topics for personal essays for college

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College Essays

Most colleges and universities in the United States require applicants to submit at least one essay as part of their application. But trying to figure out what college essay topics you should choose is a tricky process. There are so many potential things you could write about!

In this guide, we go over the essential qualities that make for a great college essay topic and give you 50+ college essay topics you can use for your own statement . In addition, we provide you with helpful tips for turning your college essay topic into a stellar college essay.

What Qualities Make for a Good College Essay Topic?

Regardless of what you write about in your personal statement for college , there are key features that will always make for a stand-out college essay topic.

#1: It’s Specific

First off, good college essay topics are extremely specific : you should know all the pertinent facts that have to do with the topic and be able to see how the entire essay comes together.

Specificity is essential because it’ll not only make your essay stand out from other statements, but it'll also recreate the experience for admissions officers through its realism, detail, and raw power. You want to tell a story after all, and specificity is the way to do so. Nobody wants to read a vague, bland, or boring story — not even admissions officers!

For example, an OK topic would be your experience volunteering at a cat shelter over the summer. But a better, more specific college essay topic would be how you deeply connected with an elderly cat there named Marty, and how your bond with him made you realize that you want to work with animals in the future.

Remember that specificity in your topic is what will make your essay unique and memorable . It truly is the key to making a strong statement (pun intended)!

#2: It Shows Who You Are

In addition to being specific, good college essay topics reveal to admissions officers who you are: your passions and interests, what is important to you, your best (or possibly even worst) qualities, what drives you, and so on.

The personal statement is critical because it gives schools more insight into who you are as a person and not just who you are as a student in terms of grades and classes.

By coming up with a real, honest topic, you’ll leave an unforgettable mark on admissions officers.

#3: It’s Meaningful to You

The very best college essay topics are those that hold deep meaning to their writers and have truly influenced them in some significant way.

For instance, maybe you plan to write about the first time you played Skyrim to explain how this video game revealed to you the potentially limitless worlds you could create, thereby furthering your interest in game design.

Even if the topic seems trivial, it’s OK to use it — just as long as you can effectively go into detail about why this experience or idea had such an impact on you .

Don’t give in to the temptation to choose a topic that sounds impressive but doesn’t actually hold any deep meaning for you. Admissions officers will see right through this!

Similarly, don’t try to exaggerate some event or experience from your life if it’s not all that important to you or didn’t have a substantial influence on your sense of self.

#4: It’s Unique

College essay topics that are unique are also typically the most memorable, and if there’s anything you want to be during the college application process, it’s that! Admissions officers have to sift through thousands of applications, and the essay is one of the only parts that allows them to really get a sense of who you are and what you value in life.

If your essay is trite or boring, it won’t leave much of an impression , and your application will likely get immediately tossed to the side with little chance of seeing admission.

But if your essay topic is very original and different, you’re more likely to earn that coveted second glance at your application.

What does being unique mean exactly, though? Many students assume that they must choose an extremely rare or crazy experience to talk about in their essays —but that's not necessarily what I mean by "unique." Good college essay topics can be unusual and different, yes, but they can also be unique takes on more mundane or common activities and experiences .

For instance, say you want to write an essay about the first time you went snowboarding. Instead of just describing the details of the experience and how you felt during it, you could juxtapose your emotions with a creative and humorous perspective from the snowboard itself. Or you could compare your first attempt at snowboarding with your most recent experience in a snowboarding competition. The possibilities are endless!

#5: It Clearly Answers the Question

Finally, good college essay topics will clearly and fully answer the question(s) in the prompt.

You might fail to directly answer a prompt by misinterpreting what it’s asking you to do, or by answering only part of it (e.g., answering just one out of three questions).

Therefore, make sure you take the time to come up with an essay topic that is in direct response to every question in the prompt .

Take this Coalition Application prompt as an example:

What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What's the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

For this prompt, you’d need to answer all three questions (though it’s totally fine to focus more on one or two of them) to write a compelling and appropriate essay.

This is why we recommend reading and rereading the essay prompt ; you should know exactly what it’s asking you to do, well before you start brainstorming possible college application essay topics.

53 College Essay Topics to Get Your Brain Moving

In this section, we give you a list of 53 examples of college essay topics. Use these as jumping-off points to help you get started on your college essay and to ensure that you’re on track to coming up with a relevant and effective topic.

All college application essay topics below are categorized by essay prompt type. We’ve identified six general types of college essay prompts:

Why This College?

Change and personal growth, passions, interests, and goals, overcoming a challenge, diversity and community, solving a problem.

Note that these prompt types could overlap with one another, so you’re not necessarily limited to just one college essay topic in a single personal statement.

• How a particular major or program will help you achieve your academic or professional goals
• A memorable and positive interaction you had with a professor or student at the school
• Something good that happened to you while visiting the campus or while on a campus tour
• A certain class you want to take or a certain professor you’re excited to work with
• Some piece of on-campus equipment or facility that you’re looking forward to using
• Your plans to start a club at the school, possibly to raise awareness of a major issue
• A study abroad or other unique program that you can’t wait to participate in
• How and where you plan to volunteer in the community around the school
• An incredible teacher you studied under and the positive impact they had on you
• How you went from really liking something, such as a particular movie star or TV show, to not liking it at all (or vice versa)
• How yours or someone else’s (change in) socioeconomic status made you more aware of poverty
• A time someone said something to you that made you realize you were wrong
• How your opinion on a controversial topic, such as gay marriage or DACA, has shifted over time
• A documentary that made you aware of a particular social, economic, or political issue going on in the country or world
• Advice you would give to your younger self about friendship, motivation, school, etc.
• The steps you took in order to kick a bad or self-sabotaging habit
• A juxtaposition of the first and most recent time you did something, such as dance onstage
• A book you read that you credit with sparking your love of literature and/or writing
• A school assignment or project that introduced you to your chosen major
• A glimpse of your everyday routine and how your biggest hobby or interest fits into it
• The career and (positive) impact you envision yourself having as a college graduate
• A teacher or mentor who encouraged you to pursue a specific interest you had
• How moving around a lot helped you develop a love of international exchange or learning languages
• A special skill or talent you’ve had since you were young and that relates to your chosen major in some way, such as designing buildings with LEGO bricks
• Where you see yourself in 10 or 20 years
• Your biggest accomplishment so far relating to your passion (e.g., winning a gold medal for your invention at a national science competition)
• A time you lost a game or competition that was really important to you
• How you dealt with the loss or death of someone close to you
• A time you did poorly in a class that you expected to do well in
• How moving to a new school impacted your self-esteem and social life
• A chronic illness you battled or are still battling
• Your healing process after having your heart broken for the first time
• A time you caved under peer pressure and the steps you took so that it won't happen again
• How you almost gave up on learning a foreign language but stuck with it
• Why you decided to become a vegetarian or vegan, and how you navigate living with a meat-eating family
• What you did to overcome a particular anxiety or phobia you had (e.g., stage fright)
• A history of a failed experiment you did over and over, and how you finally found a way to make it work successfully
• Someone within your community whom you aspire to emulate
• A family tradition you used to be embarrassed about but are now proud of
• Your experience with learning English upon moving to the United States
• A close friend in the LGBTQ+ community who supported you when you came out
• A time you were discriminated against, how you reacted, and what you would do differently if faced with the same situation again
• How you navigate your identity as a multiracial, multiethnic, and/or multilingual person
• A project or volunteer effort you led to help or improve your community
• A particular celebrity or role model who inspired you to come out as LGBTQ+
• Your biggest challenge (and how you plan to tackle it) as a female in a male-dominated field
• How you used to discriminate against your own community, and what made you change your mind and eventually take pride in who you are and/or where you come from
• A program you implemented at your school in response to a known problem, such as a lack of recycling cans in the cafeteria
• A time you stepped in to mediate an argument or fight between two people
• An app or other tool you developed to make people’s lives easier in some way
• A time you proposed a solution that worked to an ongoing problem at school, an internship, or a part-time job
• The steps you took to identify and fix an error in coding for a website or program
• An important social or political issue that you would fix if you had the means

