<p>So I'm a junior and I have 2 days of school left. Basically I want to start writing or at least drafting my essay. In the fall my AP English teacher is going to read mine and help me tweak it but I want to get a good start on it now.</p>
<p>On the Common App, I really don't feel content with the first couple of essay topics, so I want to do topic of choice. Here's what I am thinking of as my question.</p>
<p>State your favorite number and the reasons for this number shaping you and making you who you are today---you probably think it's kind of obscure at first so let me elaborate a bit.</p>
<p>I was born on September 9th, 1990----9/9/90. So I turned 9 on 9/9/1999. Kind of cool. I want to do something related to this but I don't know where to go from here. </p>
<p>imo you would want to show, as you said, "the reasons for this number shaping you". If you have such reasons, personal reasons, then discussion of the number can be revealing of your unique self and the idea might work for you.</p>
<p>But if you don't have such reasons, then you just have a coincidence that seems unlikely to show colleges much about you as a unique and interesting person. In that event, you might want to consider other ideas.</p>
<p>unless you can find the philosophical/historical superstitions related to the number 9, I think its a horrible essay topic because it shows nothing unique about you, and is the product of a random coincidence that could happen to anybody.</p>
<p>I've seen on their official site that the new common application will be available by July 1st, so why don't you expect until then to see if they haven't changed the essay topics? In the meantime, you can do something else that helps you for going to college, like getting more involved in your ECs or taking a job. I really think it generally makes a better impression if you choose one of their other topics unless you have a really powerful essay about something else that defines you or has radically changed you. I don't think a number coincidence is such a strong subject for "topic of your choice".</p>