This American Life had a story a few weeks ago about "How I got Into College" that started with an interview with an admissions officer. Might be worth listening to about the similarities in the essays they get. I wrote my undergrad essays trying to inspiring and heartfelt and they were total BS and I didn't get into several of my top choices for undergrad, even though my scores and grades were very high. For grad school, I was much more honest and more "myself" instead of trying to impress anyone and I got into more of my top choices. I think you should tell your kids to be interesting and be themselves, but don't try to be "inspiring" bc it will sound like BS. One of my best friends wrote her college essays about her football obsessed southern high school and got into an Ivy with it.

Can those with kids from last year's cycle describe some of their winning essay topics?

I worked in the admissions office while I was in college (not Ivy, but you've heard of it). The admissions officers were always interested in any essay that said something sincere -- if your DC can write a cogent, thoughtful, authentic piece about Call of Duty, I think it would be appreciated.

What they could instantly see through (and despised) was the essay the applicant "thought" the school wanted to hear.

Me? I wrote about a TV movie I watched the week before my ap was due. I guarantee it was a first for them.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe they could write about how they were raised by parents who think it is their job to figure out what their kids should write their college admissions essays about, and what effect that had on their ability to figure out who they really are and how to do things for themselves.

Or he could write about going through some insane bureaucratic process and how it helped, when he was finally ready to open his ears, to listen to some gentle advice from his elders about scrapping that essay on what Call of Duty taught him about Iraq.

Maybe they could write about how they were raised by parents who think it is their job to figure out what their kids should write their college admissions essays about, and what effect that had on their ability to figure out who they really are and how to do things for themselves.

Anonymous wrote:They write about their shoes. Where their shoes took them.
They write about the importance of taking time to reflect on their experiences.
The importance of accepting and learning from people they (strongly) disagree with.
How about a topic that there is little awareness of. R E S P E C T.

"they write about their shoes."

Some here think the average public school boy would ACE this topic - having spent the better part of four years staring at their shoelaces.

They write about their shoes. Where their shoes took them.
They write about the importance of taking time to reflect on their experiences.
The importance of accepting and learning from people they (strongly) disagree with.
How about a topic that there is little awareness of. R E S P E C T.

This is a strange topic. EVERY school we’ve visited has EMPHASIZED the importance of making the essay personal – a window into the real you (student). If you abide by that, what possible relevance would anyone else’s essay have? DC wrote a very honest essay and was admitted to several top 25 schools and wait-listed by a couple of lower ranked schools. The schools knew HE was and knew if HE would fit. That’s the goal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even suburban, problem-free children have had to overcome challenges, no matter how trivial they may seem to, say, world hunger. It's not the challenge that matters, I don't think. It's the lessons learned from meeting the challenge.

Another tack is to write about something the child failed at and what lessons were learned from failure. Just sprinkle it with a couple of good quotes about success from failure, etc.

Don't do this. Do not write about failure.

Yes, don't write about what a loser you are.

But I think the point is, you could write about how you failed (or don't even use the word "fail") the first time, then you processed all the reasons why, worked really hard, and finally succeeded. On your own, of course, thanks to your persistence and creativity.

The underlying sentiment of the OP seems to be the subject of numerous articles/essays/news coverage lately.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wrote what I guess you guys would consider a rather cliche essay about my first trip abroad visiting my family in a foreign country, what it's like to see real poverty for the first time, seeing old stuff for the first time, etc. It got me into Duke.

They know that your kid is over-privileged and rich already. They'd probably rather admit all the kids who have struggled with real adversity, but those people tend not to have any money, so they're a minority. Your kid's chances are better than you think!

Maybe you got in front of the wave of service trips where a light bulb goes off and DC realizes "we're all the same?" Didn't these start to get big in the early 2000s?

Well I'm class of '07 and I remember chatting with one of my friends about it and she had written basically the same essay lol. I really think the quality of the writing and the amount of self-awareness you display (remember these are all 17 year olds writing these) are more important. Being able to pay full tuition doesn't hurt one bit either.

Anonymous wrote:I wrote what I guess you guys would consider a rather cliche essay about my first trip abroad visiting my family in a foreign country, what it's like to see real poverty for the first time, seeing old stuff for the first time, etc. It got me into Duke.

They know that your kid is over-privileged and rich already. They'd probably rather admit all the kids who have struggled with real adversity, but those people tend not to have any money, so they're a minority. Your kid's chances are better than you think!

Maybe you got in front of the wave of service trips where a light bulb goes off and DC realizes "we're all the same?" Didn't these start to get big in the early 2000s?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you whose children are 11th-graders or younger, you can stop fretting about this. Starting next year the Common App will no longer include the option of writing about a topic of the student's choice. http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/new-common-application-will-be-a-stickler-for-essays/

Interesting development. So now the supplements will probably ask for an essay of your choice!

I'm not sure about that. As a former admissions staffer and parent of 2 kids who have already gone through the application process, my experience has been that admissions staff/committees give a great deal of thought to supplement prompts and see them as reflecting the school's values and institutional priorities.

Anonymous wrote:For those of you whose children are 11th-graders or younger, you can stop fretting about this. Starting next year the Common App will no longer include the option of writing about a topic of the student's choice. http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/new-common-application-will-be-a-stickler-for-essays/

Interesting development. So now the supplements will probably ask for an essay of your choice!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good friend's child recently wrote about how she spent every summer in her dad's hometown.

I always thought is was a summer of privilege - beautiful house on the lake, mom SAH so had the flexibility to be there for the summer.
It was presented as the relationship she had with her grandmother.

Sweet. Where did she end up going?

Boston College