How to Build a College Essay in 6 Easy Steps

Once you’ve decided on a college essay topic you want to use, it’s time to buckle down and start fleshing out your essay. These six steps will help you transform a simple college essay topic into a full-fledged personal statement.

Step 1: Write Down All the Details

Once you’ve chosen a general topic to write about, get out a piece of paper and get to work on creating a list of all the key details you could include in your essay . These could be things such as the following:

• Emotions you felt at the time
• Names, places, and/or numbers
• Dialogue, or what you or someone else said
• A specific anecdote, example, or experience
• Descriptions of how things looked, felt, or seemed

If you can only come up with a few details, then it’s probably best to revisit the list of college essay topics above and choose a different one that you can write more extensively on.

Good college essay topics are typically those that:

• You remember well (so nothing that happened when you were really young)
• You're excited to write about
• You're not embarrassed or uncomfortable to share with others
• You believe will make you positively stand out from other applicants

Step 2: Figure Out Your Focus and Approach

Once you have all your major details laid out, start to figure out how you could arrange them in a way that makes sense and will be most effective.

It’s important here to really narrow your focus: you don’t need to (and shouldn’t!) discuss every single aspect of your trip to visit family in Indonesia when you were 16. Rather, zero in on a particular anecdote or experience and explain why and how it impacted you.

Alternatively, you could write about multiple experiences while weaving them together with a clear, meaningful theme or concept , such as how your math teacher helped you overcome your struggle with geometry over the course of an entire school year. In this case, you could mention a few specific times she tutored you and most strongly supported you in your studies.

There’s no one right way to approach your college essay, so play around to see what approaches might work well for the topic you’ve chosen.

If you’re really unsure about how to approach your essay, think about what part of your topic was or is most meaningful and memorable to you, and go from there.

Step 3: Structure Your Narrative

• Beginning: Don’t just spout off a ton of background information here—you want to hook your reader, so try to start in the middle of the action , such as with a meaningful conversation you had or a strong emotion you felt. It could also be a single anecdote if you plan to center your essay around a specific theme or idea.
• Middle: Here’s where you start to flesh out what you’ve established in the opening. Provide more details about the experience (if a single anecdote) or delve into the various times your theme or idea became most important to you. Use imagery and sensory details to put the reader in your shoes.
• End: It’s time to bring it all together. Finish describing the anecdote or theme your essay centers around and explain how it relates to you now , what you’ve learned or gained from it, and how it has influenced your goals.

Step 4: Write a Rough Draft

By now you should have all your major details and an outline for your essay written down; these two things will make it easy for you to convert your notes into a rough draft.

At this stage of the writing process, don’t worry too much about vocabulary or grammar and just focus on getting out all your ideas so that they form the general shape of an essay . It’s OK if you’re a little over the essay's word limit — as you edit, you’ll most likely make some cuts to irrelevant and ineffective parts anyway.

If at any point you get stuck and have no idea what to write, revisit steps 1-3 to see whether there are any important details or ideas you might be omitting or not elaborating on enough to get your overall point across to admissions officers.

Step 5: Edit, Revise, and Proofread

• Sections that are too wordy and don’t say anything important
• Irrelevant details that don’t enhance your essay or the point you're trying to make
• Parts that seem to drag or that feel incredibly boring or redundant
• Areas that are vague and unclear and would benefit from more detail
• Phrases or sections that are awkwardly placed and should be moved around
• Areas that feel unconvincing, inauthentic, or exaggerated

Start paying closer attention to your word choice/vocabulary and grammar at this time, too. It’s perfectly normal to edit and revise your college essay several times before asking for feedback, so keep working with it until you feel it’s pretty close to its final iteration.

This step will likely take the longest amount of time — at least several weeks, if not months — so really put effort into fixing up your essay. Once you’re satisfied, do a final proofread to ensure that it’s technically correct.

Step 6: Get Feedback and Tweak as Needed

After you’ve overhauled your rough draft and made it into a near-final draft, give your essay to somebody you trust , such as a teacher or parent, and have them look it over for technical errors and offer you feedback on its content and overall structure.

Use this feedback to make any last-minute changes or edits. If necessary, repeat steps 5 and 6. You want to be extra sure that your essay is perfect before you submit it to colleges!

Recap: From College Essay Topics to Great College Essays

Many different kinds of college application essay topics can get you into a great college. But this doesn’t make it any easier to choose the best topic for you .

In general, the best college essay topics have the following qualities :

• They’re specific
• They show who you are
• They’re meaningful to you
• They’re unique
• They clearly answer the question

If you ever need help coming up with an idea of what to write for your essay, just refer to the list of 53 examples of college essay topics above to get your brain juices flowing.

Once you’ve got an essay topic picked out, follow these six steps for turning your topic into an unforgettable personal statement :

• Write down all the details
• Figure out your focus and approach
• Structure your narrative
• Write a rough draft
• Edit, revise, and proofread
• Get feedback and tweak as needed

And with that, I wish you the best of luck on your college essays!

What’s Next?

Writing a college essay is no simple task. Get expert college essay tips with our guides on how to come up with great college essay ideas and how to write a college essay, step by step .

You can also check out this huge list of college essay prompts  to get a feel for what types of questions you'll be expected to answer on your applications.

Want to see examples of college essays that absolutely rocked? You're in luck because we've got a collection of 100+ real college essay examples right here on our blog!

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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160 Good Argumentative Essay Topics for Students in 2024

April 3, 2024

The skill of writing an excellent argumentative essay is a crucial one for every high school or college student to master. In sum, argumentative essays teach students how to organize their thoughts logically and present them in a convincing way. This skill is helpful not only for those pursuing degrees in law , international relations , or public policy , but for any student who wishes to develop their critical thinking faculties. In this article, we’ll cover what makes a good argument essay and offer several argumentative essay topics for high school and college students. Let’s begin!

