What To Avoid When Coming Up With A College Essay Topic

Most people would agree that one of the hardest steps when filling out a college application is simply figuring out what to write your main essay about. There are so many options, and yet none of them seem just right. You’re not alone in feeling this way. Unfortunately, that means that people often end up writing about the same, comfortable experiences in their life, and this could end up hurting you more than helping you.

Whenever people think of college essays, they usually try to think of an event that happened in their life that caused them some kind of trauma, pain, or strife. While this isn’t necessarily a bad way to think, it often leads to some pretty similar essays. It is super important when you are applying to colleges that your essay stands out and sounds original. It should be memorable, uniquely you, and should demonstrate qualities about yourself that make it clear why colleges should accept you. The essay readers have to read thousands upon thousands of essays each season so it is important to write an essay that feels new and intriguing to them, not an essay that makes them groan when they read the title. So with that said, here are 10 basic essay topics that you should NOT write about.

1. Sports

Dude. No one wants to hear about how you lost that one soccer game or how you didn’t make the team that one time but then you worked really really hard to make it the next year. Sports are a common experience that most American teenagers partake in. Although they can be really fun and fundamental in defining your high school experience, they also shaped the experience of millions of other students across the country. It is not that interesting, nor is it that deep. It might have meant something to you, you might have spent 30+ hours a week practicing it, but don’t write about it. If it is really that important, you can showcase this elsewhere, such as on your resume or on the extra curricular portion of your application.

2. Mission Trips

I don’t care if you spent your entire summer in a small village in Africa building schools for children and grew as a person. Neither does your reader. You know why? Because at least 1,000 other applicants also went to some impoverished 3rd world country with their church to help kids with something. That’s fantastic and we are so glad you are contributing to the world, but not glad enough to read a thousand essays about it. The issue with this topic is that not only is it overdone, but it’s not really even about you. It’s about your church or the kids that were helped, not some important thing you did that made you worthy of being accepted into college. Also, a lot of times these essays come off as white savior essays (meaning you did it for the wrong intentions or are overly self congratulatory of your actions) which doesn’t present well to readers who have never met you. With that said, a mission trip could be used for a short answer topic.

3. Extracurricular Activities

This topic is a little bit more ambiguous and there are usually more interesting things you can talk about here, so we aren’t saying it needs to be 100% off limits. What we are saying is that whatever you talk about needs to be unique, about you, and shouldn’t resemble the aforementioned sports essay about failing at first and later succeeding after tons of hard work. That’s a cliche, and colleges hate cliches. With that said, we do recommend you keep any interesting extracurricular experiences in your back pocket, as these usually make good short answers.

4. Racial Issues

This topic is also a bit more ambiguous but there are three reasons why we don’t recommend writing about this as your main essay. First, this is a common experience among most minorities in America, and minorities almost make up the majority of America. Second, this can often turn into a controversial subject, especially depending on who your reader is. Unfortunately, many people don’t understand what microaggression is, and so they might interpret you as over sensitive or looking for sympathy. We understand that racial struggles can make up a huge part of your identity, which leads us to our third reason: oftentimes, the essay doesn’t end up being about you. All too often, people will write about how someone else said something to them or a racist experience, and it ends up turning into an essay about racial equality. As important as this is, it doesn’t necessarily showcase anything about you. With that said, you can write an essay that includes racial struggle or your unique identity. An example of an acceptable type of this essay can be found here. This is also a topic that might be better suited for a short answer.

5. Family Trauma

People often try to come up with some trauma in their life to write their college essay about, and usually they come up with family related issues. Divorce, a parent leaving, fighting with parents or siblings etc. This is again, repetitive, and usually way too focused on the people around you instead of revealing something about you. It is okay to mention this type of thing in passing to reveal another side of your life, but you should never make it the central focus of your essay. Colleges are admitting you, not your family. Talking about this can also make you lose a sense of individuality, as you are focusing on how other people's actions affected you instead of a more personal growth path.

6. Controversial Topics/Politics

This one seems self-explanatory, but we’re going to say it anyways. You don’t know what the beliefs of your reader are, so you want to avoid all things controversial. You don’t want to portray your political affiliation, as this can significantly influence their decision. These essays also have the affinity to turn into moral or political rants about something you are passionate about. As much as we love that you are getting involved and expressing yourself, this just isn’t the place to do it. There is no point in talking about something like abortion, gun control, socialism, or Trump in your college essay, as these types of polarizing topics tend to get people heated. You don’t want to hurt yourself before they even consider your application

7. Religion

This topic is similar to the last, but it also presents new challenges. Talking about your religion in a super personal way can allow the reader to involve their personal biases. Again, you don’t know who your reader is, and they don’t really know you. Talking too much about faith and spirituality might make you hard to relate to or cause the reader to consider your essay from an obstructed, biased lense. This also possesses the potential to turn you into a number, as colleges may be trying to fill certain quotas or prevent other ones from becoming too full. Religion is a way to measure diversity, so if you belong to certain faiths, this might affect your admissions counselors consideration.

8. Classes

We mention classes for the same reason we mentioned sports and extracurriculars. These essays are overdone and usually surface level experiences that merely show how much you hated getting that C on your calc test. It is too basic to talk about how you started out as failing but then you learned how to study and finished with an A. It is however okay to talk about a class that might have changed your perspective or introduced you to a new career path/interest. You have to be aware of whether or not what you are talking about is unique, introspective, and displays something about you.

9. Injuries

It is getting repetitive to say this, but these types of essays are repetitive. Tons of kids will talk about how they got benched from their junior dance season because they pulled their hamstring but they stayed connected because they cheered for their team. Or maybe, they broke their leg while snowboarding in Vail. Generally speaking, a physical injury doesn’t make for a great college essay. It usually sounds a bit whiny, surface level, and doesn’t show that much about who you are. There are some injury related essays that can be interesting, but you have to be the judge of whether or not it’s unique and actually important to helping a college understand you as a person. Oftentimes, if it is something that is super important to you but not that unique, it is a good idea to mention in passing as part of a broader topic.

10. Relationships

OMG. I promise you, your essay reader doesn’t give a flying hoot about your boyfriend from sophomore year who cheated on you, nor do they care about you and your best friend’s tumultuous friendship. These are overdone and once again, fail to focus on you. There are very few times when you can come up with an essay about a relationship with someone that will “wow” the essay readers and make you stand apart. A lot of times, people will refer to this topic to try and whip up some trauma in their life. As important as this subject may be to you, chances are, it’s not related to your future academic career and doesn’t tell the reader that much about you as a person. Unless this topic is going to expose some layer of you that the reader wouldn’t have understood otherwise, it's best to leave these topics for your bestie.

Now, there are no rules to writing your college essay. If you have a super unique experience that relates to one of these topics that you feel like is really important for admissions counselors to know, then write about it. Just keep in mind that if it falls into one of these categories, you are going to have to work extra hard to set your essay apart, and take it with the knowledge that you are going to have to prove to your reader that it is worth his time to get to the end. The most important takeaway from all of these is to remember that college applications are your chance to be selfish, introspective, and focus only on you. What makes you unique? What has shaped you into the person you are today? Why would a college care about what you’re writing about? Why should a college want you instead of the last application they looked at? Remember these questions, focus on yourself, and your college essay is sure to turn out phenomenal.

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