Essay writing is one of the simplest and most effective ways to showcase writing proficiency and emphasize skills. When it comes to the application paper, the learner’s task is to make the voice shine through. Unlike the usual types of college assignments, admission papers are aimed to highlight the unique characteristics and peculiar personality traits of the student.
Generally, an application essay, which is also known as an admission paper or personal statement, is the type of academic writing that is accomplished by students who strive to apply to a graduate school, university, or college.
Consequently, the main reason why instructors give learners this type of assignment is to assess their writing skills, general worldview, competence, and a plethora of other aspects. In fact, the paper is the only chance for the student to speak straight to the representatives of the admission office.
At this point, it is indispensable to mention that application essay topics may vary a lot, ranging from particular to open-ended ones. Therefore, the prospective college student should make maximum effort to select the most impressive and valid theme that will potentially leave a positive impression on the committee.
The applicant should provide a coherent, congenial, accurate, and concise paper that does not consist of mere facts but rather bright details and stories that can flex the intellectual muscle.
A well-organized and structured text can make a difference between your acceptance and rejection. Moreover, it is the point that can make you stand out from the crowd of other applicants that seem to be the same professional and skilled.
How can a learner succeed with the task? Is there a way to avoid bad college essay topics? These are the most common questions high school seniors are concerned about as they go through the application process. In fact, there is no universal formula of success, as various people may achieve the desired results differently, but the primary goal is to impress the admission officers and make them appreciate your personality and identity.
Check out the four questions, answering which you will get an opportunity to gain necessary outcomes much faster:
- Who am I?
- Why do I want to study here?
- What makes me unique?
- What are the most substantial issues for me?
Answering these questions, the learner will obtain an authentic chance for the student to showcase the predominance and ascertain with the admission team to be the applicant worth attention. Nonetheless, simply answering important questions will not help, as the student should effectively use these replies, creating a coherent, structured, and consistent paper.
Keeping the desired result in mind, the student should make maximum effort to produce a top-tier essay worth appreciation. Striving to succeed with the assignment, the learner should not focus on the beneficial tips and admission paper guidelines only. Instead, it is also critical to avoid cliches and eliminate trivial, ineffective discussions that can lead to the opposite outcomes.
Mistakes People Make Writing Application Papers
When it comes to writing an admission paper, the student should summon in mind two different points:
- ways to craft an appealing paper;
- ways to avoid cliché topics and trivial writing.
Consequently, excellent writing skills are not enough, as the properly selected topic may predetermine the outcomes of the experience. Furthermore, the impressive topic should be combined with superb execution and flawless personal statement, which will make a top-notch application essay together.
At this point, it is easy to single out the two most common problems common for students working on similar assignments.
Problems with the Topic
According to the reviews and comments of experienced scholars, the first question learners should find an answer to is, “What not to write about in a college essay.” Once you succeed with this point, you have little chance to screw up your text.
Start with the topic, as it is the fundamental part of the writing, which will guide the whole work and determine the final outcomes. The poorly selected theme is a certain way to failure. Thus, make sure you are ready to talk about your personal traits and features of your character, as well as skills, which can impress the admission team. Make the topic of your work short, catchy and meaningful, so that it reveals the basic specifications of your work but still leaves a little intrigue.
How can a bad topic influence the consequences of the experience? In the overwhelming majority of instances, an ineffective and trivial topic will make the admission committee consider you to be a boring person. In this case, you have few chances to be accepted to the institution of your dream, as your outlook seems to be narrow, while your desire to develop and advance your professional skills is limited.
On the other hand, some topics may trigger the opposite effect, highlighting your excessive focus on yourself without any idea of what happens around you. Such admission paper topics are the definite way to nowhere, as the main concept of the college education is to meet people, interact with them and learn from one another.
Finally, the improperly picked topic may be the reason for the admission team to consider you an immature person, not ready to live independently and make reasonable decisions.