What is an Argumentative Essay?

An argumentative essay is an essay that uses research to present a reasoned argument on a particular subject . As with the persuasive essay , the purpose of an argumentative essay is to sway the reader to the writer’s position. However, a strong persuasive essay makes its point through diligent research and emotion while a strong argumentative essay should be based solely on facts, not feelings.

Moreover, each fact should be supported by clear evidence from credible sources . Furthermore, a good argumentative essay will have an easy-to-follow structure. When organizing your argumentative essay, use this format as a guide:

• Introduction
• Supporting body paragraphs
• Paragraph(s) addressing common counterarguments

Argumentative Essay Format

In the introduction , the writer presents their position and thesis statement —a sentence that summarizes the paper’s main points. The body paragraphs then draw upon supporting evidence to back up this initial statement, with each paragraph focusing on its own point. The length of your paper will determine the amount of examples you need. In general, you’ll likely need at least two to three. Additionally, your examples should be as detailed as possible, citing specific research, case studies, statistics, or anecdotes.

In the counterargument paragraph , the writer acknowledges and refutes opposing viewpoints. Finally, in the conclusion , the writer restates the main argument made in the thesis statement and summarizes the points of the essay. Additionally, the conclusion may offer a final proposal to persuade the reader of the essay’s position.

How to Write an Effective Argumentative Essay, Step by Step

• Choose your topic. Use the list below to help you pick a topic. Ideally, a good argumentative essay topic will be meaningful to you—writing is always stronger when you are interested in the subject matter. In addition, the topic should be complex with plenty of “pro” and “con” arguments. Avoid choosing a topic that is either widely accepted as fact or too narrow. For example, “Is the earth round?” would not be a solid choice.
• Research. Use the library, the web, and any other resources to gather information about your argumentative essay topic. Research widely but smartly. As you go, take organized notes, marking the source of every quote and where it may fit in the scheme of your larger essay. Moreover, remember to look for (and research) possible counterarguments.
• Outline . Using the argument essay format above, create an outline for your essay. Then, brainstorm a thesis statement covering your argument’s main points, and begin to put your examples in order, focusing on logical flow. It’s often best to place your strongest example last.
• Write . Draw on your research and outline to create a first draft. Remember, your first draft doesn’t need to be perfect. (As Voltaire says, “Perfect is the enemy of good.”) Accordingly, just focus on getting the words down on paper.
• Does my thesis statement need to be adjusted?
• Which examples feel strongest? Weakest?
• Do the transitions flow smoothly?
• Do I have a strong opening paragraph?
• Does the conclusion reinforce my argument?

Tips for Revising an Argument Essay

Evaluating your own work can be difficult, so you might consider the following strategies:

• Read your work aloud to yourself.
• Record yourself reading your paper, and listen to the recording.
• Reverse outline your paper. Firstly, next to each paragraph, write a short summary of that paragraph’s main points/idea. Then, read through your reverse outline. Does it have a logical flow? If not, where should you adjust?
• Print out your paper and cut it into paragraphs. What happens when you rearrange the paragraphs?

Good Argumentative Essay Topics for Middle School, High School, and College Students

Family argumentative essay topics.

• Should the government provide financial incentives for families to have children to address the declining birth rate?
• Should we require parents to provide their children with a certain level of nutrition and physical activity to prevent childhood obesity?
• Should parents implement limits on how much time their children spend playing video games?
• Should cell phones be banned from family/holiday gatherings?
• Should we hold parents legally responsible for their children’s actions?
• Should children have the right to sue their parents for neglect?
• Should parents have the right to choose their child’s religion?
• Are spanking and other forms of physical punishment an effective method of discipline?
• Should courts allow children to choose where they live in cases of divorce?
• Should parents have the right to monitor teens’ activity on social media?
• Should parents control their child’s medical treatment, even if it goes against the child’s wishes?
• Should parents be allowed to post pictures of their children on social media without their consent?
• Should fathers have a legal say in whether their partners do or do not receive an abortion?
• Can television have positive developmental benefits on children?
• Should the driving age be raised to prevent teen car accidents?
• Should adult children be legally required to care for their aging parents?

Education Argument Essay Topics

• Should schools ban the use of technology like ChatGPT?
• Are zoos unethical, or necessary for conservation and education?
• To what degree should we hold parents responsible in the event of a school shooting?
• Should schools offer students a set number of mental health days?
• Should school science curriculums offer a course on combating climate change?
• Should public libraries be allowed to ban certain books? If so, what types?
• What role, if any, should prayer play in public schools?
• Should schools push to abolish homework?
• Are gifted and talented programs in schools more harmful than beneficial due to their exclusionary nature?
• Should universities do away with Greek life?
• Should schools remove artwork, such as murals, that some perceive as offensive?
• Should the government grant parents the right to choose alternative education options for their children and use taxpayer funds to support these options?
• Is homeschooling better than traditional schooling for children’s academic and social development?
• Should we require schools to teach sex education to reduce teen pregnancy rates?
• Should we require schools to provide sex education that includes information about both homosexual and heterosexual relationships?
• Should colleges use affirmative action and other race-conscious policies to address diversity on campus?
• Should public schools remove the line “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance?
• Should college admissions officers be allowed to look at students’ social media accounts?
• Should schools abolish their dress codes, many of which unfairly target girls, LGBTQ students, and students of color?
• Should schools be required to stock free period products in bathrooms?
• Should legacy students receive preferential treatment during the college admissions process?
• Are school “voluntourism” trips ethical?

Government Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should the U.S. decriminalize prostitution?
• Should the U.S. issue migration visas to all eligible applicants?
• Should the federal government cancel all student loan debt?
• Should we lower the minimum voting age? If so, to what?
• Should the federal government abolish all laws penalizing drug production and use?
• Should the U.S. use its military power to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan?
• Should the U.S. supply Ukraine with further military intelligence and supplies?
• Should the North and South of the U.S. split up into two regions?
• Should Americans hold up nationalism as a critical value?
• Should we permit Supreme Court justices to hold their positions indefinitely?
• Should Supreme Court justices be democratically elected?
• Is the Electoral College still a productive approach to electing the U.S. president?
• Should the U.S. implement a national firearm registry?
• Is it ethical for countries like China and Israel to mandate compulsory military service for all citizens?
• Should the U.S. government implement a ranked-choice voting system?
• Should institutions that benefited from slavery be required to provide reparations?
• Based on the 1619 project, should history classes change how they teach about the founding of the U.S.?
• Should term limits be imposed on Senators and Representatives? If so, how long?
• Should women be allowed into special forces units?
• Should the federal government implement stronger, universal firearm licensing laws?
• Do public sex offender registries help prevent future sex crimes?
• Should the government be allowed to regulate family size?
• Should all adults legally be considered mandated reporters?
• Should the government fund public universities to make higher education more accessible to low-income students?
• Should the government fund universal preschool to improve children’s readiness for kindergarten?

