So look back at the topics you’ve thought of so far through the brainstorming exercises. To clarify, you can still write a great montage with a very common topic, or a narrative that offers so-so insights. (Insight is something that you’ll develop in an essay through the writing process, rather than something you’ll generally know ahead of time for a topic, but it’s useful to understand that some topics are probably easier to pull insights from than others.) “Insight” is the answer to the question “so what.” A great insight is likely to surprise the reader a bit, while a so-so insight likely won’t. While you can possibly write a strong essay about a weaker challenge, it’s really hard to do so. “Difficult or compelling challenges” can be put on a spectrum with things like getting a bad grade or not making a sports team on the weaker end and things like escaping war or living homeless for three years on the stronger side. It’s not that you can’t write about these things, but it’s a lot harder to stand out. “Uncommon”-every year, thousands of students write about mission trips, sports, or music. I might be able to connect mountain climbing to family, history, literature, science, social justice, environmentalism, growth, insight … and someone else might not connect it to much of anything. “Elastic” will vary from person to person. These aren’t binary-rather, each exists on a spectrum. I believe that a Narrative essay is more likely to stand out if it contains: Uncommon (i.e., something other students probably aren’t writing about) Elastic (i.e., something you can connect to variety of examples, moments, or values) I believe a Montage Essay (i.e., an essay NOT about challenges) is more likely to stand out if the topic or theme of the essay is: With that in mind, how do you pick? What makes a good topic? Ultimately, you won’t know if a topic works until you try it. In fact, it’s often a great thing-I’ve seen plenty of students spend time exploring one approach, then find another that allowed them to write a stronger personal statement. It’s time to pick something and start writing! Before we talk about how, a word to the wise: Your topic may change.
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