Your college essay is your moment to shine. A great topic shows who you are, tells a gripping story, and sticks with admissions officers. But how do you pick a topic that’s "good enough"? We studied over 27,000 Ivy League-admitted essays to find out what works. In this blog, we’ll share a simple way to check if your topic is strong, a tool to spark killer ideas, and five types of topics that win over admissions teams.
A strong topic shows your personality and growth. Data shows 84% of admissions officers say essays are a big deal for borderline applicants. Skip generic stories. Evaluate your essay topic on the following checklist:
Authenticity: A simple yardstick is, “Am I excited to write about this topic, or am I choosing it because I think colleges will love it?” The latter often leads to a weak essay.
Impact: Can I demonstrate objective evidence in the topic, like a specific moment, that shows growth or substantiates my claims?
Storytelling: Can I develop an interesting story with unique insights, strong arguments, or showcased achievements?
Uniqueness: How many times have I heard this story? The topic has to be unique.
Score It: Rate each 1–5 (5 = excellent). A score of 16+ out of 20 means your topic is a winner.
These five topic types, from 27,000+ Ivy essays, check all four boxes and get noticed:
Quiet Passion
What: A niche interest showing your curiosity.
Example: Tracking sewer grates, sparking a love for urban planning.
Meaningful Object
What: An embarrassing moment that shaped you.
Example: An old, tattered recipe card from Grandma
Awkward Moment
What: An embarrassing moment that shaped you.
Example: A cringe Instagram post that taught confidence.
Small Failure
What: A minor mistake with a big lesson.
Example: Forgetting play lines but learning to improvise.
Creative Fix
What: A unique solution to an odd problem.
Example: Teaching coding with Taylor Swift lyrics.
Stuck? Try the topic brainstorming tool here. It's fun and will help you brainstorm essay topics that shine.
These are overdone topics:
Dead grandparents.
Sports Injuries
Travel and mission trips
Academic challenges
In sum, a college essay topic must be authentic, impactful, story-driven, and unique. Evaluate it yourself with our 4-step checklist. If you’re stuck, use GradGPT’s tool as a crutch to find a killer topic. Try our 5 topic archetypes for inspiration. All the best
