College Admission Essay Topics
Best in Show: 15,16,98,99, 101, 105, 106, 109, 110
1.What work of art, music, science,
mathematics, or literature has influenced your thinking, and in what way?
(University of Virginia applicants to the College of Arts and Sciences)
2.Discuss how a particular work of
music, literature, or art has inspired your life. (William and Mary)
3.Tell us how a particular book, play,
film, piece of music, dance performance, scientific theory or experiment or
work of art has influenced you. If you choose a novel, film or play, assume we
know the plot. (University of Notre Dame)
4.Consider the books you have read in
the last year or two either for school or for leisure. Please discuss the way
in which one of them changed your understanding of the world, other people, or
yourself. (Duke University)
5.Tell us about a situation where you
have not been successful and what you have learned from the experience.
(William and Mary)
6.First experiences can be defining.
Cite a first experience that you have had and explain its impact on you.
(University of Pennsylvania)
7.Recall an occasion when you took a
risk that you now know was the right thing to do. (University of Pennsylvania)
8.Tell us what you think about a
current scientific or social controversy. (William and Mary)
9.Most people belong to many different
communities‹groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion,
ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage.
Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community
and your place within it. Limit your response to half a page, or approximately
250 words. (University of Virginia all applicants)
10.What can you contribute to a
multi-cultural world? (William and Mary)
11.The quality of Rice’s academic life
and the residential college system is heavily influenced by the unique life
experiences and cultural traditions each student brings. What perspective do
you feel that you will be able to share with others as a result of your own
life experiences and background? Cite a personal experience to illustrate this.
Most applicants are able to respond successfully in two to three pages. (Rice
University)
12.Northwestern is a community of
individuals from diverse cultures and regions of the world and with a myriad of
interests and talents. Is there a type of individual you have not had much
contact with in your community whom you would like to meet on campus? What do
you think would be the outcome of that meeting, and what would be its effect on
you? (Northwestern)
13.Respond to the question: How can I
prepare educationally for a global society? (Hampton University)
14.Once you have completed your
education, would you return to your hometown to begin your adult life? Why or
why not? (William and Mary)
15.Names have a mysterious reality of
their own. We may well feel an unexpected kinship with someone who shares our
name, or may feel uneasy at the thought that our name is not as much our own as
we imagined. Most of us do not choose our names; they come to us unbidden,
sometimes with ungainly sounds and spellings, complicated family histories,
allusions to people we never knew. Sometimes we have to make our peace with
them, sometimes we bask in our names’ associations. Ruminate on names and
naming, your name, and your name’s relationship to you. (University of Chicago)
16.The late William Burroughs once
wrote that "language is a virus from outer space." We at the
University of Chicago think he’s right, of course, and this leaves us wondering
what else came here with it. Could this finally explain such improbable
features of modern life as the Federal Tax Code, non-dairy creamer, Dennis
Rodman, and the art of mime? Name something that you assert cannot have
originated any other way. Offer a thorough defense of your hypothesis for
extraterrestrial origins, including alternate explanations and reasons for
eliminating them from consideration. (University of Chicago)
17.What effect has any voluntary or
independent research, reading or study, work in the arts, science project, etc.
(outside of school), had on your intellectual and personal growth in recent
years? Discuss what influence this involvement has had on your academic goals.
(Northwestern)
18.What has been your most profound or
surprising intellectual experience? (Duke University)
19.Anatole France said, "If 50
million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." On what
subject do you disagree with most people, and why? (Northwestern)
20.According to Stephen Carter, we can
admire those with integrity even if we disagree with them. Are there people you
admire even though you deeply disagree with them? What do you admire about
them? How do you reconcile this apparent contradiction in your assessment?
(Duke University)
21.Who is the secondary school teacher
who has had the greatest positive impact on your development? Please describe
the ways in which this teacher has influenced you. (Bowdoin College)
22.Reflect on these words of Dorothy
Day: "No one has the right to sit down and feel hopeless. There's too much
work to do." What is "the work to be done" for your generation,
and what impact does this have on your future as a leader? Write a creative,
reflective, or provocative essay. (University of Notre Dame)
23.Read Martin Luther King Jr.'s
"Letter from Birmingham Jail." It can be found in several
anthologies, most recently King Remembered (W.W Norton & Company, 1986).
