"Offbeat" Essay Topics

As a junior myself, I have begun to look into essay prompts for the class of 2015 application cycle at top schools. Here are some unique examples, mostly from very elite colleges, which have proven especially challenging for applicants and interesting for admissions officers.

Of note are the questions that are distinctively open ended, mostly from more intellectual places like Chicago or Tufts which thrive on their obscure, creative, engaging insights into what would otherwise be fairly flat topics.

Elite colleges require such unique essays for a number of reasons:

First, they want to weed out students sending generic essays to multiple schools (i.e. "I would love to attend _____ institution because _____" or "I have influenced my community because ____") and simply changing out the college names with the "replace" function on Microsoft Word. Students who aren't committed in the application process to writing 4, 5, or even 10 serious supplemental essays can thus be quickly weeded out by generic or underdeveloped responses to such interesting, fundamental questions.

In addition to demonstrating applicant commitment, these interesting essays provide the only insight into how applicants think and what new things people will pursue in college rather than simply assessing what they have done or who they are- things which are already demonstrated through the generic Common Application essays.


1. How do you feel about Wednesday? (University of Chicago, 2002)

This topic was inspired by a student. However, it was optional. Students did not have to share their thoughts on Wednesday if they did not feel comfortable doing so.

2. What outrages you? (Wake Forest, 2009)

For most students? Questions like this one. We think admissions officers are looking for a particular answer, like "genocide." Wake Forest claims they just want to know the real you, but they're just being obnoxious.

3. Write a haiku, limerick, or short poem that best represents you. (NYU, 2009)

Oh please, NYU
College essays are stressful
Don't make me do this.

4. In the year 2050, a movie is being made of your life. Please tell us the name of your movie and briefly summarize the story line. (NYU, 2009)

College admissions officers like to throw in "fun" questions like this to relieve a bit of the stress high school seniors face while applying to college. I don't think it's working.

5. What is college for? (Hampshire College, 2009)

Small liberal arts colleges like to pose deceptively simple questions like this one. I'd probably come up with something cheesy about forming close personal bonds and broadening myself intellectually.

6. Are we alone? (Tufts, 2009)

This question is one of several options for prospective Tufts students this year. I'm wondering how most people will interpret this one -- I immediately thought of extraterrestrial life. In any case, I'm betting most students will pick a more generic essay that involves less thinking.

7. Make a bold prediction about something in the year 2020 that no one else has made a bold prediction about. (University of Virginia, 1999)

UVa is another college that offers several interesting optional essays each year. Colleges claim they truly are optional and you won't be penalized for not doing them.

8. Write a short story using one of the following titles: a.) House of Cards, b.)The Poor Sport, c.) Drama at the Prom, d.) Election Night, 2044, e.) The Getaway. (Tufts, 2009)

This is an unusual essay, as it's asking for something fictional. But I'd imagine any prospective creative writing majors would be quite happy to pen a short story rather than a revealing nonfiction essay.

9. How did you get caught? (Or not caught, as the case may be.) (Chicago, 2009)

I had to include another UChicago one -- they're just so odd. This university likes to use offbeat questions because it draws in a different kind of student -- a bit eclectic and intellectual -- which is just what Chicago is looking for.

10. You have just completed your 300-page autobiography. Please submit Page 217. (UPenn, 2009)

This topic was popularized by UPenn in the '80s, and many other colleges have adopted it over the years. There's a (possibly apocryphal) anecdote about a father who called an admissions officer to ask if his son could send his essay in late, as he wouldn't have time to finish his 300-page autobiography before deadline.

The full article appeared on CNN's college admissions page on November 19, 2009.

Relections on "Prospectives from Dartmouth Admissions"

I recently came upon this blog hosted by the Dartmouth admissions staff that is constantly updated with insightful reminders crucial to the sanity of anyone working or applying for college admissions.

An Assistant Dean gave the following synthesis of the process through a college's eyes, and I believe these are sincere attempts to explain the process honestly.














She seeks the approach that most students want to believe - that admissions isn't all about the numbers, but does so in a new light. Rather than vaguely bumbling out phrases such as "holistic view" or "character", Caroline breaks it down in to five important questions she asks before reading a Dartmouth application.

As I read your application, I am thinking about five basic questions:

1. What opportunities have been available to this applicant?
2. What are the things that matter most to him/her?
3. Given these two, what choices has he/she made?
4. What are the applicant's successes?
5. How has he/she had an impact on others?

This is a refreshing call to action for students to analyze their own applications objectively according to the criteria suggested in Caroline's questions. One key word - objective - implies a new clarity to the situation that will greatly help students assess their chances for admission and become stronger applicants.

The blog can be found at:
http://dartmouthperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-can-i-improve-my-chance-of.html