Best College Essay Topics: 50 Prompts to Try

ByBest Admissions Counseling

Are you struggling to start your college essays? Finding a topic is often the hardest part, so we’ve put together a list of brainstorming questions to help you get started.

Great College Essay Topics — 50 Questions to Get You Started

Here are fifty idea-generating questions to help you brainstorm compelling college essay topics:

Personal Growth & Challenges

  • What’s a moment when you completely changed your mind about something important?
  • What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make, and what did it teach you?
  • When have you failed at something, and how did you respond?
  • What’s a fear you’ve overcome or are working to overcome?
  • What assumption about yourself have you had to unlearn?

Identity & Background

  • What’s a tradition in your family or culture that has shaped who you are?
  • How has your hometown or neighborhood influenced your perspective?
  • What’s something about your identity that people often misunderstand?
  • What language, dialect, or way of speaking is important to your sense of self?
  • What’s a stereotype about a group you belong to that doesn’t fit you—or does?

Relationships & Community

  • Who is someone unexpected who changed your perspective on life?
  • What’s a conversation that altered the way you see the world?
  • How have you contributed to your family in a meaningful way?
  • What’s a time you stood up for someone else?
  • Who do you disagree with regularly, and what have you learned from them?

Intellectual Curiosity

  • What question are you trying to answer through your learning?
  • What topic could you talk about for hours without getting bored?
  • What’s something you taught yourself, and why?
  • What book, article, or idea challenged your thinking?
  • What problem in the world bothers you most, and why?

Creativity & Expression

  • What do you create, and what does the process mean to you?
  • When do you feel most like yourself?
  • What’s your most unusual hobby or interest?
  • What’s something you do that people find surprising?
  • How do you express yourself when words aren’t enough?

Values & Beliefs

  • What’s a principle you refuse to compromise on?
  • What injustice have you witnessed that you can’t stop thinking about?
  • What does success mean to you, and has that definition changed?
  • What’s something you believe that most people disagree with?
  • What tradition or norm do you think should be changed?

Experiences & Moments

  • What’s an ordinary moment that had extraordinary meaning for you?
  • What’s the most out-of-place you’ve ever felt, and what happened?
  • When did you feel most alive?
  • What’s a risk you took that didn’t go as planned?
  • What’s a responsibility you have that has shaped your character?

Skills & Passions

  • What skill are you proud of that won’t appear on your resume?
  • What do you do when you need to think clearly?
  • What activity makes you lose track of time?
  • What’s something you’ve worked on for years?
  • What would you do if you had a completely free day?

Future & Aspirations

  • What change do you want to make in the world, and why?
  • What kind of person do you want to become?
  • What scares you most about your future, and what excites you most?
  • What problem do you want to spend your life solving?
  • How do you want people to remember you?

Unique Perspectives

  • What’s something everyone else seems to find easy that you find difficult?
  • What everyday thing fascinates you that others take for granted?
  • What’s a small thing you do that reveals something important about you?
  • What’s a lesson you learned somewhere unexpected? 50. If you could show admissions officers one day of your life, which would you choose and why?

Tips for Brainstorming College Essay Topics

  • You don’t need to address every one of these questions — just focus on the ones that are most interesting to you.
  • Don’t settle for surface-level thoughts. Keep asking yourself “why?” or “so what?” to push your observations deeper.
  • Use specifics! Whether it means doing some research into which programs you’re interested in at a given school or focusing on recounting an event you remember well rather than one you’ve mostly forgotten, make sure you can flesh out your topic with details.
  • Don’t get trapped into thinking there’s a “right answer.” College essays are about helping admissions officers understand you better as a person, and often a a focused topic that you have a lot to say about will achieve that better than a seemingly impressive one that you don’t actually care about.

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