Nine Horrible College Essay Topics

Parents Forum
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<p>Rituana,</p>

<p>I understand what you are stating. Like me, you have lived around the world, you have a pH.D, I only have a Master. I don’t believe colleges expect the avg 17 yo to have the life experiences of a 40 something. I think they look for the 17 yo to be a 17 yo. They don’t expect them to have any experience that a 17 yo doesn’t have. They are looking to see them differentiate their life compared to the other 17 yo applicant. They want to see what they bring to the table as a college student from their life experience. </p>

<p>Let’s be honest when they do the writing assessment for gateways (No Child Left Behind), They do not expect the 4th grader to answer a generic question like the 10th grader. Leave grammatical issues aside. They expect a higher/deeper thought process for the 10th grader.</p>

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<p>I hope not. To me, that is cheating. I am sure your kids like mine, who traveled the world (not one of my kids has/or will graduate with less than 8 public schools…our DD attended 10 before she graduated hs) would have a great story to tell. They don’t need to lift my child’s idea regarding an essay. </p>

<p>I also find it interesting that you say “But I’m not still sure even that is too unique. Idea of the difference and sameness of environment, culture, people etc. is really not something philosophically unique.” Yet, you then say your kids may write about it. </p>

<p>Additionally, since you have yet to go through this process for undergrad admittance and are living outside of the US, I can tell you that essays are a huge part inside of the process. Not every college is on common apps. </p>

<p>The one key point you should see through your post is that our DD was writing an essay for Sociology and Psychology. Yes, philosophically it had no importance, but the school was not looking at philosophy, they were looking at the essay to tie it to her intended major and what she personally was bringing to the table regarding the program. In that essay she was illustrating how she has since a young age been tied to the idea of society and the environment…an issue that is the basis of her major.</p>

<p>She tied her personal experience, her life experience, with her major. She showed them that this major is not a whim, but something that has impacted her life as long as she can remember.</p>

<p>To me that is the make or break of a great essay. </p>

<p>nngrmm,</p>

<p>I agree I don;t think there are inherently “bad topics”. To me the only “bad topic” is if you use it because you can’t think of anything else.</p>

<p>My point is only one thing…SIT DOWN with your child, talk it out before they start writing. It really is great if you do it, because not only do you help them, but you will relive moments in life. If you just let them write it, they will most likely do the generic essay. If you sit there and yak about it, they will start thinking about something that was nothing, but as they talk about it they will start connecting actions and reactions to that moment. That is what makes it unique. </p>

<p>TALK to your child, before they put one letter to the computer.</p>

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<p>I think you may have misunderstood me. Or do you really think that it would be cheating if my child would come up with the essay concerning how by living in different countries and cultures he has noticed that there is lot of differences and lot of sameness in cultures? Really? It may not be something I would recommend him to write but I guess it would be something he could come up with because of his life experiences. </p>

<p>By the way, would it also be cheating if he wrote about what being a captain of the hockey team has thought him about leadership and team work? I would guess there has been a one or two kids before him, who may have written something about being a captain of some sport or other team…</p>

<p>Though I have to say I kind of hope he will never want to go to college in the US, because it would be much cheaper to send him back home for university. And I don’t even know if we will still be at the US in that time. And you are correct that we are yet to go through the applying to college process (our oldest is still in the middle school) and though we currently live at the US, this is not our native country and we are not even planning to stay here the rest of our lives but just stopping by during our lives as international business nomads. </p>

<p>My point is just that it seems to me silly to expect uniqueness from our kids. For me it is difficult to see why it would be so bad for kids to write about something that has been an important experience in their lives even the experience per se is nothing unique. Sport injury really can be an life altering event for the kid. Understanding relativity of differences in cultures and basic human sameness is an important insight for an 17 year old etc. </p>

<p>Essay can be well written or badly written but quest for uniqueness seem to me just ridiculous.</p>

