I wrote about dying my hair, because I couldn’t write comprehensibly about anything else. (You’d be surprised how many people write about hair, though. All of us think we’re the first.)
I can’t tell whether it helped or not, because I only applied to one elite school. I was rejected, but probably not because of the essay.
I asked an Ivy admissions officer what essay he DIDN’T want to read. He was hesitant to respond at first, but then opened right up. He did not want to read about your mission trip to a third world country, your work with the handicapped, or your winning the big game.
My D wrote about how the journey is more important than the destination: examples she used were dreams of genies granting wishes to play piano perfectly and some very funny anecdotes about learning to drive. She fit this essay into the current year’s CommonApp essay #1. Janine Robinson’s Essay Hell blog was helpful. She advocates pretending the “topic of your choice” still exists.
One wrote about not being married to a plan and so you can make the most of unforeseen opportunities in life, as seen through an improbable honors music trip where he met many of his musical idols. One wrote about his reluctance to make a short film (a tour of our town) for a terminally ill friend; the friend died shortly after he saw the film but had called to say how much he loved seeing town one more time. His essay was about resolving to do his best work, because you don’t always understand the value of what you are doing until it’s over and what if he had let his laziness take over.
My D wrote an essay (one of those extra “Tell us something about yourself that we wouldn’t otherwise know” type questions) about her name. She has a traditional Irish first name that has turned out to be virtually unpronounceable but a common nickname. She included some funny anecdotes and wrapped up with how actual names aren’t important, you make a name for yourself by the life you lead (obviously her wording was far superior to what I just typed). She was really happy with it and later modified it to fit a completely different prompt at another school.
Thanks for the responses! I really enjoyed reading about your creative children.
@luckycharms913 - is there a less pronounceable Irish name than Siobhan? Or maybe that’s the least-spellable Irish name, LOL 
^ I don’t think too many people know how to pronounce that unless they actually know that spelling.
As the mother of a similarly named boy, I get it.
My D wrote about her senior thesis on gingerism (before it became a thing). She didn’t really summarize it as much as use it as way to describe how her mind works and how she gets hooked on a subject, emphasizing her curiosity. Was suggested by ad com at school she didn’t attend and she got a couple of notes from other adcoms specifically mentioning it. Along with other over used topics mentioned, the ad com also mention “dead grandmother” essays.
I think no matter whether you go the very creative route or just well written, the important thing is that you are showing what kind of student you would be and why they should want you.
Loved the name Siobhan, knew at least two growing up, but realized that would be tough to pronounce. No, hers is (we thought) more normal; but apparently since the only people DH and I “vetted” it with before she was born were close family members (who are also Irish Catholic) we had no idea it would be a problem. It’s made her very adaptable.
We thought a lot of Irish names were normal, growing up in NYC, then we came to the midwest and it turns out, notsomuch
Op,
Get this book. You and your child should read it.
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-College-Application-Essay-Anniversary/dp/0062123998/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428605553&sr=8-1&keywords=bauld
Talks about how most colleges essays tend to fall into same categories.
The biggest problem is that kids often feel that their essay needs to be about “big” things where they had an epiphany, was life changing, etc. Since it is rare that this really happens, all of the topics tend to be the same.
I read essays for applicants in medical related field.
Essays generally should be:
DD wrote her essay about growing up in a 2 working parent family. Adcom made a comment of her essay.
Any random topic will basically answer question #1 on the common app.
My daughter wrote about being adopted from China to be the daughter of a single mother, living in a traditionally black neighborhood in Brooklyn and going to school in Chinatown. The last sentence is this:
My son’s essay was in response to the question: “Who had a strong influence on your life?” His first reaction was to go the coach or parent route. But after some thought, he chose a next door neighbor friend who made many mistakes, got into trouble more often than not and was not too successful at high school graduation. My son is a few years younger than this neighbor, was able to see the consequences of bad choices and then make different choices for himself. This “strong influence” affected him in a positive way.
I didn’t read my D’s essays until she was ready to hit send. Her hs had a very good process for review of essays by their GCs. Luckily I read it because I caught a typo that both she and her GC had missed, though I am sure that one thing would not have made a difference. The only thing I helped my D with on her apps was information from us that she would not know.
Just remember, since it’s a college application, show the attributes that are relevant for an admissions review. Ime, they can take one of the current prompts and adapt it.
Mine each insisted on writing that fell into what used to be called the 5 deadly topics. One was about a relationship break-up and the other was being vegetarian. But they did make good tales out of them. One did get positive feedback.
I’m a junior and am planning on using CA prompt 1 to talk about my disability and how it has positively shaped me.
Despite the warnings my child wrote about sports, so did a friend’s. Both were accepted to top schools. Both essays were well written and true to each child’s individual personality, and each essay shared something essential about the writer. Sometimes you have to tell the stories that are true to you, regardless of what everyone else is doing.