Health/Bioethics Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should the U.S. government offer its own healthcare plan?
• In the case of highly infectious pandemics, should we focus on individual freedoms or public safety when implementing policies to control the spread?
• Should we legally require parents to vaccinate their children to protect public health?
• Is it ethical for parents to use genetic engineering to create “designer babies” with specific physical and intellectual traits?
• Should the government fund research on embryonic stem cells for medical treatments?
• Should the government legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill patients?
• Should organ donation be mandatory?
• Is cloning animals ethical?
• Should cancer screenings start earlier? If so, what age?
• Is surrogacy ethical?
• Should birth control require a prescription?
• Should minors have access to emergency contraception?
• Should hospitals be for-profit or nonprofit institutions?

Good Argumentative Essay Topics — Continued

Social media argumentative essay topics.

• Should the federal government increase its efforts to minimize the negative impact of social media?
• Do social media and smartphones strengthen one’s relationships?
• Should antitrust regulators take action to limit the size of big tech companies?
• Should social media platforms ban political advertisements?
• Should the federal government hold social media companies accountable for instances of hate speech discovered on their platforms?
• Do apps such as TikTok and Instagram ultimately worsen the mental well-being of teenagers?
• Should governments oversee how social media platforms manage their users’ data?
• Should social media platforms like Facebook enforce a minimum age requirement for users?
• Should social media companies be held responsible for cases of cyberbullying?
• Should the United States ban TikTok?
• Is social media harmful to children?
• Should employers screen applicants’ social media accounts during the hiring process?

Religion Argument Essay Topics

• Should religious institutions be tax-exempt?
• Should religious symbols such as the hijab or crucifix be allowed in public spaces?
• Should religious freedoms be protected, even when they conflict with secular laws?
• Should the government regulate religious practices?
• Should we allow churches to engage in political activities?
• Religion: a force for good or evil in the world?
• Should the government provide funding for religious schools?
• Is it ethical for healthcare providers to deny abortions based on religious beliefs?
• Should religious organizations be allowed to discriminate in their hiring practices?
• Should we allow people to opt out of medical treatments based on their religious beliefs?
• Should the U.S. government hold religious organizations accountable for cases of sexual abuse within their community?
• Should religious beliefs be exempt from anti-discrimination laws?
• Should religious individuals be allowed to refuse services to others based on their beliefs or lifestyles? (As in this famous case .)
• Should the US ban religion-based federal holidays?
• Should public schools be allowed to teach children about religious holidays?

Science Argument Essay Topics

• Would the world be safer if we eliminated nuclear weapons?
• Should scientists bring back extinct animals? If so, which ones?
• Should we hold companies fiscally responsible for their carbon footprint?
• Should we ban pesticides in favor of organic farming methods?
• Should the federal government ban all fossil fuels, despite the potential economic impact on specific industries and communities?
• What renewable energy source should the U.S. invest more money in?
• Should the FDA outlaw GMOs?
• Should we worry about artificial intelligence surpassing human intelligence?
• Should the alternative medicine industry be more stringently regulated?
• Is colonizing Mars a viable option?
• Is the animal testing worth the potential to save human lives?

Sports Argument Essay Topics

• Should colleges compensate student-athletes?
• How should sports teams and leagues address the gender pay gap?
• Should youth sports teams do away with scorekeeping?
• Should we ban aggressive contact sports like boxing and MMA?
• Should professional sports associations mandate that athletes stand during the national anthem?
• Should high schools require their student-athletes to maintain a certain GPA?
• Should transgender athletes compete in sports according to their gender identity?
• Should schools ban football due to the inherent danger it poses to players?
• Should performance-enhancing drugs be allowed in sports?
• Do participation trophies foster entitlement and unrealistic expectations?
• Should sports teams be divided by gender?
• Should professional athletes be allowed to compete in the Olympics?
• Should women be allowed on NFL teams?

Technology Argumentative Essay Topics

• Should sites like DALL-E compensate the artists whose work it was trained on?
• Should the federal government make human exploration of space a more significant priority?
• Is it ethical for the government to use surveillance technology to monitor citizens?
• Should websites require proof of age from their users? If so, what age?
• Should we consider A.I.-generated images and text pieces of art?
• Does the use of facial recognition technology violate individuals’ privacy?
• Is online learning as effective as in-person learning?
• Does computing harm the environment?
• Should buying, sharing, and selling collected personal data be illegal?
• Are electric cars really better for the environment?
• Should car companies be held responsible for self-driving car accidents?
• Should private jets be banned?
• Do violent video games contribute to real-life violence?

Business Argument Essay Topics

• Should the U.S. government phase out the use of paper money in favor of a fully digital currency system?
• Should the federal government abolish its patent and copyright laws?
• Should we replace the Federal Reserve with free-market institutions?
• Is free-market ideology responsible for the U.S. economy’s poor performance over the past decade?
• Will cryptocurrencies overtake natural resources like gold and silver?
• Is capitalism the best economic system? What system would be better?
• Should the U.S. government enact a universal basic income?
• Should we require companies to provide paid parental leave to their employees?
• Should the government raise the minimum wage? If so, to what?
• Should antitrust regulators break up large companies to promote competition?
• Is it ethical for companies to prioritize profits over social responsibility?
• Should gig-economy workers like Uber and Lyft drivers be considered employees or independent contractors?
• Should the federal government regulate the gig economy to ensure fair treatment of workers?
• Should the government require companies to disclose the environmental impact of their products?
• Should companies be allowed to fire employees based on political views or activities?
• Should tipping practices be phased out?
• Should employees who choose not to have children be given the same amount of paid leave as parents?
• Should MLMs (multi-level marketing companies) be illegal?
• Should employers be allowed to factor tattoos and personal appearance into hiring decisions?

In Conclusion – Argument Essay Topics

Using the tips above, you can effectively structure and pen a compelling argumentative essay that will wow your instructor and classmates. Remember to craft a thesis statement that offers readers a roadmap through your essay, draw on your sources wisely to back up any claims, and read through your paper several times before it’s due to catch any last-minute proofreading errors. With time, diligence, and patience, your essay will be the most outstanding assignment you’ve ever turned in…until the next one rolls around.

Looking for more fresh and engaging topics for use in the classroom? You might consider checking out the following:

• 125 Good Debate Topics for High School Students
• 150 Good Persuasive Speech Topics
• 7 Best Places to Study
• Guide to the IB Extended Essay
• How to Write the AP Lang Rhetorical Analysis Essay
• AP Lit Reading List
• How to Write the AP Lang Synthesis Essay
• 49 Most Interesting Biology Research Topics
• High School Success

Lauren Green

With a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University and an MFA in Fiction from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, Lauren has been a professional writer for over a decade. She is the author of the chapbook  A Great Dark House  (Poetry Society of America, 2023) and a forthcoming novel (Viking/Penguin).

