<p>I am currently drafting my Common App Essay and I wanted to write either about how I had to support a friend who was going to commit suicide or about how I had to deal with death in the family. I have read that an applicant should stray away from writing about really serious or controversial topics, but is suicide/death really something that I shouldn't write about? I could always talk about sports, but I feel like that might be too generic. What are some topics that should or should not be written about?
Thanks!</p>
<p>I think it all depends on how you approach the topic. Generally, you should keep in mind that the person reading your essay might have strong/differing opinions, and your essay shouldn’t turn them off. But the ideas you mentioned seem like they would focus on your personal experience, so if those are events that really impacted you, I’d say go for it.
Btw, you can google “bad essay topics” for ones to avoid. Good topics are personal and creative, so you have to find those for yourself.</p>
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Well, there’s this one: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1408615-mentioning-having-sex-college-supplement-short-answer-question.html?highlight=essay+sex[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1408615-mentioning-having-sex-college-supplement-short-answer-question.html?highlight=essay+sex</a>.</p>