The 10 Worst College Essay Topics Not To Write About


Penning down an essay can be one of the most feared parts of a college application. When you are trying to come up with a good composition in order to get admitted to a particular institution, you need to be exceptionally original in thinking and creative as well. The composition is supposed to give the people in charge of the admissions a sense of who the applicant is as a person. It is where you need to display your writing skills.

Following are the 10 worst topics for a college essay that you should never write about:

  1. List of achievements- A dedicated space is always provided in the application to list your academic and extra-curricular achievements. These are definitely not to be repeated in the form of a composition which will make the application full of redundant data. Also, a long list of activities is never going to make an essay worthy enough to get you admitted to a respectable institution.
  2. Humour based essay- An essay shouldn’t be used to showcase your wit and humour alone. It should also reveal your intelligence, strengths and the other positive attributes of your character.
  3. Personal suffering- Everybody goes through his or her share of tribulations in life. But sharing those experiences of depression and the like in a college essay may prove to be harmful to your application. It might be the case that the reader will start questioning your readiness to the strict regime of college life.
  4. One-sided religious, social or political subjects- These subjects have always been extremely controversial to write upon. You might be supporting a particular point of view on the issue but it might be the case that your reader differs with you. And you wouldn’t want to disagree with the people who have the power to reject your application.
  5. Your impulsive behaviour- The theme of your composition shouldn’t be based on an experience that occurred due to your impulsive behaviour. This is one of the worst topics to go forward withas it puts a negative impression in front of the admissions officers.
  6. Excuses- Do not fill up the composition with excuses as to why your grades are low. You might be judged as a person who whines about his situation and is not mature enough to take full responsibility for it.
  7. Volunteering work- Writing about your volunteering activities might give the admissions officers the idea that you are trying to impress them with how good of a person you are.
  8. Your sex life- One’s sex life is supposed to be an intimate issue and writing about such a topic might prove to be embarrassing for the reader. That’s too much of information for the purpose of getting admitted.
  9. Illegal activities- Your drinking and driving, drug use or jail time are best to be kept in the confines of your mind rather than the on the paper that is supposed to create a positive impression of yours in front of the people in-charge of the admissions.
  10. Sports- This is one of the worst topics as it is chosen by most applicants and hence the essay loses its chance of being unique. Uniqueness of your paper is crucial in order to impress the admissions officers.


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