<p>I'm talking about writing for the CommonApp essay 'topic of your choice.' i know if i wrote it, it wouldnt be the traditional 'i love my family very much, i'm very close with my family' type essay, because i'm not that close with my family. i think i could keep it fresh and make it personal, which is want colleges want in an essay, right? I guess this would be related to other CommonApp topics 'Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you' and 'Given your personal background, describe an experienec that illustrates you...'. The only difference is, it wouldn't be one person and it wouldnt be one experience. And while I would describe my relationship with each member of my family, I could see how someone might say 'You're talking too much about others, not yourself."<br>
Whats the general opinion on writing about your family?</p>
<p>Your essay should focus on you. If you were reading your essay, would you want to learn about your Mother and Aunt Sally? Unless you can spin it to show something about yourself, I say find a new topic.</p>
<p>I wrote about my relationship with my father who passed... The feedback I've gotten is pretty good.. if you'd like to see it, I could send it to you.</p>
<p>Virtually any topic is fine if it allows you to be personal, detailed, honest and revealing about you.</p>
<p>When a UPenn representative came to my Ds school to talk to students and their parents, he read an essay submitted by a student who was accepted there. That essay was a very simple and personal "family" type of account that described the particular relationship and an activity she shared with her mother. At the same time it revealed a great deal about herself. It came across as very authentic, and everyone in the room could sense the personality and sincerity of the author.
The rep. wanted to illustrate that an essay need not be something profound, creatively impressive or "intellectual" but rather could be anything that really revealed who you are. If that shows in the context of your relationship with family members, that's fine.</p>