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<p>Okay,</p>

<p>A couple of questions.</p>

<ol>
<li>You have admitted you are not a US citizen</li>
</ol>

<p>I know that sounds insane, but just like my DD’s jar of dirt, Society is different for each country. </p>

<p>That means to me you have a different understanding of the collegiate system within the US, but yet you are unwilling to accept the process in this country as a valid factor for decisions. This site is for US collegiate admissions.</p>

<ol>
<li>Collegiate process</li>
</ol>

<p>“And you are correct that we are yet to go through the applying to college process (our oldest is still in the middle school)”</p>

<p>Your oldest is in middle school. No offense, but kids mature a lot between 13 and 17. I would have never thought it either when my eldest was in 7th grade, but OMG, he was not the same kid from a mental or maturity standpoint when he was even 16 compared to 17. The 13 yo son, who had to be reminded to brush his teeth and take a shower was not the 17 yo who came down at night to kiss me with his wet hair after taking a shower. They grow up, and more importantly in those 4 yrs it is less about you and more about them when it comes to their life. Their friends and school will be the big factor.</p>

<p>You appear to be making a judgment without walking the walk as a parent. No offense, but come back and tell me their life is not unique when they have buried a hs classmate. Tell me it is not unique when they fought for something and loss. Tell me it is not unique when they spent a summer building homes for the homeless. These are very unique issues that impact their lives, from their perspective. Right now in middle school it is about Gifted classes, and intra-mural soccer/baseball. Get to HS and it is a whole new ball game. It is about driver’s licenses, Varsity sports, hs deaths, teen pregnancies, etc. etc. etc. </p>

<p>3.My point is just that it seems to me silly to expect uniqueness from our kids</p>

<p>I mean this with kindness and love, but my kids were unique from the minute they were born. I believe every kid is unique. I suspect and believe you think your kids are unique too.</p>

<p>I just don’t get that statement from a parental view. If you believe your child is unique as a parent than how do you defend that statement?</p>

<ol>
<li>“For me it is difficult to see why it would be so bad for kids to write about something that has been an important experience in their lives even the experience per se is nothing unique. Sport injury really can be an life altering event for the kid. Understanding relativity of differences in cultures and basic human sameness is an important insight for an 17 year old etc.”</li>
</ol>

<p>I agree. Yet, is their personal insight that matters to the admissions dept. Write an essay detailing how you got injured, says what about the student? Nothing!</p>

<p>Write about being injured and how after the injury you understood something more, says a lot.</p>

<p>5."Essay can be well written or badly written but quest for uniqueness seem to me just ridiculous. "</p>

<p>This last statement leaves me as dumbfounded as my Number 3 point. All I keep coming up with is you don’t think your children are unique. You have said this twice in this one post. What is your qualifier for unique regarding children…is it writing books, or getting awards on a national level. Heck, my DS1 was a Bronze medalist for the Jr Olympics and State Champ…he is no more unique than my DD or DS2. DD and DS2 were not international champs in any thing, except our love. DS1 is not any better in my eyes than the other 2. They are all unique to us. DS1 is DS1. DD is DD. DS2 is DS2. They are all equivalent in the big picture.</p>

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<p>Not to speak for Rituna, but I think I see what she is saying. Of course each of our children is unique, in that they are all different beings. And each of them has a collective life experience which is uniquely theirs. But any given experience which they might write about in a brief essay is likely to have also been experienced by someone else somewhere else (although not sure about the dirt jar thing :)). </p>

<p>Lots of kids have probably had “life-changing sports injuries” or traveled hither and yon, or moved lots of times, or volunteered in a soup kitchen and so forth. Writing a brief essay which focuses on one thing rather than the whole collective of their experience leads to having to narrow it down to relating/discussing an experience or idea similar to that of someone else. </p>

<p>My thinking is to have the essay say something about who they are - maybe in such a way that the reader says “hey, I’d like to meet this kid”. For DS, his love of reading, of libraries, of “deep thinking” topics might be what the reader gleans from his essay (I hope?).</p>

