Is writing about burning out then learning my limits and changing my schedule to prevent burnout a good essay topic?Answered
I am planning to write about how I have burned myself out several times, but then learned my limits and changed my rigid schedule to prevent burnout. Will the admissions officer understand the burnout topic once they see my application or will my essay topic make them think I will burn out in college?
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2 answers
The essay won't make admissions officers think that you will burn out in college, but it will leave them wanting to know more about who you are as a person. I recommend choosing a different essay topic that doesn't relate to school. Here are some topics that work especially well:
- The story of your identity
- An intellectual concept or activity you are passionate about
- An influential moment in your life and how it has shaped you into the person you are today
Hope this helps!
Congrats on your first post and thanks for asking this question!
The point of the common app essay is to reveal something about yourself that the admission officers do not know about you. That is to say, your personality as a person, not as a student. You say that you have been burnt out several times and have changed your schedule several times to prevent said burnouts. Do you think that the admissions officers (AO) can figure this out by looking at your coursework? If so, I would consider not writing about this topic.
If the AO cannot see your active move to prevent burnout, I would try to weave in this topic as a part of another essay. If you are writing supplemental essays, you can talk about how you learned your limits and respected them. But writing about this only on the common app is not compelling enough and may not bring out your personality traits, or your values.
In all, I would recommend you come up with a topic that will allow you to talk about your personality and values for the common app essay!
Comment if you have any questions!
Hope this helps and good luck!
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I second the motion. It's better not to write about a topic that has the potential to cast any doubt on your future performance and focus on something positive, genuine and inspiring.