Sterotypical Essays To Avoid

College Essays
81

<p>Immigration is really an overdone topic? What happens if you've say, moved back and forth between two countries at the age of 5, 10 and 14?</p>

<p>It's not so much as "hopes and dreams" per se, as the urge to bridge the gaps between yourself, because you have to suppress one half of yourself while in one country and suppress the other half in the other -- you never really feel "whole". So you can have two homelands, but actually no homeland at all, because you never feel completely accepted in one place. </p>

<p>Is infusing your essay with politics any good? For example, my birth country, Singapore has a particularly authoritarian government. I constantly have to deal with misconceptions both among locals and Americans about the nature of Singapore's government.</p>

82

<p>Forget about whether people perceive a topic to be "overdone". </p>

<p>It is not the topic, it is what you do with the topic.</p>

<p>Please refer to my post #67 for more.</p>

83

<p>would writing about religious discrimination/perceptions be cliche? idk...</p>

84

<p>Write your essay. Don't let the essay write you.</p>

<p>It's a good idea to come up with general ideas. But, I found that the best ideas I had (and in my opinion, the best essays I wrote) were those I developed into personal situations. As ADad said, it's what you do with the topic. This is called a personal essay. You can write about say, religion, in any class. But how many times do you write something that describes something deeply personal? Within my school, maybe once.</p>

<p>Seize this opportunity as a chance to find your creative voice. As said earlier, it's not the topic. It's how you say it. You can write about anything. But if you can do it well, that's half the battle. Just make sure to show someone who knows you, not just people on CC, your essay. I find it's really important for someone who knows you to help you weed out the things that aren't essential to who you are and whether this essay IS you.</p>

<p>Be unique. The essay is the place where you can infuse your ideas and personality into your application, unlike with SATs and GPA. Express yourself on paper. If the essay doesn't take a slice out of who you are and explain that to some stranger, you might need to edit. The key to the essay is by letting go of what these people will think of you and put the "personal" in personal statement.</p>

<p>“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.” -Julia Cameron</p>

85

<p>For every essay topic listed here as one to avoid, I can think of a essay written on that topic that was pure magic. </p>

<p>The bigger danger is what happens when you pick a topic first. Your college essay needs to same something about who you are. But what happens when you know you're going to write about a service trip (or the big game [or your grandmother]) before you decide what you want to communicate about yourself? </p>

<p>Well, you get to the end of the essay and need to insert a moral. Then you write a couple sentences that sounds something like, "And that's how I learned the value of responsibility and commitment."</p>

<p>If you're concerned with what your essay topic should be, then you may have already missed the point. Think of what you want to say about YOU, then look for the topic that will let you make that point.</p>

86

<p>When I was three, I visited a friend of my parents. I was supposed to stay for two weeks but suddenly, a civil war started. Soldiers are haunting houses to make sons rape their mothers and sisters. We fled within the country to hide. I was 3 but I remember because my friends talk about it whenever I visit them again. They say that I walked for more than 10 hours and no one ever carried me. How could I use this without being clich</p>

87

<p>Okay, you guys pretty much trashed all the topics I thought about using. </p>

<p>What's left?</p>

88

<p>blueducky, reread what DanAdmiss@Tufts said:</p>

<p>
[quote]
For every essay topic listed here as one to avoid, I can think of a essay written on that topic that was pure magic.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Pick whatever topic allows you to write a personal, detailed, honest and revealing essay, something no one else could write. Don't worry about whether or not someone else may have used the topic in the past, or whether people who don't know you are critical of your choice.</p>

89

<p>Yea, i figured it was like that. I'm having trouble finding readers, what do you recommend?</p>

90

<p>My D picked a fear of hers that she's been working to conquer, and I think she gave a pretty good indication of the quirkiness of who she is as well as her perseverance in trying to change something about herself and how that's worked/or not worked for her. </p>

<p>But one of the essays she wrote -- in AP Lang last year, actually -- was maybe stronger, and she decided not to use it because she's been hearing about the "don'ts," and I couldn't convince her that it's not the theme itself, but how you write about it, the personalization that you're able to convey ... your unique take on the subject as it will be different than someone else who's been through the same thing.</p>

<p>Essentially, it was based on what she learned about herself having four grandparents live and die with us for the past five years. Literally, they all lived with us and they died here ... in our home, each one different: two cancers, one parkinson's and one alzheimer's. She has more experience with hospice and hospitals then some kids her age have with a summer job. But all she heard was "don't" write about g'parents deaths, don't write about ....</p>

<p>and I think it's too bad. She's partly who she is because of these experiences, she could not help but be affected: in maturity, compassion, independence ... and even in her possible career choices. </p>