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100+ Personal Essay Topics For College And Writing Tips

Table of Contents

Looking for interesting personal essay writing ideas? We’ve got a bunch…

A personal essay is a typical assignment for high-school and college students. It’s a type of non-fiction that incorporates a variety of writing styles. Personal essay topics usually include real stories, experiences, and opinions of people.

Writers need to give an account of their own experience and express their thoughts on the subject of a paper. The key to success is to make an attempt to combine narration and opinion together. In this article, you will find a short writing guide and 100+ engaging personal essay topic ideas.

How to write personal essays?

Keep in mind that personal writing is always subjective. It is based on the writer’s observation, feelings, opinion, and experience. You are the speaker, so it’s quite natural to use such pronouns as I, my, me, we, and our.

First of all, most essay writing websites will say that you need to find a compelling topic. College personal essay topics include a lot of things.

Students may be asked to

• state their opinion about an issue
• document what they observed
• share a story
• give a description of an object, event, place, person
• relate a specific subject to their own life

Whatever theme you choose, it’s crucial to start an introduction of your paper with a strong hook to capture the audience’s attention. Introduce the subject in the first paragraph. Think about the main idea you want to communicate.

In the body of your paper, inform readers about the subject. It’s better to create an outline before to start writing. It will help you organize your thoughts, stay focused, and write clearly and concisely. Start each paragraph with a new idea. Show, don’t tell. Use strong verbs and include a lot of sensory details.

End with a thought-provoking conclusion. You need to explain what lesson you have learned, how your experience contributed to your development as a person and shaped your personality.

Why choose personal persuasive essay topics for writing

When writing on personal persuasive essay topics, writers must state their position or opinion on an issue and try to persuade people to accept their point of view, telling stories and appealing to their feelings and emotions.

That differs from elaborating on personal argumentative essay topics, when students have to support their point of view with strong arguments, reasons, relevant examples, appropriate illustrations, etc.

These types of papers are not easy to write as well as papers on personal cause and effect essay topics.

But there are important reasons why you may want to do that.

• You’ll improve communication and critical thinking skills .
• Challenging themes can help you stand out from the crowd.
• You will be able to demonstrate your creativity and ability to apply persuasive techniques.

… Can’t decide what idea to choose?

Here we have gathered a wide variety of moving ideas for your inspiration. Whether you need personal experience essay topics or personal narrative essay topics, we’ve got you covered.

Personal essay topics: what are they about?

You may write on any subject. Popular themes include hobbies, nature, childhood, illness, travel, making a difficult choice, learning something new, friends, family, and relationships.

You may use some personal challenge essay ideas and tell about overcoming an obstacle. Or you can buy argumentative essay if you don’t have time to work on college tasks tonight.

Actually, the subject is not as important as you think. Readers want to see your point of view that reveals your unique personality.

• How you met a special person in your life?
• A person you admire most.
• The best place in the local area.
• A place where you would like to live your whole life.
• Works of art you admire.
• The job of your dream.
• Your biggest disappointment.
• Books that made a great impression on you.
• What annoys you?
• Your family traditions.
• Are you addicted to technology?
• What modern songs inspire you?
• Could you live without money?
• Do you like commercials?
• What is your best method of studying?

Personal narrative essay topics

• Tell about your first trip abroad.
• The most unfortunate event ever happened to you.
• What happened during your first day at school?
• What is your first childhood memory?
• What is your most memorable family event?
• Did you experience failure?
• What games did you play when you were a child?
• The biggest challenge you have overcome.
• Do you remember your first birthday party?
• Tell how you learn something new.
• Have you ever encountered a wild animal?
• Tell about the first time you were home alone.
• How you cooked a meal for the first time?
• Tell how you helped someone.
• How you overcame fear?

Personal experience essay topics

• What things make you feel happy?
• How you came to healthy eating habits?
• How did you celebrate Christmas?
• Did you bring a stray animal home?
• How did you learn to drive?
• How you met a famous person?
• How did you learn something from enemies?
• Describe the accidents you witnessed.
• How you got hurt?
• Describe disastrous trips or vacations.
• Fantastic concerts you attended.
• Describe terrifying nightmares.
• Your reaction when provoked.
• Experience of being a leader.
• A friendship breakup experience.

Personal argumentative essay topics

• What could you live without?
• Why are you concerned about environmental issues?
• How much money do you need for happiness?
• What does your ethnic identity mean to you?
• Significance of personal growth.
• Male and female roles in your family.
• Your attitude to feminism.
• Explain what does it mean to be a Human.
• Most precious moments of your life.
• What is more critical: wealth or happiness?
• Your attitude to getting a tattoo.
• Is it important to be crazy about fashion?
• Your opinion on cosmetics surgery.
• Significance of healthy lifestyle choices.
• Your favourite holiday destinations.

College personal essay topics

• Have you been in love with someone?
• What is your life’s goal?
• What does success mean to you?
• How freedom matters in your life?
• How you leave the comfort zone?
• Things you appreciate in life.
• What things do you hate?
• How you met college roommates?
• Your plans on spending a gap year.
• How you got your first job?
• Describe intellectual challenges you would like to solve.
• What did you learn from failures?
• Outdoor activities you like most.
• Explain your commitments.
• What motivates you?

Personal persuasive essay topics

• Your opinion of distant learning and online education.
• Can listening to music help complete your homework faster?
• Can hobbies help in a future career?
• Is it ethical to buy products tested on animals?
• Why is volunteering important?
• Should drugs be banned?
• Your favourite restaurant everyone should visit.
• Things to do to help our world survive.
• How can we make the world a better place?
• Is it possible to avoid stress?
• Should zoos be forbidden?
• How online shopping makes me spend more money?
• Why I don’t smoke.
• Things I want to be doing when I become 85.
• Why do I recommend students to study abroad?

Personal cause and effect essay topics

• Why I don’t watch TV.
• Reasons I go in for sports.
• Effects of social media on the daily routine.
• How my failures make me stronger?
• Books that changed my world view.
• Reasons why I study computer science.
• Influence of my parents on my life choices.
• Importance of learning math for my future career.
• Effect of being a single child.
• How my pets make me a better person?
• Influence of regular exercise on my health and wellbeing.
• What makes me rebel against my parents?
• How did my parents help me to study?
• Why going to college made me an independent person?
• What caused my burn out?

Feel free to use our good personal essay topics for creating amazing pieces that will make a powerful impression on your readers and get you high grades.

Can’t grab your thoughts together and come up with a perfect personal essay? No worries! Our writers will do all the writing, while you enjoy your free time. Psst, it takes a few clicks only…

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Top 50 Personal Essay Topics

You might be set a personal essay as a criterion for your admission to college or it might be set at any time during your academic career. A personal essay is essentially a form of self-expression. It draws on other essay formats – like a narrative essay – but of all academic assignments it is the loosest and least dogmatic. It can be more prosaic than other more technical formats demand. Whatever form, at its core is the presentation of your experience or emotions. It is a time when you can find your muse and really express yourself in the written word.