Problems with the Execution
Maturity, independence, broad outlook, and impressive writing skills should be highlighted and showcased in the admission paper. Perspective students who succeed with this task have high chances to impress the committee and be accepted to the best college ever.
Nonetheless, one should remember that choosing a catchy and valid topic is a great step to prosperity, but it is still critical to properly execute the writing. This is the experience that will undeniably prove your writing proficiency and academic excellence required for further studying. Do your best to exhibit your strongest points in the logical, well-structured, and consistent text.
Double-check, proofread, and edit the final draft so that the paper is free of minor or major grammar, syntax, punctuation, or style mistakes. Adhere to the requirements to advance your chances to succeed with the writing, standing out from the crowd of other applicants.
How to Select the Theme: College Application Essay Topics to Avoid
There is hardly any person who can deny that writing an essay is an exacting task that requires consideration and preparation. Awareness of the topic, excellent writing skills, and a plethora of other items are inevitable for learners who strive to impress the admission officers.
While producing the body paragraphs and other parts of the work is hard, the creation of the topic is even more challenging. Keep in mind that the title of your work leaves the first impression and will either heat the interest of the audience or completely eliminate it.
Is there a golden rule one should adhere to in order to craft an impressive paper? Unfortunately, none of the guidelines or tips will transform your assignment into a no-brainer, but some of them may surely simplify and effort. Avoid overused college essay topics, focusing on the original and extraordinary ones that will draw you closer to the desired outcomes.
Additionally, there are numerous categories of topics that may affect the quality of your writing and decrease the relevance of the whole text. Check out several most common mistakes students make working on the application paper and make maximum effort to avoid them.
Choosing Abnormally Personal Topics
Honesty, flexibility, and devotion are the key features and specifications the admission team strives to notice in your paper. Nonetheless, one should not confuse these items with some private and personal aspects. The excessive demonstrativeness may play a cruel joke, triggering an opposite effect. Instead of revealing your honesty and readiness to share some important life episodes, the admission committee may view it as an inability to acknowledge boundaries.
The prospective student should realize that the main task of the committee is to estimate your professional skills and intrapersonal qualities rather than make friends with you and talk about your most impressive and memorable life experiences. Make sure you do not include any of the questions in your application paper:
- the specifications of your sexual life;
- excessive details of your disabilities, ailments, and body-related problems;
- confessing to extraordinary hobbies and desires.
Making the Theme Too Revealing of Poor Judgment
Have you ever done something bad? Forget about it and do not mention this fact in your application paper. The admission staff should not know about your experience breaking the law or making immoral actions. Such facts will barely leave a positive impression on the committee but will rather affect your reputation and decrease your chances to enter the desired educational institution. Look through the topics you should avoid in the application text:
- crime commitment;
- experience taking drugs or using alcohol;
- details of your downsides.
Being too Confident
While a considerable number of prospective students are too shy and unconfident, there is a separate category of applicants who are overly sure about their skills and abilities. This is another critical mistake that can cost you the educational level. Do not boast of your achievements, but rather make them look organic in the text. Avoid showing off your impressive accomplishments, as well as mentioning the following aspects:
- making yourself a hero in each and every situation;
- focusing on your flawless character and magnificent skills;
- showing awareness of your real abilities.
Selecting a Boring or Trivial Topic
Although the above-mentioned topics may affect the relevance of your paper and some other aspects of the work, a boring and cliché theme will completely destroy your application. Lack of creativity, inability to be spontaneous and extraordinary is much worse than any of the above-mentioned problems.
The main task of the applicant is to leave a long-lasting impression on the admission team, showcasing your strong points and extraordinary abilities. Therefore, forget about ordinary themes everyone talks about:
- writing about experiences, mentioned in the resume;
- highlighting your sports achievements;
- emphasizing your community services;
- talking about the ways to save the world;
- mentioning the words of famous people;
- being too poetic.
