4 Topics for Writing Your College Essay
Welcome to the second post of our College Essay mini-series! If you don’t really understand what a college essay is, you may want to refresh your memory by reading Introduction to College Essays.
Knowing that the college essay is about your personal story, what will the college essay ask you to do? And how can you find the best topic to write about?
First, let’s go over some of the college essay prompts for the Common Application essay and the UC essays. There may be other different essay prompts required by colleges you apply to, but these essay prompts are usually the most typical ones you will answer.
Common App Essay
The Common Application is the application that can be used to apply to many public colleges and private colleges.
Students will choose 1 essay prompt to write about out of the list of prompts, with prompts such as:
- Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
- The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
The full list of 8 prompts can be read on the Common App website.
UC Essays
The UC application is the application that can only apply to the UC college campuses in California, like UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and so on.
Students will be asked to choose 4 essay prompts to write about out of the 8 possible prompts, with prompts like:
- Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.
- Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.
- What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?
- Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you faced.
The full list of the UC’s 8 personal insight essay prompts can be read on their website.
4 Topics to Consider
1. Your talent
Everyone has one or two things they are good at. Did you play the French horn for ten years? Know how to fix bicycles? Make a computer game? A talent does not necessarily need to have won any impressive awards, but should show your strong interest and dedication to a certain area. Art, sports, volunteering, or your hobbies would be good places to start thinking about a talent.
It is generally better to focus an essay on a story on just one specific talent instead of crowding your essay with many different things you are good at.
2. Your personality/identity
What kind of person are you? Do your friends think of you as the life of the party? Are you more thoughtful and philosophical? Do you have an identity that is different in some way, in regards to family or cultural roots or hardships?
This is a good topic for telling a story about a moment that shaped your personality in some way, or several examples that show how your identity has influenced your character and your actions.
3. Your challenge
Choosing the topic of challenge can take your story through some interesting paths. A challenge can be anything from tough circumstances, an illness in the family, a disability, or dealing with mental health.
This topic can be hard to write about. Think about treating the challenge like a plot twist in a story. The story does not end once the plot twist happens; the story continues after the plot twist to describe what happens next.
You not only want to describe the challenge, you want to discuss what happened after the challenge occurred. What were the effects on you after dealing with the challenge? How did you try to work through this challenge and what did you do afterwards?
4. Your experience
This topic is broader than most. Think about any significant experiences you have been involved in, and write about it.
Did you participate in some science research? Did you have a meaningful and emotional experience while volunteering? Was there a certain time that you spent with family or a friend or mentor that meant a lot to you? Or was there something you accomplished with a group that helped others?
Finding an engaging and personal story to write about for a college essay can seem hard, but thinking over the topics of talent, personality/identity, a challenge, and an experience can lead any student to a good story.
Once you get an essay topic and finished your first draft, what’s next? Look out for our next post with more tips on college application essays.
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