What NOT to Write About in a College Essay (And What Works Better)

Every year, we review college essays from students who are bright, thoughtful, and perfectly capable of writing something strong.

And yet many essays struggle for one simple reason:

the topic.

Some essay topics appear so frequently that admissions readers can often predict the entire essay after the first few sentences.

That does not mean these topics are impossible to write about. But it does mean they need a much more thoughtful angle to stand out.

Mistake #1: The Resume Essay

One of the most common problems we see is a student using the essay to summarize accomplishments that are already listed elsewhere in the application.

Admissions officers already have access to:

• Activities
• Awards
• Leadership roles
• Volunteer work

The essay should not read like a second version of the activities list.

Instead, it should help the reader understand:

• What motivates the student
• How they think
• What shaped them
• What they learned from an experience

In other words, the essay should reveal the person behind the resume.

Mistake #2: The Sports Injury Comeback Essay

Admissions readers see a lot of essays about:

• The injury
• The rehab process
• The dramatic return to the field, court, or track

Those essays are not automatically bad.

But they are very common.

If the essay only tells the story of getting hurt, working hard, and coming back stronger, it can feel predictable.

The stronger version usually focuses less on the injury itself and more on what the student learned, how their perspective changed, or what the experience revealed about them that is not obvious from the surface story.

Mistake #3: The Mission Trip Essay

Another topic that can be tricky is the mission trip or service-travel essay.

The challenge is that some of these essays end up focusing more on:

• How poor other people were
• How difficult someone else’s life looked
• How eye-opening the experience felt

That can unintentionally come across as shallow or self-congratulatory.

Admissions officers are usually much more interested in what the student learned, how their assumptions changed, or how the experience affected the way they think now.

If the essay becomes more about the hardship of others than the growth of the student, it usually misses the mark.

Mistake #4: Writing About COVID Without a Unique Angle

Many students feel that the pandemic had a major impact on their lives.

That is understandable.

But admissions offices have repeatedly noted that everyone was affected by COVID in some way.

For example, the University of California system has specifically cautioned students against focusing too heavily on the general disruptions caused by the pandemic unless there was something especially distinctive or transformative about their experience.

If the essay simply describes online school, canceled events, and the frustration of that season, it will likely sound very similar to thousands of other responses.

That does not mean COVID can never appear in an essay. It just means there needs to be a much more personal angle than “life was hard during the pandemic.”

Mistake #5: Writing About Divorce as the Entire Story

Divorce can absolutely be painful and significant.

But because so many students applying to college have experienced divorce in some form, essays focused mainly on the divorce itself often struggle to stand out.

The issue is not that the topic is invalid.

The issue is that the essay can easily become more about the parents’ relationship than the student.

If a student chooses to write about divorce, the stronger essays usually focus on:

• How the experience shaped them
• What they learned about themselves
• How it changed their perspective
• One specific moment that reveals growth

What tends to work less well is retelling the entire family situation without much reflection.

Mistake #6: Repeating the Prompt

This one is surprisingly common.

If the prompt asks about a challenge, students will sometimes begin with something like this:

“The biggest challenge I have faced is…”

Admissions officers already know the question.

They do not need the prompt repeated back to them.

That wastes valuable space in an essay where every word matters.

A better approach is to jump directly into the story or moment where the essay becomes interesting.

If your family is trying to work earlier instead of waiting until fall, we also covered when students should start college essays in a separate article.

What Works Better?

The strongest essays usually do not rely on dramatic topics.

They rely on specificity, reflection, and authenticity.

They often begin with:

• A conversation
• A realization
• A challenge
• A turning point
• One small but meaningful moment

What matters most is not whether the event sounds impressive.

What matters is whether the essay reveals something real about the student.

A Better Question to Ask

Instead of asking:

“What sounds impressive?”

Students should ask:

“What story reveals something meaningful about who I am?”

That question usually leads to much stronger essays.

One Final Thought

The best college essays are rarely the ones with the most dramatic topics.

They are the ones that help an admissions reader say:

“Now I understand who this student is.”

If your student is struggling to figure out what to write about, that is completely normal.

In fact, choosing the right story is usually the hardest part.

That’s exactly why we created the Essay Brainstorm & Writing Workbook — to help students move from vague ideas and blank pages to a story that actually works.

👉 Take a look at the workbook here →