Interrogating The Self: College Essay Topic Selection
Our previous posts address the finer points of drafting a compelling College Admissions Essays. In this article we explore the challenges of finding the right topic and the consequences of choosing the wrong topic.
A great college application personal statement communicates essential qualities about the candidate that are not reflected in application data. The essay personalizes the application and enables the admissions committee to envision the candidate as a member of the campus community. If you are applying to a competitive school, expect your application to be scrutinized for signs of your intellectual ability, character, leadership potential, and resilience in the face of challenges. Your essay must speak to these themes or it risks being overlooked in favor of applications that do.
To write a good personal statement you have to get personal. Yet to personalize your essay, you need to ask yourself fundamental questions like, What experiences have most shaped who I am? If at this point in your life you have never asked yourself Who am I? this can be a daunting task. It is also an opportunity to get to know yourself better.
As you begin the college essay writing process, you will want to reflect on your interests, influences, motivations, goals, and how you have met challenges in your life. Begin by making notes about your family and heritage and how this has shaped your identity. Then consider your academic experience and the subjects that interest you most. If you are a well-rounded student, you should have quality extracurricular activities to which you dedicate significant time. This could be a sport, creative endeavor, community service, or hobby. Never discount the incredible value of part-time jobs or internships that offer early professional experience and important life lessons.
What you do is just as important as how you think. Are you an independent thinker who challenges the status quo or are you someone who embraces the ideas of others if you find them compelling? Do you ask a lot of questions and seek your own answers? Are you analytical, systematic, creative, or intuitive in your method of approaching problems? Do you formulate strong opinions about particular topics or do you consider yourself more objective, considering all sides and suspending judgement? Do you anticipate and plan for problems or do you jump right in and deal with challenges as they arise? Perhaps you hang back and are still taking it all in. Whatever your style, it is time to bring your way of thinking into conscious awareness.
If you are especially proud of an accomplishment or learned a lot from a failure or disappointment, these are great places to focus your self-reflection. Just remember that every compelling story establishes, then resolves, a narrative conflict. Be alert to moments when you struggled with a decision, were pulled in two directions, faced an obstacle, or resisted conformity. Both internal and external conflicts can be great essay fodder.
Be fearless in your self-reflection. If you encounter difficult emotions or anxieties about a particular topic, lean into it to discover why it is a challenge to think about this aspect of your past. It is possible that these experiences shaped who you are in some way or can teach you valuable lessons for the future. The caverns of selfhood are a rich trove of content for the brave essayist willing to probe their depths.