]

<p>I’m a student, and I wrote about my community service experience, which involved tutoring the same student at a very underprivileged public school for two years. I got some good feedback on the essay, including a very nice email from a Smith admissions officer saying how much she liked the essay! </p>

<p>I think what made my essay work was that, at its core, it was really about me and the difficulties I encountered in acting as a teacher. It didn’t have any kind of “and then I went and tutored underprivileged children, how great!” type of feel. I started with the question “What is 3 x 4?”, and then I went from there, talking about a very specific experience, instead of trying to make large generalizations. I walked the reader through what I described as “a typical Thursday afternoon.” I talked about my frustrations - how I felt when my student had trouble understanding, because I felt like I was failing her, and how excited it made me when she got something right. But I never came out and said that - it was the classic “show, not tell” approach. I personally thought it turned out quite well - it was humorous and engaging on the surface, but it definitely had a deeper message about what kind of person I am and what I got out of the experience.</p>

[LasMa]

<p>My D wrote about how a dance teacher had taught her to have confidence in herself.</p>

<p>Writer’s block is rough, and a high stakes paper makes it worse. Something that works for me is to just free-associate on paper. I take off the editor’s filter and jot short phrases, random thoughts on the topic, side alleys, images, examples. It seems to free up the creative process, and both expands and focuses my thoughts.</p>

[arisamp]

<p>Thanks all for the great advice/tips. Keep them coming if there are more.</p>

<p>Love the ideas of jotting down important characteristics/traits that you would like to show the adcoms and making sure one or more of these comes through with the essay. D is good at academics (something that the transcript/scores will show), good at athletics (again, easily shown on app) and is involved in a variety of ECs. Some of the ECs will be listed on the app - but will probably just be a line item. She could potentially expand on one of these to make an interesting essay. Will brainstorm with her when she gets back.</p>

[Hat]

<p>The summer before senior year, I gave my son a list of the Common App prompts (I don’t think they ever change) and some of the “different” prompts from schools that he was interested in. Then I suggested people, events, situations from his past that might make a good topic. I know that he didn’t use any of them for his Common App essay, however I think that it least got him thinking about possible topics - which was good.</p>

<p>His linguistics essay was sparked by the first time he heard Irish Gaelic spoken. He had not mentioned it to either my wife or I at the time, but he remembered exactly where he was and the speakers and how it sparked his interest in other languages. That essay also solved a problem often asked by CCers about picking an uncommon major to improve their chances at selective schools. It showed that his choice of an uncommon major was based on an actual interest in the subject and all the work that he had done on his own to pursue it. I think it helped, to a degree, with admissions and he is a linguistics major today.</p>

[college_query]

<p>A friend of mine works at a prestigious private school and offered to help my daughter with her college apps. She told her to write something that no one else could write, which I thought was great advice. She ended up writing about a documentary she produced and some unexpected events and consequences.</p>

<p>Not a college admission essay, but my now 16-year old son had to do a state writing assessment in 5th grade. When we went for his parent-teacher conference, the teacher presented the essay to us telling us it was one of the best she had ever read. It was a moving story about our dog who had passed away, and his bond and friendship with the dog. We were all crying.</p>

<p>Later I asked him about the essay, and he said “Oh, that? I don’t really remember [insert dog’s name] because he died when I was in kindergarten. But the teacher said the evaluators love sad stories, so I kind of made it up.” </p>

<p>I can’t wait to see what he’ll write for his college apps!</p>

[stevensmama]

<p>S wrote about how playing the computer game “Age of Empires” taught him so much and inspired him to major in history. By the end of his freshman year, he’d received two Ds and a B in history classes (and one of the Ds was a retake of a class he’d failed). Needless to say, the history major is history and S is looking in other directions. :(</p>

[limabeans]

<p>Take a mundane topic, like getting a haircut or stubbing your toe or Ouch! getting a paper cut…and turn it into a story about you. The start is everyday, but the topic becomes bigger and more philosophical. kind of like “the Road Not Taken”.</p>

<p>There are plenty of philosophical topics that you could play with (like adversity/fitting in/diversity/gender identification/etc. etc.), but which one and how you interpret that becomes uniquely you.</p>

[EmmyBet]

