<p>I plan on applying ED to the Pratt school of engineering. A brief synopsis of my application is I am a white male with a 4.0 unweighted, 2200 sat (760 m, 740 cr, 700 w) and a 35 act (36 m, 36 s, 35 e, 32 r). My extracurriculars are decent but nothing special and my recommendations ought to be strong. So my question is how much should one push the envelope on the common app essay? Would it be better to go with a safe yet overdone topic or go for a unique topic that might turn out poorly?</p>
<p>Bump 10char</p>
<p>I think that it really depends on the topic and your writing style. Some people can write beautifully and stand out with an “overdone” topic and other people need a unique essay to stand out. Do you have any ideas or examples of what your essay would be about?</p>
<p>I’ve been considering writing an essay about my experiences in varsity tennis and how the challenges playing first singles 3 years have helped me mature to who I am. I would probably add some humor to the essay in order to show some of my personality to it and the essay would probably turn out pretty good. I can usually write good essays in English but they are never outstanding, although I plan to put a lot more time into this essay. I’m just concerned over whether a good essay would be strong enough to give me a good chance at acceptance.</p>
<p>You don’t specify, but I assume that the tennis essay is the topic you consider “overdone”…</p>
<p>Be careful that you avoid humblebrag, or sounding privileged, if writing about being the best player throughout high school (It was difficult going to all those lessons but I knew my teammates were counting on me - or - I had to go to advanced camps in Florida every Spring Break to find decent competition).</p>
<p>Humor is good, but it can also be dangerous. Don’t unwittingly offend the reader, even though you don’t know who it will be.</p>
<p>Yes, I think tennis (or any other high school sport) probably isn’t an overly unique topic. Finding a unique topic has been much harder for me, as nothing seems to be a topic I could write about for 500 words. I will definitely avoid arrogance, however in regards to humor, why would you consider it dangerous? It won’t be anything racist, sexist etc… Would a joke the reader doesn’t personally find funny hurt the essay, since its impossible to tell who might read it and what their sense of humor could be?</p>
<p>I offer this suggestion as a Duke alumnus, who interviews undergraduate applicants and as one who has held a considerable number of Duke volunteer leadership positions during the last twenty years. Your potential tennis essay may not competitively distinguish your application. However, were you to use most – 75 percent (?) – of the available word-count to explain how your “early maturation” would benefit your Duke '18 classmates and, after graduation, society in general, it might provide the Undergraduate Admissions reviewers with a far more relevant essay.</p>
<p>I think sports in general has been a bit overdone. And to be honest, the chances of getting into really prestigious schools are so low that you should really just go for it. Be crazy. Be weird. Be funny. Be yourself. That’s what I did and I got into duke. (Essay was about frogs, rivers, hiking, and anacondas. I laughed at it myself).</p>
<p>A great essay depends on more on the way you can write it, not as much the topic… HOWEVER, the topic still holds importance as well. Even if you write a very well-written and creative essay about tennis, think about the thousands of other potential applicants to Duke that ALSO play tennis and will write about it. So basically, if you really feel strongly about it, go for it! Just make sure the way you write it makes it really stand out. If not, probably better to choose an more unconventional topic and go with that.</p>
<p>Not sure if I should have posted this in the essay forum or just revived this thread. I finished my tennis essay and feel it turned out well. I got an idea however to write one about my search for the experience of “being alive.” Is that too philosophical of a topic to write about? The inspiration came from reading Walden on Wheels ironically.</p>