1. Create Account
  2. Login
StudyUSA
Match Me
  • Create Account
  • Login
  • School Search
  • Resources
    • All Resources
    • Articles
    • Student Voices
    • Videos
    • Magazines
    • Podcasts
  • Services
    • All Services
    • Accommodation
    • Support
    • Career
    • Financial
    • Testing
    • Other
  • Apply
  • Chat

Top Dos and Don'ts for Choosing the Right Admission Essay Topic

Top Dos and Don'ts for Choosing the Right Admission Essay Topic

Jul 26, 2017

 

Writing an admission essay is not as frightening as it may sound but you still have to invest enough time and effort to make it good. A common app essay and subsequent supplements can actually harm your application if you don’t do them properly. More than 2 million teenagers enroll in US colleges each year, which means that writing a unique admission paper can be troublesome. This part of your application reveals a lot about your personality and attitudes, as well as your ambitions, background, talents and level of knowledge. It is extremely important for you to choose the right theme in order to create high quality text. This is your chance to step out of the crowd and distinguish yourself among hundreds or even thousands of other applicants.

Before you start writing your university paper, you should know some general rules. There are many good practices, but also some bad ones. We’ll explain these in the form of dos and don’ts for choosing the right admission essay topic.

 

Top Dos:

  • Research each school before applying

Make sure to research the universities you are going to apply to. This way you’ll be able to combine all of your suitable strengths and describe them in the best possible way, and uniquely, for each university. It’s all about successful customization since each university adheres to a specific culture and requirements. 

 

  • Brainstorm 

Before deciding on the best topic, have a brainstorm session and come up with several points that you would consider worthwhile. Create a list of questions to each of these points and see if it can be transformed and expanded into a good story. You can always ask more experienced friends or relatives to help you during brainstorming.

 

  • Share your unique story

Admission committees appreciate warm personal stories that come from real life experiences. Think about past events and find the topic that is really unique and interesting. It doesn’t have to be extraordinary – all it takes is to create the story that truly mirrors your inner self. Keep in mind to avoid clichés such as What my parents taught me or What would I do if I were the President. Such topics may be too general to be successful.  

 

  • Focus on a moment

Small but specific moments can truly make an impact on you. Try to analyze one of these moments and explain how it affected you. Don’t waste too much time describing the moment itself. Instead, reveal how you felt back at the time and what sort of change this moment brought to you within. An interesting topic could be an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of others or yourself.

 

  • Show transformation

When you write about situations where you challenged a belief or experienced ups and downs, you should show the way this transformed you. These are important life lessons. Therefore, you should not only describe them but show exactly what it meant to you.

Debra Jones, an essay expert at Best Essays, recently stated: “College is where you change from a child to a grown-up man or woman. It’s the place where you develop your personality. However, this transformation begins a lot earlier so try to show it in the admission paper – how you learned something new about yourself and how it changed the way you perceive the world around you.”

 

  • Abstain from controversial themes

Stay away from the topics that can make you look strange or problematic. Subjects like the politics, religion, illegal behaviors, or tragedies (divorce, death, illnesses, etc.) may not be attractive to admission committees.

 

  • Choose a topic that will allow you to portray your true self

Honesty is one of the basic principles of good writing. If you choose a topic that doesn’t truly reveal who you are, you will not write a good essay. Believe in your virtues and write about things that really make you special. Avoid embellishment and exaggeration.

 

Top Don’ts:

  • Don’t repeat information

If you complete application forms and state certain information about yourself, don’t repeat it in the admission essay. Choose a topic that will allow you to express attitudes and reveal new information.

 

  • Don't choose an overused topic

There are many topics everyone is simply tired of reading. Try to avoid papers like The agony of sports defeats or The most important person in my life. 

 

  • Don’t choose a topic that is too general 

University professors will appreciate and reward your extensive knowledge. However, this doesn’t mean that you should stick to broad or abstract topics in your paper. Admissions essays are about you and your attitudes, not about global or national issues. It may not be a good idea to write about overpopulation or pollution – you’ll have plenty of opportunities to analyze these types of subjects while at university.

 

  • Don’t be too ‘amazing’

When you apply at a university, you want to present only perfect moments in everything: your grades, extracurricular activities, etc. Although you are a very cool person, this doesn’t mean that you are perfect. Nobody’s perfect and the admission committee knows this. Try not to appear as the most amazing person. Know where to draw the line.  

 

  • Don’t sound too negative

Talking about your roadblocks and failures can be tricky if you don’t treat it carefully. You should prove that you are eager to learn and work hard and cope with problems, so avoid being too negative. And if you talk about specific problems and difficulties, explain how they make you determined to find the most appropriate solutions.

 

  • Don’t choose a weak title

If the title of your essay makes you feel indifferent, imagine how boring it would sound to the members of an admission staff. Don’t choose a weak title - you will chase readers away even before they start reading. Announce your topics (have several versions) to your family members, for instance, and measure their impression. 