<p>When D1 was writing essays, I did take a quick look at them. She wrote about good topics (mostly about how she felt when singing, or the challenge of learning a language), but I told her to take out all of the overused superlatives: great, wonderful, terrific, exciting, etc. When she had to write real expressions of how she felt, the essays improved 100%.</p>

[switters]

<p>My son, who got into all the art schools he applied to, wrote a long essay for the common application. Because he was mostly applying to art schools, the only school that saw the common application was Wash U, St. Louis, he was accepted there as well. Interestingly, he didnt write about art for the common application essay, but wrote about blues music, playing and composing music and a specific couple of blues musicians and their influence on his process. It was easy for him to write because it was a subject that has profound interest for him. He ended up saying a lot about himself, but without starting out to do so, so it probably was easier than if he had started with the mindset of “How can I impress these people…”</p>

[ADad]

<p>There is good advice here:</p>

<p>[Essays</a>, Admission Information, Undergraduate Admission, U.Va.](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html]Essays”>http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html)</p>

[rocket6louise]

<p>Hmm… I wrote several essays for college, but here are my “top” ones</p>

<p>I wrote about getting a tattoo illegally when I was sixteen. It was funny and candid. That essay won me 8k in scholarship money, so I guess it was well recieved</p>

<p>For my big common app one, I wrote about my favorite book, the Little Prince and how I love to color and build forts</p>

<p>My little common app one was about quitting my job and how empowering it was</p>

<p>I didn’t say ANYTHING in an essay that was clear in my application
I edited all my essays myself. The college is picking me, not my parents. They have no business editing it</p>

[originaloog]

<p>Son wrote a humorous essay about his less than perfect teeth tying them to a james taylor song “Sun on the Moon” we sang on a trip to Disney world, the old picket fence at the corner of our lot, and his take on the perfection.</p>

[digmedia]

<p>Especially for writer’s block, I advocate a formula that goes like this (this is from a posting I did a few years ago, so if you’ve seen it, bear with me).</p>

<p>(Reprint below:)</p>

<p>

A long time ago, I posted an article about a structure for an essay that could help get you started. I’ll talk about that in a minute. But first, many people have trouble getting STARTED on writing about a suggested topic, so getting some help on the first sentence will help unlock the rest of the essay.</p>

<p>The “formula” I was suggesting is to narrow the topic to a something specific that also points to where you want to go in the future (major, or profession, or whatever). Then begin writing the essay by dropping the reader into the middle of an interesting/tense/mysterious experience of yours and ending the first paragraph with a cliff-hanger. Then go into the real gist of the essay, and then, in the final paragraph, go back and resolve the story in light of the middle part of the essay, bringing everything together.</p>

<p>For example (and I’m inventing this on the fly here, so don’t be too critical), suppose the essay prompt was something like, “Describe how an experience you have had has changed or affected your life.”</p>

<p>Hmmmm… How do you even get started on this? Many, as a way of starting, will repeat the topic in the opening sentence: “I was 16 years old when I had an experience which changed my life.” No, no, no, no. Let’s try the formula above. First, think about where you want to go with your life or in a major. For the sake of an example let’s say that perhaps you want to major in biology and perhaps, maybe, maybe not, eventually go to Med School.</p>

<p>Then think about any past experiences that you have had that can relate to that. Again, as an example, let’s say you had a part time job in a veterinary clinic, cleaning dog kennels, but that as you worked there, you got to do more and more observation on some of the cases (still inventing on the fly).</p>

<p>So here is the sample essay (in abbreviated form). See how it fits into the structure I defined above, and see how easily it comes, once you’ve got the topic specifics:</p>

<p>*The leg was a bloody, tangled mess. As the anesthetic began to work, the dog seemed to at last be free of what must have been terrible pain. His long tongue lolled to the side. The car had done a job on this little fellow, and I wondered if he would make it. “It doesn’t look good,” the Vet said quietly. “We’ll need to amputate.” He shaved the leg above the wound and gently sterilized the skin. He then used the scalpel to expose the bone, which glistened white in the bright overhead light. He reached for his bone saw. The surgical mask I wore while I observed the procedure started to feel claustrophobic, but I couldn’t turn away.</p>

