Help! I’m Stuck on my College Essay
by Kathleen M.
You have been working on college applications essay and trying to come up with an idea but are drawing a blank. Do you feel like you should have your Common App essay outlined but can’t come up with any ideas? Remember that you have loads of resources at your fingertips and try to relax!
First, what have you done for brainstorming?
Did you consider a few values that really define you? Did you write about these values and try to think of stories that would really illustrate them? Your brainstorming could take many forms – lists, diagrams, sentences, paragraphs. But if when you read over what you have written you can think of questions or can think of ways to make it more specific, then you should do that. Be as specific as possible.
Second, are you having trouble identifying the thing about you that makes you unique?
Take a minute to acknowledge this is a difficult task. Then think about what makes you you? If values doesn’t help, think about the people who are important to you, think about the ideas that are important to you, think about how you spend your time.
Third, re-read the Common App prompts.
Take a minute to write a little about each one and see if the questions themselves spark something. One of the questions may seem more interesting to you than the others. If this is true, try to articulate why and use that opportunity to write a little more!
Lastly, maybe you need visuals to help inspire you. Collect images that are important to you and as you scroll through these images – write descriptions for each. You may find unexpected things like you wear a lot more purple than you realized or you may find that you have a lot of photos of trees. Any of these small discoveries about yourself could turn into an essay topic.
Explore each opportunity and remind yourself to go back and look at all of the possible essay topics you chose not to pursue because maybe now those ideas sound better than they did on the day you rejected them!
Resources:
“Tips to Show Personality and Stand Out in College Essays”
“Tips for Overcoming Writer’s Block”
