Is This a Bad Topic?

Is This a Bad Topic?

The personal statement has always been a major element of the admissions process; however, with a number of colleges and universities adopting test optional policies (not to mention how many students have experienced disruption from their norm over the last couple of years), the main essay has become even more important.

We spend the lion’s share of our time helping students craft moving, persuasive essays that highlight their character and accomplishments.  Executed well, your essay can help turn a good application into a great one.

Having read and assisted on thousands of essays as a team, there are recurring topics that come up every year that students are able to add own fresh, personal perspective. The goal in writing your college essay is not to try to find the world’s most original topic. Rather, it is to find the best way to articulate your own story through the topic that fits you best. With proper focus and development, your essay can shine.

That said, there are certain topics that make it more difficult to move an admissions officer in the way you hope. While it is still possible to make them work, they come with a higher risk of doing more harm than good.

Let’s take a look at several topics that are worth thinking twice about before proceeding.   

The boyfriend/girlfriend essay

Making your personal statement about your significant other is a significant risk. You have a greater chance of alienating your reader than you do of persuading them that you are a great fit for their campus with a topic like this.

What is the takeaway you hope to leave with an admissions officer? Have you accomplished goals or face challenges outside of your social life? Speaking objectively, are there noteworthy or lifechanging moments in your relationship that couldn’t also be said by many others?

A meaningful relationship with a girlfriend or boyfriend can feel like the most important thing in your world. However, you are better served saving any writing you do about it for your journal as opposed to your personal statement.

The trauma you are still enduring essay

While it’s true that stories of adversity can make for strong college essays, if you are still in the middle of the struggle it’s best to pick a different topic. You need to be far enough removed from your circumstance to have perspective to reflect on it in your writing. If the pain is too close or too raw, you run the risk of sending red flags about yourself as a community member to the reader.

Remember, your personal statement doesn’t have to be about your most emotionally raw moment. It needs to paint you and the specific attributes you want to feature in the best light possible. If you aren’t ready to talk about a traumatic experience, that’s ok! Choose a different topic.

The tribute essay

Many of us are fortunate enough to have a hero or role model who played a crucial role in shaping how we think or what we love to do. It can be tempting to want to dedicate your personal statement to telling the story of this person, especially if they’ve passed on.

However, these tribute essays come with the inherent risk of being too much about your hero and not enough about you. Admissions officers are looking for reasons to advocate on your behalf; said more bluntly, they want to have clear evidence of why you’ll be a great fit in their school to share with their colleagues. If your essay focuses on someone else’s strength, you miss an opportunity to demonstrate your own.

Even a well-written tribute essay struggles to yield the intended effect. If, however, you can use a small portion of your essay to tell a story about your hero that leads to deeper revelations about yourself, you stand a better chance at moving your reader.

The winning goal/lead role essay

Undoubtedly, achieving success on the athletic field or the stage is exhilarating. It is also the culmination of a lot of hard work, often some rejection and setback, and perseverance. And while your essay should highlight your positive traits like tenacity, dexterity, talent, or resilience, you are likely better served finding a different context than sports, theater, Model UN, or any number of other relatively common extracurricular activities.

Because virtually every high school offers these activities, you can probably imagine how often admissions officers read about them. Unless your achievement is ultra-elite (national team level athletics, major motion picture appearance, etc.) it is nearly impossible to write an essay about these activities that will stand out for your reader.

You are likely better served saving the story about your extracurricular success in a relatively common area for your activities essay and interviews.

The service trip essay

Often students who attend service trips to foreign countries or participate in programs like Rustic Pathways will want to write about their experiences in their personal statement. And while we think serving others is invaluable and there are many wonderful growth opportunities that arise from these trips, there are red flags in choosing this topic.

An admissions officer is likely to view these kinds of trips as evidence of your privilege or means as much as if not more than your desire to do good work. Because these trips are often pre-arranged and well-curated, the chances for you to show initiative or take on leadership roles are not always apparent. Further, depending on your writing tone, you run the risk of “de-civilizing” the people you help with colonialist language and not well thought out cultural assumptions.

Are there ways that you’ve been involved in local service efforts? Have you dedicated time and energy into solving problems for others in your own community or with whom you share affinity? If so, this will make for a much stronger personal essay starting point than a short-term service project.

Take the time before you begin writing to choose your best topic. If you have doubts about what you should write about, working with an admissions expert can help you achieve greater success in the process and use your time effectively. We believe that every student has the life experience and the capability to create a memorable, persuasive essay. Avoiding the pitfalls we’ve covered above is a great place to start.

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.

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