• I went to college to say thank you to my parents
• How being bullied made me the person I am today
• William Blake is the poet I most admire
• My spirit of adventure
• How I propose to spend the long vacation
• Why I am taking a gap year
• What the “art of conversation” means to me
• Why I left Facebook
• I want to be able to drink legally before I’m 21
• How being in a band helped my leadership skills
• Why I chose a career in the medical field (or any other field)
• My first experience as a babysitter
• Becoming an older sister (or brother)
• I will be a lifelong learner
• My father (mother) is my hero
• Life skills I learned in college
• Why I love the Golden Age of Hollywood
• Chocolate is my comfort food
• The reasons I keep a food diary
• The bravest thing I have ever done
• The one thing I would change about the world
• I will never forget the day that …
• The advice I would give to a new high school student
• My siblings and childhood
• How I would spend $1 million
• The place I would most like to live
• The proudest moment of my life so far
• Did I feel pressured into going to college?
• Why I joined an online dating site
• I wish I had looked after my teeth
• The things I learned from my grandmother (father)
• I’m proud to be a Millennial
• The way I deal with my allergies
• Why opera moves me so much
• My love of Shakespeare
• I will never prefer eBooks over printed books
• Why pole dancing is my favorite form of exercise
• I wasn’t allowed a pet as a child. Today I have 5 pets.
• Why marine pollution breaks my heart
• I took a gap year but wish I had traveled more
• Why I plant a new tree every year
• I do not use social media
• I wish my mother had taught me to cook
• Visiting museums has taught me a great deal
• Monet and Van Gogh are my favorite artists
• An eclectic music taste makes me interesting
• I want to enter local politics in my 40s
• It’s time I learned to appreciate my Irish roots
• There was a time when …
• If I ruled the world …

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227 Amazing College Persuasive Essay Topics [Free Ideas]

Ever wondered what a persuasive essay is? Are you struggling to differentiate it from an argumentative one? Do you think it’s impossible to find original persuasive speech topics for college students?

If you have answered yes to any question, you’ve come to the right place. Our team can help you!

A persuasive essay is a piece of academic writing that convinces readers to accept the author’s position and agree with their ideas. Through clear arguments and examples, the writer demonstrates the legitimacy of their point of view.

Below, we have provided a list of the most interesting and unique college persuasive essay topics. So, don’t waste any more of your time searching for the right title. Use our ideas and create an outstanding persuasive essay!

• 👉 How to Choose?
• ✨ Best Speech Topics
• 🎓 Ideas on Education
• 📜 Topics on History
• ⚖ Ideas on Politics
• 👍 Topics on Sociology
• 💰 Ideas on Economics
• 🚌 Transportation
• 🌿 Environment
• ⚙ Technology
• 🌍 Traveling
• ✌ Lifestyle
• 🏫 Teenagers
• 📚 Literature
• 🖐 25 More Topics

👉 How to Choose a Persuasive Essay Topic for College?

The main secret of the successful persuasive essay is a compelling topic. Therefore, when choosing the right persuasive topic, follow these few simple pieces of advice:

• Re-read the assignment . The task that you’ve received from your tutor can be of great assistance. You just have to read it correctly. Unfortunately, college students tend to underestimate the power of the question. Don’t make this mistake. Read your assignment carefully because it can provide clues on the topic to look for.
• Brainstorm ideas. Before writing any paper, college students have to research. It will ensure the argumentative part of the persuasive essay. To understand what to examine, have an ideation session, and consider a variety of ideas. Picking the most appropriate one, you’ll see where to start your research. Try to find as many topics as you can. Free college essays collection is a good place to check out as a part of your session. You’ll be able to see what topics are already covered, and what you can expand upon. It will make your investigation and writing processes easier!
• Don’t pick an idea if it’s too broad . You may think that in this case, you’ll have plenty of things to argue about. Well, maybe a bit too many. In your essay, you should cover an entire topic so that it sounds convincing. When the idea is too broad, you can’t fit every argument in one paper. So, specify your title. For instance, you want to persuade your readers to stay healthy. Then don’t investigate all the aspects of maintaining health. Focus on one specific issue. For example, explore the positive influence of sport on the general health condition of a human being.
• Ensure that you have credible sources. In some colleges, even the smallest essays may require a list of references. Thus, make sure you have materials to research and later list as your sources. Remember: Good persuasive paper topics for college have to offer a wide variety of sources to investigate. So, if you are not confident in your materials, better change the title. It will prevent you from a lack of evidence to support your arguments.
• Choose a topic of personal interest. We’re not compelling you to write something that you enjoy when it contradicts the assignment. But try to select an idea that doesn’t bore you from reading it out loud. It is always more pleasurable to write on a topic you are passionate about. Don’t miss your chance to make turn your essay writing process into an exciting activity.
• Select something you have an opinion about, but open to debate. Your tutors can disagree with your position. Nevertheless, it is not a reason to give up. It’s the right time to show your critical thinking skills. State your position clearly and provide convincing arguments to support it. Show your readers that you can change your position if you see some compelling data. It can give you some extra credit. The best persuasion topics for college create an environment for debates and discussions.
• Be unique! In colleges, the amount of papers done daily is enormous. Don’t make your professors read about the importance of waste sorting, for example, yet again. The topic of environmental protection is undoubtedly extremely significant. However: It is way too overused. The professors are tired of reading essays on the same issues again and again. Surprise them and stand out.

✨ 12 Best Persuasive Speech Topics for College Students

• How important is mental health?
• Is online school more effective?
• Are GMO products good?
• Is social media dangerous?
• What’s wrong with the education system?
• Does recycling work?
• Is veganism bad for the environment?
• Should foreign policy be feminist?
• Is marriage an obsolete institution?
• Can protests and demonstrations bring change?
• Can alternative medicine actually work?
• Is modern advertising unethical?

🔑 Essential College Persuasive Essay Topics

We bet, every college student at least once had an assignment to write a persuasive essay. Haven’t you had yet? The best is yet to come! Thus, you have to be prepared to face all the challenges of a persuasive essay composing.

Searching for interesting persuasive essay topics is a complicated issue. However, you don’t have to worry about it. Our team of experts gathered the most popular and effective ideas in one place.

Don’t stress out about the topic:

Take a look at our list of persuasive essay topics for college students. We divided our ideas into sections so that you can find the most appropriate one. So, you can easily navigate throughout our page for a more effective search.

🎓 College Persuasive Essay Ideas on Education

• An educational system should encourage creativity .
• Student diversity should be present in a school classroom .
• Why should college students care about their mental and physical health?
• Why should we stop girls’ discrimination in the modern educational system?
• Why should computer science programs be taught in colleges and universities?
• Why should parents take part in their children’s education?

