What is the most widely utilized, but often poorly-executed, Common App essay topic?

Believe it or not, it's you.

You are probably a bad Common App Essay topic.

Counterintuitive, right?

Writing an autobiography is one of the most common mistakes applicants make when brainstorming essay topics.

Truth be told, it’s difficult to make an absolute statement on what a good or bad essay topic is.

More often than not, it's the execution of an essay topic, as opposed to the topic itself, that will determine whether or not you have a strong essay.

That being said, there are some essay topics which are typically more DIFFICULT to turn into a good, unique, and personally insightful essay. They are as follows:

1. Essays about a competition or performance
2. Essays about charities or service initiatives
3. Essays about music or art
4. Essays that are simply infeasible from an execution standpoint

Now, why do these topics typically produce subpar essays?

Regarding the first three topics form the list above, these essays usually fail to show authenticity and originality, and are susceptible to tones of arrogance and self-praise.

These essay topics are typically overused and fail to showcase yourself in a way that is unique.

Moreover, these topics will often tempt you to talk exclusively about yourself and your accomplishments.

Finally, sometimes the topic is too big to effectively convert into a 650-word essay.

Even topics that are great in theory can be ruined by attempts to compress them into an essay as short as the Common App essay.

So what generally makes for a good essay topic?

Here’s a big one: telling a story through the len of a relationship.

Writing about a relationship - between yourself and another person, place, or thing that is personally meaningful - is an effective way to circumvent the pitfalls of the aforementioned bad topics.

It will allow you to avoid seeming conceited, show care, humility, and personal development, and showcase yourself without coming off as self-centered.

Relationships offer a great opportunity to demonstrate personally insightful material.

Throughout your Common App, there are more than enough opportunities to showcase your accolades and expertise.

The Common App essay is a unique opportunity to show your character - how you grow, your unique way of moving through the world, how you interpret experiences, your capacity for empathy, humility, and vulnerability.

Put simply, a bad essay topic makes it more difficult to accomplish those things. While every topic can become a great essay, great topics make it easier to accomplish that goal.

What is the scariest part of writing an essay from scratch?

Take it from the King of Horror himself, Stephen King:

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.

After that, things can only get better.”

Brainstorm

The first draft of your college essay will be unspectacular - and unspectacular is perfect!

If, at first, no particular topic jumps out as the perfect essay topic, don’t worry. Most people don’t get so lucky!

Plus, some of your best potential subjects might be the ones that won’t readily come to mind. In my experience, the best way to unearth some old memories or kickstart your creativity is through a guided brainstorm.

If you're looking for a place to begin, The New York Times has a great list of questions to help you get started on the right path!

Put Words on the Page

After you get a few ideas down, here's the good news: you’ve already done the hardest part of your essay!

When it comes to college application essays, the idea is paramount.

If you enter the writing process with a strong idea, your exact words and phrasing can be sculpted and revised until they accurately reflect the quality of the idea.

Now you just need to get the words down - they don’t need to be pristine, in fact, they don’t even need to necessarily be good.

The idea is that as you get words on paper, as you edit, rework, and rearrange, you will naturally hone in on the “right words.”

Odds are, your first draft will come out better than you anticipate. However, there’s no way of knowing that until you take that leap of faith and start writing. For guidance on how to start specific essays and specific prompts, one-on-one guidance from an experienced mentor can be an incredibly effective form of assistance.

As for a general approach to starting your essays, you need to be able to trust yourself and the writing process .

You’ve formulated the idea, so you know that you have the right words somewhere. Now, you need to commit yourself to trial and error in order to tease the proper verbiage out.

Be Brave

Remember that traditional isn’t better when it comes to your college essays.

Chances are, when you apply to college you'll have little to no previous experience writing college admissions essays. Most of your formal essay writing experience will have come from English class.

This time, though, you’re not trying to decode Fitzgerald’s prose or explore the themes of 1984. The goal of a Personal Statement or supplemental essay is to give admissions officers a sense of what makes you you .

You want your personality to shine through! And it doesn’t hurt if it’s an entertaining read - these officers are reading hundreds of essays every week.

Don’t be afraid to add some humor , experiment with less formal language, or open with a unique introduction .

Don’t be afraid to pick a topic that’s out-of-the-box , or to pick a topic that’s seemingly “boring” and explore it through an engaging or unexpected lens.

If you need proof that ~almost~ anything goes as an essay topic, check out this excellent essay on Costco that got its author into 5 Ivy League schools and Stanford.

Remain Focused

One final note: With every ounce of strength in your body, force yourself to avoid procrastination.

