- Dec 14, 2009
- 5,675
- 16,692
My oldest wrote about her performance anxiety issues in cheer that developed out of nowhere. My friend's daughter's "meaningful experience" was randomly and of course unexpectedly seeing a picture of herself and her father on the wall at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
From having gone through it with one kid and about to go through it again this coming year, what I've seen/heard the most important aspect of any college essay is the authenticity of it, and allowing the school to learn about a part of yourself that they otherwise would not have know from looking at the rest of your application. If cheer is your meaningful experience, try to isolate one aspect of it and write about that.
Bolded part for emphasis - thats what the college essay is mainly for. College boards want to know who are you and if you fit in with the community they are building. And how strong your writing skills are.
@FierceIsTheName - I'd disagree with the teachers that say to avoid sports. Theres a lot sports teach you that translates over to college extremely well - discipline, determination, accountablity for your own success, teamwork, respect, personal growth, etc. Kids are also.... kids? They aren't out there saving people from burning buildings, solving world hunger, fighting for social issues, or helping cure cancer. They are going to school, playing sports, working, involved in church, doing homework, volunteering, and worrying about their plans for after highschool. So for your teachers to say dont write about sports seems.... shortsighted. Youth sports is extremely beneficial and you should be able to write about it.
FWIW, This American Life had an episode about college and they were interviewing a guy who worked in admissions for Georgia Tech. They asked him what the new trendy topic of college essays was and what he was sick of seeing. He said mission trip essays that usually all ended with "I thought i was going to change someone elses life but in the end it was my life that was changed."
Also FWIW, I wrote my college essay on cheer. It was about how much I struggled with tumbling and what I learned from falling on my face over and over and over again for 13 years straight Talking about a failure is usually a good starting point for an essay. Failure is an important part of life.