What are some college essay topics that admissions officers see way too often?

It's smart to be thinking about this early since the most common college essay topics can definitely blur together for admissions officers who read thousands of essays every year.

Some of the topics that are especially overused include:

- The "big game" or sports victory/defeat. Many applicants write about important games, injuries, or the lessons learned from athletic participation.
- Service trips or mission trips abroad, especially when the focus is on "helping others" and realizing personal privilege. Unless you have a very specific, introspective, and unconventional takeaway, these stories can come across as predictable.
- Overcoming a bad grade or class. While it's great to show resilience, lots of students write about conquering a tough subject or teacher.
- Moving to a new school, town, or country, especially when the focus is only on adjustment challenges. This can be powerful if you hone in on a particular moment or change that shaped your perspective in a truly personal way (not just the general moving experience).
- The immigrant story or adapting to a new culture – unless you can offer a very unique lens, or center on a single, vivid incident rather than a general overview.

Admissions officers aren't bored by these topics because they're bad—they're bored because the same lessons tend to come up again and again ("I learned to work hard," "I found the importance of teamwork," etc.). If you want to use one of these stories, you'll need to dive way deeper, find a perspective that's truly yours, or zero in on a surprising, specific detail. For example, instead of a general essay about coming back from an injury, maybe you focus on how your downtime inspired your passion for a totally different activity, like learning to cook for your family.

Some less common, but impactful, topics include:
- Writing about an unusual hobby or interest and how it changed how you see the world (for example, learning to solve Rubik's cubes competitively gave you new insight into persistence and curiosity).
- Focusing on a quirky family tradition, an unexpected moment of personal growth, or a challenge you faced outside of academics or sports (like standing up for someone, grappling with a complicated friendship, or learning something profound from a summer job).
- Exploring how a small moment changed your mindset—a disagreement with a sibling, a seemingly ordinary day at work, or an object that's unexpectedly meaningful to you.

The key is to approach your topic through the lens of what makes your experience unique and specific. Dig in to details—what did the moment look, sound, and feel like? How did it shape your thoughts or actions later? By focusing on something deeply personal and telling a story only you could tell, you'll make any topic memorable.