For my Common App essay, I’m planning on writing about how my younger brother, who is 11 years younger than me, has impacted my life.
This the only idea I’ve come up with so far, but I feel like it’s not that great. I was planning on talking about how at first I was jealous since I wasn’t the center of attention anymore, but I later became more responsible and stuff.
Maybe you should pick a certain event or interaction with your brother that highlights the aspect(s) of yourself that you want to show to the college. Be careful to not focus too much on your brother in your essay. This is a chance to show colleges who you are, not who your brother is. If you can’t do that, maybe write about something more central to you as a person.
Your essay is about something that is important to you, that shows who YOU are and why you should be offered admission. Without a doubt, this topic has been used in the past by both successful and unsuccessful applicants.
What will be important is that it reads true to the voice of a 17-18 year old applicant, and as @ivygrad0001 notes, that it is about you and not about your sibling. You have the benefit of self-reflection on your side, so be sure to think about what message you are sending. Talking about how at first you were jealous of the attention could be interpreted as “Well, I was a young, self-centered twerp when I was twelve when my brother came into the picture, and it’s a good thing I wasn’t applying to college then…but now I am a completely responsible mature person still looking for what the world owes me…”
On the other hand, you can use the exact same topic to show how you are beginning to understand that college will be just another (exciting) step in your lifelong journey of learning and becoming a better person and making the world a better place blah blah blah.
Write what is true to you, don’t worry much about the “topic” because the topic itself really is you.
I recall an admin officer at one elite school saying every year she sees dozens of applications about learning to drive a car - and every year they both accept and reject a lot of these. The kids who write about overcoming their white knuckle fear of crashing in the parking lot, and the wide smile of relief on their license photo, tend to do better than the kids who go on and on about the driver’s test course, or the make, model, airbags, bumper stickers, seat covers and all the fuzzy dice accessories of the brand new car mommy and daddy promised them when they pass…The difference is they are writing mostly about themselves and not all the other stuff. When the reviewer is done, can they say they learned more about you, or about your car?
I hope this helps.
I think this is an essay almost any older sib could write. It sounds serviceable for most schools, but I’d keep brainstorming topics if you are looking at top schools.
Your relationship with your brother is not what a college looks for. Considering that you want to go away to college, it’s a stretch to make it relevant to what adcoms want to find for a community of 18-22 year olds. That has more to do with peers and your actions, thinking, etc, than siblings. Especially one so much younger. Remember, this isn’t a high school essay, it’s for strangers who decide on your admit.
Pick a challenge you overcame, that led you to evolve in some good way. In actions you can point to. Remember, “Show, not just tell.”
Google “Hacking the College Essay 2017” and read it.
Write the Essay No One Else Could Write
“It boils down to this: the essay that gets you in is the essay that no other applicant could write.
Is this a trick? The rest of this guide gives you the best strategies to accomplish this single
most important thing: write the essay no one else could write.
If someone reading your essay gets the feeling some other applicant could have written it,
then you’re in trouble.
Why is this so important? Because most essays sound like they could have been written by
anyone. Remember that most essays fail to do what they should: replace numbers (SAT/GPA) with the real you.
Put yourself in the shoes of an admissions officer. She’s got limited time and a stack of
applications. Each application is mostly numbers and other stuff that looks the same. Then she picks
up your essay. Sixty seconds later, what is her impression of you? Will she know something specifically
about you? Or will you still be indistinguishable from the hundreds of other applicants she has been
reading about?”
You could mention about how having a younger brother has developed certain qualities in yourself (like responsibility, for instance)