Essays

Cliché College Essay Topics

A Breakdown of Overused Topics & How to Make Them Original

Cliché College Essay Topics & How To Make Them Original
2025/10/02

Lauren P.

Head of Essay Mentoring @ Crimson

Summary

Cliché college essays rely on overused themes like competitions, tragedies, moving abroad, or cultural identity without reflection. The key is not avoiding these topics altogether, but reframing them with personal insights, small specific moments, and authentic voice. Exercises and examples throughout show how to transform broad, predictable stories into essays that feel original and memorable.

When I work with students, I can instantly see the temptation to want to write about their education projects in West Africa or how they felt defeated after coming in second place at an international robotics competition. The desire to “prove I am good enough” often takes students down a path where cliché topics become the default mode for essay writing. 
While most students want to stand out by “highlighting the big moments,” the best essays work by leaning into the most ordinary and unexpected experiences  that move us, challenge us and push us to grow. Let’s explore what a cliché is so we know how to stay away from the common ones!

What makes a topic cliché?

A topic becomes cliché when it is so common or overused that it no longer helps admissions officers distinguish one student from another. These essays often focus on predictable lessons (like “hard work pays off” or “I learned to be resilient”) without showing personal depth or fresh perspective. Let’s look at a couple of classic examples.
Example

Learning the power of hard work through a triathlon.

What makes it cliche? 

The lesson is expected and doesn’t feel particularly unique or  personal for the student. Because so many people could say they “learned the power of hard work,” the lesson feels broad and impersonal instead of showing us something specific about them."

How could you make this idea less cliché? 

Focus on one aspect of the statement and personalize it. For example, you could say something like: “Hard work in the triathlon showed me that the final stretch was less about resistance and pushing through and more about leaning into the power of trusting myself.” 

What makes this sentence less cliché? 

Hard work is now broken down into a more personal reflection where the key takeaways are not broad and generic but more specific to an individual experience. 
Choosing the right topic gives you the chance to turn an average essay into an exceptional story, while choosing a cliché topic puts you at risk of falling into a pitfall before you even begin writing.
We often talk about staying away from “cliché language” but cliché ideas are just as dangerous to a personal statement. If you look at the following topics and say “guilty” that's okay! 
Starting with a cliché idea isn’t the same thing as ending with one. We’ll go through together how to shape your essays into more personalized reflections.
Exercise: Breaking Down a Broad Lesson

Take a cliché lesson (e.g., “hard work pays off”). Write one sentence about what it actually looked or felt like for you. Then ask: “What was surprising about this moment?”

7 Cliché College Essay Topics (and How to Fix Them)

Essays About Competitions

Sports and competition essays are among the most overused college essay topics. These topics are often boring, self-centered, devoid of insight, and centered around an experience most likely covered in another part of the application.
The personal statement doesn’t require you to “prove your worth” but rather asks you to go deep and show us beyond the awards and competitions, who you are. 
Let’s take a look at “competition cliches” from students and analyze why they don’t work. 
Making Competition Essays Original and How to Fix Them

Here are a few questions that you can begin asking yourself to take you away from the cliché narratives surrounding competitions.

  • Did something catch your eye on the way to the competition?

  • Did you have a thought en route that meant something to you?

  • Unless it is something surprising and unexpected that caught your eye, avoid the “I won the national robotics competition” essays.

These work  because it is focused less on the competition itself and more on the experiences you had surrounding it. If you are looking for an example on how to fix a competition cliché, let’s check out this example together from a student I worked with. 

Cliché Competition Essay

I struggled at the International Mathematics Olympiad but cam back a second time stronger than before.

And here's how we made it sound less cliché:

Fixed Reflection

Strength for me became a moment of quiet that I learned on the late night bus rides back home. Whether it was leaning into the silence before I worked on a math problem set or supporting my friend Max who let disappointment overshadow the joy of learning, strength became a muscle I worked to grow

Exercise: Beyond the Competition

Write down one competition you’ve been part of. Now list three details outside the results (e.g., bus ride home, a teammate’s words, a private thought). Use those details as your starting point.

