Is there any value at all in writing an essay about who you are as a person, rather than just something that informs your academic profile? I was just reading through some comments on essay topics, and a good number of them were saying that topics that don’t give some background to your interest in your major, or at the very least serve as a sort of reasoning as to why you’d be a strong addition to their class, then it’s a bad topic and shouldn’t be focused on super hard.
Are these things just with regards to harder to get into/prestigious colleges? Could I still go with a more personal/less academically leaning essay if I write it exceptionally well?
I think more personal essays tend to be better in any case. You do need to be careful about some topics. You don’t know whether the person has the same values you have so you don’t want to offend.
An effective college application essay should reveal who you are, what motivates you, which experiences have had a significant impact on how you view the world, intellectual curiosity, fears, concerns, interests, predictions or anything else that you would like an admissions officer to know about you and your innermost thoughts and your development. Or you could write about something else. This is a chance to exhibit your communication skills. How you “say it” is just as important as what you “say”. Are you an effective & persuasive communicator. Can you write in a crisp, clear & concise manner ? (This last part is especially important for law school applications.)
In short, it is as much about how you communicate as it is about what you communicate.
Did you read the tips at the top of this forum? Some of the strongest essays have nothing to do with your major. They want to see your character, your thought process, how you learn and grow as a human being.