Writing an essay is hard enough on its own. The last thing you need is another excuse not to write.

As novelist Peter De Vries once wrote,

"I only write when I’m inspired, so I see to it that I’m inspired every morning at nine o’clock."

The writing process is long and tedious, and spontaneous bouts of motivation can be few and far between. Sometimes you just need to tell yourself to open up the computer and type!

It’s natural to put pressure on yourself to produce a perfect first draft.

As a result, though, you’ll get caught in the minutiae, constantly self-editing and deleting.

Don’t fall into this trap! It’s okay for your first draft to be too long, too short, too ridiculous. What’s more important is to get your ideas down and give yourself material to work with. It won’t all be usable, but chances are, some of it will stick.

A great (and somewhat scary!) way to write a first draft quickly and without being able to self-edit is this writing tool . It will prompt you to write for a given amount of time and erase your work if you stop writing.

Summary

To summarize a few of the key takeaways from this post:

1. Don’t be afraid of a bad first draft

2. Trust the writing process

3. Take advantage of an experienced mentor

4. Make the time to sit down and write

Good luck!

Your elementary school teacher knew best — Many of the biggest college application red flags occur when students forget the 3 R’s: Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic .

1. Reading

Read the instructions and follow them.

Read the prompts. Make sure your essays actually address them.

Know your deadlines, especially for early action/decision applications.

Know where to submit your supplementary materials and when they are due (oftentimes they have a different due date and submission portal than your main application).

Read the advice of others online and incorporate their feedback into your apps.

2. 'Riting

Your writing is a reflection of you.

Don’t make spelling mistakes. Don’t make grammatical mistakes. That’s lazy writing, and lazy writing makes you look like a lazy person.

If you can’t get a teacher or friend to read over your materials, use a service like Grammarly or, at the very least, Microsoft Word’s spell checker.

Here’s a simple editing tip that’s changed my life: After you’re done writing a draft, print out everything you’ve written and make a dot over every word with a pen. This will prevent you from glossing over your words as you edit, and force you to think through every word choice and phrase.

3. 'Rithmetic

Make sure your numbers add up.

Don’t claim to do more than 100 hours of activities per week (you must sleep and go to school).

If you claim to have accomplished something in your application, provide a number to back it up. “Started a non-profit and helped people” carries less weight than “Started a non-profit that served 20,000 meals over the past 3 years.”

As a student at the most competitive college in the world, Harvard , here’s my two cents on the stressful process of choosing a college major:

Take it easy. Don't stress. Chill out.

As a much wiser person once told me: Your major is a toolbox, not a blueprint.

Selecting a major is a significant benchmark in anyone’s college experience. But it is far from the end of the world.

The principal worries around this looming decision seem to fall into one of two general categories:

1. Your major isn’t your passion
2. Your major is your professional fate

Let's break these concerns down one at a time.

Worry 1) Your Major Isn't Your Passion

One of the most challenging decisions for a young adult is narrowing down his/her interests.

Frankly, choosing one’s single most, or even a short-list of several, greatest academic interests is a Herculean task for all but a lucky handful. So be patient with yourself - that feeling of uncertainty is normal.

As MacArthur Genius grant winner and Professor of Psychology Angela Duckworth writes in Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance:

“The process of interest discovery can be messy, serendipitous, and inefficient…Without experimenting, you can’t figure out which interests will stick, and which won’t.”

We often wait for some catalytic moment which presents us our passions on a silver platter. But this will rarely be the case.

Don't be afraid to experiment!

Throw yourself into new environments and new circles.

From this mosaic of experience and curiosity, you’ll begin to recognize the subjects and topics which resonate with you the most.

Worry 2) Your Major Decides Your Professional Fate

Nowadays, most colleges offer some form of a liberal arts education.

The beauty of this form of academic experience is that you leave your institution with a toolbox, not a blueprint.

A psychology major can apply her understanding of human tendencies to Wall Street, a political science major can contribute his grasp on international bureaucracy towards a career in journalism, a computer science major can employ her knowledge of rational problem-solving in the offices of a consulting firm.

Companies don’t hire majors .

Instead, they hire critical thinkers, effective communicators, team players, leaders, etc.

Think of your major not as an existential contract, but as an acknowledgement of “this is what I love to do right now and my best estimate of I want to do later.”*

Special emphasis on best estimate .

Now let’s be realistic. Your major does lead you down a path of specialization - to a certain extent .

Enjoy this journey for what it is, but know that it’s a far cry from a contractual obligation.

No, your major is not the end of the world. Rather, it's the beginning of a new and exciting one.