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<p>I think it’s a mistake to think the essay needs to be different and unique. I think it’s more important that when they get to the end of the essay the admissions officer thinks, “I’d like to have this kid as a roommate,” or “this kid would be a great addition to class discussions”, or “this kid has a great sense of humor”, or “this kid can take a very ordinary volunteer experience and see something a little different in it.” </p>

<p>I love the dirt jar and think it’s a great topic. I wish I’d collected dirt - I certainly moved enough as a kid! (And had the same arguments about what we could keep!)</p>

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<p>Because I’m not US citizen I should think Us college admission process is perfect? Or because I’m in this site, I should think so? I’m in this site to acquire knowledge in case my kids would really want to go to the college in the US. Because of financial reasons I would prefer they would go back home (Northern Europe) for University but I can understand that after living here few years they may really want to have an US type college experience and if it is possible we may want to give them that.</p>

<p>I think Us style college admission process has its merits and I certainly think essays are a good idea. But I also think there are cons in the system. By the way, I also see both pros and cons in admission system in my home country (basically combination of entrance exams and points from IB-style exams)</p>

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<p>Yes, kids change when they get older. Every year they get more life experience and they mature. Happens to every kid out there, nothing unique there. Life gets more complicated when you start to come closer to adulthood and even as an adult it always changes. We have to learn new lessons all the time. Some have it easier than others. Some experiences are very different from person to other. Some are more or less the same for the most. Very seldom they are unique. </p>

<p>Your kids are not the only ones who has buried a friend, and mine are not the only ones who have buried a sister. Your children were probably not the only ones building homes for homeless and unfortunately children in the homeless families who may have gotten the home because of that project are not the only children who are homeless. Getting the driver’s licence is not that unique experience either, neither is not getting one. </p>

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<p>My kids are unique <em>to me</em> because I love them uniquely. I don’t expect that anyone else (except my husband) thinks they are that unique. Because as a human beings they are quite a same as other human beings. That they are the most important human beings to me is a matter of my perception. They don’t need to be objectively unique to be persons I love unconditionally. </p>

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<p>But writing about the sport injury (or other common personal adversary for high school kid) and what they learned because of it, is often given as a main example what not to write. Because it is not unique. </p>

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<p>Ok, let’s say every person is unique. So is every snowflake. So what? Piles of snow is white (if not dirty) or at times kind of blue (depending the light), cold, more or less wet or dry depending the temperature, either heavy or light depending the moisture and tightness, soft or sharp, sinking or constant depending the weather, it scrunches when you walk when it is cold and wets you feet when it is warm. What does it matter that every snowflake is unique?</p>

<p>If every person is unique, why would it be important to write an unique essay? Everyone knows they are unique anyway. Why would your child’s uniqueness be any factor in college admissions when 100 % of their applicants are unique? </p>

<p>I’m not a big believer uniqueness as general. What ever someone is, there is probably someone else, dead or alive, in this world who has had the same attribute or experience. I don’t see why anyone should be unique to be good enough to any college. All of them have hundreds or thousands current students and even more alumni. It is certainly not unique to be a student of any given college. So why should they only admit unique people?</p>

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<p>Many colleges told my D that they wanted the essay to reflect her personality. She is a theatre major and she wrote a funny piece about a dogsledding trip that her dad took her on (3 days, Canadian wilderness during record-breaking cold, D being a “Southern belle Barbie”, resulting frostbite). It didn’t say anything profound, just a slice of life piece that totally described her. Kind of a “fish out of water.” She got in (academically at least) to all the colleges but one. My S wants to write about his obsession with Disneyworld and what it has taught him about life. Still thinking about that one.</p>

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<p>Folks, Proust wrote 20+ pages on going to bed when he was a child, and trying to get his mother to kiss him goodnight. (In Proust’s published oeuvre of 7,000 pages or so, unique experiences are few and far between.) Nicholson Baker wrote entire books on (a) going up an escalator to the mezzanine of an office building and, (b) giving a baby a bottle. There are lots more examples. One doesn’t need a store of unique experiences to have a unique perspective and a unique voice.</p>

