Don’t feel the need to come up with a “gimmick” or an original topic. Gimmicks usually fail, and many successful candidates write about fairly common topics, such as music, sports, community service projects, and family relationships. The key is not finding the perfect essay topic, but in making the most out of the topic that is particularly meaningful to you.
Everyone on CC talks about hooks, original topics, and odd ways to explain them. But Yale says they are ok with some pretty cliche topics. Is this true or is it something they say but dont really mean?
<p>It's not what you write about, it's how you write that counts. If you can show your personality in an essay about eating breakfast, go ahead and do it. The best essays show extraordinary thought process, and any topic can provide an opportunity for that.</p>
<p>Most certainly. A dull essay about an unusual topic is just as unenlightening as a dull essay for an old tried-and-true.
The same for good essays.</p>
<p>Well, another point of view is found in "A is for Admissions". The author, a former ivy league adcom, talks about reading yet another "Outward Bound" type essay or other formulaic "how I discovered we are all really the same" essay. So novelty for the sake of itself doesn't work, but on the other hand if you're a reader going thru thousands of essays, the fiftieth one on the same topic just isn't going to make your ears perk up.</p>
<p>Yes, it's true. Many students erroneously think that the key to admissions is writing about the most bizarre or tragic event possible. That's not true.</p>
<p>The purpose of the essay is to give insight into the applicant's character. This typically is best done by producing an insightful, interesting essay on a commonplace event. The writing style and the perspective are what makes an essay stand out. </p>
<p>Most students should spend far more time thinking about their insights into their subject and editing their writing instead of spending time looking for the most tragic or bizarre subject that they can find.</p>