I decided to choose the topic “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.”
Do colleges not like it when people choose this topic because almost half the applicants choose this one? I want to talk about how my Punjabi Sikh culture has influenced me today. That I do bhangra (Punjabi dance) due to my Punjabi background and listen to almost exclusively Punjabi music. I like to watch many Punjabi movies and have done much research on the Punjab culture and immersed myself in it. I also own many Punjabi shirts because of my background and am considered the guy at school who is the most patriotic about his Punjabi culture and his Indian culture. Would colleges like me talking about this?
Or would it be a better idea if I talk about how bhangra influenced me to become more patriotic about my culture? I was patriotic before starting bhangra, but after I started bhangra, I became even more patriotic and proud of my culture. Also, I’m thinking about receiving a recommendation letter from my bhangra coach.
No, if enough colleges really hated it like you seem to think, they would tell the common app to change it. The essay question isn’t what’s important, what you write is.
The essay isn’t necessarily about trying to write what colleges want to hear – because no applicant can guess exactly what a particular admissions officer at a particular college wants. Admissions officers are really just trying to get to know more about you. They want to hear your voice and know something new that they didn’t get to understand from the other parts of your application.
I can’t say for sure, but if you’re already getting a LOR from your coach, it might be better to talk about something else in your essay. Although, it might be interesting for an admissions officer to read about bhangra from two different perspectives. You can try to write both essays and see which one is stronger.
I agree, colleges aren’t going to hate you if you use this topic; their obliged to read essays that are sent to them. That being said, it is the most chosen topic from the common app (many of my friends and myself included used this one), so you really have to start out with something sort of bang to really get admissions officers into reading your essay. Almost all of my essays started with a quirky anecdote and I got accepted to all but one school on my list, and that way nobody got bored from the very beginning. The more unique and interesting you make your essay, the more hooked any admissions reader will be, even if you think that that your prompt is common. Hope that helps!