How to Know If Your College Essay Topic Is Strong Enough
One of the most common struggles for students is choosing the right topic for their personal statement.
The personal statement is an essay submitted to nearly every school a student applies to. Most often, it’s a core component of the Common App. Students choose from several prompts offered by the Common App, submit their essay, and it’s sent to each school they apply to.
The submission process is simple, but choosing the right topic can be difficult. Many students tend to choose overused or surface-level topics. Think topics like “I led my lacrosse team to victory” or “Here are all of my accomplishments from the past four years.”
Fortunately, there’s a way to test whether your personal statement topic is strong enough to leave a lasting impression on admissions officers!
What Makes a College Essay Topic Stand Out?
Personal-ity
The personal statement should be personal and unique, and it should give the reader insight into your personality. The story you tell in your personal statement should be one that could not be told by anyone else. If you are writing about how you led your lacrosse team to victory, you should certainly do so in a way that only you could. This means you write with enough detail and unique moments that it couldn’t have been written by any of the other 100,000+ lacrosse players in the US.
More than a resumé
The topic you choose for your personal statement should tell the reader something they don’t already know about you. If an admissions officer reads your application and gets to your personal statement only to read about the same list of accomplishments in your activity list or recommendation letters, you’ll lose their attention.
More than a narrative
Strong personal statement topics go beyond just restating a list of events. The topic you choose should be one in which you can analyze the experience with a deeper analysis. Only describing going to practice, playing a tough game, and the outcome of winning won’t be enough.
A revelation
“Revelation” may sound dramatic, but your personal statement topic should allow you space to reflect on a moment of growth you had. A moment of growth may include a shift in perspective or further development of your character, showing the reader how you have evolved as an individual.
Big picture
Your personal statement topic should allow you room to zoom out and consider the story and lessons you learned in a broader context. If your topic is too one-dimensional, it may be hard to show how the experience shaped who you are or who you hope to be on a college campus.
Signs That Your Topic Might Be Too Weak
It could have been written by anyone.
An essay topic that is too broad or generic means you won’t be able to include personally identifiable details in your full story. Stay away from cliché topics (sports victories, my dad is my hero) or existential ponderings (dissecting a concept, exploring the value of religion, etc.).
It doesn’t include the ability to describe sensory detail or reflection.
This often happens when you’re trying to squeeze in too many topics into one essay. Choose one and dive deep rather than trying to cover too much ground.
The topic repeats something found elsewhere in your application.
Give the reader something new to learn about you. Each part of your application should uncover a new layer, providing greater depth into who you are, how you view the world, and how you interact with others.
Still Unsure? Take the Quiz to Test the Strength of Your Essay Topic
This quick, 7-question quiz will help you evaluate whether your chosen college essay topic meets the criteria admissions officers are really looking for.
What to Do After the Quiz
If your score is high, start drafting your outline!
If your score is medium, dig a bit deeper and analyze your topic for areas of weakness using the quiz results.
If your score is low, return to brainstorming. Don’t worry! This is part of the essay writing process.
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