<p>my mind is just at a standstill for this essay. ugh. who else feels the same?</p>
<p>I was like a week ago but now I am done with my first draft and am now writing my activity ‘essay’!</p>
<p>massgirl did you start any supplementary essays?</p>
<p>I just finished my third or fourth draft. I don’t think it’s polished yet. I’m just waiting on people to critique it for me…</p>
<p>My main concern is that it’s 750 words. Are we really supposed to limit it to 500?</p>
<p>^No!</p>
<p>My first draft is around 820ish! 500-700 is the optimum range while a lot of them even touch 1000! I am aiming for a 700ish word limit!</p>
<p>I haven’t even started yet. Too much pressure to even begin with.</p>
<p>Meeeeee. :(</p>
<p>There r so many topics whizzing around in my mind atm that i cannot finalise on one
aargh! And plus im not satisfied with any of them to be big enough for the commonapp.I mean isnt that the ‘main’ essay?</p>
<p>None of the topics in the common app seemed personal enough without being trite so I wrote on Topic of your choice.</p>
<p>@perfectpixie:You cannot classify that as your ‘main’ essay!! The only intimidating thing about the common app essay is that you would be sending it to each and every college you apply to but a lot of colleges give more importance to their supplementary essay than the common one!</p>
<p>Don’t stress, you have a lot of time! Clear your head, think of something personal and uniquely you and write about it! The advice may sound banal but it helped me with my essay!</p>
<p>Majorquest- thanks. 
I hope my academic counselor says the same thing, lol.</p>
<p>Me! I am going insane. I can’t even choose a topic! I’m beginning to suspect that I’m not a very interesting person. ;P</p>
<p>Once I get started, I’m sure I’ll do fine, but I’m awful at actually getting started. I have no clue what to do. It pretty much says that I can write about anything in the world (within reason). That’s just so broad. Ugh! Out of everything in the world, I should be able to think of a topic; why can’t I? The only thing I have been able to think of is exploring Quakerism, and I’m not sure if it would be better to avoid religion. Ugh!</p>
<p>^^ I’m not that interesting either. My first essay was about my dead guinea pig, lol. Now I’m writing about something that definitely isn’t unique to me, but that most people probably wouldn’t write about.</p>
<p>Remember that your topic isn’t necessarily more important than how you write.</p>
<p>I know, but I still feel that with all of the flexibility we’re given, I should be able to come up with something creative or imaginitive. This is my chance to write about anything my heart desires, but somehow, I wish that it was just a basic school essay where you’re asked to analyze the themes of a book or something to that affect. :P</p>
<p>I think I might as well just start on the Quakerism essay. I’ll do a back-up of a different topic, though, in case the guidance counselor suggests against it.</p>
<p>^I agree. I’ve been waiting to write this essay for quite a while now. It’s supposed to be the best part of my application, yet I’m stumped on what to write about - there just doesn’t seem to be anything creative or imaginative enough to write about.</p>
<p>Ideas are swarming my mind. The biggest obstacle is to convert those ideas into something readable. I just stare at my blank Word.doc for several minutes and switch my monitor off repeatedly.</p>
<p>I’ve had my topic for a good while now, but I’ve been too lazy to start it.</p>
<p>I’m so happy! Once I started drafting the Quaker essay, which I wasn’t too enthusiastic about, I began to get all sorts of ideas that would work even better! Now I actually have a decent amount of options to choose from, instead of being stuck in a topic that I’m not too sure about. Now I have to choose one. :D</p>
<p>Okay, I’m kind of divided between three options.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Basically describing why I’m interested in studying what I’m interested in studying and what I want to do with it. The problem is that this seems like something better suited to the supplements, where I can tailor it to fit individual schools.</p></li>
<li><p>Talking about how life can be viewed as a game of poker (or chess, I could discuss either).</p></li>
<li><p>Talking about the connections between mathematics, debate, and decision-making.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The second topic would be by far the most unique/interesting, but the third would allow me to elaborate on some of my ECs and/or skills.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>^I wouldn’t talk about too many of your ECs or it might sound like you’re telling them your resume again.</p>
<p>Already a thread on this and the CommonApp isn’t even up yet. Haha.</p>
<p>Ahhhh…I think the hardest part of this is making your essay “unique” while avoiding something that is simply trite and desperate. Hmm well there’s still time to think about it, I suppose.</p>
<p>To find topics for my essays, I just started a list of things I could possibly write about, rather than have them all swirling in my head. That way, I could have a clear look at my options, and for me it was easy to find the idea I am most passionate about. It’s just easier for me to get ideas down on paper first.</p>