8 Creative Ways to Start Your College Essay (Student examples included!)

For most students, writing the college essay can be stressful. What I tell students is to look at the essay as an opportunity to share their story with college admissions officers, showing how they stand out from other candidates. But getting started is difficult. Often students delay writing the essay until it is assigned by their senior English teachers. This is a big mistake, as it is too close to fall early application deadlines and the final product does not make a compelling case for acceptance. I recommend students start early by choosing a memorable essay topic to write about.

 How do I choose an essay topic?
During a summer College Essay course, a group of students expressed struggle with starting their essays. It was June, so we had a chunk of time to figure this out together. Student-produced podcasts were popular at the time, so I tasked them with writing, editing, and recording their original stories. Students worked in groups of three, each interviewing the others using questions developed by StoryCorps. The challenge: students had to find a common theme that linked their stories together and present it from this angle.

One student group in particular discovered they commonly believe that "home" transcends place, with one student, Manal, reflecting on summer visits to Morocco, an effort made by her mom to keep the family close to paternal relatives following her dad's untimely death. Another student, Tenzin, talks about being a Tibetan born in India, who recently settled in Queens, NY. She speaks optimistically of her new American home.

Listen to podcast here: What Home Means To Us

At the podcast project's completion, students presented their work at a listening party attended by a Council Member, business leaders, and community neighbors. A reporter from the Times Ledger had come as well and interviewed the students. Yet aside from the public attention it garnered, which is an experience to write about itself, students shared that the level of emotion displayed by the podcast's listeners, helped them choose a story that would work as a college essay. Both students, Manal and Tenzin, were accepted into their top choice colleges, the Macaulay Honors Program at Baruch College and New York University respectively.

Students: creating a podcast is one of many ways to mine for college essay topics. I have included a list of other creative ways students can start brainstorming for the college essay:

• #1: Gather a group of friends and make a 45-minute reality TV show episode. Post to YouTube for comments.

• #2: Instagram photos of your favorite things with #essay.

• #3: Sing an apology song to a person you are angry with. Say everything you are feeling and wish you had the nerve to say.

• #4: Make a timeline that represents your life. Create 128 character Facebook or Twitter status updates to cut, paste, and attach next to each event.

• #5: Write a segment for the MTV show "When I Was 17" about your life as it is now, at 17. Watch here for ideas.

• #6: Write on strips of paper everything that you want to do before high school graduation and throw in a paper cup. Make a plan for how to achieve at least 2 over the next semester. Find and follow posts tagged #highschoolbucketlist. 

• #7: List 5 places you want to visit, then head to Virtual Tourist to explore. Don't forget to keep a travel journal of interesting finds.

• #8: Write a letter to your 22 year old self. Seal and stamp. Ask your parents to mail the letter back to you before college graduation. It will be interesting to see how much you have changed five years later.

I am happy to help students write their college essays. Try some or all of the above creative college essay topic brainstorming ideas. Please share your thoughts here or on my Facebook Fan page.