High school college counselors often advise students away from creativity and into a box of ordinary, albeit palatable humble brags. Their method has worked for them before and they’re not about to go out on a limb if they’re not positive it will work. But college is getting increasingly more competitive and run of the mill essays are not going to put anyone over the edge.
At TKG we’ve tried and tested it, and have learned that when it comes to Common App essays, creative self-expression is the only way to go. In fact, we think it’s even a good idea for students to break form and write poems, plays, and other works of fiction when inspired to do so. Admissions counselors at any given university are going to receive thousands upon thousands of essays over the years. Your job is to stand out. It’s also to convey a part of your personality that is not present anywhere else in the application. For this blog post, we compiled a list of ideas to get your juices flowing for the Common App.
Write about:
Your walk to school
Your closet
Your backyard
Your imaginary friend
The way you make breakfast for your younger siblings
Your final driving exam
What you think about while you’re getting ready for school
Your top ten favorite sci-fi novels
A book report from reading that was not assigned to you
A story about your elementary school crush
That time you forgot it was your dad’s birthday
A poem
The rabbit hole you went down when you discovered the environmental impact of single-use plastics
A time you got arrested protesting
The story behind the punny sign you made at your first protest
A person who changed your life who isn’t your mom, grandma, or Kim Kardashian
The story behind your haircut
What you do to get yourself to sleep when you can’t sleep
A time you stood up to injustice when it wasn’t fun or comfortable and maybe you lost a friend
The time you didn’t stand up to injustice and really regretted it
A play about the conversation you just had with your best friend
Thanksgiving
That time your grandmother dragged you to a non-professional ballet performance
A description of the VHS player you took apart just for fun
The time you accidentally started a minor fire in your parents’ kitchen and learned a valuable, but lighthearted lesson about asking for help
Your favorite flowers in the park and the walks you go on alone
Breakfast, and food in general
Why jam is really good in eggs
All of the dog friends you’ve made while taking your dog to the dog park
A movie scene between your dog friends from the dog park
Why dogs are better than cats
If the lockers in the hallway could talk to each other
The first time you babysat
Solo dates to the movies
What you learned from that time you slept through an exam
Your favorite band
A time you sold lemonade to pay for a pair of sneakers
What it’s like on your block
Your favorite element on the periodic table
Need help coming up with a standout essay idea? Reach out to us here. We are experts at helping students craft unique and impressive college essays.