Hey everyone, about to start writing the common app essays and supplements but before I start, what are some automatic no no’s for college essays?
Examples of essay topics are are way too cliche and overused or all around not special? I feel like it would make sense for a bunch of teenagers to automatically gravitate towards certain topics, which must make for a whole lot of repetition. How can I stand out to the admissions board reading all these essays? Thanks!
My counselor always advises against sports as a metaphor for life (perseverance, teamwork, etc.) and sports injuries. He said they can be used if done correctly, but 99% of essays about sports are done incorrectly lol.
Automatic no-no’s:
-Not answering the prompt
-Mentioning any psychiatric problems you suffer from
-Admitting drug use
-Writing about your mission trip to Guatemala and how that experience “taught you that poor people can be happy too” (this is a no-no according to my English teacher)
Cliche topics are cliche, but they’re not necessarily worse. Your goal isn’t to appear special. Your goal is to write a well-written, genuine, and personal essay that answers the prompt. In general, I think it’s better to not pay attention to what other people are writing about. Other people’s essays shouldn’t influence how you feel about a topic.
Essays that contain a lot of details on how your mother/father/sibling/pet/relative was diagnosed with cancer or some disease, and how you “grew” as a result or what you learned are also fairly overused and, if not done correctly, tend to focus more on your relative or sibling than it does yourself.
Of course, it you execute it well, then it may turn into a good topic.
As AngryCarp said, the best solution is to simply answer the prompt and answer exactly what it asks.
My response covered here:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-essays/1899933-my-generic-reply-to-almost-every-essay-topic-review-request.html#latest
Other Zzzzzz topics:
Remember that there is a difference between toxic topics that should be avoided entirely, and ‘go carefully’ topics that are perfectly fine but easy to do badly (the ‘Zzzzzz’ topics that @PrimeMeridian lists).
Don’t fret too much about getting an entirely unique topic. There are a limited number of topic-worthy life experiences that you can accumulate in 17 or 18 years. Colleges know that. Avoid the toxic topics but beyond that focus on avoiding cliches inside your essay.
To take one of PrimeMeridian’s examples: Thousands of kids successfully use their sports experiences as essay topics every year. They do so by writing about their genuine passion for their sport or about how their sport shaped their life in some important way. Kicking the ball into the goal doesn’t tell the admissions committee what kind of person you are off the field.
Agree 100% No matter what the topic.
-“I got a C on a test / lost a basketball game / flubbed my piano recital and it taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them”
-“I volunteered with disabled and/or poor people expecting to teach them stuff, but really, THEY taught ME”