<p>It seems like a lot of people have a significant experience or achievement that they can easily write about. However, I do know a lot of other students feel like there's nothing "exciting" in their life to write about (myself included). So for these students, how would you suggest going about brainstorming? </p>
<p>Fabricate an experience? </p>
<p>Okay, the answer from ribbbonroad is useless and perhaps an attempt at humor. I can’t tell you the number of times college counselors have cited their favorite and most moving essays–for example: one about hair (Columbia admit); another about reading an airplane magazine (U of Chicago admit). In both cases the students’ showed some creativity and some courage. Take a prompt and make it your own. Colleges aren’t necessarily impressed by voluntourism essays which read like travel brochures or charities started at the beginning of junior year. Good luck.</p>
<p>Haha I wasn’t entirely serious. I think admcoms are pretty clear that the quality of the writing is much more important than the content. Best of luck student197.</p>
<p>@ribbonroad224, I’ve heard the exact opposite from the admissions officers I’ve talked to. They’ve all said that the content of your essay is the most important thing. The essay isn’t your time to be Mark Twain. It’s your time to give the admissions officers additional information on yorselfz</p>
<p>Yourself. Sorry, edit isn’t working.</p>
<p>Yup, you can and should write about yourself, but if you write it poorly then it isn’t helping your case.</p>
<p>(But I agree with your point). </p>
<p>Something that I think adcoms like to see is your ability to make something mundane seem “exciting”. You need not write about something exhilarating, you just need to make it fun to read with some substance behind it. Experiment with taking seemingly “ordinary” topics and making them extraordinary without coming off as a pompous ass.</p>
<p>I think an average writer who has great content will have an overall better essay than an amazing writer with a meaningless topic. Here’s the quote I was looking for, from Michele Hernandez, a former Dartmouth admissions officer: “The admissions officers are reading the essay more for content. They’re almost speed reading them for content. Remember that this is not your chance to be Faulkner. This is your chance to write about something you’re interested in. This may sound obvious, but so many kids obsess about the writing style instead of worrying about the actual content and that’s a mistake.”</p>
<p>Fair point above. I guess I’d say it’s about more than just making it a great read, but I wouldn’t really go as far as fabricating an experience. Try to find the value in seemingly mundane experiences. That’s content to me.</p>
<p>To answer your question. First you should know that what you think is ordinary may be different to someone else. But I would do some short prompts and get to writing. See what sort of things pop up. Try some of the unusual prompts some colleges like Chicago and elsewhere give. You don’t need to do a full blown essay. Just generate some material and see if there is any spark that can be turned into an essay.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your advice! I guess my biggest concern is that my Common App essay will be the one that is sent to all my colleges, so I feel a lot of pressure to make it… good (for lack of a better word). </p>
<p>I will definitely try drafting especially with some of the crazy prompts that make me think outside of the box.</p>
<p>i’m sure that you have something interesting that has happened in your life :)</p>
<p>One more tip that I would like to add when brainstorming ideas is “Kill your Babies” (to put it in the words of my English teacher). Of course I don’t mean this literally, but often when you think of an idea for something to write, you get stuck on a certain amazing line or phrase that you really want to use, so you just insert that line and try to build an essay around it. My advice: do NOT do this. Make sure you write about a topic because you have a lot of meaningful things to say about it, and not because you think a line would sound good.</p>
<p>Here’s something a Tufts admissions officer said about essay topics:
“But, it’s not the topic that makes the essay stand out, it’s the execution. Any topic, really, can work and work well. One of the biggest mistakes I see students making is they pick the topic for their essay first, and then try to mangle some lesson about themselves into that topic, which is I think why we get so many service essays. I think you need to pick the piece of yourself you want to convey first, and then find the topic that allows you to convey that idea or characteristic.”
Here’s a link to his reddit thread, it’s super helpful: <a href=“Reddit - Dive into anything”>http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1onpmp/im_dan_an_admissions_officer_at_a_most_selective/</a></p>
<p>I once read a great essay by a kid who made up a game with his friends (like this goofy thing they did at night outside as teenagers). Another good one I read (for U of Chicago applicant who got in) was about sparring with an English teacher on a regular basis in class. One of my kids wrote a nice one about a literary hero and trying to emulate him with good and bad results over the years. The point is that these were not big experiences or achievements. They were everyday activities that these students turned into a revealing portrait of themselves. </p>
<p>What is the most important to you? What makes you different from others? What touches your heart most? Some kids chose plain topics about their parents, family, or school/learning experiences and got into top schools. The important thing is your personal thoughts and traits expressed through your writing. BTW, adcom all value the kids that can make contribution to their communities in various ways. </p>
<p>My area admissions counselor at Brown told us at the info session that his favorite essay he’s ever read was about some kid’s summer job making sandwiches. It doesn’t have to be a super unique topic, it just has to say something about you and not something generic. </p>
<p>I agree with @430ktk and it’s exactly what i was going to say
pick what you want the officers to know about yourself or your favorite thing about yourself
and then of an event or time at which you displayed these qualities or how you came to acquire these characteristics. it also depends on what topic you picked. </p>
<p>Wow, thank you guys all for your input! </p>
<p>I think I’ll try thinking about the questions @Bamboolong posed and also try to think about which defining characteristics I want to portray. But I might also try one of those wacky prompts from other schools so I can get my mind rolling in a way I normally wouldn’t have.</p>