Cliches to avoid for essays
Going back over the essays I received during the college essay extravaganza, 50% of the Common App essays I read were about students and their families moving to the US and learning to adjust. Now, Iâm not saying that your familial struggles arenât intense and worthy of talking about; after all, many students wrote about the loneliness they felt being the only new kid in school or having to adjust to American customs, and those are all absolutely valid conversations.
However, if you put all of these âmoving to Americaâ stories in a pile and read them one after another, they start to bleed together. The story lines and characters all sound the same. And for you, that means less of a chance to stand out and more of a chance of being labeled âone of those immigrant kidsâ. Is it fair? Absolutely not. Is that the way it is? Unfortunately, yes.
2. The âThey Taught Me More Than I Taught Themâ Essay
Please for the love of all that is admissions donât write about the time you went on a service trip to a third-world country and learned from the locals. Not only does it typically come across as condescending and privileged (since most high school students are not aware of how to talk about cultures in politically correct terms), but itâs also so overdone and bland.
3. The âSki Slopeâ Essay
When many students answer the quintessential âtalk about a time you overcame an obstacleâ prompt, they tend to write something that I call the âski slopeâ essay. In this scenario, the author was given a physical challenge (like a ski slope, mountain, scary water slide ride, etc.) and was eventually convinced overcome it. Again, itâs an essay that Iâve seen over and over (and over) again, and thereâs no real way to write these essays well. They usually involve a lot of cliche adjectives and some other person convincing the writer to go down the slope. Inspiring? Not at all.
Look at it this way: Thousands of people learn how to ski every year; itâs boring and totally not unique. If youâre going to write about an obstacle, it needs to be an obstacle that only 0.00005% of the world has overcome. Otherwise, youâre just like everybody else.
4. The âLook at How Super Deep I Amâ Essay
Kids, donât try to go on a philosophical rant in your college essays. Not only do you typically sound like a pretentious, self-important twerp pulling stuff out of your butt (and admissions officers know it), but these tirades also tell the reader absolutely nothing about you as as potential member of a college. Donât get meta. If you want to talk about all the great deep thoughts inside your head, start a blog.
5. The All-Dialogue Essay
Note: Spending half of your 650 words going through a conversation you had with your sister is a complete snore and a total waste of time and space. Cut our dialogue unless itâs funny or actually moves the story along. Something like this is just really dull fluff:
âSister,âI said to her.
âYes?â she said back.
She looked at me with angst. âWhat?â she asked again.
Three lines in and youâre bored already, right?
6. The Way-Too-Extended Metaphor Essay
What do dumplings, crayons, and hoop earrings have in common? Theyâre all inanimate objects that have been used as extended metaphors in college essays, and all of those essays were not good.
Pulling off the extended metaphor essay is hard, and as youâve learned by now, itâs best to go into essay writing with the mentality that you are the rule, not the exception. So stop trying to compare your life to a squashed kumquat you saw on the side of the road and find a different topic.
7. The âLesson about Failure Where You Didnât Really Failâ Essay
Remember that an admissions essay is still a story, and the best heroes and heroines have legitimate pitfalls. If your biggest failure is that you had a hangnail but you eventually took care of it, not only do you look shallow, but you also look dull. Failures need to be actual heart-stopping, âOMG, NOOO!â failures. Either commit to going all the way or avoid writing this type of essay altogether.
When the Common App prompt asks for something that marked your transition into adulthood, stay away from cultural or religious events that actually mark adulthood, like a bar/bat mitzvah or a confirmation ceremony or something. The best essays about transitions into adulthood deal with unforeseen shifts, not obvious ones (for example, my friend wrote about the different types of boxers he bought throughout high school. Shift to adulthood? Yes. Totally freaking clever? Heck yeah).
9. The Straight Up Cliche Essay
There are many topics that are way overdone besides the ones listed above. Some examples of what I mean:
The âWhat I learned at this academic conference/camp/eventâ essay
The âWhat my mom/dad/family taught meâ essay
The âHow I felt about moving to a whole new place or being in a new environmentâ essay
The âHow I learned to fit inâ essay
The âDeath of person xâ essay
The âHow my parentsâ divorce changed meâ essay
The âHereâs a very vague essay about my familyâs cultureâ essay
Again, these are just a few of the many examples of cliche essays.
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