“Tragic” Essays

While there is nothing wrong per se about stories that demonstrate overcoming adversity, focusing only on the “challenging experience” itself does not lead to the uniquely developed insights needed for the personal statement.
If we only focus on the adversity, we don’t have space or room to highlight  the thoughts, feelings and complexity of the story that’s driving you. It can also come across as a “plea for sympathy” if the essay reads as if it is a list of the worst things that ever happened to you.
Examples of Cliché Tragic Essay Topics

  • Loss of a pet

  • Sports injuries

  • Moving schools

The problem isn’t the topic itself, it’s when the writing stops at describing the pain. To make these essays work, ask yourself:
Did the experience challenge me to see the world in a new way?
Did it change my point of view in an unexpected way?
Can I lean into my unique thoughts and feelings instead of retelling the event?
Let's check out this example from another student I worked with.

Cliché Tragedy Essay

When my dog Bruno died I knew life wouldn't be the same ever again.

And here's how we reframed it:

Fixed Reflection

Bruno's death showed me that something that can truly change us for the better doesn't have to last forever. There is power in both the experience of love and letting go.

Exercise: Shifting Perspective on Loss

Write the story of a loss or hardship in 5 sentences. Then, in 3 new sentences, explain how the event changed the way you see the world, not just how it made you feel.

“Know It All” Essays

I know we all ask ourselves, “What will admissions officers think?” “Do I need to impress them?” Surprisingly, in personal statements, what works is avoiding writing for what someone may think, in pursuit of bringing your unapologetic voice to the page.
The coolest thing you can do in this essay is to avoid any attempt at looking cool. We don’t need to know how many AP courses you’ve taken, medals you’ve won or your GPA. Show the admissions officers surprising insights, unexpected connections and reflections personal to you and you’ll be doing so much more. 
Avoid the “Know-It-All” Trap

  • Bring in unexpected connections or surprise reflections

  • Show me your depth through your insights and empathy

  • Focus on the small moment rather than “profound declarations”

Let’s look at why this “know-it-all” essays fall flat and how we fixed it to move them toward genuine insight. The strongest writing avoids résumé-speak and instead focuses on curiosity, wonder, and humility.

Cliché Know It All Essay

I took everything I learned from the work I did in marine conservation and created the first community conservation program in South Africa.

How we fixed this essay:
Replace achievements with reflections: show how you were shaped, not just what you did
Shift from scale (“first in South Africa”) to significance (“what it meant to you”)
Use curiosity and wonder instead of self-promotion
Let humility and honesty lead the way

Fixed Reflection

Seeing the freedom and community I felt in the bush inspired not only know I sought to connect with people, but also how I applied that same sense of freedom to my work in conservation.

Exercise: Depth over Declarations

Write one sentence bragging about something you accomplished (e.g., “I was captain of my debate team”). Now rewrite it to focus on what changed in you during that experience. Compare the two versions, does the second feel more personal?

Essays About Charities

These essays can come across as Savior-y and braggy. There’s always someone who did more or raised more. Often, the insight is limited to a “realization” of how much good the student’s work can do, or how much other people are suffering.
They also fall into the trap of focusing on other people’s experiences rather than your own. The likelihood of someone else “doing the same” is significantly higher than someone else “thinking the same” so focusing on your unique thoughts, feelings and experiences will help you stand out.
It would also require you to be very mindful of your privilege and positionality to reduce the risk of the “helping” narrative. 
How to Talk About Charities

  • Don’t make it the main narrative of the essay

  • Integrate impact work as an example of the key lessons of the essay instead of making it the sole focus of your lesson

  • Share what didn’t work

Let’s look at why charity-focused essays often fall into clichés and how to redirect them.

Cliché Charity Essay Example

My volunteer work in Bali inspired me to see the importance of service in helping others.

The key is to avoid centering the essay on what you did for others and instead explore what the experience taught you about yourself.

Fixed Reflection

I began to see that service is less about helping others and more rooted in connection, community, and the stories we share with each other.

Exercise: Redefining Service

Write one sentence about what your service work did for others. Then, write one sentence about what it changed in you. Circle the second sentence that’s the heart of your essay.

“Thesaurus” Essays

There is power in simplicity. Depth is needed in the richness of  insight, quality of thought and connection of the ideas.
Proving how “smart you are” through the essay does nothing to make admissions officers see your intelligence. 
How to Stay Away From the “Thesaurus” Essays
  • Think of the personal statement as a “diary entry with reflection”
  • Ask yourself: Does your work actually sound like the real you ? The you that speaks when you’re not trying to “impress” anyone?
Let’s examine how “thesaurus” essays weaken impact, and how a simpler, more personal style can create a stronger impression.