• Why reading performance of students with learning disabilities should be improved?
• Studying abroad results in better education.
• Homework does not help in the learning process.
• The costs of higher education should be reduced.
• A grade does not show a student’s knowledge.
• The Internet overuse blocks the mental development of a modern teenager.
• Education should not depend on technologies.
• Essay writing develops the critical thinking skills of students.
• Foreign language learning should be mandatory in school . Conduct research on how foreign languages influence children and teenagers. What are the positive sides of such education? Then, persuade your readers that foreign languages are essential in the school core curriculum.
• Art classes should be a priority in middle school . Elaborate on the importance of the development of the sense of art for children and teenagers. Why should art classes be higher in the list of priorities than technical or science courses? How can the right perception of art help pupils in future life?
• The core curriculum of the high school should not be too broad. Why do we have to narrow down our focus in high school? Explain how teenagers will benefit from studying particular subjects instead of getting general knowledge. Convince your readers about the importance of focusing on a specific field in high school.
• A gap year before entering the university is beneficial. Give persuading evidence why students should take a gap year. What are the advantages? Make your readers debate whether a gap year is worth considering. Finally, convince them that it is worth it.
• Mobile phones should not be allowed in school. State your position regarding the usage of smartphones during the learning process. What adverse ramifications do the mobile phones have on the academic results of pupils? Persuade your readers to prohibit phone usage in school.
• Traditional education is more effective than remote learning . How the benefits of the conventional way of learning outweigh the advantages of remote education? Compare the aspects of remote learning for different age groups: 1st grade age, 6th grade age, and a college student.

📜 College Persuasive Essay Topics on History

• The American Revolution was a turning point in USA history.
• The year 1763 is crucial in US history.
• The media played a crucial role in promoting the Vietnam War .
• We shouldn’t underestimate the significance of African-American social reform.
• Technological advancement of the 17th century was a new era in world history.
• Without Enlightenment and Romantic Age , the European culture wouldn’t be so progressive nowadays.

• People should’ve stopped the propaganda of Adolf Hitler and Jim Jones before the intensive development.
• The historical influence of Abraham Lincoln should become a role model for modern political figures.
• Americans should have abolished slavery in the United States way earlier.
• The four voyages by Christopher Columbus are crucial in the progress of world history.
• Cultural exchanges in the medieval period significantly impacted the civilizations.
• Protestant reformation was the most influential Christian movement.
• Japanese women in the Middle Ages should have been more powerful.
• The world war should never happen again.
• The age of exploration . Who are the key figures? How did they impact world history formation? Convince your readers of the importance of the age of exploration.
• The Mayan calendar system did not predict the end of the world . Investigate the Mayan calendar system. What is your explanation of the fact that the calendar system ended in the year 2012? Persuade your readers that the suggestions about the end of the world in 2012 are false.
• Racial discrimination in America violated human rights to a great extend . Give a brief overview of racial discrimination in the USA. Persuade the readers to perceive racial discrimination as an act of human rights violation.
• Apollo 11 – the first spaceflight that landed people on the Moon . Discuss the importance of this event. Convince your readers about the significance of the Moon exploration.
• History studying should become the top priority for students. The knowledge of history may help to prevent mistakes from the past. So, persuade your readers to explore historical events.
• Holocaust should not be justified and denied . What are the horrible consequences of holocaust tragedy? Analyze an opinion regarding the denial of the holocaust. Persuade the readers not to support this idea.

⚖ College Persuasive Essay Ideas on Politics

• Civil rights of black Americans should not be limited.
• Migration should not be restricted because it has certain benefits to modern countries .
• In the battle of socialism vs. democracy , the second one should win.

• Nationalism in international relations should be accepted.
• E-government should become transparent and accountable for the citizens .
• Celebrities should stay aside from political activities.
• The laws for each state of America should become common.
• A voting system should be transparent.
• Ordinary people should not be allowed to own guns.
• The federal tax return process should become more manageable.
• Individual rights versus the common good . Express your position regarding the issue. What do you support: individual rights or common good? Persuade the readers to follow your ideas.
• Gay marriage should be allowed . If you don’t agree with the topic, express the opposing opinion. Elaborate on your arguments and provide counterarguments. Exclude harsh comments and offensive language from the narrative.
• The death penalty cannot be justified . Why do you think so? Give clear arguments to support your opinion. If you believe that the death penalty is justifiable, prove your position.
• Electronic voting in the United States should not be banned . Present the positive sides of this way of voting and convince the readers in your rightness. Don’t you agree with this opinion? Then, provide counterarguments.
• Abortion should be legal . Provide clear arguments to express your position. Or provide counterarguments to contradict the idea of abortion legalization.

👍 College Persuasive Essay Topics on Sociology

• Community services should be provided for mentally disabled people .
• Equality and diversity are the main social issues .
• Interpersonal communication skills are crucial in modern society.
• Gender inequalities in the 21st century should be overcome .
• Should the Canadian government legalize prostitution?
• Max Weber’s rationality theory should be accepted by society .
• China should take specific steps to overcome the overpopulation problem .
• Gender stereotypes in a family should be dismantled.

• Abusive relationships in a family should not be hidden.
• Implementing more tough punishments on the lawbreakers should reduce the crime rates of the USA.
• Does family promote or limit mobility? Choose one side of the issue and provide clear arguments to support your ideas.
• Divorce has negative effects on children . Do you agree with this statement? Convince the readers to accept your point of view by stating your position clearly and powerfully.
• Birth control should be monitored on a governmental level. Express your opinion regarding birth control in modern society. Conduct a study on the cultural, religious, and political aspects of the birth control issue.
• Is there the right age to get married? Decide if there are any age suggestions to create a family or no? Support your choice with bright ideas and appropriate examples.
• To resolve the conflict, we need to know the nature of the conflict . Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Provide strong arguments to make people believe in your point of view. How do you think psychology works while resolving the conflict?

💰 College Persuasive Essay Ideas on Economics

• Competing theories are the core of economic development.
• We have to consider John Locke’s and Karl Marx’s economic ideas nowadays.
• Demand and supply correlation in the market matters a lot.
• Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” concept can improve modern economics .
• If we want to stabilize the economy, we have to implement the monetary policy .
• Should big banks be broken up?
• We should consider the relationship between money supply and inflation while preventing the high level of inflation.
• We shouldn’t take the Keynesian explanation of the recession too seriously.
• Industrialization plays a significant role in economic development.
• Small business owners should receive financial support during the period of crisis.

• The governments should reduce monopoly power.
• The role of understanding the goals of human resource management in the context of human capital theory . Explain the significance of effective HR management for a business flourishing. Persuade your readers to invest enough resources in human capital.
• Exchange regimes have a significant impact on macroeconomic performance . Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Provide well-developed arguments to prove your point of view. Persuade your readers to accept your position.
• Consumer behavior is different in every country. If you agree, develop this idea by providing strong arguments. If you don’t, state your position. Either way, support your arguments with supporting evidence. Make your readers follow your opinion.
• The understanding of the basic concepts of economics is essential for every person . Explain how the knowledge of economics can help people to manage their money wisely. How to survive during the crisis? How to lead a business successfully, etc. Persuade your readers to study the basics of economics.