<p>I got hired at the veterinary clinic to clean kennels. As far as I was concerned, it was just a job - a way to make some money for the upcoming school year. But the more I worked in the clinic, the more interested I became in the veterinary work itself, especially trauma cases. Again and again I saw the vet trying desparately trying to save the lives of dogs and cats. Sometimes they did not make it, but most times had happier outcomes. The vet’s knowledge and quick actions not only saved the lives of animals, but saved families from the tragedy of losing a loved pet.*</p>

<p>(etc, etc… you see where this is going… continue the essay in this vein, but then go back to the story in the last paragraph and tie all of this together in how you were affected)</p>

<p>The amputation was a success and the dog recovered and lived a long happy life. He got around so well on three legs that I sometimes wondered if he even knew he was missing a limb. That summer job did something for me far beyond the seven dollars an hour I got. It redirected my future. Could I ever have a career that had such an impact? Whether I reach my goal of becoming a physician or veer into some other medical area is still to be determined. But I am starting on a path that will allow me those options. Thanks to a three-legged dog.</p>

<p>Corny, maybe, and maybe a bit contrived, BUT, it won’t sound like every other essay crossing the admissions officer’s desk, and it will be about YOU by way of an interesting story. And the last little touch, about the three-legged dog, will bring a smile to almost anyone. YOU ARE SO ADMITTED…

</p>

[digmedia]

<p>And here’s another post using the same formula. By seeing this in conjunction with the other one, you can really spot the structural similarities. Also, it starts to lose it’s luster a little, because you begin to see it as formulaic. But, it’ll stand out in a sea of essays coming across an admissions counselor’s desk:</p>

<p>

A very common essay prompt is “Why do you want to major in ______?” I’m going to thumb through a list of majors and pick one at random… HISTORY!!</p>

<p>No, actually, I did a sample for that one in another thread, so let me pick another I know NOTHING about… ACTING (Is that a Theater major?)</p>

<p>So, story with visuals, main part of the essay, bring together in last paragraph, cute ending…</p>

<p>Not everyone can have a bloody-dog story to fall back one, so this one will be MUCH less dramatic than the one above. But notice the structural similarities.</p>

<p>*It was hot backstage, and we all were a little sweaty. It was the final dress rehearsal before opening night and the cast had Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” down pat. The first full dress had gone so well that a series of pranks and minor line changes had been planned as a practical joke on the director. Actors were busy with heavy period costumes and stage make-up, several spraying gray into their hair to make themselves look older than the students they were. The sounds and smells of preparation tinged the air and added to the excitement of the evening. The woman playing Petra, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Stockman in the play, came to me, already in her long, brown dress, holding a sizable pillow and some safety pins. She held out the pillow - a lumpy mass with a flowered pillowcase - for me to take. “Quick,” she said, with a conspiratorial grin, “help me pin this under my skirt.” I didn’t at first realize what she wanted me to do…</p>

<p>Even though I was enlisted as a stagehand, this was also my first acting gig. I was an extra in the crowd scene, the one who throws a stone shattering a glass window pane. How had I been convinced to go onto the stage? I thought every eye would focus on my moment, the rock would miss its mark, and reviewers would surely point out that the play would have been a great success “except for one crowd member who singlehandedly sabotaged the night.”*</p>

<p>(Continue with the main part of the essay to get to the correct word length, then return to the story and tie it all together.)</p>

<p>*I watched from just off-stage as Petra, wrapped in a cloak and hat and holding a bundle of books, awaited her initial entrance in Act I. On cue, she walked onto the set as her father said the line, “Good evening, Petra. Come along.”</p>

<p>Petra leaned over to settle her books onto a chair. She stood up, placed her hat on a rack, and began to remove her cloak. “And you have all been sitting here enjoying yourselves,” she said, “while I have been out being very busy.” The cloak dropped to the floor, revealing a very “pregnant” Petra!</p>

<p>The director’s face froze into place, but no one could continue with the play. Laughter overtook us all, cast and crew. And at that moment, all of my nervousness melted away and was replaced by a sheer sense of fun.</p>

<p>I went on to bigger and better roles, each helping reinforce the fact that I was most at home in the theater, but the feeling was fed by the camaraderie of the people who all work together to get from a first reading to opening night. That dress rehearsal was the igniting of a passion that grew, flame-like, starting with that lumpy pillow in the flower print pillowcase.*

