A compilation of topics to avoid

College Essays
1

<p>Just add to the list:

  1. Something too sensitive
  2. Something that the readers can know from the application
  3. A book report and characters analysis
  4. Just stupid topics: (duh)
  • Sex
  • Crimes and misdemeanors
  • Drunkenness or getting high
  • Bad grades
  • Simple description of why the university is perfect for you
  • A major news story or disaster
  • Mental imbalances or insecurities
  • You plan to create world peace
  • The big game (you will always hit the buzzer beater or touchdown)
  • Deep confessions</p>

<p>Add to the list please</p>

2

<p>A research paper.
Crude humor (aka Potty Jokes and Chuck Norris).</p>

<p>Topics:
The “laundry list” essay.
The “my bff stopped becoming my bff” essay.
The “I’m diverse because of my nationality/culture” essay.
The “I’m born from X and moved to Y” essay. Also goes with “I had trouble adapting to X environment” essay.
The “I have climbed many mountains” essay.
The “Look what’s happened to my life that turned me emo” essay. This includes disabilities and random stuff.
The “I have traveled to XYZ” essay.
The “my ______ died” essay.
The “I failed, then tried again and succeeded” essay.
The “being in ______ gave me _<strong><em>, </em></strong><strong><em>, and </em></strong>” essay.
The “I’m well rounded” essay.
The “my room represents who I am” essay.
The “I hate college essays” essay. Also goes with the “I can’t think of writing anything” essay.</p>

3

<p>Actually, perfectly reasonable essays can be written about many of the topics mentioned here.</p>

<p>There are few bad topics; there are many bad treatments of topics.</p>

<p>Take death, for example. At this excellent link, </p>

<p>[Essays</a>, Admission Information, Undergraduate Admission, U.Va.](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html]Essays”>http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html)</p>

<p>there are examples of “good”, “bad”, and “risky” essays about death. Writing about death is not inherently “good”, “bad”, or “risky”; particular treatments of death are “good”, “bad”, or “risky”.</p>

<p>Choose whatever topic allows for the most personal, detailed, and revealing essay. An essay that only you could write. It doesn’t matter if others feel unable to write a personal, detailed and revealing essay using your topic.</p>

4

<p>

</p>

<p>What would be considered bad topics (topics that would make for bad essays no matter how the writer approached them)?</p>

5

<p>An essay about how a kid from a rich suburban neighborhood dealt drugs will probably not go very far.</p>

6

<p>Bad topics:<br>
-“Look how great I am because I’m better than everyone else.”
-“Look how hard my life has been just because of teenage angst.”
-“Look at all the fantastic places I’ve briefly visited with tour groups of people just like myself.”
-“My parents worked really hard to provide me with opportunities to study and go to college and have a better life than they had. Look how hard their life was and how important it is for me to fulfill their dreams for them.”
-“School work is boring and teachers are mean, which explains my low grades throughout high school.”</p>

<p>Like ADad suggests, some of these topics could (possibly) be salvaged if reworked with more humility, deeper thought and/or focus on the author.</p>