Drawing upon personal experience, write a creative, reflective or provocative
essay. (University of Notre Dame)
24.What characteristics of Penn, and
yourself, make the University a particularly good match for you? Briefly
describe how you envision your first year in college. How will your presence be
known on campus? (University of Pennsylvania)
25.Why did you first become interested
in William and Mary? (William and Mary)
26.Why do you consider Duke a good
match for you? Is there something in particular you anticipate contributing to
the Duke community? If you are applying to the School of Engineering, you may
discuss your interest in the field of engineering in general or your interest
in Duke's program specifically. (Duke University)
27.You have just completed your
300-page autobiography. Please submit page 217. (University of Pennsylvania)
28.Imagine you have written a short
story, film, or play about your last four years. Briefly describe the one
moment or scene that your audience will most remember from this
autobiographical piece. What will they learn about you from that moment?
(Northwestern)
29.What do you think people who know
you would be surprised to learn about you? Limit your response to one
page.(Rice University)
30."The instructor said,/Go home
and write/a page tonight./And let that page come out of you‹/Then, it will be
true." The second line of this poem by Langston Hughes, "Theme for
English B," goes on to ask: "I wonder if it’s that simple?" We
ask you here to write a truthful page about yourself, beginning where Hughes
begins: "I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem./I went to school
there, then Durham, then here/to this college on the hill above Harlem./I am
the only colored student in my class." That is to say, each of us is at a
certain stage of life and has a history. Each of us has lived somewhere and
gone to school. We each are what we feel and see and hear, as the poem goes on
to say. Begin there and see what happens. (University of Chicago)
31.Pose a question of your own, the
answer to which you believe will display your best qualities as a writer,
thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, sensible woman or man, citizen of the
world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago. (University of Chicago)
32.Tell us the question you think a
selective college should ask. Why? (William and Mary)
33.The Committee on Undergraduate
Admissions is interested in learning more about you. Please use this essay to
relay information about you that cannot be found elsewhere on your application.
You may choose to write about your future ambitions and goals, a special talent
or unusual interest that sets you apart from your peers, or a significant event
or relationship that has influenced you during your life. (George Mason
University/Virginia Tech)
34.Please submit a final piece of
writing on any subject you choose. Limit your response to one page, or
approximately 500 words. (University of Virginia all applicants)
35.Please write on a matter of
importance to you. Any topic, and any form of written expression, is
acceptable. If you have written something for another purpose--even an essay
for another college--that you believe represents you particularly well, feel
free to submit it here. As a guideline, remember that we are especially
interested in issues of personal significance. (Duke University)
36.Which of the majors in the School
of Architecture‹architecture, architectural history, or urban and environmental
planning‹most appeals to you, and why? (University of Virginia applicants to
the School of Architecture)
37.Please respond to each of the
following: 1) What aspirations, experiences, or relationships have motivated
you to pursue the study of architecture? 2) Outside of academics, what do you
enjoy most or find most challenging? Responses should be one page each. (Rice
University applicants to the School of Architecture)
38.Engineers will face many challenges
over the next twenty years. Which of these challenges seems the most compelling
to you, and how do you plan to help meet it? (University of Virginia applicants
to the School of Engineering)
39.Select a creative work: a novel, a
film, a poem, a musical piece, a painting or other work of art that has
influenced the way you view the world and the way you view yourself. Discuss
the work and its effect on you. (University of Virginia/William and Mary/NYU)
40.What book, poem, piece of music, or
artwork has influenced you? Write down your thoughts and feelings about this
work and write a dialogue in which the work responds to you.
41.Name one book you have read in the
past year, describe your reason for considering this book significant and what
you gained from reading it. (Lewis and Clark College)
42.Discuss how something you have read
has affected you or changed your mind about something. 5.Tell us about the
biggest mistake you’ve ever made, or heard of. (University of Virginia)
43.Describe a risk that you have taken
and discuss its impact on your life. (Kalamazoo College)
44. At Colorado College, diversity is
considered an integral component of every student's liberal arts education.
Discuss your division of "diversity" and the ways in which you expect
it to affect your college experience. (Colorado College)
45. Of all the activities you listed
above, which one has proved to be the best, or the worst, use of your time, and
why? Use one specific example to illustrate how this activity has, or has not,
been worthwhile. (University of Virginia)
46. Who are the people who have done
the most to influence your personal development and in what ways were they
influential? (Carleton College).
47. If you were to protest something,
for or against, what would it be and why?
