<p>Hi guys! As a rising senior, I've been brainstorming for my college essay. I'm looking to apply to many of the top schools, and I know it needs to help me stand out because while my stats are good, they aren't phenomenal. My top two choices right now are:
1. Leadership
2. My job
Leadership would talk about how, although my ECs are not all along the same path, I have taken a leadership roll in every one of them. Soccer captain, NHS officer, junior class president, youth governor, etc...</p>
<p>My job has changed my life. I have actually written this essay already for an assignment at the beginning of the year for AP english, and two people who read it suggested it to be my college essay. I work at a small family owned business (there are 4 workers, including the boss) and I truly have gained a second family and a positive outlook on life. I talk about my job all the time. </p>
<p>I'm worried that both of these are too generic. I do have a disabled mother, but anything I write about that would probably be BS because I haven't been affected as much as many others with disabled parents have.</p>
<p>My junior volunteer essay for this summer was about how having 3 surgeries in 8th grade actually turned me on to the medical field instead of fearing it. I've considered using that, but again, it seems pretty generic to me.</p>
<p>Your essay should be a glimpse into your life, not a summary of your life. The first topic you suggested, Leadership, is a definite no-- colleges don’t want to just see a resume in your essay. The second, your job, could work if you share a specific anecdote and not just a summary of the time you’ve been on the job. The key with the admissions essay is to be focused.</p>
<p>There are only generic treatments of topics.</p>
<p>The best topic for you is the one that allows you to write your most personal, detailed, and revealing essay: the essay that is so kellyrandom that only you could write it.</p>
<p>Only you can know what that topic might be. :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! @careful, instead of a central story, I was going to try to relate the job to the prompt of something that marked a transition from childhood to adulthood. Do you think it could work if I talk about how it’s shaped me as a person?</p>
<p>Remember, it’s a tale that ultimately shows the strengths and personal qualities the adcoms like to see in their freshman class. And, it’s ‘show, not tell.’</p>
<p>Try writing on a variety of topics and once you have a few rough drafts continue working on the one that feels most natural… that’s what I’m doing :)</p>
<p>The job isn’t a bad start - but you have to really focus on showing this:</p>
<p>“I truly have gained a second family and a positive outlook on life” and the path you took to get there.</p>
<p>A good start would be asking yourself why you love talking about your job so much.</p>
<p>“Your essay should be a glimpse into your life, not a summary of your life” and “you share a specific anecdote and not just a summary of the time you’ve been on the job”</p>
<p>I would disagree; I wrote one of those types of summary pieces about the job(s) I’ve held since I was 14 and how they changed my outlook on life - I got into several Ivies/Top 15 schools</p>
<p>Your job could probably answer #5 of the new Common Application essay questions, but the Leadership-one wouldn’t answer any of the other questions.</p>
<p>• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.</p>
<p>• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?</p>
<p>• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?</p>
<p>• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?</p>
<p>• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.</p>