10 Cliché College Essay Topics To Avoid

Stand out from the pile. Don’t fall into these basic traps in your college essay

College application essays topics are like 90's boy and girl bands—there are a ton of them but only a few really rise to the top. Admissions officers tell us that 80% of the essays they read don't make a difference. So, are you the Beyoncé or the Michelle of college applicants?

Who's Michelle? you might be asking. Our point exactly.

Avoid the following 10 cliché college essay topics:

1. Your Entire Life Story

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Imagine you are an admissions officer. Would you want to read 1,000 life stories per day? By the 10th "I grew up in…" your forehead would be sore from facepalming. Generalities are the bane of application essays.

2. What an inspirational quote means to you

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It doesn't matter who said it or how "good" the quote is. (All due respect to Shakespeare, MLK Jr., Ghandi, JFK, Tupac, Pope Francis, or whoever.) Cut the quote and keep the focus where it belongs: on you.

3. Your team worked really hard

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You only have 650 words to show how you stand out from the crowd, and you use 350 of them describing your team/teammates? ….. That just doesn't make any sense.

4. Your [insert family member here] is your hero

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Is loving your mom a reason to admit you? The ⅓ rule is a good guideline for essays about influence: ⅓ about your influence, ⅔ about what you've done because of their example.

5. You learned the real meaning of privilege

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Often, students writing about community service unintentionally come off as being painfully self-centered or unaware of the world’s spectrum of experience. To avoid falling into this trap, focus on what you did, not what you learned.

6. You didn’t have it together sophomore year, but you do now

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So many people submit versions of this scenario that they all blur together in the admissions pile. In general, academic mishaps belong in the “Other Information” short answer section.

7. You came to a great—no, AMAZING—realization

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There’s a difference between realizing you should recycle more and encouraging your friend to recycle her plastic water bottle at lunch. Whatever point you’re trying to make: don’t just say it (that’s where most people go wrong), go one step beyond. Prove it.

8. You write a controversial opinion piece

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Your personal statement is not an analytical essay, opinion piece, or a social studies research paper. It should not read like one either. Your college application is an audition for college, not FOX News or MSNBC: keep your personal statement personal.

9. Your essay = TMI

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Don’t be that girl—you know, the one whose essay about peeing her pants is now a cautionary tale in the New York Times? Your essay should cause you to stand out as a candidate for admission, not as candidate for the application wall of shame.

10. Your essay is based on someone else’s story

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This is more commonly known as plagiarizing. Admissions officers can quickly tell when a story is inauthentic. Your college essay is one thing you don’t want to BS.

Need help finding your story or finishing your essay? Use Story2, our interactive online platform, to get your essays done. Use our proven admissions strategy, developed by a Princeton PhD, to gain scholarships and admission to your top choice college.

Want more tips and tricks? Check out our blog here.