Is this topic too cliche?

College Essays
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What are some of the topics that are considered cliche for common app. For example, I am thinking about writing about one of my ECs (how the environment at an internship) helped me explore my personality and how it kind of led me to make an impact in the school by starting a club.

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BUMP

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There are no cliche topics. Only cliche insights and cliche writing.

Longer answer. The folks who read essays have seen pretty much everything once they have been in the job for a few years. It is best not to beat yourself up looking for a new scenario. What nobody has seen in your experience in the familiar setting and your reflections. If you can pull that off your essay will stand out.

My suggestion is to follow the material. In other words, write about whichever area provides you with the strongest stuff for your essay. This will likely be the context to which you feel the most connection, where you have the most passion. If that happens to be an extracurricular, so be it.

I hope this is helpful.

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Thanks @Chris63. I see your point

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Hi,
I think as long as you really experienced something worth while from this EC that you can spin into an original thought you will be fine. However, if you make the essay sound more like a resume than you reflecting on yourself you are wasting your time. Take your passion and talk about how it formed who you are today, what role you gave it in your life, and what you wish to do with it beyond high school.

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@Holy Banana thats exactly what I am planning to do! thanks!

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This. A thousand times…this.

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A good website for tips for writing and examples is www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■ Also some colleges posted essays from their application cycles that the admission staff really liked so look around for those examples and read them. As others have said, make it personal-only a story that you could tell. As I tell my students, if you dropped your essay in the middle of your high school and someone who knew you picked it up, would they be able to figure out you were the writer of it.

The only topic admission staff have told me that they do not like is community service essays along the lines of “I went to Africa and helped poor people, but then I got home and was exactly the same person as before”.

Good luck.