<p>Hey what's up guys i'm new to the site. The advice I've always gotten from my college counselor and english teacher has been just be yourself. i have no problem with that advice. so i had a couple topics i was thinking about writing. However, i was still going through the web looking at advice from experts on the topic. apparently my top ideas were among the most commonly used and the ones that admission officers are tired of listening to. I wanted to write about my mother who had cancer (who thank god, is fine now)and what i was going through Apparently they hear about that way too often. My second choice was talking about how I went on this mission/service trip to mexico. Again, they say mega cliche. Thirdly i wanted to write about the cultural experience of my trip to china. again, this is one of the top no no's. It's really frustrating because all the college admission people say, just be yourself, it doesn't have to be a huge thing you've done. well I'm trying to be myself and write about my personal experiences but apparently I can't. I just wanted to have some feedback, thanks. (FYI I've never been the president of a huge club or started a foundation to help the poor or anything like that before people suggest that)</p>
<p>Hi haha778,</p>
<p>It sounds like you have some great material for your personal statement! Don’t let all the “do’s and don’ts” get you down–the key to a great admissions essay is not necessarily WHAT you write about, but HOW you write about it. You could still write an exceptional essay about your mom, or your service trip to Mexico, but you might take some brainstorming time to see if you have other interesting experiences that make you unique. You can download this free book, “The Art of the Personal Statement” at [How</a> to Write A Personal Statement | Dear Admissions](<a href=“DearAdmissions.com is for sale | HugeDomains”>HugeDomains.com) and check out page 58 on avoiding cliches. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Your topic can be the most cliche one on earth, as long as your approach to writing it isn’t.</p>
<p>Of course you can write about them. We never get tired of love stories, and when did we ever fail to cry when humanity overcomes disease? It’s how you write about it. The whole story is too big, if you write about the whole, you can’t get away from the formulaic. So pick a smaller aspect: a day, a moment, a sentence. And remember, it’s not about how your mom overcame cancer, it is about how you overcame your mom’s cancer.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing. You need to write about that which you are most passionate. If these are the topics that you are passionate about them, write about them. If the university rejects you because of it (there is no way to even know this), then you shouldn’t go there in the first place. Imagine getting accepted because you wrote about something that you weren’t passionate about. That university’s values would conflict with your true passions, indicating that it is not the right match</p>