<p>(Of course, few high school students have a unique perspective or a unique voice – and you can tell that by reading their essays. Still, the essays differentiate themselves very effectively. There’s a broad, broad range, and the better ones stand out.)</p>

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<p>For goodness sake, isn’t the essay supposed to say something about the child? Each child will have something different to say - even if the experience they write about is not “unique.” I think some people are overanalyzing this whole thing. Don’t we always tell our kids “just be yourself.” I would be very disappointed to read my child’s essay and then had to ask “who wrote this?” I would hope that if you stuck my child’s essay in a stack of a hundred, and I read them all, that I would be able to pick out the one my child wrote because it reflected his/her voice and really expressed who he/she is. (BTW, I read my D’s essay only for grammatical mistake and typos. I did not change a word or suggest any changes because I wanted it to be a complete reflection of her.)</p>

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<p>megpmom, re: your S wanting to write about his obsession with Disneyworld. My S wrote about his obsession with skiing. It was a humorous essay, but in the end he pointed out that skiing was a very strong link between him and his father. He got in to all his schools except one, which waitlisted him.</p>

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<p>Perfect response! I wondered that myself as my kids went through this process. They just tried to write in a way that showed their personalities. At the tip-top levels, it seems admissions are a crap-shoot anyway!</p>

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<p>megpmom, I think you have the right idea. The cited Newsweek article overstates the “horribleness” of its nine topics. Any of them could be successful given a skilled writer. It’s the lack of sophistication and insight typical of 17 and 18 year olds that make these topics overly precious.
I remember one terrific essay by a gifted student at our HS that dealt with how apples had affected his life, including apple pancakes he ordered when celebrating his triumphs. That was one subject that would have withered in the wrong hands, but instead everyone who read it laughed and loved it.
One of my kids wrote about talking his way out of a speeding ticket - very comic! Another wrote about the kids he coached on math team - that the answer that seemed right very often wasn’t, and how he taught them to look deeper. Two very different kids, as you can imagine.</p>

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<p>Traditionally, essays are insight, and many times they are used as the final factor between the last 2 students and only having 1 spot.</p>

<p>It doesn’t matter if your child is their number 1 pick or their last pick. However, eventually there will always be that last pick. The essay can be the deciding factor.</p>

<p>If you look at admissions, you will see that a lot goes into the equation. Pure stats are not the golden ticket, even for Ivies. They want the whole package, essays allow admissions to see another level of the applicant from a personal standpoint. Their transcripts, recs, and ECs give a cold personal view. Their essay allows them to see if they are a good fit to their school community. Their essay enlightens them to visualize the child, the student, the applicant.</p>

<p>The essay creates another dimension.</p>

<p>For some kids, the essay is a throw away (i.e. safety, match). For some it is their in (reach). To be non-chalant about the importance will do an injustice to the applicant.</p>

<p>Essays may or may not matter, but it would be irresponsible to tell them that it has no impact when you do not know their personal stats.</p>

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<p>Because every snowflake is unique and touches everything differently. Your last statement is saying, you can be unique, but it really doesn’t matter at all, because we are all cookie cutters. </p>

<p>A wet snowflake makes it hard to shovel the snow. A snowflake that touches the pavement and melts makes the roads slippery. The dry snowflake that can’t be formed to make a snow ball impacts a snow ball fight. </p>

<p>All of these snowflakes were unique to the lives they touched. You saw as crunching under your feet. I saw it from my kids shoveling the snow, my husband and I driving in it and the teachers during recess trying to make sure the students behaved. I didn’t even address the issue about our dogs and how they hate wet snow because they hate rain, and dry snow is no issue. I saw snow, the same snow you talked about in various ways and how it touched my life personally. You saw snow, as snow. Wet, dry, it didn’t matter it was still a scientific precipitation and the only thing that impacted you was the noise it made as you walked across it. You never even took a moment from the scientific side to realize snow, those individual flakes actually impact how deep your foot goes into the snow or how loud the noise. All it was to you was a bunch of snow.</p>

