Topic for the college essay

[Anonymous]

I have to say that when I was reading DCUM College last Sunday, I was taken by the kid who wrote his college essay on "Just Being a Nice Guy". (If anyone remembers, this was the kid who played the bagpipes and spent the summer as a chocolatier in France).

DD has a terribly conservative and dull college advisor who asked the juniors to think of people who inspired them (she wants the kids to begin crafting their essays this summer as rising seniors) or an event that changed their lives.


Okay -so here is my feeling (and I might be wrong), I would like DD to branch out and write about who she truly is - not another essay about her hard-working, immigrant grandparents or some national event she was on the fringes on. This is a white, suburban kid who has had virtually no hardship in her life -- but she has an amazing sense of humor and a wonderfully irreverent and self-deprecating personality. She has the stats and leadership positions to get into one of the top 50 universities -- which one may well depend on her essay.

So -- what were/are the topics of your kid's essays? And did you steer them in one direction or the other?

[Anonymous]

If she is doing the Common Ap, there are prompts for topics for the essay. Many colleges who do not do the CA, also provide prompts. I would look at those and see what she can do. They don't come out until August.

[Anonymous]

DS was applying to top national colleges and I did steer him away from any fakey hard-lesson topics as I knew that the universities were actually going to get REAL hard-lesson essays from kids who had truly suffered and struggled.

He did write a very light and funny essay about being the product of two writers and growing up thinking that when Mom and Dad talked about their characters that they were real people. DS had good stats but I do think the essay put him over the top. But, that might just be the writer in me over-valuing good writing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she is doing the Common Ap, there are prompts for topics for the essay. Many colleges who do not do the CA, also provide prompts. I would look at those and see what she can do. They don't come out until August.

I understand but you can take a serious approach to most any topic or a lighter approach. I just think that our kids, with - let's face it - little to endure in their 18 years should try to be a bit more imaginative and original. True to exactly who they are.

[Anonymous]

A girl in DD's class last year wrote about being the daughter of a shrink! I thought that was a great topic and very funny yet revealing.

[Anonymous]

DS wants to write about having a Jewish mother (and her side of the family) and a Catholic father (and his side of the family).

[Anonymous]

Ds wrote abou breaking out of his shyness and how he felt it changed the direction of his life.

Dd wrote about being vegetarian since she was seven and how she's gotten more peer pressure over that than about drinking or drugs combined.

[Anonymous]

DD wrote about the responsibilities of being an older sister and not having the same dad as her younger siblings.

A little touching, but she's happy being the oldest.

[Anonymous]

DS wrote about how life is like a pizza - it's all in how you put it together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she is doing the Common Ap, there are prompts for topics for the essay. Many colleges who do not do the CA, also provide prompts. I would look at those and see what she can do. They don't come out until August.

I think the prompts have been released.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, and they got rid of the one my DC had started working on in English class. Oh well.

[Anonymous]

I wrote about being afraid of the dark. 2013 college grad.

[Anonymous]

The advise my DD was given from her college counselor was to craft a well-written and interesting essay and don't get bogged down on the "perfect topic". The focus should be on a well written piece that is interesting even if she is writing about walking down the street. If your DD is funny and irreverent than let that shine in her essay. These admissions directors read so many dull and boring essays that an essay with some appropriate humor could be enough to catch their eye.

Also, I'm not sure if you've toured any schools yet, but when we did I remember hearing from at least 3 Admissions people in their presentations how much they did NOT want to hear about their grandfather who bravely fought in WWII or their mother who inspired them because of her tireless dedication....they want to hear about your DD and what SHE has done. Essays that talk about someone who "inspired" a student often turns into an essay about that person. These essays are not terribly long in length (around 600 words). You don't have much space to talk about inspiring people and yourself.

Also, as the PP indicated the applications have prompts that the kids need to "answer". None of my DD's applications had completely open-ended essays. Even the ones which were more general had some specific guidelines. The Common App essays topics are probably already out (they release the essays topics before bringing the application online in August). I would have your DD look at the Common App essay topics and work from that and then also look at the schools she wants that have their own online application and get her to see when their essay topics will be out. I'm surprised your college counselor is not encouraging the kids to do this...telling them to write about an inspiring person in their life is definitely a tired and over-used topic. I would stay away from it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The advise my DD was given from her college counselor was to craft a well-written and interesting essay and don't get bogged down on the "perfect topic". The focus should be on a well written piece that is interesting even if she is writing about walking down the street. If your DD is funny and irreverent than let that shine in her essay. These admissions directors read so many dull and boring essays that an essay with some appropriate humor could be enough to catch their eye.

Also, I'm not sure if you've toured any schools yet, but when we did I remember hearing from at least 3 Admissions people in their presentations how much they did NOT want to hear about their grandfather who bravely fought in WWII or their mother who inspired them because of her tireless dedication....they want to hear about your DD and what SHE has done. Essays that talk about someone who "inspired" a student often turns into an essay about that person. These essays are not terribly long in length (around 600 words). You don't have much space to talk about inspiring people and yourself.

Also, as the PP indicated the applications have prompts that the kids need to "answer". None of my DD's applications had completely open-ended essays. Even the ones which were more general had some specific guidelines. The Common App essays topics are probably already out (they release the essays topics before bringing the application online in August). I would have your DD look at the Common App essay topics and work from that and then also look at the schools she wants that have their own online application and get her to see when their essay topics will be out. I'm surprised your college counselor is not encouraging the kids to do this...telling them to write about an inspiring person in their life is definitely a tired and over-used topic. I would stay away from it!

Posted above yours that the prompts have been released.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If she is doing the Common Ap, there are prompts for topics for the essay. Many colleges who do not do the CA, also provide prompts. I would look at those and see what she can do. They don't come out until August.

I understand but you can take a serious approach to most any topic or a lighter approach. I just think that our kids, with - let's face it - little to endure in their 18 years should try to be a bit more imaginative and original. True to exactly who they are.

The prompts are general enough that virtually any essay on any topic can be slightly tweaked to fit one of the questions.

The proper approach is to write a great essay first, and then think about which question it could be used to answer. Not the other way around.