Posted July 29, 2025 by EdTech Classroom college-admissions

How to Make Your College Essay Stand Out (Without Sounding Like Everyone Else)

If you’ve ever worried that your college essay sounds like a thousand others, you’re not alone. With thousands of students applying to the same schools, often with similar GPAs, test scores, and extracurriculars, your personal essay is one of the few places where your voice can shine.

But how do you make your essay stand out without trying too hard or sounding like someone you’re not?

The key is simple but powerful: authenticity.

In this blog post, we’ll help you avoid common pitfalls, embrace your unique story, and write an essay that reflects who you are.

The Most Overused College Essay Topics & Common Pitfalls

Before we dive into what makes a great essay, let’s talk about what admissions officers often see again and again.

These topics aren’t bad necessarily. They’re just frequently done in a predictable or surface-level way.

Listing your accomplishments instead of telling a story
Sports injury or comeback story that taught you perseverance
Mission trip or service week that opened your eyes to inequality
Inspirational family member stories where the focus is on someone else
Academic pressure, such as late-night study sessions that led to an academic breakthrough or familial expectations to pursue a specific path
Winning or losing a major competition

Listing your accomplishments instead of telling a story

This kind of essay reads like a résumé in paragraph form. Admissions officers already see your achievements in the Activities section. They don’t need a full rehash. Without a story, reflection, or personal insight, the essay lacks depth and feels impersonal.

Sports injury or comeback story that taught you perseverance

While perseverance is a great quality, this storyline is extremely common and often predictable. Many students write about tearing an ACL, missing a season, and learning to push through adversity. Unless there’s a unique angle or emotional depth, it can feel formulaic and forgettable.

Mission trip or service week that opened your eyes to inequality

These essays often unintentionally center the student’s moment of realization rather than the people or community being served. They can come across as surface-level or self-congratulatory if they focus more on the student’s personal growth than on sustained engagement or reflection.

And if you do choose to focus fully on the community you’re serving, the admissions officer won’t really learn anything about you anyways. So in my eyes, it’s sort of a lose-lose.

Inspirational family member stories where the focus is on someone else

Writing about a parent, grandparent, or mentor can be meaningful, but these essays often spend too much time praising someone else. These essays then end up not showing how you have changed, grown, or think differently as a result.

Admissions officers want to learn about you, not just someone you admire.

Academic pressure, such as late-night study sessions or family expectations

Essays about academic stress or pressure to succeed are deeply relatable, but they’re also very common. Unless the story reveals a unique internal conflict, change in mindset, or unexpected takeaway, it may blend in with hundreds of similar essays.

Winning or losing a major competition

Whether it’s a robotics championship or a state championship game, many essays follow the same arc: working hard, facing a challenge, and experiencing either triumph or disappointment. What’s often missing is a deeper insight beyond the event. To avoid this pitfall, elaborate on how the event shaped your identity, redefined success, or changed your goals.

What Makes a College Essay Stand Out?

When students sit down to write their college essays, many think, “What do admissions officers want to hear?” But that’s the wrong question.

A better one is, “What can I share that no one else could?”

Your voice isn’t just your writing style. It’s the way you see the world, the connections you make, and the things you notice and care about.

When you write with honesty, vulnerability, and specificity, your essay stands out because it feels real.

1. Be Authentic

This is my absolute biggest advice…

Choose a topic that is actually authentic to you. Make sure you’re choosing a topic you actually care about.

Authenticity means:

Owning your perspective, even if it’s imperfect
Writing like you speak, not like a formal report
Being honest about your fears, questions, and growth

2. Start with a Hook

Start your essay in the middle of a moment. Instead of opening with a summary, drop the reader right into a scene.

“The matcha whisk clinked against the bowl as I tried not to mess it up again. I’d watched at least ten YouTube tutorials, but my froth still fell flat.”

Now we’re curious. What are you making? Why does it matter? You’ve drawn us in with a small but specific detail. Something only you could describe.

“I walked onstage in the wrong costume, for the wrong scene, and just kept going.”

The reader wants to know how the story ends. This introduction is playful and intriguing.

“At 2:17 a.m., my code finally ran without errors. I almost didn’t believe it. I just stared at the blinking cursor before texting my robotics team a string of dancing robot emojis.”

This introduction hints at frustration, while also showing excitement and determination. Plus, it suggests an intellectual journey ahead.

3. Focus on the “why” behind your story

Your experience is the setup. Your insight is the payoff. Don’t just describe what happened. Show (or tell) us what it meant.

How did this event/story/experience change your perspective?
What did you learn about yourself?
Why does this memory or moment still stick with you?

4. Show Don’t (Just) Tell

Show Don’t Tell is a common cliché in English class. And it’s for a good reason.

Essays that show rather than tell are always more effective.

For example, if you want to say you’re curious, creative, or resilient, don’t just write those words. Show us a moment that proves it. Use scenes, dialogue, and sensory details to help the reader experience what you lived through:

Telling: “I was nervous but confident when I stepped on stage.”
Showing: “My palms were sweating, but I kept my gaze on the mic. One breath, then another. Then I began to sing.”

When it comes to a college essay, I honestly believe it’s OK to tell a little, as long as you’re showing 80% of the time. Here’s my recommended formula:

80% Showing (through vivid scenes, dialogue, or sensory detail) draws the reader in and makes your experience feel real.
20% Telling gives you space to reflect, explain your growth, or connect the story to who you are today.

Too much showing without any telling can leave the reader wondering, “So what does this mean?”

Too much telling without showing feels like a lecture or a résumé.

Try to find the right balance for your essay. A balanced approach might look like this:

Show: “The third time I missed the bus, I sat on the curb with my backpack unzipped, papers spilling onto the sidewalk.”
Tell (reflect): “It was the first time I realized I couldn’t keep juggling everything without slowing down.”

5. Show Some Personality

If you love snail mail, collect ticket stubs, or name your plants after Greek philosophers, include those details (when relevant). The things that might seem small are often what make you memorable.

How to Know if Your College Essay is Authentic

Does your college essay stand out? Is it cliché? Is it unique?

Here’s a quick checklist:

Could someone else replace your name and submit this essay? If yes, rewrite. If no, you’re on the right track!
Do your friends or teachers say, “This sounds like you” when they read it? If no, rewrite. If yes, you’re on the right track!
Does it reflect your personality, values, and how you think? If no, rewrite. If yes, you’re on the right track!
Are you proud of the story, even if it feels a little vulnerable? If no, rewrite. If yes, you’re on the right track!