What Should I Write About?

You will write about what engages you, what matters most to you, or what keeps you awake at night.

Your topic keeps your reader engaged; however, that differs from your key message. Your key message is what you want the admissions committee to know about you.

Many students overlook engaging topics opting instead to write about what they think sounds important, and in so doing, fail to share a deeper view of themselves. We brainstorm and help you find a topic for which you have genuine enthusiasm or passion. Usually, this is something that you can talk about with excitement or earnestness in your voice. If you lack conviction for the topic, that will also come through for your reader. Successful essays can be about something seemingly small and still reveal whom you have become as an individual.

We help students develop an essay that begins with the ‘topic’ and yields to the ‘key message.’ The topic and key message differ. The topic is what the essay appears to be about on the surface. The reader naturally becomes engaged in your topic's details and storytelling. Meanwhile, the key message appears closer to the end of your essay, revealing what you've learned about yourself, others, or the world. It says something about who you are now, illustrating whom you have become, what you have learned, or what you might have figured out about where you are headed. This carefully unfolding message leaves the reader satisfied and demonstrates to the admissions committee why you are a good fit for their school.

What Should I Write About?

Many students overlook engaging topics. They write what they think sounds important, failing to convey meaningful insight about themselves.

Instead, write about what engages you in conversation, matters to your soul, or keeps you awake at night.

Cast a wide net. Explore many topics. Brainstorm. Listen for excitement or earnestness in your voice.

Develop an essay with a clear ‘topic’ that enables your ‘key message.’

• The topic:

  Is what the essay appears to be about

Engages the reader in a story

Demonstrates an area for which you have a genuine enthusiasm

• The key message:

Reveals what you've learned about: yourself, others, or the world

Says something about who you are now, illustrating who you have become, what you have learned, or what you might have figured out about where you are headed

Leaves the reader satisfied

Demonstrates to the admissions committee why you are a good fit for their school

The College Application Essay Is Not Like A School Paper - Not Even A Little

Even the most talented AP English student will find new challenges in the college application essay, primarily as it is a first-person, personal narrative and differs significantly from most school papers in two critical ways. First, in the classroom setting, the reader--your teacher--generally knows more about the subject than the writer--you. In contrast, for your college application essay, the reader knows nothing about you, the subject. Second, in a thesis paper, you establish the main point in the first paragraph. Not so in your college application essay, where you hang on to your main point--the fact that you are the right sort of student the admissions committee seeks--until somewhere closer to the end of your essay. When writing the application, you are the subject expert who holds on to the essential part--the conclusion that you are a good fit for their school--until the end.

Write Plainly and Share What You Have Learned:

• Do not overstate a simple life lesson. A simple life lesson can make for a great essay, so there is no need to exaggerate. Explain what happened and where. Explain the moment of learning. Note the spark-moment that caused you to think differently. Describe the events in detail. Schools want to understand how you think and what discoveries in thought you have made.

• Do not sound melodramatic. When you write simply about things that matter to you, there is no need to add too many emotionally charged adjectives. Opt instead for a clearly stated representation of your experience. Schools would like to know in plain English about your life and who you have become.

• Do not embellish your experiences. No one expects you to have solved world hunger or launched your own business. Even the simple act, for example, of reading to your grandmother every day can make for a good story, rich with details that reveal part of who you are and how you think. Schools hope to hear what you learned from the experience, how you felt, and why it was important to you.