Need a College Essay Topic? Write a List!
If you’re a high school junior, you may be starting to think about college admissions—including your college admissions essay.
Of course, if you’re like us and most writers we know, you may not be thinking—or even avoiding thinking about—your college essays.
Like high school students, professional writers can be experts in the art of procrastination. We know all the tricks to avoid working on writing projects that have us intimidated, because writing is a journey into the unknown that can be very powerful: both scary and exciting.
For this reason, writers learn to master techniques that get the words flowing onto the page. We all love to experience that juicy feeling of satisfaction that keeps us going.
When it comes to writing your college application essay, there are many ways to get started. One of our favorites is THE LIST.
There are many types of lists that one can write to get started on the college application essay. Here are a few of Essay Coaching’s favorites, below.
For each, set a timer for yourself for five or 10 minutes. Brainstorm for that period of time, then stop, or take a short break and set the timer again. Don’t think—just write the first thoughts that pop into your head!
- Common Application prompts list. Look at the new Common App prompts, and spend five minutes on each one, writing a list of ideas that come to you. Try to recall an incident, a moment, or an experience that makes you feel good about yourself. It might be a time that you helped someone else, it might be a time when you mastered something that you were working on, it might be a time when you read a book or saw a movie or had a realization and it changed you.
- Five ways I am different from my friends. You are unique. Start thinking about some ways that you can stand out.
- Five subjects I could talk about for an hour. What do you feel passionate about? The best topics involve something you have done something about. For example, if you are interested in music, have you taken lessons? Joined a choir? Where have you played? Have you had any interesting experiences performing
After you have a list, the next step is to free-write on one of the topics that attracts you. Set a timer for ten minutes, keep your pen moving, don’t judge what you write, just get some thoughts and images onto the page. You can’t edit a blank page. Good going! You’ve started. Write on.