</p>

<p>Even though I never wanted to act, and the part about going on to bigger roles was totally false, the entire story of the “pregnant” Petra was totally true, including my one part of the play as a crowd member who threw a stone through the glass window.</p>

[digmedia]

<p>And one more I wrote just yesterday showing the formula for someone who wanted to write about how music influenced their personality… Again, forgive me if you read this one - but notice how the formula works here also. This is an EASY way to start, by using a quote, or a lyric. However, if you use lyrics, make sure it’s from a song the reader will know. You want that tune going through their head as well. I’m very old, so I chose a song by The Eagles (30 year old tune), so I hope you know it: “Already Gone.”</p>

<p>

*“Well I know it wasn’t you who held me down
Heaven knows it wasn’t you who set me free
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key…”</p>

<p>Why were those lyrics repeating themselves over and over in my head? Driving away from breaking up with my girlfriend of 3 years, I had every right to be depressed. Even the weather - a dreary, drizzly day - should have brought me even farther down. But the slapping of the windshield wipers was perfectly timed to the song I couldn’t stop hearing. And it was at that moment I realized why I was hearing it: I was using it - using the music - to bring me strength at a time I needed it. A wave of realization crashed over me, and I saw how different music came to me and either mirrored my mood or helped me move on from bad situations.*</p>

<p>[[[blah, blah, blah… the meat of the essay, but describing WHO YOU ARE, then come back to the opening scene, and end with another bit of the lyrics to close it out:]]]</p>

<p>*Driving home that day, I had every right to be miserable, but instead, a smile started to creep across my face. And I broke into song, singing more and more loudly as my smile broadened.</p>

<p>“And I’m already gone
And I’m feelin’ strong
I will sing this vict’ry song, woo, hoo,hoo,woo, hoo,hoo…”*

</p>

[digmedia]

<p>Last one, I promise, posted over 5 years ago. NOTE: I’m suggesting this as a way around writer’s block. Really great essays don’t look anything like this. But if you’re not a really, really great writer, this could help:

The formula:
(1) In the first paragraph, drop your reader into the middle of a surprising/interesting/mysterious/tense story (dramatized from a real-life experience you’ve had, OR - importantly, if you don’t have any excitement in your life, an historical one).</p>

<p>(2) Then begin the “real” essay, which you are going to make UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL about you.</p>

<p>(3) Final paragraph - back to the story of the first paragraph, bringing both it and the subject of your essay to a tied-together conclusion.</p>

<p>A sample: Suppose you have a very very boring prompt, like “Why do you want to major in history?” OMG, can you imagine the dread an admissions person would have picking up the next essay in his or her pile?</p>

<p>So, here’s an example, using a real incident:</p>

<p>*"The cave passage - solid rock - seemed to be tightening around my body. It took me a few moments to calm my panic and realize that it was my own breathing. My chest had no room to expand, and the path ahead of me seemed to be even smaller. Was I going to be stuck? I could see that it opened up ahead, and that I might be on the verge of a real discovery. It was at that moment that my light went out, thrusting me into total blackness…</p>

<p>Were these the same feelings that George Jackson, the original discoverer of this cave, felt? His light had been a single candle, easily extinguished by the wind. Was he alone or did he have others with him on that first trip? What did he think? Who was he? What was his life like in 1882 when he was at this very spot?</p>

<p>Questions like these have intrigued me for several years. History comes alive for me when I place myself into the skin of some of those early pioneers of cave exploration…"*</p>

<p><<<anyway, you=“” get=“” the=“” idea,=“” and=“” can=“” go=“” along=“” this=“” approach=“” for=“” most=“” of=“” essay,=“” but=“” bring=“” it=“” back=“” together=“” in=“” final=“” paragraph:=“”>>>
*
“I felt no anxiety when my light failed; it’s a common occurrence in caving. It was probably the same for George Jackson. He merely took out another match - like I was taking out fresh batteries - fixed his problem and squeezed through the last few feet into a room with amazing discoveries. Just as I was about to do. In recreating that moment for myself, I not only better understood the history of this cave. I also knew the feelings and emotions he must have felt. To me, this is what studying history is all about.”*

</anyway,></p>

[digmedia]

<p>

I wrote about getting a tattoo illegally when I was sixteen. It was funny and candid.

WOW, now that is a fascinating topic. I’d love to read that essay!! What a great thing to choose to write about.</p>