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@Capybara • 3 months ago •
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College essay ideas

I have started brainstorming ( or trying to ) ideas for my Common App essay and other entrance essays. But I’m stumped. I love helping others and have worked at the zoo and helped teach English in Germany. But I don’t know if i can write something compelling enough with that. I don’t want to wrote about my family. I know many people have wrote about a traumatizing event or something but I don’t want to go into a college with others having a pity mindset. I have a had a job at a pizza place for the last year which I love. The whole place is like a family. And i have been able to learn a lot about leadership, communication, and hard work from my coworkers and thus experience. I love to travel and being out in nature but am not a huge environment activist ( it is important though ).

I am looking to major in international relations/ affairs, with a possible double major in communications. And a minor in Asian studies or Chinese language.

I have a bunch of little things but I don’t know if there is any way to tie everything into a big enough prompt for an essay that has to be compelling. And I don’t know if there are any big events that would stand out to college recruiters.

If anyone has any ideas i would really appreciate it.

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@sOmEoNe • 3 months ago

Hi! Have you ever heard of the smoothie commonapp?

In a nutshell, you take an extended methaphor of an activity you really liked doing, and explore the different aspects of it through your other activites. You essentially touch 2-3 activities in one, while still demonstrating your multifaceted personality. For example, you can start with a hook relaying some interesting experience you had at the zoo/your German experience, and explore that one activity from the lens of your other experiences. Explain how your entire story ties together; For example, maybe your job at the pizza place taught you time management and leadership which you used to better manage your experience at the zoo, or to better assist during your experience in Germany. Maybe an animal got sick due to human interaction which inspired you to pursue being an environmentalist. In essence, you want to convey several parts of your personality to keep the reader engaged, kind of like a roller coaster. Hope this helps you get jumpstarted!

Note: This shouldn't be a discussion, this should be a question

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@Jael_S238 • 3 months ago

I also want to advise you to be careful with this...it's important not to turn the essay into relisting everything on your resume/application because this is the only place the admissions officers get to know you.

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