Picking the Perfect Topic for Your Personal Statement
When it’s time to start writing your college essay, picking a topic can be half the battle! Summing up your entire personhood in 650 words can feel like a daunting task, especially when the stakes are high. So, where do you begin?
To start, I encourage you to relax a bit. Listen to some soothing music, engage in physical movement, or catch up with a friend. The best essay ideas will likely come to you on an ordinary Thursday while you’re snacking on Oreos, not while you are trapped inside a pressure cooker.
Ready to start brainstorming? Here are a few quick activities to get you started.
The "I am" free write:
“Hey Siri, set the timer for ten minutes, please.” Now, turn off your WiFi, get out a blank sheet of paper, write “I am” at the top, and begin writing freely. You can use words, phrases, or complete sentences to get your thoughts out; just keep writing, and don’t put your pen down until the timer goes off. (If timed writing activities feel stressful for you, eliminate the timer and take as much time as you need.) The goal here is really to write without stopping and get your ideas out, without regard to formal sentences, grammar, or other constraints.
Great. Now, circle five words or phrases that feel most significant to your identity. What do you notice about yourself? Now that you have a little more time to look over your words, what are you missing?
Brief prompts:
Ready for a new pre-writing activity? Create a few words (or a few sentences, if you prefer) in response to each of these brief prompts. The goal is to jog your thinking.
A favorite place from your childhood or adolescence
The best day of your life
The worst day of your life
A random talent (what are you good at?)
Something you believe in strongly
A significant relationship in your life
The greatest obstacle you’ve overcome
A time you won (or lost)
What makes you smile
Your favorite object or possession
Which prompt felt easiest for you to write about? Where did you get stuck? Circle 2-3 prompts that came to you most naturally.
Event mapping:
Start with a stack of sticky notes and jot down significant or memorable events that have occurred in your life, one per sticky note. These events can be either positive or negative in nature (examples: the birth of a sibling, your first international trip, death of a family pet, winning a cross country tournament, baking your first loaf of sourdough, coming out to your mom.) You decide what feels significant!
When you can’t think of any more events, count your sticky notes. If you’ve completed more than ten, you’ll want to decide which memories feel most significant, so you can limit your list to ten. Then, arrange your sticky notes in approximate chronological order. It may be helpful to walk through your sticky note event map with a parent or other family member, to see if they suggest an additional important event that you’ve missed. These strategies are a good starting place. Now that you’ve jotted down some ideas, it’s time to narrow down a topic.
If you had three minutes to meet with the Dean of Admissions at your dream school, what would you want them to know about you?
Consider this question when narrowing down the topic for your college essay. As a college counselor, I often worked with students who felt eager to share stories that they thought might be memorable or would make them stand out in the admissions process. This makes perfect sense; after all, students are often told that the essay is their chance to stand out to the admissions team. However, I would often find myself gently challenging my students to really consider what it means to create a memorable personal statement.
A powerful college essay is one that really captures your voice. It’s the essay that I don’t want to put down, because I feel like you’re right there with me as I’m reading. It’s the essay I’m still thinking about a day later, not because it was the most conspicuous topic or because you shared your darkest secret, but because I walked away from reading your words feeling like we were all already acquainted.
I’ve read many powerful college essays throughout my career, and they have spanned a wide variety of different topics, from dramatic to seemingly mundane. What are the most memorable college essays I’ve read recently? One was by a young woman who quit ballroom dancing after she realized that this hobby (and her quest for perfection) had taken over her life. Another was by a young man who described the unexpected friendship he formed with a much older co-worker while working his summer job as a busboy. While these topics may not sound especially memorable, in both cases, I was thinking about their stories the next day. Words are powerful. It’s not just having a big story to tell; it’s how you tell it. It’s your voice.
A question that has come up often for me is:
“Are there certain topics students should stay away from when writing their college essay?”
The answer is yes and no. Your voice is critical in the writing process, and ultimately, your essay is yours. There are, however, some topics that I generally suggest that students steer away from.
Example of clichéd or overused topics:
(Just ask any admissions officer!)
An international service trip and how it changed your life (this generally falls into the category of a “privilege essay.” Is this the best aspect of yourself to share?)
An essay about all your accomplishments (this is what the “Activities” section on the Common Application is for!)
Trauma (example: abuse, divorce, or another tragedy. I’m very sorry that this happened to you and believe that processing your experience is important, but is a college essay the right place to do so? Could your story be unintentionally triggering to someone reading it?)
Moving (yes, this may have impacted you, but it’s actually pretty common.)
A sports injury (or winning or losing a game.)
A person you look up to (while writing about an interpersonal relationship can be powerful, the danger here is that essay can drift away from you.)
This list certainly isn’t black and white. Throughout my career guiding students through the college process, I’ve read successful essays on many of these topics. If you are determined to write about a potentially overused topic, it’s important to ask yourself a few questions:
What am I hoping to share about myself?
Why is this topic important to me?
How will I use my unique voice to make my story stand out?
There are a few additional topics that many college essay professionals advise students against, due to their content potentially sending up “red flags” to an admissions officer.
Example of “red flag” topics:
Sexual content (yes, admissions officers were seventeen once, too, but they don’t want to know any intimate details of your life. Your college essay is not intended to be salacious.)
Illegal or illicit behavior. (Perhaps you once had a shoplifting habit that you’ve kicked. I’m glad you’ve overcome this, and I hope you’ve learned from it, but is this the most important information that you want an admissions team to know about you? Is there any potential it could sow seeds of doubt about whether that habit has really been tamed and if you’ll be a good member of their campus community?)
The “party animal” essay. (Refer back to illegal and illicit behavior. An admissions team is evaluating you based on your ability to join their academic community, not on your ability to contribute to the off-campus party scene.
Mental health issues. (This is a tricky one! As a licensed counselor, I am personally a fierce advocate for student mental health and recognize that mental health struggles play a role in the lives of many young people. However, you want to be very careful to present your writing in such a manner that does not leave admissions officers wondering whether their campus can adequately support you.)
And now for a gentle reminder: your college essay is not a confessional. Are you ready to write?
