5 Personal Essay Topics You Should Avoid

5 Personal Essay Topics You Should Avoid

Let us first begin by qualifying that there is almost always an exception to the rule. Any college advice you receive should be filtered through your own personal experiences because something that may be true for the general population may not apply to you. So, we don’t want you to automatically disregard a story even if it appears on this list. Instead, consider carefully whether our advice applies to you and how you might reframe the story to avoid the pitfalls we point out.  Now, back to essay topics that should be avoided. Generally, we have seen students succeed through the college process when they refrain from focusing their personal statements on certain things. Some subjects are not ideal because they are off topic, are too common, or raise red flags.Let’s take a look at 5 essay topics you should approach carefully when it comes to your college essays.  

1. Depression, Anxiety, and Mental Health

Mental health concerns are on the rise at high school and college campuses everywhere. Students struggle with depression and anxiety for a variety of reasons, including intense pressure to succeed in increasingly competitive academic landscapes. Others may encounter difficult circumstances that cause serious emotional distress, and still others have a genetic disposition to depression.Often, students who have battled with depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues are shaped in significant and positive ways by the experience. They learn resilience, compassion, and gain deep empathy for others. We understand why such students are drawn to talking about their mental health journey.However, for colleges that see high rates of depression and even incidences of suicide among their student body, personal essays about mental health can raise serious red flags. Elite universities in particular are weary about how someone with a history of anxiety and depression would fare in their intense and often competitive academic environments. Even in regard to the most stellar students who have battled with depression, accepting them may not be a risk that colleges want to take.  It’s a sensitive subject to be sure. Still, we have seen students succeed through the admissions process while sharing about their mental health journeys. Usually, their essays cover the specific reasons that caused it, strategies they used to address it, and how they grew in positive ways as a result—with emphasis on the last part. These students address the concerns of admissions readers and demonstrate their capacity to thrive in new environments.Although you should aim for transparency in your essays, consider carefully what kind of campus community will help you flourish—think about the factors that would contribute to your emotional, mental, and social health and if your schools of interest exhibit these factors. Then tell the parts of your mental health story that illuminate your growth. If you find that a college does not have the support or resources to help you thrive, then perhaps it is not the best fit for you.

2. Writing about the Wrong Protagonist

When we think of what has most shaped us or are most important to us, we often think of people.We think of Grandpa and how he taught us a love of math during lazy Saturday afternoons, or our eccentric aunt on Dad’s side who introduced us to the freedom of splashing paint on canvas, Jackson Pollock-style.People influence and inspire us. So, not surprisingly, students often write about someone important in their lives who helped to mold them into the person they are today. But then they end up writing more about their grandpa or their aunt than they do themselves.It’s easier to write about another person, in the same way that it’s easier to describe your parent’s features than to point out the physical characteristics you inherited from them. Mind the trap of making your personal statement to be about someone other than yourself.There’s no hard and fast rule, but generally if more than 50% of the subjects of sentences in your essay refers to another person, then we recommend revising. Even when describing another person, those sentences should foreshadow characteristics about who you are. If you are talking about how your Grandpa made many sacrifices to build a stable home for his family, somewhere in your essay, you should also discuss how you have carried that same spirit of selflessness for the benefit of others.You should be the center of gravity in your personal essay; remember, you’re the person admissions officers want to admit to their college, not your Grandpa.

3. Deep Dark Secrets

For many, writing the personal essay is the first time that you have deeply explored what makes you tick. It can be cathartic to write stories about yourself, your thoughts, and what is important to you. However, while you should feel free to jot down anything and everything during the initial stages of drafting and brainstorming, it may not be wise to share your deepest, darkest secrets with admissions officers.What’s an example of a deep, dark secret? Well we heard of a student who shared that he liked to cook pigeons in his backyard. Perhaps there is some helpful context for understanding this story; even so, there are likely better things this student could have shared to illustrate his unique interests. You should be vulnerable and tell about the things that make you special. But remember, the person reading your application will not have full context on who you are as a person. He or she will attempt to answer all their questions about you based on what’s in your application.Be clear and thorough, but don’t feel obligated to reveal things about yourself that you wouldn’t want a teacher or principal to know.

4. Criticizing Something or Someone

There are many things about our world to criticize—such as discrimination and inequality. And while you can certainly write about your passion for a social justice issue, it’s often best to err on the side of talking about what you have done to address the problem rather than to point out the wrongs of people, groups, and/or institutions. You never know what the person on the other side of your application believes, and there is little word space for you to fully discuss your thoughts on complex issues.Stay on the positive side of things if possible. Talk about your hopes, what you want to see change, and the things you aim to accomplish through your college education or career. If you feel it is important to talk about the shortcomings of someone or something because it gives context for your passions, make sure you provide examples and facts to illustrate your point.Instead of calling a politician apathetic, explain how no action was taken to address the concerns of constituents despite more than 1,000 people calling the office. Talk about how oil spills by gas companies have led to a significant decline of sea life in the Atlantic Ocean. Then, make sure to you address how these things have fueled your passions and academic goals. This last part should make up the bulk of your essay.

5. Short-term Service Trips

One misconception that students often hold is that their personal essay should be about something exciting and exotic. Rather than talk about the ordinary details of their lives, they highlight their most thrilling adventures like going on a short-term service trip to a third world country.While these trips often do help students gain a fresh perspective, focusing your college essay on a 2-week or even 2-month trip to a foreign nation usually does not fare well. The core of who you are—your values, beliefs, and experiences—is developed not in the extraordinary but in the details of your day-to-day life.Admissions officers are not as interested in your temporary experiences as much as the world you come from. Moreover, students who can afford to go on short-term service trips to another country can be read as both privileged and aloof about the problems in their own communities.If you choose to write about a short-term trip, be sure to acknowledge your privilege and connect the experience back to important things from your world—such as how the trip might have sparked your desire to volunteer at a local nonprofit or tweaked your perspective about an issue back home.

Take Time and Give Thought

When it comes to college essay topics, you should take the time necessary to fully explore your options before committing. Remember that while the goal is to share who you are with colleges, the purpose of the essay is ultimately to demonstrate whether you would thrive at an academic institution. Between your different topic options, pick the one that you think would show your best qualities as a person, roommate, and student.The expert admissions consultants at Wise World Prep have helped hundreds of students maximize their potential of being admitted to their top choice colleges and universities. Over 20 years, we have successfully guided students through each stage of the application process – from choosing competitive high school courses to building an appropriate college list to drafting winning essays to writing persuasive update and appeals letters. We would be happy to answer your questions and partner with you to create a successful admissions roadmap.Ready to get started? Schedule a complimentary 20-minute conversation today!Want to stay informed? Subscribe to our newsletter.See what others are saying about us