common app essay topics to avoid

In general, you want to avoid something college admissions officers have already read hundreds of times before, including topics related to: Adapting to a new culture. Developing new and foreign habits. Acquiring a second language. Finding it difficult to fit in.

Unless the applicant has a truly unique angle, a sports essay runs the risk of blending in with other applications and failing to make a memorable impression on admissions officers. 6. Tragedies. While tragedies you've faced can be formative experiences, this may be a college application essay topic to avoid.

The exact word limit for the Common App essay has varied somewhat over the years, but the current range is 250-650 words. You must stay within this length; in fact, the online application won't allow you to submit fewer than 250 words or more than 650. Some schools will state that if this isn't enough space, you can send them a physical copy of ...

The Common App essay is a unique opportunity to show your character - how you grow, your unique way of moving through the world, how you interpret experiences, your capacity for empathy, humility, and vulnerability. Put simply, a bad essay topic makes it more difficult to accomplish those things. While every topic can become a great essay ...

However, in our experience reading thousands of college essays, we are able to say with confidence that students are wise to steer clear of the following topics—lest they fall victim to some all-too-common pitfalls. Ahead, is our 2023-24 edition of College Application Essay Topics to Avoid: 1. Drugs, sex, and, well, just those two….

When approaching Common App Prompt 6, it's important to focus on showcasing your unique qualities and interests. To make your essay stand out, I suggest avoiding generic themes or topics that many students might write about—for example, popular technology trends like AI or a fascination with social media platforms. Instead, look for a subject that genuinely intrigues you and connects with ...

9. Your religious institution or faith. Religion is generally a very tricky topic, and it's difficult to cover it in an original way in your essay. Writing about your faith and reflecting on it critically can work, but basic religious essays about why your faith is important to you are a little more cliché.

65 Clichés to Avoid Using in Your Common App Essay. Admissions officers read a lot of admissions essays, so there are quite a few clich és to avoid using whenever possible. For many students, a primary source of stress throughout the college application process is the persistent sense that their applications will not "stand out" to ...

Check out these application essay topics to avoid for admission at the College Confidential blog. Subscribe and read the rest of the blog to know more! ... It's a big enough challenge to produce a winning Common Application statement, which allows for up to 650 words. That's a lot of writing. However, when asked to add to that requirement an ...

All your prospective schools that accept the Common App will read this essay to understand your character, background, and value as a potential student. Since this essay is read by many colleges, avoid mentioning any college names or programs; instead, save tailored answers for the supplementary school-specific essays within the Common App.

Highlight something unique instead. 2. The sports injury essay. This is an overused topic for the college admissions essay, where students write about injuries, obstacles, and success stories. It is quite common and will not help you stand out. The problem with such a college essay topic is it becomes predictable.

Common App Essay Prompts 2024-2025. Part 2: Pre-writing your Common App Essay. Brainstorming Common App Essay topics. Freewriting. Essay writing timelines: how to write your Common App personal statement if you have six months, three months, one month, or even less. Part 3: Choosing your Common App Essay topic Part 4: Writing your Common App ...

The "Common App," short for the Common Application, is a general application used to apply to multiple college undergraduate programs at once.It's accepted by hundreds of colleges in the United States as well as some colleges internationally. The idea is that the Common App is a "one-stop shop" so you don't have to complete a million separate applications.

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Be specific. Choose active voice, not passive voice. Avoid clichés. Write in a tone that aligns with your goals for the essay. For example, if you are a heavy STEM applicant hoping to use your Common App essay to humanize your application, you will be undermined by writing in a brusque, harsh tone.

Same thing applies if you must write about overcoming a sports challenge: try to avoid common topics such as, grit, resilience, determination (which are basically all the same thing), learning to trust teammates, how you were thrilled at winning the big game, or how heartbroken you were to lose.

Navigating the dos and don'ts of the Common App essay can indeed be tricky, and I understand why you'd want some clear guidelines. Here are a few well-agreed-upon 'no-nos' for your essay. You should generally avoid controversial topics such as politics or religion, unless you can handle them with extreme tact and they are integral to your story.

The Common Application, or Common App, is a college application portal that is accepted by more than 900 schools. Within the Common App is your main essay, a primary writing sample that all your prospective schools will read to evaluate your critical thinking skills and value as a student. Since this essay is read by many colleges, avoid ...

2021-2022 Common App Prompts. Here is a list of the prompts for this cycle. While they are largely unchanged, Prompt #4 is different this year (which is kind of a big deal, considering that the prompts have been the same since 2017). Prompt #1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe ...

The Common App essay is a near-universal hurdle for American high schoolers. Millions of essays from the same seven prompts are written each year for admissions teams to read. ... The key to avoiding cliché in your writing is not to avoid writing about the cliched topics—these topics have become cliched because they are experiences that ...

This collection of Common App essay examples will provide you some much needed inspiration for each of the six big Common App essay topics. ... Although the physician highly recommended I stop training to avoid complications later in life, I was too committed to stop the sport. I let my desire push me through the pain, and I had a successful ...

Cliché essay topics to avoid (Common App) College Essays. shredd July 15, 2020, 10:45pm 1. I just want to see what you all think are some cliché topics students should 'try' to avoid. squ1rrel July 15, 2020, 10:59pm 2. mission trips. happy1 July 15, 2020, 11:23pm 3. Almost any topic can work as long as you make it your own.

Real college essay example: " The worst part about being the slowest runner on my school's cross country team is that I occasionally fall so far behind that I have to stop and ask for directions." 2. A Famous Quote. An essay that begins, "John F. Kennedy once said…" is already on the wrong track.

February 24, 2023. We are pleased to announce that the Common App essay prompts will remain the same for 2023-2024. It's not just for the sake of consistency that we have chosen to keep the essay prompts the same for the upcoming application year. Our past research has shown that overall satisfaction with the prompts exceeded 95% across our ...