College Admission Essays: Writing About Identity, People and Other General Topics

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"Deciding what to write. That's what got me," said Jordyn as he showed me his college essays. He's not alone. For years students have told me that the toughest part of writing a college admission essay is finding a topic. The subject, of course, is already clear — your life, your ideas, your personality. But the topic! Who knows.

Not me, certainly. But somewhere inside you lies the topic, in fact, tons of topics, each just waiting to be explored and turned into a great essay. This personal inventory is designed to unearth those topics from your memory bank. (And if you decide to skip college, you can always send it to a dating service.)

Don't be discouraged by the number of questions listed here. You don't have to answer all of them, and you don't have to answer any of them in detail. Work your way through the categories that seem most appealing, jotting down a phrase or two — just enough to remind you of the answer. If you're inspired by any particular question, grab a sheet of scrap paper or turn on the computer and write everything that occurs to you.

Some of these questions dig fairly deeply into your personal life. Don't feel obliged to share the most private parts of your life in your admission essay. The admissions committee wants to get to know you, but they should be treated as strangers to whom you've just been introduced, not friends in whom you confide. So if secrets surface as you fill out this questionnaire, keep them!

Identity

Your identity is made up of a set of descriptions that you apply to yourself or that others apply to you. Some factors that create your identity are your race, ethnic background, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and age. In this section you may come up with material for the general "personal statement" or "tell us about yourself" questions.

Think about your race, ethnic background, religion, gender, and other aspects of your identity. Do any of those factors affect how you see the world? Do any of those factors affect how others see you? Explain. Also, describe a situation in which one or more of those factors mattered.

Think about physical appearance and ability, mental ability, and emotions. How would you describe yourself in terms of these qualities? Have any of these factors mattered in terms of how you see yourself or how others see you?

Should any of the factors cited in the preceding two questions matter? Why or why not?

Describe a situation in which you were a minority because of some aspect of your identity. (Perhaps the people around you were of a different age, religion, or race.) How did you feel? What did you learn from that experience?

What adjectives (descriptive words) apply to you? Why? Think of situations in which you displayed those qualities.

What's the first thing about yourself that you would tell a new friend? Why?

What does your best friend know about you that no one else knows?

If you had to transfer to a new school, how would you choose a lunch table? What would you look for? What would the people at that lunch table see when you sat down? What would you talk about?