48. Relate a personal experience that
caused you to discern or refine a value that you hold. (University of Virginia)
49. As a prospective 21st century
college graduate, you will enter a workforce and live in a society with an
increasingly global perspective. How will your current knowledge of
international issues and cultures influence your undergraduate study? (NYU)
50. If you could invent something,
what would it be, and why? (University of Virginia)
51. What invention would the world be
better off without, and why? (Kalamazoo College)
52. If you were to write a book, on
what theme or subject matter would it be based, and why? (Stanford)
53. What is your favorite word, and
why? (University of Virginia)
54. What effect has any voluntary or
independent research, reading or study, work in the arts, science project,
etc., had on your intellectual and personal goals in recent years? Discuss what
influence this involvement has had on your academic goals. (Northwestern)
55. Describe your most important
academic accomplishment or intellectual experience to date. We don't want to
know about test scores or course grades, rather we want to know about your
creativity, your willingness to take intellectual risks or your affinity for
scholarly endeavors. (MIT)
56. Describe an intellectual
experience of the past two years that has given you great satisfaction.
(Amherst)
57. Do you believe that your academic
record accurately reflects your abilities? Explain.
58. George Washington said,
"Associate with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; it
is better to be alone than in bad company." About which of your friends do
you and your parents disagree? Why do you feel that the continued company of
this friend is a good thing? (Northwestern)
59. Explain how your experiences as a
teenager significantly differ from those of your friends. Include comparisons.
(University of Puget Sound)
60. Imagine you have written a short
story, film, or play about your last four years. Briefly describe the moment or
scene that you think your audience will most remember after they have finished
this autobiographical piece. What will they learn about you from that moment?
(Northwestern)
61. If you were to look back on your
high school years, what advice would you give to someone beginning their high
school career? (Simmons)
62. Imagine that you are a
"hero" or "heroine" for one day during any time period and
under any circumstances. Write a creative essay describing your experience.
(Notre Dame)
63. What is the best advice you ever
received? Why? And did you follow it? (University of Pennsylvania)
64. Tell us about a conversation
you've had that changed your perspective or was otherwise meaningful to you.
(Stanford)
65. If we could only admit one more
student to ________ University, why should it be you? (University of
Pittsburgh)
66. Of all the things you hope or
expect to gain from your college experience, which two or three would you place
at the top of your list? Explain what you want to gain and why these
experiences are most important to you.
67. You are about to write your future
college roommate a letter. Please provide the roommate with a personal story
that will give him/her some insight into your personality. (St. Mary¹s College, MD)
68. Tell one story about yourself that
would best provide us, either directly or indirectly, with an insight into the
kind of person you are. For example, the story can simply relate a personal
experience, or a humorous anecdote; it can tell about an especially significant
academic encounter or about an unusual test of character. The possibilities are
unlimited (well, almost so). You choose. Just relax and write it. (Princeton)
69. Please provide information that
you feel will give a more complete and accurate picture of yourself, e.g.,
background, personal philosophy or traits, goals, etc. Be sure to describe the
influence of these factors. Please be concise and limit your response to one or
two pages. (Pomona College)
70. What single adjective do you think
would be most frequently used to describe you by those who know you best?
Briefly explain. (Stanford)
71. If you were to describe yourself by a quotation, what would
the quote be? Explain your answer. (Dartmouth)
72. Create a metaphor for yourself
using something you would find in your kitchen or your garage. List as many
similarities or relationships between yourself and this object as you can think
of, then elaborate on this comparison in an essay. Why is this object a good
representation of you? (adapted from U. of Chicago)
73.Discuss how some negative
experience (disability, illness, failure) has had a positive influence on your
life.
74. Describe a personal habit that helps to define you as a
person.
75. Discuss how a specific place can be used to help illustrate
your personality.
76. Describe a fictional character. Be
sure to point out what you do or do not like about the character and relate
these attributes to yourself.
77. What have you undertaken or done
on your own in the last year or two that has nothing to do with academic work?
(Northwestern)
78. Discuss how your travel
experiences have affected you as a student and a citizen of the world.
79. If money and family obligations
left you entirely free, how and where would you spend the summer before
college?
80. If you were given the opportunity
to spend one year in service on behalf of others, which area would you choose?
Explain what you would do and why.
81. If you had a day to spend as you
wish, how would you use your time? (Carleton College)
82. Imagine that you have the opportunity to travel back through
time. At what point in history would you like to stop and why? (Swarthmore)
83. What do you think has been the most important social or
political movement of the twentieth century? Do you share a personal
identification with this cause? (Trinity College, CT)
84. History has recorded the American
Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Sexual Revolution. Today we are
witnessing a revolution in the way we receive information. What do you think
will be the next great revolution, and what will be its impact on you and your
society? (Northwestern)
85. If you were to develop a Mt.
Rushmore representing the 20th century, whose faces would you select and why?
