<p>I'm working (if you can call it that, haha) on my college essay. Mostly I've been thinking of a topic. I like the idea of these narrow-down threads and decided to post my own.</p>
<p>I haven't decided upon a single topic yet because I put too much pressure on myself and because, to be honest, I want to find the perfect topic to represent ME. I have some ideas; please comment/vote on which ones you like best. The essays are as yet unwritten. I'm not going to tell you which is my favorite, but I definitely have one. :)</p>
<p>Potential Topic #1: Ice cream trucks as a symbol for the transition from childhood to adolescence. I have some childhood memories around ice cream trucks and keep seeing them everywhere I go lately. It would be a "loss of innocence" essay, basically. (Don't want to explain it more :P) Think this might work, but worried about it not being about me.</p>
<p>Potential Topic #2: My hair-brushing compulsion. Mom suggested this idea; I brush my hair excessively whenever I am nervous/stressed as a coping mechanism. IDK, it might be interesting, but I'm concerned it'll sound bland or shallow.</p>
<p>Potential Topic #3: My desire to leave my small town. This is the epic essay I've been planning since sophomore year: It'd cover my parents' disappointment at my desire to leave and my aberrance from the status quo in my town. This could be the most personally revealing, but I don't want to be cliche or seem escapist.</p>
<p>All these will read better as complete essays; can't convey the gists well LOL. Any ideas as to which you like best?</p>
<p>Why don’t you write out the essays and then decide? Things really change when you have to fill up or cut down to 500 words and when the pen touches the paper. </p>
<p>Anyways, the problem I have with 1 is that it is a widely recognized problem, that there really isn’t much of a solution in this day and age, and that, as you stated, it may not be about you as much as a college essay should. The problem I have with 2 is I don’t see much of a gate into introspection. You say you brush your hair when you’re nervous, but where do you go from there? </p>
<p>3 wins, imo. First, it has the least problems. Second, it would make a pretty darn good essay topic. A true problem, with some raw emotions involved. To give you an idea, Friday Night Lights (the movie) wasn’t just good because it had a football and underdog plot, but because of the contrast between the hopeful youth (many of whom wanted to “escape” Odessa) and the worn down parents and the conflict between present and future. A conflict, which you have here, leads to a lot of things (among which are passion, a glimpse into your true character, etc.). This idea may be cliche when constantly surrounded by it, but your audience will most likely be well off adcoms and you’ll be competing against a lot of well-off students.</p>
<p>But still write out all your ideas. You’ll probably need/want more than one personalish essay anyways (for supplements, different apps, etc.).</p>
<p>Okay, thanks, that’s actually kinda how I’d been leaning. Potential problems with topic are that I am worried about sounding too hometown-hating and my parents will surely not like my topic. Anyone else?</p>
<p>My only word of caution is do not use the words “loss of innocence” in an essay. Unless you are a Golding wannabe and is prepared to ruin an entire piece with those words.</p>
<p>yeah I would be careful if you go with choice 3 because you run the risk of sounding like you want to go to college just to get out of your town–not for the educational/intellectual opportunities.</p>
<p>1 might not show too much about you or demonstrate who you are. So I guess I would say 2 or 3, but really you could right any of them as long as you write them well.
When you go into each essay remember you need to find an objective- what do you want the admission people know about you?? and then you show it through that story
2 might seem interesting, but is there something you learned from this habit? is there some sort of significance? like i said, if you go with 2, make sure it’s well written b/c it’s actually really hard to write a whole essay about hair (i’ve done it before, it didn’t turn out as well as I wanted).
3 could be a great way to show both desire and you’re ability to work hard to get what you want as well as some of the ways you’re different from other people. Just don’t make it seem like you hate your town, but instead that maybe you want to explore new things. The only thing I would fear about this essay is that there might not be a lot of action to show- it might only be a statement of what you want instead of how you’re getting there. Also, it might not fit that many prompts in case you’re looking for an essay that could fit in many of colleges’ prompts.</p>