<p>I just wanted to get a parents perspective on this–</p>
<p>I am applying to Princeton and for the supplement, I want to write about having a relationship with a boy, and how that relationship has affected me. It is going to talk about being close to someone & then being disappointed (break-up), and how although we are all individuals, everything we do is inextricably linked to another person, and how the slightest things we can say can effect something, either positively or negatively. It’s also going to talk about the fact that since everyone is “tied together” we can be inspiration for one another.</p>
<p>So it’s hard to explain now, since I don’t have it written out. But it’s going to be a somewhat philosophical essay, with the main theme that although we need other people, there is still a part of us that is completely individual. </p>
<p>So how does it sound? Is it a big no-no, because it’s about a boyfriend?</p>
<p>Write your essay and see how it reads. If it sounds like a girl meets boy, girl loses boy essay, I would suggest another topic. Unless there is something compelling about this breakup, it’s just that…a break up and they happen all the time. Personally I would suggest finding another topic.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is particularly risky but I think it is probably an over-used topic. That said, it all depends how you write it and what “twist” you put into it.</p>
<p>I agree breakups happen all the time. There’s nothing special about this one at all. It’s just a typical teenage thing… but the reason I want to write about it is because of how it affected me and “changed my outlook of the world” which is what the prompt asks for.</p>
<p>And MomofWildChild- is it really overused? I thought that most people don’t approach subjects like these for college essays. Especially for a college like Princeton- I feel that many people will write something more academic, rather than personal, for this essay topic.</p>
<p>I recall sitting at a college admissions workshop at my son’s high school where a rep from the admissions office at U of Penn spoke. In talking about essay topics, she said that essays about first loves are not welcomed. My advice would be to seek another topic.</p>
<p>Any topic can be a good topic for a college application.</p>
<p>The problem is in writing something readable and interesting to someone who is reading hundreds of other essays.</p>
<p>Will it stand out? Reflect who you are? Portray you in a positive light?</p>
<p>I would hesitate to advise a student writing about the “bought” trips to help others throughout the world…it always seems like a paid for experience, and they are often over-written about by prospective students.</p>
<p>In terms of writing about a relationship breakup, I would probably hesitate in recommending this topic. It may seem juvenile, or too much like an immature young person. It might make for a good read in a Seventeen Magazine piece, but maybe not so much for an admissions essay. </p>
<p>Of course, it’s always up to the OP to write whatever they want. </p>
<p>It’s hard to tell how good it is without reading, and I am not a proponent of submitting your essay topics to CC for peer reviews. </p>
<p>If you had to read twenty or fifty teenage essays in one day…you want to see one that makes you want to meet the kid who wrote it. So write the essay, show it to an educated adult (like the admissions counselor who will read it) and ask for their honest opinion on whether this makes them want to take you to lunch. Your breakup thing may work if the essay ends on an uplifting note.</p>
<p>I like to believe that some teens are such gifted writers that they shine with almost any topic. </p>
<p>Having said that, I think this topic in general is so overdone (in literature, music, movies, in every culture since the dawn of time) that it would be hard to use it to your advantage (to stand out or say something truly insightful and original). It is also the kind of topic that could so easily end up sounding very trite or cliche to an adult reader (yet the young writer can not see it).</p>
<p>Pianoplayer…the topic of breakups is overused…period. Think about how many best selling novels, movies, Broadway shows, songs, poems, etc are about couples breaking up. Many of these are award winning pieces of writing. Truthfully this topic is written about probably more than any other.</p>
<p>Unless you really feel your piece is going to stand out from all the other breaking up stories, perhaps you should try (at least) to think of a different topic. Maybe you should focus on what has changed about your life, instead of the romantic breakup.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for you opinions. I have decided not to write this essay-- I realized that you guys are right, it is overused. And although I am quite a good writer, I am probably not the amazing, gifted, writer that would be needed to pull of such a topic. So I’m going to write about something else. . . now I’ve just got to find out what that something else is ;)</p>
<p>It’s all about your writing, not the topic so much. Having said that though, I suggest you stay away from the overly philosophical tomb. Make it lively. Think of this as a snapshot of you at one point in time.</p>
<p>The boyfriend story could have been fine, except when it starts to sound like everyone else who has gone through a “first love”. This is your opportunity to create a story that’s unique to you. You and you alone.</p>
<p>Write with a focus about your outlook on life changing. How has that changed your relationship to others and the world? Just because the break-up precipitated the new outlook, it doesn’t have to focus on that or need to be mentioned at all except as a peripheral event.</p>
<p>Don’t take the prompts so literally. You need to decide what is the key attribute, experience, interest, or insight that you want the colleges to know about you. The essay is your opportunity to present that. Figure out what you want to write about and then think of a way to work it to fit the prompt. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to rain on your idea, but honestly, writing about a teenage girlfriend/boyfriend sounds like a horrible idea for a college essay to me.</p>
<p>One objective of the essay is to affirm your writing ablility. The other, and I think more important, objective is to reflect indirectly an aspect of YOU – your thought process, your values, your experience. </p>
<p>The college application is a collection of data – some objective like grades and scores, some subjective like recommendation sand essays. In an effective application all of these factors combine to create a three dimensional image of the applicant. </p>
<p>The essay gives you an opportunity to “flesh out” your personality and character. To let the admissions committee into your world and under your skin. Whatever your topic ,don’t forego the opportunity to let them know what you could contribute to the campus community. </p>
<p>Yes, it should be indirect, it should be subtle, it should be nuanced. But at the same time it should be about who YOU are.</p>
<p>Admissions essay have two jobs. One is to answer the prompt (but since one choice is to write your own prompt you can pretty much ignore that one.) The real job of an admissions essay is to make the reader think “This person would be an asset to this college” or in perhaps more gut level terms “I’d really like to have this person for a roommate.” I like essays that make a student sound like a fun person to be around, self-reflective but not boring, willing to pursue intellectual interests beyond the classroom, but not overly one-sided, perhaps a little quirky without being too weird.</p>
<p>"I don’t mean to rain on your idea, but honestly, writing about a teenage girlfriend/boyfriend sounds like a horrible idea for a college essay to me. "</p>
<p>I agree. What may seem fresh and insightful to a teen reflecting on their first break-up is likely to seem cliched and trite to an admissions officer. </p>
<p>Fine to write about how someone changed your perspective on life. I just don’t suggest that you write about your ex boyfriend in that way.</p>