<p>Anyone have specific ideas to make essays more original? Say you were writing about some community service you do. How do you end the story without saying "this is what I will do the rest of my life" or "this changed my life" etc.... ?</p>
<p>You just end without summing it up, admission people are
supposedly smart enough to infer what you are leading to on their own.</p>
<p>It's not about how you say "this is how it changed my life", it's the story you're telling. Almost all college essays are about experiences and life-altering events, but it's about the story...the story is what matters, not how you end it.</p>
<p>Agreed. The point is to show your personality while you're writing about a topic dear to you. I learned a lot as drum major of the marching band: I learned about priorities, teamwork, pride, and responsibility. Those are concepts that I am sure many people have learned, so they could be considered "cliched". Don't feel like your essay has to be totally different from everyone else's. Heck, I wrote about Science Olympiad and marching band... not original at all. But I made sure to be honest, forthcoming, and passionate in my essays, and I believe that allowed admissions officers to tell what kind of person I am.</p>
<p>If you're wondering about my credibility... I can tell you that it is possible to get into Ivies with these "cliched" topics! Just be yourself!</p>
<p>I wonder how an essay about me exploring this site and lowering my self-esteem would play out.</p>