Topic Selection

After brainstorming, you should have a lengthy list of potential topics to cover. Because questions tend to be very specific, matching a choice from your list of topics to the right essay prompt should be a straightforward process. This section instead discusses ways to evaluate the appropriateness of topics in a general way, ensuring that each one as well as the whole set put you in position to make the best possible impression.

Conveying Something Meaningful

Does your topic convey something meaningful about your personality? Will the reader walk away with an enriched understanding of who you are? If you can't answer "yes" to these questions, then you have probably chosen a topic that's too generic. Search harder to find a subject for which you can take a more personal, original approach.

Painting a Complete Portrait

Even in a series of essays, you can't be so comprehensive as to discuss everything you've ever done, but you can aim to offer a coordinated argument that details the full range of what you have to offer. When dealing with multiple topics, avoid redundancy, and choose topics that will build on and supplement each other. To an extent, the essay questions are themselves designed to solicit a varied set of answers, but when there is flexibility, try to take advantage of that by having a big-picture strategy.

If a question asks for your three most substantial accomplishments, try to choose topics from different realms of your life—personal, professional, community involvement. At least one should be distinct from the other two in focus.

Standing Out

Is your topic unique? It's hard to have something entirely new to say, but you should at least have a fresh take on your topic. If you recognize a lack of originality in your ideas, try to be more specific and personal. The more specific you get, the less likely that you will blend in with the essays of your competition.

Keeping Your Reader's Interest

Will your topic be able to sustain your reader's interest for the entire length of the essay? It's true that good writing can make any topic fascinating to read about, but there's no need to start yourself off with a handicap. Choose a topic that will naturally be of interest to any reader. For this criterion, it's necessary to step back and view your topic objectively, or else consult the opinion of others. If someone described the basic idea to you, would you care enough to ask for more details?

Staying Grounded in Detail

You should make sure ahead of time that your topic is fundamentally based on concrete evidence. If you're choosing specific experiences or events, then the relevant details should be clearly available. But if your topic is more abstract, then you must be prepared to back up any claims with concrete examples and illustrative details.

What to Avoid

After you've determined that your topic meets the above criteria, you should do a last check that it also avoids the following pitfalls:

1. Resorting to gimmicks. While creativity is encouraged, there must be substance to make your tactics worthwhile. Don't expect mere novelty to win you any points, and realize that you risk coming across as frivolous. Also, there's a good chance that any gimmicks you come up with—writing a poem, writing in the third person—have been done already.
2. Focusing on the negative. There is a separate section of this course dealing with how to address negative aspects of your application. But as far as your topic is concerned, the main idea should be focused on your positive attributes. This does not mean, of course, that you shouldn't mention past weaknesses that you have learned to overcome, as the emphasis there is still on the strength you demonstrated.
3. Repeating information that's listed elsewhere on the application. We have already mentioned this point, but it's worth making abundantly clear. Your topic should not merely be a list of activities or synthesis of your resume. Rather, it should offer the kind of insight that only you can provide in a personal manner.
4. Being too controversial. If you get a sympathetic reader, a controversial topic might help you to stand out, but you risk offending others and severely hurting your chances. You would do better to search for a topic that makes you unique without resorting to cheap shots or obvious cries for attention.
5. Seeking pity. You can describe misfortunes or a disadvantaged background, but do not use them as an excuse for bad performances or to seek pity. Doing so not only could sound manipulative, but also means that you haven't emphasized your strengths sufficiently. Thus, as in the case of weaknesses, you should bring up obstacles in your past only to show how you have overcome them.

Next: Lesson Two: Question-Specific Strategies