Having A LOT of trouble coming up with an idea for my Coalition essay. I’m not particularly tied to a topic, but I can’t seem to think up any interesting moments in my life. I’m not popular, I’ve got a pretty standard nuclear family, about to get a new puppy, nice enough house. My parents work in the school system (teacher and superintendent), and I’m the captain of the science team. When I have free time, I have always watched Netflix with my family or baked anything from cookies, to cakes, to creme brulee. I feel as though I’m the kind of person that if you met me at a party, you’d immediately forget about me when I left. I’ve sat down and tried to think of anything that could possibly put me into a smaller circle, instead of being just like thousands of other applicants. I’ve spent so much time worrying about school and my future that I never focused on the present for very long. I would write about the recent death of my dog, but once again, it’s happened to thousands of people. Any suggestions for me? I’m applying early action to my schools, but I know that if my essay isn’t good enough, there’s no point.
My sympathies on the loss of your dog. Many high schoolers don’t realize how interesting they are. You can find meaning in even the most mundane of experiences.
Think about what you could write about that makes you uniquely you…something only you can write and lets AOs learn your values, interests, motivations, etc. And if that essay is about the death of your dog, so be it. Or, maybe it could be about your search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, or going to high school where your parents work (ugh!) or something of that ilk…the point is you can make anything work.
You might spend some time doing some more creative brainstorming and/or do a google search for ‘college essay brainstorming exercises’ or something like that. The college essay guy site has a number of free exercises geared toward identifying something you might write about as well, including many sample essays. Good luck!
JHU’s website has links to some of their favorite admitted students’ essays. Someone wrote about hummus. It really can be about anything!
A million years ago, I wrote about how I hate/love riding roller coasters.
What about your personality makes you think that out of the thousands of college applicants out their you are uniquely qualified to make the best crem brûlée of all them?
Is it your patience, determination, lack of fear of failure?
Do you use your time baking to reflect on how you dog served as an example for humans to live their lives? Simple pleasures, loyalty, part of a family or pack? Do you like dogs more than cats… Just some thoughts to get you thinking by know means do I mean to be presumptuous.
Sorry about the loss of a pet. I am sure you are not boring or mundane, such people are not as introspective. Good luck.
Why not write about your “boringness”, self-deprecatiion, when presented well, can be very funny and best yet, unique. You just don’t want to sound too self-doubting. Write about your constant worries, and your “coping” strategies, you might be surprised at how good you are at presenting a fascinating self that is worth knowing.
I am kind of a homebody myself so I found your life not to be boring at all, but pretty self-fulfilling.
“I’m the captain of the science team”
What does the science team do? As captain, do you try to help other students? It would seem to me (I am only guessing, I was never on a science team) that a science team might attract some students who are introverts, and as captain it might be a good idea to help some of them fit in. Did you do this?
I am wondering whether you can find a worthwhile essay topic from the science team.
“if you met me at a party, you’d immediately forget about me when I left”
I doubt that I would forget about your creme brulee’s. How do you make this? How did you learn to make it? Do you decorate your cookies and cakes when you make them? How did you get interested in cooking? Do you experiment with “alterations” in your recipe’s?
What do you like to do best? If it is baking, or the science team, you can talk about it. Both are constructive, productive activities.
Topics that my kids (who sound a lot like you) used:
How cars are impractical and unsafe, Being an introvert, How to survive the Zombie apocalypse , and about breaking a leg. I think the Zombie one was a prompt.
I’m actually kind of interested in being the child of two educators, especially a superintendent. i wonder what that was/is like. I’m guessing it shaped you in some way or other. Any interesting or funny or annoying experiences that might be a jumping off point?
A few comments:
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In general, think about what makes you tick, what interests you, what story can tell admissions officers something about yourself that can’t be found elsewhere on the application. The essay is more about how it is written and what it says than the topic. A topic can be mundane – but you can make it interesting. A few years ago a student got into a bunch of top tier colleges with an essay about shopping at Costco. Ideas are all around – find one that works for you. It can be about baking, choosing a Netflix movie, losing a dog, getting a puppy, your love of reading…literally anything.
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Plus you recently posted an essay idea that got positive feedback. Why don’t you work on that? http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/2094806-will-colleges-actually-hate-my-essay-idea.html#latest
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Don’t stress the essay too much. For most schools the essay has to be competent, not earth shattering.
Maybe instead of trying to identify something big or important or significant, look through your memory for something small and everyday and simple. But something that you could use as a metaphor for something else about your personality (something more interior).
@happy1 I realized that I couldn’t really connect the whole library essay to anything more recent in my life.
I really do love to bake, it’s kind of my “thing” in my family. Friends will often ask me if I’ll bring them a cookie or a slice of cake from my latest creation. I’ve done a little bit of decorating, but I’m still fairly new to it. I tried to make buttercream flowers on my fudge cupcakes, but I used the wrong type of coloring that made my icing watery and it started dripping off the sides. I’m no Mary Berry or anything, but I can do some recipes off the top of my head. I like to experiment around with different ingredients and challenge myself to make even box recipes taste like the real homemade thing.
My science team has been my life and my love for about 6 years. I joined the TMSCA organization in junior high and have a pretty hefty collection of medals. About 75% of my friends come from that team. We always have crazy car rides on the way to the state meet and I haven’t totally loved high school, but I’ll really miss it. My coach has been my rock throughout so many really rough moments these past three years. This team makes me so happy and I’m really going to miss these guys, they’ve all had such a big influence on me.
Connect your love of baking to your love of the science team and what that represents in your life… That would be a very interesting essay. That would be unique, personal and very interesting. Make that happen! That wasn’t so hard.
Yes, the baking.
And don’t forget you can tie it in to your interest in STEM - there’s a lot of science in baking. That’s why your icing was watery - the chemical composition of your ingredients.
What about tying your love of baking to your personality-- if you think about it, baking is about taking a bunch of common relatively ingredients (flour, water, eggs, oil) and putting them together in a sublime way. tie the way you feel about your pretty “boring” (they are not by the way) characteristics to the ingredients and present yourself as a recipe that when properly mixed with the right college experiences, will bring something savory or sweet to the world. Nobody remembers flour…but they remember the cookie. I think you have an essay here.