Your college application essay is one of the most important components of your application. It’s your opportunity to stand out from other applicants and give the admissions committee a glimpse of who you are as a person. This essay allows you to showcase your personality, experiences, and growth that might not be evident through your grades and test scores alone.
However, while writing a compelling essay can help you shine, there are several things you need to avoid in order to make sure your essay leaves a positive impression. The last thing you want is to write an essay that detracts from your strengths or risks alienating the very people you’re trying to impress. In this article, we’ll cover the top 10 things you should avoid in your college application essay to ensure you create a memorable and impactful story.
1. Inappropriate or Controversial Topics
Choosing an inappropriate or controversial topic for your college essay can backfire. Admissions officers want to see maturity, responsibility, and good judgment.
Writing about illegal activities, substance abuse, or overly controversial topics like political or religious debates can raise red flags. Even if your intentions are good, these topics might come across as immature or ill-advised.
What to Do Instead
- Be Thoughtful: If you want to touch on sensitive subjects, ensure your narrative emphasizes personal growth and the lessons learned rather than focusing on the controversy itself.
- Stay Away from Extremes: Avoid anything that could alienate or offend the admissions committee. Instead, select topics that show you are capable of handling difficult situations responsibly.
2. Rehashing Your Activities List and Transcripts
You’ve already submitted a list of your extracurricular activities, achievements, and academic performance. Repeating this information in your essay wastes valuable space and doesn’t offer any new insights. Your essay is meant to go deeper into who you are, beyond the numbers and facts.
What to Do Instead
- Focus on a Single Activity: Choose one activity or achievement that had a meaningful impact on you. Instead of summarizing your entire resume, use the essay to explain why this experience matters and how it helped shape your personal development.
- Tell a Story: Instead of listing achievements, tell a story that reveals something unique about you and demonstrates your growth or character.
3. Romance and Breakups
College essays are meant to highlight your academic potential, life experiences, and personal growth. Writing about a breakup or a romantic relationship shifts the focus away from your abilities and goals.
Admissions officers are looking for candidates who are emotionally mature and focused on their future, not those who might still be processing a relationship.
What to Do Instead
- Keep the Focus on You: If you must mention a relationship, ensure that the essay highlights your personal growth and the lessons you learned from the experience.
- Stay Mature: Rather than focusing on the emotional aspects, focus on the personal qualities and insights that developed as a result of the relationship.
4. Writing About Your Hero
Writing about someone you admire may seem like a good idea, but it’s easy for the essay to turn into a tribute to that person rather than a reflection of you. Remember, the admissions committee is interested in you, not the person who inspired you.
If your essay focuses too much on your hero, it can make it feel like you’re not fully embracing the opportunity to showcase your own strengths.
What to Do Instead
- Focus on Yourself: If you write about someone who inspired you, make sure to shift the focus to how their influence impacted your personal journey, what you learned, and how it shaped you.
- Be Specific: Rather than just saying your hero is amazing, explain how they shaped your worldview and what specific lessons you applied in your own life.
5. Sports Stories
Sports stories are a classic, but they can often feel overdone. Many students write about winning a big game, losing a tough match, or overcoming a sports injury. While sports can teach valuable lessons, these stories often fall into predictable patterns and can end up feeling generic.
What to Do Instead
- Find a Unique Angle: If you’re set on writing about sports, find a fresh approach. Think about how the skills you learned in sports applied to other aspects of your life.
- Emphasize Personal Growth: Instead of focusing on the victory or defeat, consider how the experience made you a better person, leader, or teammate.
6. Tragic Events
Tragedies, such as the loss of a loved one, serious illness, or any deeply personal event, can be emotionally charged. While these events might have shaped who you are, they require careful handling.
If written poorly, they can come across as oversharing or may make the admissions committee uncomfortable. Additionally, focusing too much on tragedy might give the impression that you’re not emotionally prepared for the rigors of college life.
What to Do Instead
- Keep It Brief: If you choose to discuss a tragedy, mention it only briefly and focus on the personal growth that followed.
- Focus on Your Strengths: Use the tragedy as a backdrop for discussing how you became stronger, more empathetic, or more resilient as a result.
7. Highly Personal Topics
Certain personal topics, such as deep trauma, severe health issues, or sensitive family matters, can easily overwhelm the reader. Admissions officers are looking for essays that reflect your ability to overcome challenges and grow, not essays that delve into deeply personal or graphic stories. These topics can also detract from the overall message of your essay, which should emphasize your strengths and future potential.
What to Do Instead
- Be Selective: If you choose to touch on personal matters, do so in a way that emphasizes resilience and self-growth rather than focusing on the event itself.
- Maintain Privacy: Don’t share graphic details that might be uncomfortable to the reader. Keep the focus on the positive changes you made as a result of the experience.
8. Avoid Creative Formats That Distract from Your Message
While it’s important to be creative, overly unconventional formats like writing a poem, song, or script may confuse admissions officers who read thousands of essays. A standard essay format allows you to convey your message clearly and effectively. When you get too creative with your format, you risk distracting the reader from the actual content of your essay.
What to Do Instead
- Stick to the Basics: Use a standard essay format with an introduction, body, and conclusion to make sure your message is clear and organized.
- Infuse Creativity into the Content: Rather than changing the format, be creative with your language, anecdotes, and reflections.
Discussing Things That Happened Before High School
Your college essay should reflect who you are now—your character, values, and academic aspirations. While formative childhood experiences can be insightful, focusing too much on events that happened before high school may not offer enough relevant insight into your current self. Admissions officers want to understand how your past has shaped you into the person you are today, not who you were years ago.
What to Do Instead
- Relate Childhood Experiences to the Present: If you decide to include a childhood memory, connect it to your high school experiences and explain how it shaped your current identity.
- Focus on Recent Growth: Prioritize experiences and lessons learned in recent years that directly reflect your readiness for college life.
10. Writing About Your Privilege
If you’ve had a relatively trouble-free life or come from a privileged background, writing about it without acknowledging any challenges might come across as tone-deaf. Admissions officers want to see that you’ve faced obstacles, overcome them, and grown as a person. An essay that focuses only on your luck or privilege might give the impression that you haven’t faced real challenges in your life.
What to Do Instead
- Acknowledge Your Privilege Thoughtfully: Instead of focusing on the advantages you’ve had, reflect on how those privileges have shaped your worldview and how you use them to make a positive impact on others.
- Highlight Resilience: Discuss challenges you’ve faced or areas where you’ve grown, even if they’re less dramatic than some other applicants’ struggles.
Final Thoughts
Your college application essay is an opportunity to show admissions officers who you are beyond the grades and test scores. Remember, your essay should reflect your maturity, resilience, and ability to reflect on your experiences. Keep the focus on you, your growth, and how you’ll contribute to the college community.
Good luck as you write your essay, and remember: Be authentic, thoughtful, and reflective. The admissions committee is eager to get to know the real you!
