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Admissions officers will often emphasize that they do not care what you choose to write about in your essay. They stress this because most writers err on the side of unoriginality, having tried too hard to meet the expectations of their imagined readers and discarding all of their own personality in the process. Of course, there is truth in their advice: You should write with the goal of expressing your own values and conveying the qualities most important to you. You should frame this discussion in a way that highlights your unique character. However, you must exercise your creativity with a definite eye toward the themes and points that will justify your suitability for college. Your ultimate goal is not just to stand out as a likeable person, but also to obtain admission to your college or university of choice.  

Personal Growth

This is perhaps the most popular essay topic, since it delves into the heart of what the admissions essay is all about: helping the college gain better insight into an applicant's personality and character. Some schools ask targeted questions, such as "What was the most challenging event you have ever faced, and how have you grown from it?" Others leave the topic open: "Describe an event that has had great meaning for you. Explain why and how it has affected you."

One of the most successful strategies is to use a past event as a lens through which you can assess who you were and who you have become. Most children are inquisitive, but were you the one who asked your kindergarten teacher what caused the seasons of the year, and then proceeded to create a model of the solar system and explain the concept to your fellow classmates? Though you may think that you need to write about something more grandiose, you do not. Success lies in painting an accurate and vivid picture of yourself--one that will show admissions officers that you have much to offer their school.

The most important advice we can give is to be honest, refrain from employing cliches, and show maturity. College is a radical change from high school, and you want your reader to realize that you are more than ready to take the next major step in your life.

Sample Essays And Comments

1. Well Done "Personal Growth" Essay
2. Poorly Done "Personal Growth" Essay

Role Models and Influences

Admissions officers will want to know if there is more to you than your SAT scores and GPA. Therefore, it is important for you to find a way to differentiate yourself from the other qualified applicants. You can demonstrate that you are not just another pretty transcript by showing a completely different side of yourself through the role models and influences that shaped the person you are today.

The key here is to personalize: Do not go off on tangents, focusing on someone else instead of the most important element--why your topic is significant to you. Focus on what these influences have meant to you and how you have grown, tying in relevant aspects of your personal or family life when appropriate. Show your strengths in new ways without restating the obvious. 

However, do not feel that you need to write about famous people or impress admissions officers by noting your family's ties to an influential member of the government or movie star. Writing about a teacher who sparked your interest in archaeology by taking your third-grade class to a local museum to see a dinosaur exhibit is far more effective than name-dropping in the hopes of impressing admissions officers. 

If you can demonstrate unusual maturity, sensitivity, and direction in your essay, you will be ahead of the game.

Sample Essays And Comments

1. Well Done "Role Models and Influences" Essay
2. Poorly Done "Role Models and Influences" Essay

Hobbies and Interests

This topic is very wide open. You could choose to write about an extracurricular activity, job, hobby, or just about anything that involves a high level of interest and dedication. Remember, refrain from repeating information found elsewhere in your application or simply writing a laundry list of academic, extracurricular, and work successes. 

Focus on why the interest is important you, making sure to highlight its relevance to other areas of your life and what you have learned from it. Demonstrate passion, devotion, and leadership skills, as these are all character traits admissions officers seek in future college students. Most of all, be genuine--admissions officers will know if you are only telling them what you think they want to hear.

Sample Essays And Comments

1. Well Done "Hobbies and Interests" Essay
2. Poorly Done "Hobbies and Interests" Essay

Favorites

Usually a topic of short-answer essays, Favorites questions ask you to write about books, songs, art, people, and just about anything else you can think of, focusing on how the topic of choice has made an impact upon your life. As mentioned before, do not pick a subject because you believe it will impress admissions officers. Instead, choose something special to you, something that you can use to relate who you are in a unique fashion. 

If you choose a popular subject, be prepared for the challenge. You will have to work harder to stand out from other applicants who are also writing about, for example, Albert Einstein as the most influential person of the twentieth century. Choosing a topic closer to home could prove more successful, since you will be able to provide more personal insights. Be personal. Be specific. Be yourself.

Sample Essays And Comments

1. Well Done "Favorites" Essay
2. Poorly Done "Favorites" Essay

School Target

Surprisingly, most students find this topic difficult to write about. If you have chosen to apply to an institution based upon its ranking in a popular magazine or because your parents told you to, you may have to spend some time thinking deeply about exactly what it is that makes this particular institution right for you.

