Resources for essay writing can help you put together a structurally sound essay with polished grammar and vocabulary. Unfortunately, they aren’t always the most helpful in deciding what to write about and how to write about it. Is it better to be serious, light, funny, or controversial? Any of those may be appropriate, or not, for college essays.
No matter what topic or format you choose, the purpose of the college essay is to help readers get an image of who you are so that they are prepared to argue to the team why they can imagine you on campus. You should be handing them another piece of the selling pitch they’ll give about you, whether it’s based on your academic, extracurricular, or personal strengths. The biggest things I suggest you consider are what feels/are most uniquely you, what makes sense tonally with the story you are about to tell, and what is relevant to your academic/personal pitch.
What Should You Discuss in the Essay?
To Be Funny or Serious
Firstly, most of the Common Application and Coalition essay prompts tend to be open-ended, meaning you have the ability to decide just how serious you want to be. You can share personal experiences connecting with family, social life, and emotional growth, or you can keep examples more closely tied to your academic drive and experiences.
Can a serious question be answered with humor? Sure, if it comes naturally to you and the topic is not one that most people would consider inappropriate for humor. Some students will open up about personal experiences like loss in the family or struggling with illness; this is an occasion where humor likely won’t fit, but you decide how much to share. Your college essay doesn’t need to be a sob story. Anything you share should ultimately be useful to admissions and show them attributes that will benefit their campus.
For example, a question that asks about how you learned a lesson from failure is often answered pretty straightforwardly. But failures often occur in comical situations, and if you can answer with a practical lesson learned from the experience, then answering with wit is entirely appropriate.
Traditional Essay Versus Visual Essay
Overall, the typical answer is simply no. Keep in mind, however, that essays must be submitted in text or PDF format, so you will have to incorporate your work into one of those formats. (Note: this is different from submitting an art portfolio for evaluation.) You generally cannot take this route even if it seems interesting to you.
From an essay content perspective, this can be tricky. Are you a good artist? Can you thoroughly answer the question within, say, 10-12 frames? Are you applying for a studio art or architecture major? If not, even if you are a good artist, it doesn’t make sense to try to do this.
Politics On or Off the Table
On the table, if done correctly. Most essay questions are designed to stay away from controversy. Many community service-oriented projects and topics have political connections. Political does not necessarily mean controversial. Issues being heavily debated in the news in a controversial light (especially if there are stories about college responses to the issues or to current students on-campus discussing the issue) are ones that can be safer to avoid. That said, if you feel passionate about the topic and it would result in a negative admissions read, it is likely that there is a divergence between your values and those of the colleges, meaning it wouldn’t be the best fit for you anyway.
However, if an essay asks you to write about something important to you, then the college is well aware that this can encourage topics that might invite different and impassioned responses. In this case, a reasoned argument supported by impartial facts is fine. Admissions committees will judge your essay by the quality of your argument, not necessarily the position you take.
Colleges look for students who are passionate about not only their academic topic but also about the greater good. They try to imagine students on their campus and search for applicants they believe will become changemakers. The exception to the above may be if you’re applying to a denominational/church-affiliated school. It’s probably best to stay away from any controversial issues that disagree with their orthodoxy, but it is also likely that you align with their faith and key tenets by virtue of choosing to apply to an explicitly religious institution.
The Bottom Line of the College Essay
College essays don’t have to be dry, stodgy, or serious all the time. In fact, the more closely they reflect your personality, the more likely they will stand out in your favor. Many essays make the mistake of trying to avoid making a splash or being afraid to get specific. Readers at top schools often review 40+ essays a day at a minimum, so sticking to general experiences like clubs offered at most high schools (think Science Olympiad or NHS) or being an athlete (when you are not pursuing recruitment and/or don’t play a unique sport) can work against you. Not because these aren’t fine topics or that your essay would be “bad,” but because your essay needs to be memorable.
If you want an admission consultant to help you brainstorm and edit your college essays, why not contact us today?, the more closely they reflect your personality, the more likely they will stand out in your favor.
All of our blog posts are written by Former College Admission Officers who serve as members of our admission consultant team.
