What the Reader Has Already Seen Today
An admissions officer may read dozens of essays in a sitting. By the third hour, certain stories no longer land the way the writer hoped, not because they are bad stories, but because the shape of the essay is already familiar. The ten topics below are the ones that most often produce that effect. None of them is forbidden. The problem is the default version, and each entry says what to do instead.
Ten Topics That Usually Backfire
1. The big game. The injury, the last-second shot, the lesson that teamwork matters. Instead, write about a small, specific moment from practice, such as a drill you hated or a teammate you misjudged.
2. The service trip epiphany. A week abroad that taught you how lucky you are. Instead, write about service close to home that you sustained, and what it asked of you over time.
3. The disguised flaw. "My biggest weakness is that I care too much" is not a weakness anyone believes. Instead, name a real shortcoming and show what you did about it.
4. The resume in paragraphs. Listing activities in prose repeats what the application already says. Instead, pick one activity and take the reader inside a single afternoon of it.
5. The leadership lesson. Being captain or president, then learning that leadership means listening. Instead, write about a time you followed well, or led badly and had to repair it.
6. Hardship as a credential. A death, divorce or illness can be the most important thing that has happened to you, and you are free to write about it. The risk is an essay that lists what happened without showing how you changed. If you write it, spend most of the words on what came after.
7. The opinion piece. An argument about a political or social issue that could have been written by anyone. Instead, write about how you formed a belief, including one you changed.
8. The gimmick. Poems, scripts, lists, riddles and puns. These can work in the hands of a gifted writer, but most readers find them hard to connect with. Instead, use a plain, confident structure and let the story do the work.
9. The privilege realisation. Discovering that others have less than you, told from a distance. Instead, write about a relationship or responsibility that changed how you act.
10. The polished-but-empty essay. Impressive vocabulary and no voice. This includes text that sounds generic because it was generated by AI. Common App's fraud policy covers essays that are not your own work, including substantive AI-generated content, so the risk goes beyond style.
A Better Starting Point
Skip the question "What impressive thing happened to me?" and ask "What do I notice that other people miss?" A good essay is often built from something ordinary: a repeated chore, a family recipe, a strange hobby, a place you return to.
Try this sequence:
- Write down five small moments from the last two years where you made a choice, however minor.
- Choose the one you can describe in sensory detail without checking notes.
- Write what you did, what you thought, and what you did differently afterwards.
- Cut every sentence that explains the moral. Let the reader reach it.
A Quick Test
Before you submit, ask whether another applicant could have written the same essay with a few names changed. If so, it needs more of you. Then ask whether a stranger would know something about your values or how you think after reading it. If not, find the sentence where you actually say what you think.
The Common App essay runs between 250 and 650 words, and most strong drafts take several rounds. Start early, have one trusted reader give honest feedback, and keep the voice yours.