A main point of these questions is to see if you care enough about the college or university to have researched it beyond what anyone could have read in its marketing literature or on its web page. Knowing yourself--your passions, skills, and goals--can go a long way in helping you answer School Target questions. If you see yourself as an aspiring journalist and are applying to a school that can help you land a coveted internship writing for the Washington Post, you can discuss how you plan to make it as the editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. If you want to be a social worker and are applying to a university in a large urban area, you can talk about how the geographic location will provide ample opportunity for your involvement in community outreach programs. However, make sure to show how that particular school offers something others do not.

Sample Essays And Comments

1. Well Done "School Target" Essay
2. Poorly Done "School Target" Essay

International Experience

Students applying to U.S. schools from overseas will already have a wealth of experience from which to choose a topic. For those who have only ventured beyond U.S. borders, think about the significance of your international experience: What did you learn about another culture? What did you learn about yourself and your fellow travelers? How has your experience shaped your views? 

Another effective way to tackle the question is to explain how the experience has moved you to develop new goals. For example, did your trip to France with your French class during spring vacation solidify your goal of studying eighteenth-century French literature in original manuscript form? If so, you could discuss how your college of choice fits in with your aspirations--how its top-notch French department and liberal policy on studying abroad will help you discover the literary wonders of Rousseau.

When brainstorming for a theme to provide coherence to your piece, remember to visualize the experience so that you can include precise details that will help the reader imagine he was actually there with you. Follow the general guidelines we have provided for other question topics, making sure to personalize the experience as much as possible. 

Sample Essays And Comments

1. Well Done "International Experience" Essay
2. Poorly Done "International Experience" Essay

Explaining Blemishes

''Every applicant has made some mistakes along the way--taken the wrong course, performed poorly in a course, or overloaded on extracurriculars. While these mistakes have their consequences, be confident in the choices you have made up to this point in life and in rendering the sum total of those choices to us in the form of an admission application.'' 

Certain aspects of your application may call for an explanation. Such aspects might include any of the following:

• Grades
• Standardized examination scores
• Deficiency in the number of letters of recommendation submitted
• Lack of work experience or extracurricular activities
• Why you are applying again after being denied previously
• Gaps in the chronological account of your previous education or employment
• Disciplinary action
• Criminal record

Under what circumstances should you use your personal statement to explain a particular deficiency, weakness, or other blemish? First of all, the application might explicitly invite you to explain deficiencies, weaknesses, aberrations, or any other aspect of your candidacy that might not accurately reflect your abilities or potential and fitness for college study. Virtually all schools ask specifically about the last two items above. For the other items, where applications do not explicitly provide for such explanations, the schools nevertheless permit and generally encourage applicants to provide brief explanations. Most schools suggest that you attach an addendum to your personal statement for this purpose while reserving the personal statement itself for positive information about yourself. If you are in doubt about the policy and preferred procedure of a particular school, contact the school directly. 

Another point you should keep in mind is whether you have a valid reason. Staying up late the night before the SAT is not a legitimate reason for a bad performance, while documented sickness could be. A particularly bad semester could be explained by a death or illness in the family. If you lack extracurricular activities, you might point out the number of hours you had to work to help your family or save for college.

There are many more gray areas. For example, is it worth noting that you simply have a bad history of standardized testing? Doing so tactfully (in other words, do not rail against the arbitrariness of tests or demand the right to be considered for your grades alone) can help the schools understand your exact situation, but it most likely will not have a substantial effect on their perspective, since they know to take into account the imprecision of standardized tests. What about the class for which you simply did not grasp the material, or a sub-par GPA during your freshman year? Again, what you have to say will not constitute an extenuating circumstance, since everyone has weaknesses. Your best approach might be to try to transform such blemishes into something positive by pointing out particular classes in which you performed well, especially those that were more advanced, more relevant to your intended career path, or more recent.

Finally, make sure that you do not take a contentious tone. Do not accuse your teachers of unfair grading standards or complain about lack of extracurricular opportunities at your school. Be clear that you are not trying to excuse yourself of responsibility, but emphasize that you simply want the schools to have the complete picture.