Topics for the Common App essay

College Essays
1

<p>With the beginning of senior year approaching alarmingly fast, I've begun to put a lot of though into what to write about for the common app essay. After looking at the prompts, I've come up with a few ideas for essays that could be unique/interesting for the college admissions people, although I honestly have no clue what colleges are really looking for in these essays. Could you look over my essay topic ideas and let me know which of these could be the most successful?</p>

<p>Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?</p>

<p>For this one I was thinking about writing about a horrible treadmill accident I had in the 5th grade, which I still have huge scars on both my knees from. It actually inspired me to take up running as a hobby and now I am an all-state track/xc runner. </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>I could write about my decision to delete all of my social media accounts (facebook, twitter, instagram) during my sophomore year. I liked that these sites could help me connect with friends, but in the end it wasn't worth it for all the drama and dealing with people whose main goal in life was to rack up as many followers/likes as possible. I was worried that I would be missing out if I didn't have a twitter/instagram account, but it's made my life so much simpler and now that I don't procrastinate on those sites I have more time to spend with the friends I really care about. </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>I run on a 7-mile loop around a lake about 2 or 3 times a week in the early morning, and I was thinking about writing about the 6th mile of the trail. No matter how tired/tight/stressed I am during the first 5 miles of the run, the 6th mile is always when the "runner's high" starts to set in and i feel completely relaxed and at peace, like I could accomplish anything. I use this time of total mental focus to do everything from developing a thesis statement for my research essay to envisioning a life together for me and the cute runner I passed during mile 3. Mile 6 is an environment where I'm completely detached from everything that's stressing me out in the real world.</p>

<p>Would any of these ideas work? Do you have any suggestions on how to improve these essays or make them better fit into the prompt?</p>

2

<p>I don’t really consider an accident a failure, or deleting social media a challenge to a belief. </p>

<p>I like the third essay though. I think you could write a lot about reflecting about school and life.</p>

3

<p>I agree with mocheng. </p>

<p>I’m not crazy about these prompts. I wonder if the treadmill accident could fit better as a response to Prompt #1 (unique story)?</p>

<p>In terms of what they’re looking for, think of it this way – you have 650 words to let an adcom know who you are. When they’re done reading it, they should feel like they’ve met you. Like they now have a handle on what makes you tick, what you like/don’t like, how you see the world. All this should come through in your writing, which is unlike other essay writing you have done. You’re not stating a thesis or making a point – you’re telling a story, in your own unique voice. And the story is about you.</p>

4

<p>I think any of these ideas can work as long as it’s entertaining and well written. As a teacher I read hundreds of essays and they all start to sound alike after awhile. It’s the rare one that stands out and that is usually because it’s a unique experience and it has specifics, details that can make me visualize the situation. The essay about deleting social media is very interesting since it’s rare to see young people do that. I’d opt for that one.</p>