<p>Is writing about your sport a good topic for the essay? Or is it too overused and trite, especially since athletes are in the same pool in the admissions office?</p>
<p>My D1 wrote about athletics. Her version was about how she was diagnosed with a chronic lifelong illness when she was a pre-schooler and started athletics to maintain her health. Then talked about lessons(academic, social, emotional, etc) learned along the way and how she developed as a person. She only applied to LACs and was accepted at all six she applied to. </p>
<p>D2 tied in her sports in her essay also but she was a recruited DI athlete who we knew would get accepted. I have to admit I did like her analogy about flying through the air while pole vaulting and learning to let go in order to pursue dreams and goals.</p>
<p>Write what feels right to you.</p>
<p>I’ve read to not write about your sport. I think NorthMinn had a good example of how and when it might be appropriate though. Otherwise its just too common and boring, and admissions is looking for your intellectual interests not athletic, that only interests your coach. My son is being recruited for football and was given advice not to write about, or at least not to dwell on, your sport.</p>
<p>Anyone willing to read my essay and give me some feedback? I think my essay is the only part of my application with some major issues. Writing is not my “thing” so any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.</p>
<p>The cliche “Big Game” essay is one of the worst things a prospective athlete could write.</p>
<p>I once thought “Fencing is really great because so many things you learn from the sport teach you valuable lessons that apply to life” would be a good essay topic but I’m sure that theme has been overdone.</p>
<p>The converse essay, “Life is really great because so many things you learn from life teach you valuable lessons that apply to fencing” might be more interesting if done well.</p>
<p>My D (who just got her likely letter) and was highly recruited—was absolutely and completely discouraged (I’d say “forbidden” but I suppose she could have rebelled and written about her sport) by her English teacher and college counselor from writing on her athletics. The college already knows you are a top athlete. They want some other glimpse into your mind— who you are besides being an athlete. And something authenticly you. That was the theory, and it worked for her. I have friends whose children write on weighty subjects like global warming, but, absent unusual experiences of the student, I’m not so enamored of abstract or academic or news topics, except to say the kid needs to go to the college to write knowledgeably on them.</p>
<p>My son, who was also recruited and admitted to a highly selective school, actually did write about participation in his sport for the common application essay. I know that the usual advice is not to do that, but it was the topic he felt that he could write the best about, and it really did give insight into who he was as a person.</p>
<p>One way to write about a sport is to use a particular incident that happened while playing that sport…a slice of life essay. It is more interesting to read than how a sport had an impact on you. Those type of generalities are really boring and overdone.</p>
<p>D2 wrote a part of her essay about her sport. But it was only as an example not as the focus of the essay. She thought it was important to include it because it spoke to who she is and the person that the college was accepting.</p>
<p>my d wrote about sports and her sport. she knew about the idea that admissions already knows you’re an athlete and wants to learn about you from a different angle, but she wrote about sports anyway. She told me “it’s the ‘personal essay’ and if they want to know what I’m all about they’re going to hear about my sport, I’ve worked-out 40 hours a week for the past 4 years, and I love my sport, this is who I am”</p>
<p>we’ll see…should know in a few weeks. she’s a top D1 recruit</p>