<p>Big picture is snow, even an individual flake means something unique to everyone. Not one person in this world when they see the 1st snowflake of the yr will have the same thought, just as not one snowflake in the universe will ever be the same.</p>

<p>People are unique, and if you have lived 17 yrs and never experienced one moment that was unique to you I have to ask how did that happen?</p>

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<p>Ah, yes the good ol’ Childhood Memory essay. Good call, Marcel. So far so good, but for us to really assess Proust’s chances for HYPSM we are going need to see his stats.</p>

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<p>Wouldn’t count on that. There I come from same things always happens when first snowflakes start to come. People stop, look up, some start to try to catch them with their tongue, some hunch deeper to their coats and sigh, others tell everyone that “Look it snows.” I’m quite sure there is in fact many who in fact think the just the same things as others. If I should guess the most common once I would go with:

  1. “****, I have not yet changed the tyres, now I have to make time for that this evening.”
  2. “It’s only middle of October, it doesn’t stay yet”
  3. “Where did I put my winter shoes last spring?”</p>

<p>Oh, and I didn’t say I see snow crunching under my feet. I tried to described that unique (and yes, that is unique) sound the snow makes in cold (in about -4F or colder) when you walk.</p>

<p>I’m not saying that essays are not important. I’m sure they are in certain schools (and less important in some others.) And I’m sure that in the best schools they are often the deciding factor because they have so many well qualified applicants. But I’m still not sure, that the uniqueness is that deciding factor. And especially the uniqueness of the experience. I’m sure they are trying to find different kinds of kids. Kids who are very interested about abstracts and kids who are more practical. Kids who are very focused and those who are mole wholesome. Kids with different kinds of experience and interests. But I do not believe that any of those experience or interests needs to be unique as such.</p>

<p>To be honest I don’t believe it would make a big difference if the kid writes her essay about building homes for homeless or (maybe more commonly) volunteering in the soup kitchen for homeless. Does it really make a difference if kids passion is to play viola or diskant gamba (if they are not trying to find the diskant gamba or viola player for their orchestra)?</p>

<p>And again, more than anything, essay could be well written or badly written. That surely means the most.</p>

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<p>It is not true that the college essay (or kid) must be unique! The college essay is a chance to demonstrate to the adcoms some things about yourself so that they can get to know you better. When done reading the essay, the adcom should be able to describe some attributes about the student. Nobody is expecting that the student or the topic is utterly a unique idea. They simply want to get to know that student beyond what else is on the application. They want to know him/her as a person…their traits, qualities, interests, etc. Those don’t have to be unique, however. Another thing is the student doesn’t have to have had some major life changing event. Even simple topics can pack a lot of punch if the essay shows some qualities about the student. I can think of one of the many essays D2 wrote and one centered on when her sister left to start college (which was around the time she was applying to college). Her voice, personality, and attributes came out in the essay. A sister leaving for college is not a unique situation at all, but the point of the essay is to demonstrate things about yourself so that the adcoms can learn more about you as a person. The “uniqueness” factor is not what is important. Life changing events are not important. It needs to show about YOU. Yes, there are overdone topics or unwise topics that are pitfalls, but other than steering clear of those, it is wide open. Show who you are. That’s what it is about.</p>

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<p>Rituna- you have several years to go before your children apply to college- make a copy of your responses to this thread and read it then. See how YOU have changed.</p>

<p>I pay attention to the UW-Madison site. As a public U not as much attention is paid to the essays as at elite private schools. In recent months however there was a comment from an OOS student with good test scores/gpa et al who did not get in that told how he blew off the essays. In essence he told UW he wasn’t that interested in it (the posted details showed this). </p>

