Picking a topic for your college essay can be intimidating, to put it lightly. In 650 words, you are supposed to distill yourself into an essay that is both a convincing argument for offering you admission and a literary masterpiece. That’s a lot. But picking the right topic for your essay can be the key to the puzzle. With the right topic, things flow.
There isn’t any one perfect topic for a college essay, but there is a perfect topic for yours — and it’s the one that fits you.
If faith has played a significant role in your life, good, bad, or complicated, writing your college essay about religion may be the way to a powerful and acceptance-earning essay.
But if this is already making you nervous, send us an email. We help students identify their perfect topic.
If you’re ready to dive into drafting, there are three core types of college essays about religion, and each come with their own strengths and challenges
3 Types of Religion Essays:
The Good Angle
If religion has been your source of community, friendship, or a cornerstone of your family, it may make sense to write about it. However, it’s important to know that it’s actually harder to write a good essay about a positive relationship with religion than a good essay about a bad relationship with religion. This is because what you need for a strong essay is a narrative arc. For there to be a narrative arc, there needs to be a struggle. As you approach your essay, you’ll need to identify a point of struggle or challenge to focus in on and to tell the story of within this broader positive relationship with religion.
The Bad Angle
For some young people, religion is more foe than friend. There may have been a conflict with a particular religious leader or community, or a discrepancy between your identity or beliefs and the beliefs of a particular religious group. These conflicts often come with fracture that is painful and hard to overcome. If you can write about grappling with, and eventually overcoming, a challenge like this, that can be a deeply compelling essay. It’s important, though, that this type of essay doesn’t fall into a pit of negativity. There must be growth, and there must be a triumph — even if it is small.
The Complicated Angle
Most stories about religion don’t fall into good or bad. They’re wonderfully messy and in the middle. We love that about them. Messy and middle make good stories. Let things be complicated. Let them be difficult. Don’t let the mess make your work messy, though. Write about your experience clearly and succinctly, and make sure that you stay the focus of it because this is, after all, all about you.
As you approach your college essay and start brainstorming and drafting, the most important thing isn’t whether your experience with religion has been good, bad, or complicated. Nearly any story can be a worthy story through the power of narrative. What matters is that narrative. Every essay must have a beginning, middle, and end. There must be a conflict, big or small, and there must a triumph, tiny or massive.
While you write, you need to keep yourself at the center of the story. Don’t let religion take over your role as the point of this essay. It’s your college essay. It needs to be about you, and you don’t have much space. If you feel like the religious aspect of the essay is taking up too much space, try to shrink the story you are telling. Through distillation and simplification, you’ll find clarity.
If you are set on writing about religion for your college essay, but still aren’t sure how you’re going to go about it, consider calling in help. Working with a college essay consultant is like having a coach in your corner for the biggest match of your life so far. It truly does make a difference.
We help exceptional students find and get into their perfect fit colleges. Send us an email if you’re struggling with where to start.