<p>I have had trouble coming up with any good essay topic for the Common App. The ones that I have, I fear, may be too cliche. Feedback would be a great help. Thanks!</p>
<p>1.Write about being a triplet (as a background story essay)
2.Write about losing my pet tortoise and what i learned from it (Failure essay)
3.Write about how listening to music on the bus, to and from school, has influence my life (Environment completely content essay)</p>
<p>Thats all I got so far...</p>
<p>You’d have to be a crazy good writer to make these essays stand out. Keep thinking on it, don’t get discouraged!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I agree that you should keep brainstorming, but I think number 2 (the tortoise essay) could be interesting if you write it in the right way. Keep in mind that all of these have the potential to be stellar if you write them in a unique and personal way.</p>
<p>I would vote for the triplet essay. Is your pet dying really a failure? Living things die, there’s nothing you can do to change that. And unless you have some kind of really, truly, exceptionally unique angle on listening to music, you will completely disappear in the vast sea of people who write about loving music.</p>
<p>When I went to my college’s prospective student day, the chancellor – not a dean, not a provost, but the chancellor himself – told everyone in his welcome speech that the incoming freshman class included a set of triplets, as his way of impressing upon us what a great, interesting place that school was. And it must have made an impression, because I still remember it more than five years later. So, assuming you actually have things to say about it that aren’t just, “You should let me in because I’m a triplet and that’s cool,” I’d say go for it.</p>
<p>In losing the tortoise I actually meant I lost it, not dead, but I’m not going to do that one.</p>
<p>@LAMuniv @jpheys @Pikidikitiki What do you guys thin of a failure essay about bullying. Freshman year I sat next to this kid who got constantly picked on and treated terribly. I’ve got some pretty sickening stories. The essay would be about how at the time, even though I didn’t bully him, I did nothing and failed to realize the horrors occurring right in front of me. The kid would later transfer out as a result of the bullying and at that point I came to deeply regret never saying something to defend the kid. Not to regurgitate my resume but I feel then I would be a good moment to bring up that I then joined the SADD club the next year that does events to discourage bullying. I could bring up that it was the first time I witnessed true hatred in the world and to not be afraid to stand up for something. And end the essay on my true regretfulness. I feel this is my best idea yet. Do you guys think it will work or did you think it is too common, because I haven’t seen anything like it yet? I think if i avoid cliches I believe this can be the one. Thank for your replies so far it has been a great help!</p>
<p>@chowda15 The bullying thing will be solid, again:
If done correctly, you can make it extremely compelling, just remember to talk way more about what the bullying did for/to you and how you grew from it rather than just talk about the horrors. I know you said you’ve got ‘stories’, but limit them. The essay need to be personal, so address the situation, describe it as sickening, and then focus the rest on the other parts you talked about, SADD, learning to stand up to things, etc. Except I would go one further than just that and talk about how joining these clubs has allowed you to become more compassionate and mature. And I wouldn’t worry about regurgitating your resume, if you do this right, you could actually complement it.</p>
<p>Any of those topics are actually all ideal depending on how you write about them!</p>
<p>Honestly the topic about being a triplet interested me the most out of all your ideas (I’m not a triplet or twin 
because it’s incredibly unique! How many people do you know who are triplets?! If you are able to write about that topic in a compelling way, I think it would be great. I have read many wonderful commonapp essays from students who are already in college and they wrote about “mundane” topics like being the youngest in their family or the only girl, etc, and made it very interesting. If you choose to write about being a triplet, make sure you talk about how it shaped your worldview (as in, who you became, your various interests etc).</p>
<p>The second topic in my opinion seems a bit banal, especially for a failure essay. However, I don’t know the full story nor how you’re going to write it, so I can’t give you my full opinion.</p>
<p>And your third topic is a lot similar to a friend of mine who got into Duke, Brown, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, and a bunch more. He chose to go to Stanford. Anyways, he wrote about how he was perfectly content in his car and about the long commutes to school and to other places. The admissions really liked his essay. So it really just depends on how you spin it and make it about you and make it interesting. </p>
<p>The bullying one is also interesting, just make sure when you talk about your regrets, spin it so that it becomes positive. Talking about joining SADD is a great positive thing that came from a situation where you felt like you failed someone. But also talk about other characteristics and how it led you to grow and change and reach out to the community. </p>