<p>so, it's coming to the time that I want to begin writing my college application essays, but i'm a bit confused over how to approach this:
-am I supposed to write about a life experience?
OR
-am I supposed to write about an issue in a field that concerns me?
I don't really see how either reveals the type of person I am, which is the goal of the essay, right? Also, is there really a way to write about a life experience without it being trite and cliche (ie: divorce)?
please help...</p>
<p>It can be about whatever you want. It is you, as the writer, that makes it personal. Yes, many topics are “cliche”. I would say just reveal a lot about yourself, don’t be too wordy, and try to make it interesting. Even cliche topics can be very good topics.</p>
<p>thank you, but I’m still confused over how writing about a topic actually will reveal the type of person I am. What might be an example of where writing about an interest shows who you are? Are there any characteristics you could reveal besides passion or dedication?</p>
<p>Write about a life experience. </p>
<p>What you’ve been through and what you’ve actually done matters a lot more than what you may think about any one issue at the moment. </p>
<p>If you could get on stage and keep an audience captivated for 10 minutes reading your essay, you’ve done something right. Your goal should be really to show the audience that you have passion and that you care about things (and which things you care about, only explicitly say why if you have a damn good reason, philosophizing is the best way to kill an essay). It makes sense that colleges want to know this about you. You will be attending a school for 4 years, and they want to make sure that you will take initiative and do things because you actually care about them rather than because you like submitting to arbitrary external motivations. Proving that you will makes you a better applicant. </p>
<p>You can also try to be quirky and show that you have a personality, which is good if you are a great candidate anyway and want to show another side of you.</p>
<p>Unless you have some really interesting story to tell about your parents going through a divorce, there are probably more compelling things you could talk about. It’s not that the topic is cliche, it’s that it might easily fail to tell the admissions office that much about who you are as a person.</p>