<p>Although I believe I could write a good essay based on the given topics, I don't believe that I could easily find a topic that I could really be passionate enough about to really show my personality. Sooo....I was thinking of using the Topic of Choice. However, I'm suspicious that my theme will be far too generic.</p>
<p>It would be something like...
Me having to break the set academic barriers of my school environment. Going to a school of 2400 students where the counselors don't even understand what AP is or care about national merit or such, where dropping out/no college/community college is the norm, where people haven't even heard of the top tier schools, where extra curricular is deemed unnecessary, where teachers are truly clueless of the subject they teach, where only 4 out of 600 students in my class are even considering private universities, etc etc, and me breaking the cycle, being one of the only ones to go the extra miles, do the independent studies, stay clean, etc etc. </p>
<p>I know it's probably the most generic theme other than "trip that changed my life," but if I am able to paint a brilliant picture, and really bring out where I'm coming from, who I am, why I'm writing that essay, would it work?</p>
<p>Another question:
what exactly are they looking for in that 150 word extra-curricular short answer? Everything I've done is pretty generic. Damn good violinist, Math/Science/National/Music honor societies, Student Government, plenty of service hours, leadership positions in just about everything, etc etc. It's all been done before by countless applicants. The only relatively special thing I've ever done is an international competition run by NASA, yet what type of theme should i use in the short answer? what should be brought out? what type of focus?</p>
<p>Seems pretty negative and critical for an essay topic. Then again, if you are a negative and critical kind of guy, then it may indeed capture your personality.</p>
<p>well it's more of a contrast. painting an abysmal picture, and being a bright point shining out. or would that really come off as egotistical and arrogant.</p>
<p>Virtually any topic can make for a great essay or for a poor essay.</p>
<p>It is not the topic, it is what you do with the topic. </p>
<p>You do not need to have a unique topic, something that no one else has ever done or heard of.</p>
<p>I've read many successful essays on common things--procrastination, chasing a dog, playing an instrument, being wrong, being embarrassed, coming to a new school.</p>
<p>You are a unique person, and, in exploring and revealing yourself, you can write a unique essay.</p>
<p>A great essay will stand out all the more for being written in a well-plowed field.</p>
<p>Yes, many people do that. They assume that a common topic must be treated in a common manner. </p>
<p>That assumption is mistaken. Any of those topics can be treated in a personal, specific, honest and revealing manner. </p>
<p>If you look at the UVa link above, there are examples of "good" and "bad" essays. There is both a "good" and "bad" essay on the topic of "death of a loved one". Clearly, then, that topic does not automatically yield a "cliche" or "generic" essay. As the link shows, the topic can be handled well, or it can be handled poorly. </p>
<p>Again: it is not the topic, it is what you do with the topic. Pick the topic that allows you to write a personal, specific, honest, and revealing essay.</p>
<p>sounds like you feel you are too good for them and think you deserve a private university bc you put up with them for 4 years. That's just how I see it, is that what you want ADCOMs to perceive as well?</p>
<p>The topic as you've described it sounds a bit arrogant. You don't need to be bragging to adcoms about how great you are compared to everyone else. It sounds like that information would be better conveyed in some sort of recommendation.</p>
<p>Maybe if you handled the topic very, very well, it could come off as okay. Maybe talk about how your academic goals are "different" or "strange" rather than implying you'd overcome some sort of adversity to reach a higher plane of awareness (and therefore that your goals are better than everyone else's). But that could also come off badly, depending on how you wrote it.</p>
<p>Coffee, you might be able to pull your essay off better if you talked about one academic subject, maybe your favorite one or maybe the one you did the most unusual independent effort to learn more about. You could talk about what your school offered and what you wanted to know and why you wanted to know it and how you learned it and what you will do with it. This lets you get at what you described without seeming like you are arrogant and critical of your high school and the other students there.</p>
<p>I was afraid that it would come off as somewhat arrogant or egotistical. </p>
<p>I'm not really try to say that I deserve a private college, or that I'm superior to anyone. In fact, within that picture, there's also the five or six schools in the same district (all within 15 miles) that happen to have plenty of students that go to ivy leagues, that do all the extracurriculars, etc etc, some of the best schools in my state (TX), while my own is far closer to the bottom of the list...from within just the city. </p>
<p>So what I'm really trying to visualize in my mind here is an essay that kinda looks more like...me as a traveler through the forest, trying very hard to reach a destination that many others are able to get to by taking the well worn path that was laid in front of them. </p>
<p>My focus would not be to bash or criticize those in my own school, but to bring out my willingness to challenge myself, the ability take initiative, to see and think outside of the box that I was put in. Not to say I am better than others academically, because I am only in the average ranges for the upper tiered colleges, but that I continually strive for something better, to get the best out of what I am given, that I am one to seize opportunities, etc etc. </p>
<p>...or no. lol. </p>
<p>also, anything on the second part of my question in my initial post about the extracurriculars?</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's all been done before by countless applicants.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't agree. </p>
<p>People still manage to write about Europe, despite the fact that its been done for centuries. Hemingway did some admirable writing on the supposedly generic topic of "vacation". People still manage to write love stories. Religion is still a topic of discussion after all of these millennia. Despite a century or more of movie making, new ones are still coming out. People still dare to write poetry and plays, even though thousands since Homer and Sophocles have done a pretty good job. Mozart didn't end the composition of music, even though many would argue that Mozart is perfection. Photographers are still at it, despite the countless billions of photographs that have been taken.</p>
<p>Your take, your experience, is unique in all history.</p>
<p>Bring your own experience, your own sensibility, to a topic that is meaningful to you, and you can write a successful essay, regardless of who else may have touched upon that topic before.</p>
<p>Yeah, I totally agree with ADad. There's this saying that every story - every book, myth, whatever - can be boiled down to 1 (or more) of 7 different basic stories. So college essays are all going to look the same. I mean, what you described could basically fall under the the first Common App topic. But you must make it personal, and make it vivid.</p>
<p>About the ecs essay - my advice is to pick one activity, and write about it creatively. Don't just list what you've done (although you can try to fit it in), show your passion for it.</p>