All of these dos and don’ts should give you enough material to narrow down your search and choose the best admission essay topic. We would love to hear some of your ideas in comments, so don’t hesitate to add them below!

 

Rachel Bartee is a blogger and a freelance writer from Iowa who is constantly looking for ways to improve her skills and expertise. She feels passionate about travelling and inspired by her morning yoga. Reach her on Facebook and Twitter. 

Follow us:
Written by

Study in the USA

Get matched to the best program for you

Let us know what you're looking for so we can find the best school for you.

Get matched
Call to action background image. Decorative.

Useful Articles

Main image for the blog post titled Turn Your Vision Into Action in 2023
Turn Your Vision Into Action in 2023
Main image for the blog post titled New Year, New Me…not!
New Year, New Me…not!
Main image for the blog post titled An Open Letter to Lycoming College
An Open Letter to Lycoming College
Main image for the blog post titled Learn to Protect Our Environment for a Living
Learn to Protect Our Environment for a Living
Read more

Check Out These Schools

Santa Rosa Junior College

Santa Rosa Junior College

$5,000—$10,000 Year

Online Certificate/Short Term 2yr/Community College - 2+2 Programs
Contact
Vancouver Career College

Vancouver Career College

$1,000—$5,000 Session

Certificate/Short Term
Contact
Broward College

Broward College

$10,000 — $15,000 Year

2yr/Community College - 2+2 Programs Bachelor Degree English Programs
Contact

Related Stories

From Student Blogger, Maggie: What is the reason?

Main image for the article titled From Student Blogger, Maggie: What is the reason?
From Student Blogger, Ayaka: What is American College like?

Main image for the article titled From Student Blogger, Ayaka: What is American College like?
From Student Blogger, Maggie: Happy IEP

Main image for the article titled From Student Blogger, Maggie: Happy IEP
From Student Blogger, Jefferson: Water Polo, What is That?

Main image for the article titled From Student Blogger, Jefferson: Water Polo, What is That?

Start your U.S. adventure with Study in the USA

What's your dream? We can guide, advise, and connect you with your perfect U.S. school. We can also help you with the application process.
More about us
Partner Services

Learn About U.S. education financing, housing, and more

Partner service logo for Cturtle

Cturtle

The JOB+ Career Accelerator gives you the work experience, career coaching and professional network you need to get a great graduate job.

Read more
Partner service logo for IELTS for the USA

IELTS for the USA

IELTS is the world’s most popular English language proficiency test for higher education and global migration. It is accepted by more than 3,400 institutions in the US. If you want to study in the US, IELTS can help you get there!

Read more
Partner service logo for Uniplaces

Uniplaces

Uniplaces is an accommodation provider with a large choice of verified rooms, entire flats and residences. The platform offers an easy, fast and safe way of booking a place to live. Check out the thousands of properties in the best cities and book a...

Read more

Testimonials

Quotation mark.

The first time I met with StudyUSA was when I was searching which college I should attend. StudyUSA helped me out in some ways. I was able to review a lot of detailed college information in your website. That included not only just about colleges, but also many of real voices from the students in the US. The real information helped me to make decision where I should go for studying. I'm sure that StudyUS would help much more students who are trying to start adventures in the US all over the world!

Nana Katsumi Japan

At first, I don't know how to begin and I found StudyUSA.com. I didn’t hesitate to mail questions and they replied me very fast… They always ask me about my study. I felt like I have best friend to find school and bring me to study in USA.

Pakjira Kankaew Thailand

Study in the USA has helped me speak with various schools and know more about schools in the united states. A foundation to my dream

Mpimbiira Umar Uganda

Resources

Learn about American culture and education direct from our experts at Study in the USA. Read more

Achieving Your Goal
Admissions and Placement Testing
Beyond the Basics
Education System in the USA
Financing Your U.S. Education
Frequently Asked Questions
Life in the USA
Resources
Student Experiences
For students age 10-18
Study in Canada
Podcasts
Magazines
Videos
Student Voices
Ask StudyUSA.com

Subscribe to get the latest from Study in the USA

You can unsubscribe at any time.


StudyUSA
Explore

  • School Search
  • Resources
  •   Articles
  •   Student Voices
  •   Videos
  •   Magazines
  • Partner Services
  •   Accommodation
  •   Career
  •   Financial
  •   Other
  •   Support
  •   Testing
  • Apply
  • Chat
Information

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Course Index
  • Article Index
  • Create account
  • Sign in
  • For Educators & Institutions
Match Me
  • English
    English

  • Privacy & Policy
  • /
  • Terms

Study in the USA logo

© 2023 Study in the USA. All Rights Reserved.

Global Study logo
A member of the Global Study network

When you visit or interact with our sites, services or tools, we or our authorised service providers may use cookies for storing information to help provide you with a better, faster and safer experience and for marketing purposes.