Cliche “Thesaurus” Essay

The ineffable magnitude of my peregrination illuminated the quintessence of resilience, proving my indomitable spirit against insurmountable odds.

This sounds impressive on the surface, but it tells us almost nothing personal and it feels more like a thesaurus entry than a real student’s voice.

Fixed Reflection

Hearing the words “You are throwing your life away” from a teacher you admire is a devastating blow. I have trained with Ms. Marina, my Russian ballet teacher, since I was eight years old. Our relationship is complex: a mother-daughter-like bond with an intense twist. Despite her unattainable expectations and cold, intimidating eyes, she has always been protective of me. She placed her hopes and dreams in my future, expecting me to follow the path she did as a young ballerina in communist Russia

In this introduction, there is no pretense, fancy adjectives or overly inflated description. It is simple yet emotionally powerful (with Harvard and Stanford also agreeing!) We feel like we are with Taylor and sense the tension for her.
Exercise: Simplify Your Sentences

Take one sentence from your draft that uses “fancy” vocabulary. Rewrite it in the simplest language possible, as if you were telling a friend. Ask yourself: does the simpler version reveal more about me?

“I Moved to Another Country” Essay

Whether it is heading to a boarding school or a mid-school move with your family, the “I had to get out of my comfort zone” in a new cultural context doesn’t work. This is a topic that lacks a sense of uniqueness to the student and is often overused.
The student is also put in a position where the depth of analysis from the topic leads to minimal personal insight or reflection! We need to go beyond “cultural newness” to really focus on what part of the experience most greatly impacted you. 
How to Go Beyond the “I Moved Essay”

  • Was there a part of the move, a moment in the transition that marked something meaningful for you beyond “the move itself” ?

  • If the move can be centered around a larger question, exploration or narrative beyond the challenges of “traveling abroad” it can be a workable narrative!

  • Center around the small moments rather than larger narratives that are harder to pull reflections from!

Cliché Moving Abroad Essay

I moved to a boarding school in Switzerland and was forced to go outside my comfort zone.

How we fixed it by going beyond just moving to Switzerland for boarding school:

Fixed Reflection

Ritual became a key part of how I created a new community, bringing together some of my favorite moments from back home that I never expected to share.

Exercise: Beyond the Move

List three moments after your move that shaped you (e.g. a ritual you started, a surprising realization, a conversation that stayed with you). Choose one to explore, that’s where your essay becomes personal.

“I Have a Unique Cultural Identity” Essays

Identity itself presents an opportunity for deep reflection, but just centering an entire essay around the experience of a singular identity lacks some of the nuances and depth found in more multidimensional topics.
Keep in mind that what makes you unique is how you personally experience and have lived through your identity!
To make identity essays work, shift the focus from “this is my culture” to “this is how my culture shaped my thoughts, values, or experiences.”
Ask Yourself

  • Am I just describing facts, or am I reflecting on how I lived them?

  • Could thousands of other students write this essay in the same way?

  • What personal story or metaphor can make my identity essay unmistakably mine?

Common PitfallsBetter Approach
Describing cultural background without reflectionExploring a lived experience shaped by culture
Writing something that could apply to thousands of studentsFocusing on a personal, specific moment or metaphor
Framing identity as a label onlyConnecting identity to values, healing, or unique perspective

A Unique Cultural Identity Essay that works

Frustrated. In a moment of desperation, I recalled the Hindu hymns my father and I once recited every evening, a ritual that provided solace and connection before his injuries. I suggested we resume this practice, hoping to bring a semblance of peace to our fractured lives. As the hymns filled our home, they acted like a balm for our spirits, fostering an atmosphere of healing. With each recitation, I witnessed a gradual easing of my father's pain and in turn, my own - though the scars of my “Ec

Instead of centering the essay around his Hindu identity,  this essay connects identity to the  theme of both healing and the Eczema metaphor. It presents the identity in a way that feels deeply personal to the student and is not something that could have been experienced by millions of other people.
Exercise: Lived Identity Drill

Write one sentence describing your identity (e.g. “I am Hindu,” “I am Mexican-American”). Then, write three sentences about a moment or metaphor that shows how you experience that identity. Use the second version as your essay seed.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, it’s not the prompt or the “big achievement” that admissions officers will remember—it’s the way you reflect on it. You are the protagonist of your own story, and the depth of your insights is what sets you apart. Beyond medals and résumés, what matters most is how your mind makes meaning of the world and how you choose to share that truth.

Editor

Lauren P.

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