<p>What about summer programs? Are they all necessarily cliche?</p>
<p>HOW COULD I FORGET... 'i want to make the world a better place essay' lol, my personal favorite to read.</p>
<p>) The BIG RACE or BIG GAME (I was only 10 feet from the finish line when I decided I had to push myself as hard as I could)
2) Talking about your room (My room is a lovely color of blue, which is exactly how I see life.)
3) Talking About What You Like/Dislike (I love the taste of ice cream but I hate ice cream without friends)
4) Describing Yourself Physically (Running has made me stronger. It has taught me discipline)
5) The 'I went on a mission/service' trip and learned... (I traveled to Africa and saved people's lives, which taught me that everyone deserves to live)
6) Sympathy Pleas for: death, divorce, disease OUCH the 3 D's (My eyes teared up as I stared at the sickly old man in his bed)
7) Immigration (Immigration has been hard on a family of four who moved here from overseas years ago. I found myself trapped in an unfamiliar setting with nothing to hold on to but my voice and my native language.)
8) "I love my family." (My family brings out the best in me. They are the ones who teach me the meaning of life)
9) "I want to know why." (I've always questioned the reason why dolphins swim. Perhaps it is because of their nature to be free, boundless in the waters.)
10) Your family pet/ pet death (I felt I could not live after the moment Sparky died. My heart was torn in pieces.)
11) Autobiography essays (I am Jane Doe, senior at Central High school, and devoted musician. My life consists of these aspects: ....)
12) The Outwards Bound Essay (Scaling a mountain, I found myself stuck in the middle of a storm. Never had I felt so frightened, but I learned in the end what persistence and courage truly mean.)
13) The "Ready for College" ending essay (I may have done all these things, but I have not yet gone to college.)
14) The Hospital Essay (Traveling to a hospital in Britain, I found myself among the sick. I was shocked by how weak they were and how strongly I wanted to help them.)
15) The "I have nothing to write about" Essay (I find myself at the lack of words. What could I tell you that would "reveal" who I am? Maybe I could say that I am a soccer player, or that I own a business....)
16) The Building a Project Essay (Over the years, I have constructed many houses for the poor. Each house has been a painstaking effort on my part, something I discovered truly reveals who I am.)
17) The Instrument Essay (Playing this instrument over the years, I have found tranquility in my heart. Nothing takes more dedication than the piano.)
18) The Dreadful Cancer Essay (Cancer struck at the worst moment. It took away the life of one of the most influential individuals in my life.)
19) <strong>Depends on how you write it</strong> The Object Essay (I find myself the epitome of a nutcracker: hard, durable, and able to incite others to open their shells.)
20) The Mirror/Picture Essay (Sometimes, I am shocked by my reflection. It was only yesterday that the eyes of a young boy stared back at me from the flat, reflective surface.)
21) I want to make the world a better place essay</p>
<p>^^ Depends on your approach. Encyclopedic discussion of your summer program and how it helped you "grow" would be common.</p>
<p>Instead of writing essays about yourself, write a detailed depiction of someone else.</p>
<p>remember that the bottom line still is.....that an essay is good if it reveals something about you, and that it's well written with imagery/details, with a positive tone overall...</p>
<p>^ oh yeah, mikenthemaddog, ... wait... how would you be able to write about someone else and then let the adcoms know about YOU? could you clarify on that? =)</p>
<p>i've read that a lot of people write about summer programs.</p>
<p>Ohhhhhhhhhh</p>
<p>I thought "1) The BIG RACE or BIG GAME" meant like ethnicity race for some reason. Thanks for clearing it up.</p>
<p>It makes me a bit angry that writing about the death of a grandparent/disease is considered cliched. Personally, I was and still am very affected by my grandfather's death, though I doubt I can describe the emotions well enough to write an essay on it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
From essays I have read, "I love my family" stories are losers. If you love your family that much, stay home. </p>
<p>"Immigrant dreams and hopes" - overdone.</p>
<p>"My instrument/hobby/sport" - too common."</p>
<p>But any topic has the potential to be a great essay if it is presented in engaging language. Likewise, the most inventive topic will be a detriment if written in muddy prose.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think that sometimes, if you use an overdone topic, engaging language won't help at all... because what they've heard a million times, they're not going to like to read again in a different form.</p>
<p>I disagree.</p>
<p>I've read some wonderful essays by successful applicants on many of these supposedly impossible topics. </p>
<p>Your take, your experience about something that is meaningful to you, is unique in all history. Write that and you'll have a successful essay, regardless of who else may have already written on that topic.</p>
<p>For example, on the supposedly overused topic of death, you can compare "good" and "bad" essays at:</p>
<p>It's easier to write a great essay that is not on that list. I prefer not to take the risk of my essay being overdone, but that's just me. If you're not a great writer, than you'll get drown out in the pool of successful writers.</p>
<p>goddamn. now, i have nothing to write about.</p>
<p>The best essay topic is the one that allows for the most personal, detailed, honest and revealing writing about yourself--whether or not that topic is on someone's list of "good" or "bad" topics.</p>
<p>These essay topics are not forbidden by any means. They just carry a warning sign because admission officers tend to see a lot of them written in the same, generic approach. The problem with this is that the essay then fails at what its supposed to do: give insight on YOUR character. Any topic can be written in a unique and excellent way, but some topics (as above) lure writers into using hackneyed methods.</p>
<p>in regards to not writing about coming to a new country/immigrant hopes and dreams. my friend recently got into columbia by writing about how she fled mexico with her mother and father when she was in 6th grade, how she learned english, and helped support her family by being a nanny. my advice would be to write something worth remembering. adcoms need to feel something when their plowing through 14378329074 essays. good luck everyone!</p>
<p>supporting her family by being a nanny set that essay apart.
illegals at columbia though?</p>
<p>^ I think that FLEEING mexico/a country is something pretty exceptional.... so.... that would probably have helped her stand out.
also, try to avoid being too arrogant/self-congratulatory in your essays.</p>
<p>Any essay can be great. It's the writer and style that make all the difference.</p>
<p>Why are medical problem essays to be avoided?</p>
<p>Medical problem essays are not automatically forbidden. A good essay on that topic, like an other good essay, will be personal, detailed, honest, revealing--as well as positive in overall tone or direction. It will provide good reasons for the person to be accepted, and will not just seem to be seeking pity or sympathy.</p>