There's a movie that really hit home for me and offered a lot of insight into who I am. I want to write about it for my college essay, but I'm slightly concerned that it might not be 'significant' enough. Any advice on this?
Absolutely, centering your college essay around a movie that significantly impacted your perspective can be a great idea. Admissions officers are looking for authenticity and depth in your writing, so if this film truly influenced your worldview, it can serve as a compelling central theme for your essay. In any college essay, your 'topic,' no matter how significant (or insignificant) it seems on the surface, is always just a lens that you want to use to shine light on certain key aspects of your personality.
More concretely, the key to your essay shouldn't be the movie itself, but rather the connections between its themes or messages and your life experiences, growth, and aspirations. It's important to show personal reflection and introspection when discussing why this film is meaningful to you. So, avoid summarizing the movie—instead, discuss specific moments or quotes from the film that sparked change in your thoughts or behavior, and illustrate how these insights have woven into the fabric of your life and how you see the world. Use concrete examples that did take place in your real life to demonstrate the film's tangible impact on you, and to reveal qualities about yourself that would be attractive to a college admissions officer, like resilience, curiosity, creativity, leadership, open-mindedness, and so on.
For example, if a certain character's journey helped you overcome a personal challenge or inspired a project you worked on, those are strong links to make. If you're wondering whether your approach works, you can check out CollegeVine's free peer essay review service, or submit your essay to a professional reviewer for a paid breakdown of what you're doing well and what needs work. But to summarize, it's absolutely okay to write about a film—happy writing trails!
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