Talking Off-Topic
Maximum creativity and flexibility are surely needed in order to craft an impressive essay worth appreciation. At this point, the learner should remember that application text is focused only on the writer and his/her unique experience, background, and perspectives. Thus, eliminate any discussions that are not related to you, but emphasize the peculiarities of other people:
- focusing on someone you love or respect;
- talking on art, sport or other items you are fond of;
- concentrating on how you know people and the things they do.
Cliche College Essay Topics to Avoid: Generalized Points
Do you consider admission essay writing to be a no-brainer? You are an exception rather than a rule since the overwhelming majority of learners struggle with this assignment.
Anyway, no matter if you are an experienced writer who just strives to ensure the maximum relevance of the application paper theme or a complete amateur who has no idea how to start writing, the recommendations mentioned below will provide you an opportunity to advance the quality of your writing, remaining unique and authentic.
Do you still doubt what to include in your admission paper? Check out ten topics you should surely avoid:
- Your goals and achievements. The resume is an impressive way to highlight your experiences, rewards, and achievements. However, they are usually too boring and trivial for the admission committee. Thus, the student should not mention all the previous experiences and their outcomes,
- Injuries, failures, and victories. If you are fond of sports, you should surely tell the admission officers. Nonetheless, your task is to emphasize important aspects of your pieces of training that will highlight some of your precious skills and unique traits of character.
- Romantic relationships and their challenges. What does not kill you makes you stronger, that is a great statement, but it has little to do with the admission essay. In most cases, people fail to stay emotion-free and reserved when talking about painful experiences. Consequently, one should not discuss the theme that can ruin the future career.
- The story of your immigration. There are a lot of immigrants in America, and it is an undeniable fact. Consequently, the immigration stories become quite common, which reduces their significance. Stay creative and unique, even if you strive to mention some aspects of the process but avoid trivial stories of hardships and challenges you had to overcome.
- The devastating life story of death, abuse of other experiences. Tribulations shape the personality, making people stronger, more goal-oriented, and self-confident. Working on the admission paper, one should pay due attention to similar life experiences but focus on their outcomes rather than the interim details.
- The person you love or admire. Your desire to resemble someone is precious, but it has nothing to do with the person you are. Cherish your positive traits of character and specify them in your paper.
- Your struggles studying or working. Do you have to make much effort to prosper with certain tasks? Make sure it does not showcase your weaknesses and poor organizational skills rather than the strengths of your character.
- Your belief or faith. Religion is a tricky topic that can either help you showcase your strengths or highlight your weaknesses. Thus, it is recommended to avoid this topic if you are not 100% confident in your ability to stay critical, making the story logical, consistent, and coherent.
- Volunteering experience. In the overwhelming majority of instances, your desire to help people is appreciated and highly valued by the members of the admission committee. At the same time, the student should make maximum effort to transform the usual story into an engaging and unusual life experience that has completely changed the outlook and influenced some prominent aspects of the character.
- Family pressure. Do your family members insist on you studying in a specific school? No matter if you agree with their decision or stay strong, defending your perspective, is not the topic to discuss with the admission officers. In such instances, you have little chance to look independent and strong-willed, which will decrease your chances to get the education of your dream.
Selecting a Relevant Issue: What to Write My College Essay About
Finally, you know how to avoid boring and trivial personal statement themes that can completely eliminate your chances to be accepted to college. Therefore, it is the right time to focus on simple and effective writing tips, which will guide you to the desired success.
Browsing the web, you will come across an unlimited number of recommendations, promising you impressive outcomes. Keep in mind that the learner should select only items that meet the personal requirements and specifications. Adhere to the below-mentioned tips to prosper with the application paper writing, increasing your chances for success:
- start early;
- plan your work and manage your time;
- mind the deadlines;
- start with the outline;
- choose the impressive and meaningful topic;
- avoid cliches;
- produce the first draft;
- proofread the text;
- hand it before the deadline;
- get enrolled in the school of your dream.