Or would it be okay to blend the two? I’ve written a very academic essay on global warming and supported my points with facts and figures, but should I abandon that approach and simply discuss something I’m just as passionate about and my opinions on it, rather than what would appeal factually? Or should I blend the two? What are they looking for? Help! I’m overthinking, haha.
I think that you should discuss why you are passionate about it - leave the facts and figures out. Also connect it back to your goals/achievements in high school. will read your essay for feedback if you read mine! I am applying to georgetown CAS
I don’t think there is really a “right” answer! When I wrote mine I tried to find something personal to me, but there honestly wasn’t anything that connected to me personally that I could find. Instead, I wrote about an issue that I was passionate about. So it wasn’t exactly personal to my life but it was something that I had done a lot of research on and cared deeply about.
This is purely conjecture, but I would think that they would want an array of essays ranging from personal to more analytical to have a varied class. The nature of the prompt- asking us how we would solve a global issue - makes me think that they want to get to know the applicants individually and how they approach problems. I almost think that making it too personal could be a negative if the applicant focuses too much on themselves and not enough on the actually problem-solving. Mine ended up being factual- but I think my passion came through. Just make sure you know what you’re talking about!
This is all my opinion, I obviously don’t know what the AOs are thinking, but hopefully this helped 
Good luck!
Thank you both so much! That was incredibly helpful. I think I’m going to revise my essay to include a little more of “me” in it, because I realized I don’t use the first person in the entire essay, haha. That probably isn’t good for something that’s supposed to recommend me to a college. Good luck to you guys!