Tips on Choosing College Essay Topics

Do We Actually Need College Essay Prompts?

The American system of higher education presupposes different kinds of estimating students’ skills before they enter the university. Among such skills connected to communication, time-management, leadership and other aspects of a student’s personality, writing skills take a special place. They are hugely important, as they can become the reason whether a student will be accepted or not. No wonder that those, who cannot put two words together don't get to university. Of course, a great part of work should be done in college; and the first step is obviously a college admission essay. The topics can vary, but all of them are aimed at providing the information about a student’s potential. Although the full picture of a student's academic skills is still unclear at this stage, one cannot estimate the significance of application essays.

Prompt for writing college essays are both needed by students and admission officers. The first can improve their writing skills using an exact pattern or template. These prompts are actually the sum of tips, examples to follow, and possibly mistakes to avoid. That is why, using required personal information and essay prompts, a student is better prepared for writing. Admission officers, on the other hand, use such prompt as a standard for essay evaluation. The most widespread college admission essays are persuasive and personal ones. That is why writing prompts for them are the easiest to find.

The Best Ways to Succeed with a Common App Essay

It is curious that motivating ‘essay’ pictures, plentiful in the Web, usually feature pens and paper. Why? Because today everything is done via the Internet. Writing by hand is a bit of romantic, but if you really want to get into college, you have to be fully ‘equipped’ with the best technologies. The greatest and well-known tool for creating and sending out college essays (read - getting accepted to college) is the common application website. The website has certain rules.They majority of them concern the wordcount that should not exceed 650 words. Somehow, many students don’t understand how important it is to be able to put a decent idea in the most concise form. This is not about ‘monosyllabic’ writing, but each word in the essay is to be weighed. No buzzwords and stop-words are allowed, of course. Each sentence is to be a source of information a student has to provide- no general facts, no lyrical digressions, etc. Everything ‘additional’ distracts readers from the main topic. This is not a piece of literature, and everyone is to remember that! Here, we'll discuss the top common app essay tips for you.

Choosing The Topic

There is no need to say that you are to be familiar with the topic you write about. This fact usually leads a student to make the major mistake in choosing a topic. They start their titles with “my favorite” or “how I spent.” Don’t use such clichés ever. You can write about usual experiences or choose something incredible, but the title should be catchy. For example, don’t write about how you spent your last summer. Describe the summer that has changed your life. Instead of writing about your family choose one member you are most proud of and explain why.

Attracting the Reader

We have mentioned above, that an admission essay is not a piece of literature. But it doesn’t mean that it should be shallow and dry. There are plenty of students who are careless and superficial about writing their essays – you definitely don’t want to be one of them! To save one from being bored reading your essay, you are to consider your audience first. Don’t think of it as a teacher or an admission officer. Anyone can read your paper, and anyone has to be excited about it. In this case, your essay can even become a template for other students. The key for success is perfect writing skills, including:

• topic choice described above;
• style, appropriate to the type of essay you are writing;
• structure, including that of the whole paper and separate sentences;
• vocabulary, initial for an accurate choice of words;
• and grammar.

Developing this skills is vital for the success of your essay. Besides, it will definitely contribute to your future.

Using the Details

As the type and topic of your college essay can be very different, the requirements to the paper vary as well. However, there is one more general rule your essay should include as many details as it is necessary to enchant the reader. Though it is obvious for a narrative essay, it may be unclear why one should provide enough details for a persuasive or even a process essay, alongside with all the other types. You see, details in a persuasive essay, for example, are used as extra arguments; a progress essay gets more vivid with the help of them; an analytical one gets more grounded, etc. Never neglect the details! You also have to edit your work carefully to avoid repetitions and unnecessary expansion of the text. Just use our intuition choosing what to write.

General Tendencies in Picking College Application Essay Topics

When you are writing a college admission essay, you are to complete the only one paper. Can you imagine how many papers you admission officer has to read? How many of them has he or she already read? So, please, don’t make it harder for the person responsible for your future at this very moment! Curiously, almost all students struggle to be so very special in their personal life, but the majority of them at the same time choose identical topics for their college essays. Why? Because it is easier to kick around the same ideas over and over again. The problem is that your college is striving to see your individuality and a good unique essay topic can help them to do it.

