I have no idea what to write my college essays about

College Essays
1

I’ve been trying to brainstorm ideas, but nothing is creative enough to fulfill the word limit and portray my personality. I’ve really hit a stump, and thinking about writing these essays is stressing me out.

This is probably a super vague question, but I need ideas. I need something to get the ball rolling.

Can you guys give me some ideas just so I can start thinking about things? Thanks!!

2

Don’t colleges usually provide topics?

3

@Rollout i mean for my common app. there are topics, but you could discuss literally anything. i just don’t know what i should discuss yet

4

Hi. Honestly, I’m not the best person to give advice because I’m in the same boat and I haven’t written my essays yet but hopefully this helps.
I suggest reading example essays online. Those give you basic ideas of what good essay topics look like.
Also, many good essays follow this basic format: describe your world and explain how your world has shaped your dreams.

5

OK, here’s what worked for my son:

  • Day 1: Set a timer: 4 minutes per prompt. Sit at a computer, copy and paste the prompt to the top, and brainstorm. At this point, no anecdote is too far out there to be off limit; absolutely everything goes. Make a list of anything that’s ever been part of your life that could possibly apply to the prompt.
  • Day 2: Go back over what you have. Eliminate anything that took place too long ago, or that really is way out there. Extrapolate a little on what you have and how it relates to the topic.
  • Day 3: Put in bullets, how the ideas you have could help "sell" your application.

-Day 4: Write a rough draft of each of the topics you have left. You don’t need an intro or conclusion, and you’re not worried about the minimum word count of 250. Just flesh out each topic.

  • Day 5: Rewrite whichever essay you like best. (But keep the document in case you rethink your essay topic.)

I think that doing it on separate days, not necessarily in the same week, gives you a clear head when you go back and rethink what you have.

And, with all due respect, I would avoid reading other people’s essays. I know that once I get someone else’s voice in my head, it can be hard to hear my own.

6

@bjkmom thanks so much! that’s actually really helpful :slight_smile: