10 worst college essays
The college essay is your opportunity to let your personality shine on your application. Consider this approach instead. Image by Reinhart Julian from Unsplash. Students prepare for applying to selective colleges by taking rigorous courses , participating in extracurricular activities , studying for standardized tests , and more. All of this preparation, however, can distract attention from one of the most notorious sections of the college application: the essays. The essay is both the most and the least visible part of the competitive admissions process.
The Worst College Essay Topics
The college essay is your opportunity to let your personality shine on your application. Consider this approach instead. Image by Reinhart Julian from Unsplash.
Students prepare for applying to selective colleges by taking rigorous courses , participating in extracurricular activities , studying for standardized tests , and more. All of this preparation, however, can distract attention from one of the most notorious sections of the college application: the essays. The essay is both the most and the least visible part of the competitive admissions process.
The point of evaluating all these factors is to enable colleges to holistically build a well-rounded class of specialists. The essay or essays is a great way to learn more about an applicant, her motivations, life experiences, and how she can contribute to the campus community.
The essay is important because it gives students the chance to showcase their writing and tell the college something new. It also allows admissions officers to learn more about students and gain insight into their experiences that other parts of the application do not provide. Over colleges and universities use the Common Application , which has one required essay, called the personal statement.
There are five new prompts to choose from, and this essay can be used for multiple colleges. Beyond the Common Application essay, many colleges also have supplements that ask additional, university-specific questions which applicants must respond to with shorter-form essays.
While topics vary from supplement to supplement, there are a few standard essay formats that many colleges use:. This is the most common essay and is used for the main Common Application essay. In this essay, the applicant talks about a meaningful life experience that helped shape who she is today. Many colleges, including Columbia University and Duke University , use the supplement to ask applicants to explain why they have chosen to apply to this particular college. In this essay, students need to be detailed and offer specific examples for wanting to attend this school.
Not only does it help students reiterate their passions, it also serves as a gauge for demonstrated interest and a vehicle for students to better articulate how they will contribute to the campus environment. In this essay, students write about an extracurricular activity or community service project that was especially meaningful to them.
This essay was previously on the standard Common Application, but was removed starting in the —15 application season. Instead, some colleges, like Georgetown University , choose to include a variation of this essay among their supplements by asking students to discuss an activity and its significance to their life or course of study.
Avoid writing about things like scoring the winning goal, topics of public consciousness like natural disasters, or something that happened to you in middle school. Some students choose to write about things like sex or romantic relationships in order to stand out; yet, these topics fail to add substance or depth to an application.
A successful essay will reveal something about you that the admissions reader may not have already known, and will show how you interact with family and friends and demonstrate your beliefs or explore your passions. A great essay also provides readers with a vivid picture. When crafting an essay, think of it as offering admissions readers a window into a certain event or story.
Focus on the most meaningful moments, not the irrelevant background details. For example, a student once wrote an essay about feeling out of place culturally during an internship.
Instead of giving a general description of the internship and his conflicts, he opened the essay with a vivid description of what he saw when he first arrived, and used this scene to frame the feelings of alienation he underwent — giving the reader a striking image of his experience in great detail. Remember, your college application essay is about you. For further guidance and examples, check out Noodle's collection of expert advice about college essays. Here's How to Know. Noodle is all about you!
The Best and Worst Topics for a College Application Essay The college essay is your opportunity to let your personality shine on your application. Kat Cohen. Related: Why I Love the New Common Application Essay Prompts Beyond the Common Application essay, many colleges also have supplements that ask additional, university-specific questions which applicants must respond to with shorter-form essays.
While topics vary from supplement to supplement, there are a few standard essay formats that many colleges use: Personal Statement This is the most common essay and is used for the main Common Application essay. Activity Essay In this essay, students write about an extracurricular activity or community service project that was especially meaningful to them. Successful Essay Topics A successful essay will reveal something about you that the admissions reader may not have already known, and will show how you interact with family and friends and demonstrate your beliefs or explore your passions.
Noodle's mission is to make the search for education better through increased transparency and efficiency. We partner with not-for-profit institutions to help identify qualified applicants. In doing so, we're able to provide our content and services at zero cost to student users. Learn more about how we make money. You may also like. Terms of Service Privacy Policy.
About Us. The Noodle Companies.
Curious about which essay topics to avoid in your college essays? This article covers the themes and topics you'll want to avoid on your. The 10 Worst College Essay Topics Not To Write About. Penning down an essay can be one of the most feared parts of a college application. When you are.
COVID Update: To help students through this crisis, The Princeton Review has amended our refund and cancellation policies to ensure maximum course flexibility for those who enroll between April 21 st and May 31 st. For full details, please click here. The Princeton Review is currently experiencing some Dashboard down time. Come back again soon for an update.
We would never unequivocally tell an applicant that any proposed college essay topic is off limits.
She decided to attend Georgia Tech, where she will be majoring in chemical engineering. Consult these quick resources to get you started on the process this month. As we work to adjust to the current reality, make sure to check out these dedicated COVID resources : our directory of virtual campus tours , our directory of extended deadlines , as well as the list of schools going test optional this fall.
10 topics to avoid in a college admission essay
The essay is easily one of the most difficult parts of the college application process. Keep reading to find out what to avoid and what to approach in your college essay writing journey. Winning or losing. More specifically, almost everyone has either won or lost a sports game. Talking about your experience coping with your win or loss will pile you in with every other applicant that the admission officer reads about that day, aka the exact opposite of what you want to happen to you and your beloved essay.
The Best and Worst Topics for a College Application Essay
They will likely have seen hundreds of essays exactly like it. Try to stand out from the crowd. You are unique, so prove it. Write about something that really shows who you are as a person. There are three kinds of essays that colleges receive every year without fail. And admissions officers are tired of having to read them. In this essay, the student writes about how much their grandmother or grandfather, mother, aunt, etc. They perhaps tell a little of her life story and how she overcame seemingly insurmountable odds and triumphed in the end. You are. So you should be writing about yourself.
Penning down an essay can be one of the most feared parts of a college application.
College Essays. Just as there are noteworthy examples of excellent college essays that admissions offices like to publish, so are there cringe-worthy examples of terrible college essays that end up being described by anonymous admissions officers on Reddit discussion boards. While I won't guarantee that your essay will end up in the first category, I will say that you follow my advice in this article, your essay most assuredly won't end up in the second. How do you avoid writing a bad admissions essay?
The 10 Worst College Essay Topics Not To Write About
MoneyWatch For students who are applying for college, one of the scariest parts of the admission process is writing the dreaded essay. A common mistake that students make when tackling their college essays is to pick the wrong topics. It's a huge turn off, for instance, when applicants write about their sports exploits or their pets. I asked Janine Robinson, who is the creator of a wonderful website called Essay Hell and the author of an excellent ebook entitled " Escape Essay Hell ," to identify those essay topics that teenagers should absolutely avoid. Listing accomplishments. You might be the most amazing person on the planet, but nobody wants a recitation of the wonderful things you've done, the people you've encountered and the places you've visited. Do you know how many millions of teens have written about scoring the winning goal, basket or run? You definitely don't want to write about your winning team. And nobody wants to read about your losing team, either. Sharing how lucky you are. If you are one of the lucky teenagers who has grown up in an affluent household, with all the perks that goes with it, no need to share that with college admission officials.
WORST college essay EVER
Your school work and out-of-school work already show up in your transcript, lists of awards, and activities. Essays provide another dimension to your application. Who you will be as a classmate? As a roommate? As the leader of a campus activity?