The overwhelming majority of students describe some personal problems in their essays. In many cases, problems actually mean problems in the most negative sense. A lot of students also tell about how good they are at this or them sphere of life. Such essays are stuffed with Present Perfect constructions as if a student has lived a long and a very successful life. Before choosing a topic, please, mind that apart from what bothers you and what you have already achieved, there is a whole layer of topics that can be more interesting to the reader. These topics can concern either solving one of the problems in the society or discussing some controversial idea. A very small amount of students decides to write on such topics. The reasons for that are different: some of them are truly valid, while others just stand in your way.

Most students choose to write on one of the narrative essay topics. Reflective essay topics are very popular, too. As said about, most of both type are focused on a student’s personality or personal achievements. There nothing wrong with it. If you have something to tell about yourself, don’t you even hesitate about it! But you have to understand the following.This is not your diary or a letter to a friend. You are to convey ideas. Plus, it is quite hard for a young person to evaluate his or her real achievements and whether they are appropriate to mention in your essay. So, you a really better to consult your teachers or family.

The problems of our world and our society can be more relevant in the case of writing an admission essay. The best types for them are analytical essay topics and persuasive essay topics. These kinds of essays allow you to capsulize your ideas and to give all the necessary argument in brief. This is what you really need if you are limited by 650 words and 5-paragraph format. You can discuss anything you like, and your topic is not to b connected with your future profession. You can write a persuasive essay on how important it is not to throw batteries in the trash or an analytical essay on the best ways of raising children. The topic should be interesting, and primarily it is you who should be interested in it. But control your emotions. Again, this is an academic paper, not any kind of agitation. Consider your sources. They have to be reliable and up-to-date. You are not to discover anything new to the world in your essay, but your ideas should be really unique.

The Guide How to Choose a Topic

Somehow, it is even harder to pick an essay topic, because you have to stick to reflective or narrative style, and you have no choice. In such case, here’s what you can think of: Describe something that has changed your life. Strong emotions are the easiest to depict. Think carefully and you will find something you need in your past. Think of your perspective. You don’t have to decide (unless you’ve already decided) where exactly you will work and what career you want to build, but you can muse about it. Write about the great teachers in your life - parents, grandparents, actual teachers, etc. Choose a person who’s influenced and inspired you. Focus on failure, not the success. A tricky topic. On the one hand, no one likes bragging. On the other, everybody hates whining. You are to find a perfect balance - an important situation when you had a problem and managed to deal with it.

Expert Commentary

Professional essay writer deal with a great number of different essays every day. So, there is obviously some advice they can give you. And one of the best pointers is not to get stuck with one topic from the very beginning. Brainstorm. See where various topics lead you. Consider different options of topics and arguments. Maybe, you’ll find what you need right away. Or maybe, you’ll throw away a dozen of topics, before you actually like anything. But eventually, you’ll find a great one.

No matter whether you are going to tell about yourself, discuss different ideas or try to convince your reader of anything, your work should reveal your personality and individuality. Neither your words nor your ideas should be cliched. It is true that the more prestigious your college is, the more brilliant your work should be. But don’t you think that an average institution will welcome you with your average essay. You have to match up to the level of a proper student, otherwise, maybe, the world of academic achievement is not for you.

In Case You Need Help with Essay Writing

Such level of expectation can be really stressful. Usually, young people are not used to it. It is hard to cope with everything: everyday issues, graduating, entering a new institution, facing a new life, etc. Somehow, the authorities have decided that this is the best time for you to write an essay which is critical for all your future career. Seriously? But there is nothing we cannot do, and there is no harm to get some assistance once in a while. As for you admission essay, the solution is very easy. In Elite Essay Writers, our professional team of highly qualified writers is there for you. We can help you with anything concerning your academic papers. Your ideas are highly appreciated and always included in the text in the most suitable form. Of course, there is no need to worry about grammar and vocabulary, because a team of experienced proofreaders always backs our writers up. So, don’t hesitate to turn to us!