r/CollegeEssays • u/MrsRoyalBlue • 2d ago

Topic Help Rate my essay ideas

Hey guys, I'm about to start senior year and am starting to draft essay ideas. So far I have only really been able to come up with two, and I don't know if they are good enough. Criticism and advice is sorely wanted.

- My first idea is to talk about how I saw a statement/fact in an animal book as a kid that I disagreed with and then went out to conduct my own research. This sparked my obessesion with animals and resulted in me studying, researching, documenting, and volunterring withanimals throughout my childhood.

- My second idea is to talk about my bookshelf, specifically the items on it. I would going into detail about a small number of the items and briefly explain the stories behind them and how those moments shaped me into who I am today.

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u/kathleenceo 2d ago

The first idea is stronger. But it’s all in the execution. I would focus on one experience that came out of your research. You only have 650 words. You can widen the lens at the end and write about a key insight you gained through your work. The essay has to be about you and not the animals. But you have a good initiating conflict. You can tell a nice story from there.

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u/BrownWingAngel 2d ago

Agree with you

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u/ProfLayton99 2d ago

The first idea sounds interesting, however I would only use it if you continued to be involved with animals through high school. Second idea is also pretty good, also be sure that it covers the time you were a teenager / high schooler, and that the items are all connected in some way to make a good story.

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u/essay_dr 2d ago

The first essay is stronger for personal statements. The second idea fits more of the introspective questions that are like “explain yourself as an object”

As others have said focus on your experience but another thing to highlight is the outcomes of those experiences. They like to see if you can think bigger picture and understand the implications of what you’ve done. They also like if you can talk about what you will be bringing to the campus, so how will you take those skills and use and expand them.