<p>So, I think sometimes folks get too caught up on the generalities and should focus more on the specifics. If an incident impacted you in such a way that you can impart that through your writing in an evocative manner ... don't let folks scare you off from writing about it. </p>

<p>zebes</p>

91

<p>At </p>

<p>U.Va</a>. Office of Admission Essays</p>

<p>there are examples of "good" and "bad" death essays.</p>

92

<p>^^^
Well, as I figured ... she'd written a "good" death essay. I'll have to show her that link to U.Va.</p>

<p>Thanks for that, ADad</p>

<p>zebes</p>

93

<p>Well I think partly people say "steer clear" of certain topics because they are often done in a light, superficial way. "Through their deaths, I learned to cherish what i have right now. I want to be more respectful" As long as you can clearly show how your life has changed for the better because of certain experiences, it should be fine.</p>

<p>A fresh take on an "old" topic can show how interesting/unique your thought process is.</p>

94

<p>I was thinking about a few essay topics. Maybe you guys could help me decide if they're too cliche, too quirky, or just boring. </p>

<p>My first idea before I was inundated with people tellling me "don't write the grandparent essay," my first idea was writing about my experience taking care of my grandfather. I make his meals, clean his house, spend a lot of time with him, etc. I would definately be able to inject a lot of humor into it, like mention how he thinks listerine can cure every affliction known to man... haha. </p>

<p>My second idea was to write about how I love other eras, like the 1940's and 60's and it drives all my interests. I don't know how I'd go about this though and make it have a point without sounding like I hate my generation.</p>

<p>My latest idea was to write about my backpack (LOL). I've had the same jansport backpack since third grade and it's been everywhere with me. I could definately make it funny and do it very creatively. </p>

<p>do any of those ideas sound like they have potential? are any of them cliche?</p>

95

<p>It's not the topic, it's what you do with the topic.</p>

<p>Choose the topic that allows you to write the most personal, detailed, honest and revealing essay. To write something that only you could write.</p>

<p>Cliche imo means commonly thought or said, something that a lot of people could write. For example, a cliche about sports might be "We won the championship and I learned that hard work pays off." or "We lost the championship and I learned how to accept defeat." Such an essay could be written by many many people and won't distinguish the writer from other applicants. Nevertheless, it is quite possible to write a personal, detailed, honest and revealing essay about sports. In fact, the writer of one I read is now at HYPSM.</p>

<p>Similarly with your grandfather. It's quite possible to write a cliche essay about a grandfather. It is also possible to write a personal, detailed, honest and revealing essay about a grandfather. </p>

<p>It sounds like you are inclined to write about your grandfather. If that's your choice, make sure that the essay ends up being about you, not just about your grandfather. Your grandfather isn't applying to college! In showing (not telling) what you do with your grandfather, you should imo actually be revealing yourself. </p>

<p>Thus, for example, humor can be great, but aim for humor such that the bottom line of the humor to the reader isn't "grandfather is funny" but rather "Claire has a great sense of humor." And you get to that not by saying "I have a great sense of humor", that's a telling and it's not persuasive. Rather, you reveal your sense of humor by showing it in your relationship with your grandfather. You needn't even use the word humor, the humor can be obvious in what you show of yourself, and the showing can be persuasive.</p>

<p>Here's a helpful (imo) link:</p>

<p>Show</a>, don't tell</p>

96

<p>Thank you for the advice. I have a feeling it'll be a challenge to completely focus on myself in my writing, but I know that's what I have to do.</p>

97

<p>i know people say it's difficult to write about someone else's disesase but what if you write about your own disease?</p>

<p>i know its hard to make it seem like you are not searching for sympathy, but if you had cancer before, wouldn't u want to mention that? its a pretty big deal</p>

98

<p>why wouldn’t you want to gain sympathy?
I know adcoms see a lot of essays, but I’d like to think they are human enough the understand what kind of troubles that teens have gone through at such a young age.
If you can show how that made you stronger in a very convincing fashion, then I don’t see how that would be a bad essay.
IMO: I’d give much more credit to a kid who survived cancer and managed to keep a high level of academics than a kid who writes a witty essay about a playground he used to play in.</p>

99

<p>Yeah, I was thinking about writing about how I overcame the difficulties I experienced with epilepsy and Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies… Is that bad?</p>

100

<p>lol, I wrote an “immigration experience” essay… sort of.
It chronicles my transition from a rabid nationalist to a New Global Citizen.
It’s not witty at all, but I enjoyed writing it and I think it’s an accurate depiction.
The topic might be overdone, but I’m not writing another essay. Hell no.</p>