<p>Regarding uniqueness. UW has some 40,000 students and many hundreds of courses/majors. Many electives can be used to fulfill requirements. I doubt that any two students will ever have the same exact courses by the time they get a degree, even if in different years. Everyone regarding that snowfall will have overlap in their thoughts about it, but will add different ones- you can’t take them out of context. No two individuals will have the same life experiences- even twins.</p>

<p>It seems to me that the essays show how one views the world along with all of the other things. The level of sophistication comes out, the grammar, intelligence, experiences, et al. What the student chooses to include and not include gives clues to who that person is. I’m sure essay readers for admissions could write a longer interpretation of any given essay than the length of the essay itself, and that it would be a fairly accurate portrayal of the applicant.</p>

<p>I skimmed most posts. Read the one from soozievt just preceding mine after writing my comments. Same thoughts. btw- can’t comment on my son’s essays as never saw them.</p>

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<p>Coureur,
Nevermind his stats. I don’t think Proust could keep his essay to under 500 words.</p>

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<p>I am very good friends with a top ivy adcom. In course of an unrelated conversation she mentioned that when deliberating in committee they sometimes actually project the applicant’s essay on a screen in the conference room for every one in the room to read. YIKES.</p>

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<p>Rituna,</p>

<p>I lived in the UK, I am not sure if you are a Brit or an Aussie, but I am betting odds due to your grammatical spelling you are one or the other. (tyres was the final give away—that is the traditional Brit way of spelling tires — we also don’t change them here, even in Alaska ---- plus you keep writing US as Us)</p>

<p>Now, back to the point of this thread.</p>

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<p>In the US most colleges not only look at stats, but they ALSO look at diversity, i.e. URM, geography and sex (not sexuality). The essay is a part of the equation. They look at the WHOLE student within context to the school. The person plays a part in the decision.</p>

<p>If I am correct and your are a Brit, your system is totally different. Our children take the SAT/ACT, but that has no impact if they can attend college. A kid with a 1000 SAT out of 2400 can still attend any college that is willing to accept them. 1000 is pretty crappy, and pretty crappy is being kind! However, they can still throw their name into Yale, Harvard, etc. Nobody will stop them.</p>

<p>That essay plays a huge factor for certain colleges. It is their one moment to highlight why they got that 1000 on the SAT.</p>

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<p>I live in a very competitive school region on the national level…These kids have out the door amazing resumes. SATs in the 2200-2300. WGPA with a dozen APs, in the 4.35+ out of 4.5. Playing yr round athletics. Community service hours in the hundreds. Working part time jobs, 20 hours a week. That is for the Public Ivies. Getting into a strong college here like UVA, UNCCH, Berkeley, Cornell are easy compared to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UPenn, etc. Those stats I just listed would place and OOS for them as a REACH.</p>

<p>The essay is also a way to explain to the schools why they carry a lower GPA or SAT. It makes a huge difference. This is their place to tell them why academically they are below par.</p>

<p>The US might be 25th in the world for K-12, but come college level, we are a force.</p>

<p>HYPSM, don’t follow your philosophy. They expect all essays to be well written. They expect that to occur, what they are looking for is insight regarding why they should admit them over the other applicant.</p>

<p>I will go with you to a point, but you have yet to explain/defend when it comes down to the last spot that the essay isn’t the breaking point. If I am wrong, tell me what the admission board that asks for an essay uses to determine that last slot? Assume, they have 3 essays that are grammatically correct. '</p>

<p>Do you disagree that the material within essay itself would not be a factor?</p>

<p>That is what this thread is really about…the importance of the body of the essay</p>

<p>BTW if I am right and you are a Brit or Aussie, I am surprised you would want your kids to attend in your homeland, especially since in the UK only Cambridge or Oxford are on the level compared to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UPenn, Standford, MIT,Berkeley, Columbia, Cornell, etc. add in our military academies and schools like UVA, UNCCH . If education was your deal you would have to admit we are a force…a very reckoning force globally compared to the UK, Canada or Australia.</p>