(William and Mary)
86. If you could spend a year with any
real or fictional person in the past, present, or future, whom would you
choose? Why? (Kalamazoo College)
87. If you could hold a conversation
with someone (living or deceased) you consider significant, who would you talk
to and what would you talk about? Describe your conversation. (University of
Oregon)
88. If you could meet any famous
person, living or dead, who would it be? Write a dialogue between you and that
person.
89. If you could become another
person, real or fictional, for one day, who would you become and why?
90. If you had the power to change
three things in your community or in the world, what would you change and why?
(Middle East Technical University in Turkey)
91. Please write a personal journal
entry as if the date were Sept. 20, 2030. (St. Mary’s College, MD.)
92. It has been said [by Andy Warhol] that in the future
everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes. Describe your fifteen minutes.
(New York University)
93. Recent developments in technology have revolutionized the
way we gather information, communicate with one another, and even express
ourselves as individuals. If there is a computer in your life, tell us how you
use it. If there is not a computer in your life, tell us how you would.
(William and Mary)
94. Select a technological innovation of this century and
discuss its effects on your family, local community or nation. (Notre Dame)
95. Look through old family photos and pull out a few that
remind you of important times or significant moments. (Remember that the impact
of a moment is what makes it significant. A hike through the woods can
sometimes be more significant than a birthday.) Choose one of these "Kodak
Moment" to describe and explain its significance to you. Speak about the
photograph and your feelings about what you see in it.
96. Attach a small photograph of something important to you, and
explain its significance. (Stanford)
97. You are on your dream vacation and have just finished
shooting a roll of film. As you go to develop the film, the local merchant
offers to make a postcard of one of your photos. Describe the photo, why you
selected it and write a brief note to your friends back home. (Be sure to
include where you are and what you have been doing there.) (University of the
Pacific)
98. Elvis is alive! Okay, maybe not, but we have been persuaded
that recent Elvis sightings in highway rest areas, grocery stores and
laundromats are part of a wider conspiracy involving five of the following: the
metric system, the Mall of America, the crash of the Hindenberg, Heisenberg's
uncertainty principle, lint, J.D. Salinger, and wax fruit. Construct your own
theory of how and why five of these items are related. (University of Chicago)
99. The subject of food is never far from our minds here in
College Admissions. It is a topic of serious conversation this year on campus,
too, with the publication of a book called The
Hungry Soul: Eating and the Perfecting of our Nature, by Leon Kass, M.D., a
Chicago faculty member who teaches in the College. The book takes a
philosophical look at what food, eating, and table manners have to tell us
about our human estate. Compose an essay about a memorable meal you have eaten.
We are especially interested in the details: the occasion, your company at this
meal, its physical setting, the kinds of foods you ate, or their preparation.
(University of Chicago)
100. Ask and answer the one important question which you wish we
had asked. (Carleton College)
101. If you had to describe yourself
as an animal, what animal would you select and why?
102. If you could be a fly on the wall
to observe any situation--historical, personal, or otherwise--describe what you
would choose to observe and why. What would you hope to learn and how would it
benefit you? (University of Pittsburgh)
103. If you could change the course of
a singular event in history, what event would you affect, and why? In addition,
please provide insight on how you would implement your decision. (St. Mary’s
College, MD)
104. If you could go back and change one day in your life, what
would you change and why? (Santa Clara University)
105.What confuses you most in life,
and why? (University of Virginia)
106. Using a piece of wire, a car window sticker, an egg carton,
and any inexpensive hardware store item, create something that would solve a
problem. Tell us about your creation, but don't worry: we won't require proof
that it works. (Johns Hopkins)
107. Relate an incident in your life in which honesty or
character (or both) were at issue. (University of Virginia)
108. Describe a situation in which your values or beliefs were
challenged. How did you react? (NYU)
109. Defend your least conventional
belief. (University of Virginia)
110. Are you honorable? How do you
know? (University of Virginia)
111. Sartre said "Hell is other
people," while Streisand sang, "People who need people are the
luckiest people in the world." With whom do you agree? (Amherst)
112. Discuss an important personal relationship you have had and
explain how it has changed your life.
113. Tell us about the most
embarrassing moment of your life. (Santa Clara University)
114. Tell us about the neighborhood that you grew up in and how
it helped shape you into the kind of person you are today. (Yale and the
University of Chicago)
115. Read Annie Dillard’s "An American Childhood."
Choose one of her observations or ideas and write a creative, reflective or
provocative essay. (Notre Dame)
116. What are the responsibilities of an educated person?
(University of Puget Sound).
117. Identity and culture are clearly intertwined. How has your
experience of culture influenced the development of your own personal identity?
(NYU)
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