💡 Interesting College Persuasive Essay Topics

Are you already impressed with a diversity of topics our team collected for you? But don’t think that’s all we have to offer for you. Since our mission is to help you, we have more persuasive essay ideas for college to share.

Below, you can find more fascinating ideas for your assignments. For your convenience, we divided persuasive essay topics for college into several sections. Investigate our ideas and don’t hesitate to use them.

🚌 Transportation Persuasive Essay Topics

• Planes should newer take off if weather conditions are inappropriate .
• Never drive a car if you are under the alcohol or drug effect .
• Hybrid cars are environmentally friendly, so they should become the future of the transportation industry .
• Why should people study driving?
• The usage of alternative energy resources should reshape the global transportation infrastructure .
• The governments should invest enough money in public transport advancement .
• Cars usage should be regulated .
• A school bus should be checked at least once a month to ensure the safety of pupils.
• The reserves of petroleum should be replenished to provide a proper transportation industry operation.
• The shipping of essential goods during the state of emergency (quarantine, dangerous natural conditions, etc.) should be free.
• We should use public transport instead of private cars to save the environment.
• Hybrid engine vs. standard engine . Examine the positive and negative aspects of both of them. Which one would you prefer? Persuade your readers to support your opinion by giving clear arguments.
• Information technology influences the logistics industry to a great extent . Provide appropriate examples of the IT impact on logistics. Convince your readers of the importance of your opinion.
• The role of transportation in the development of tourism . Prove your audience that transportation progress has a direct impact on tourism opportunities.

• We have to reduce the use of crude oil in the transportation industry . What are the possible adverse ramifications of such oil usage? Persuade your readers to limit applying this type of fuel. If you don’t agree with the idea, express the opposing opinion. Elaborate on your arguments and provide counterarguments.

🌿 Environmental Persuasive Essay Topics

• The government should control the overpopulation to prevent consequences for the environment .
• Human activity should be limited to preserve biodiversity .
• We have to examine an ecologically sustainable approach .
• Alternative energy sources are essential for saving the planet .
• We should try our best to live a zero-waste lifestyle .
• Saving endangered species must be a top priority issue for environmental organizations.
• Solar energy can save the environment.
• Hunting sports should be banned because they harm biodiversity.
• The conservation of global resources is necessary for maintaining the lifecycle of the planet.
• Waste sorting should be mandatory all around the world.
• Stopping deforestation will prevent the loss of natural habitat for animals.
• Tourism negatively affects wildlife. Comment no the negative consequences of traveling on nature. If you believe that tourism does not harm wildlife, provide counterarguments to claim your position.
• Farming has to be wise. Explain how intensive farming damages nature. Convince your readers about the importance of following the farming rules. They can help to prevent intensive farming’s adverse ramifications.
• The Prime Days on Amazon should be banned . Explain how the incredibly low prices on items during the Prime Days result in extremely high costs for the environment. Persuade your readers to resist the desire to buy unnecessary goods from Amazon.
• Without rainforests, our planet will suffocate . Prove the significance of the preservation of the rainforests for the environment.

⚙ Technology Persuasive Essay Ideas

• Globalization influences computer technologies to a great extent .
• The government should implement Internet censorship .
• Cloud computing is an innovative era in computer science .
• Cyberbullying should be controlled to prevent a negative influence on youth .
• Dependency on computers is a considerable threat to human well-being .
• Data and information security should be a top concern of every internet user .
• Investing money in developing information technology systems is profitable for companies.
• The internet blocks the development of human intelligence.
• To prevent the development of serious illnesses, we should use genetic technology.
• Technological advancement should focus on the improvement of the health sector.
• We have to use technology wisely to make people smarter.
• A scientific revolution started the technological advancement. Convince your readers about the importance of the scientific revolution in technological development. If you don’t agree with the topic, express the opposing opinion, providing counterarguments.
• E-books or audiobooks will never replace paper books. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? State your position clearly and make your readers accept it.
• Nowadays, society is too dependent on computer technologies . Comment on its negative and positive sides in the life of modern people. Persuade the readers not to overuse technology in everyday life.
• Technology and science complement each other. Provide clear arguments to prove this idea or counterarguments to disprove it.

😃 Easy College Persuasive Topics

Do you think that persuasive essays have to cover only serious or global issues? Do you feel as if you have to be overwhelmed with the complexity of the subject? You are mistaken. A paper won’t become less successful if it explores even everyday life topics.

That’s why:

We prepared the next section of the article for you. Here you can find simple persuasive essay ideas for college students. Select a fascinating topic and compose an outstanding essay.

🎶 Persuasive Essay Ideas for College about Music

• Music has a significant impact on culture .
• Music preferences depend on personality type .
• Music can influence our behavior .

• Songs with lyrics that promote violent behavior should be banned.
• A musician is not just a job; it is a vocation.
• Medical workers should investigate the positive effect of music on mental illnesses’ treatment.
• Music can be helpful in the learning process.
• Good song lyrics can inspire people . Provide a sample of inspiring verses. How can it motivate listeners? Persuade the readers to pay attention to the song lyrics while listening to music.
• A guitar is always a good idea for friendly gatherings . Prove to your readers that several songs played on a guitar can create a warm and cozy atmosphere.
• Rap reflects violence. This is a generally accepted opinion. Do you agree or disagree with it? Prove your point of view by providing well-developed arguments.

🌍 Persuasive Topics for College on Traveling

• While traveling, health and safety issues should be a top priority .
• Tourism should be sustainable .
• A trip to India will make you see the world from the other side.
• Summer will become more memorable and fascinating if you travel.
• Traveling broadens people’s minds.
• Traveling with family or friends is an essential part of a happy life.
• Spending a holiday on a trip is always more pleasurable than in front of a TV or computer.
• Every person should visit Europe at least once in life. Explain why Europe is a must-see destination for every tourist.
• People should travel as much as they want. Persuade people not to resist the desire to explore new places by listing the advantages of traveling.
• Traveling is affordable for everyone. Persuade people to visit various countries, even with a limited budget.

✌ Persuasive Essay Ideas for College about Lifestyle

• Parents should be responsible for their children’s obesity .
• Proper nutrition and positive behavior prevent cancer .
• A healthy lifestyle prevents aging .
• Weight management programs and hypnotherapy are useful in maintaining good shape and a healthy organism .
• An active way of life should replace a sedentary lifestyle to prevent heart diseases.
• You should plan your weight loss process wisely.
• Well-balanced nutrition is a way to a healthy and beautiful body.
• Regular yoga and fitness will help you to maintain mental and physical wellness.
• Regular physical activities and enough sleep can help students to study better.
• Media influences the development of eating disorders . Explain the mechanisms media’s effect on eating disorders. Persuade your readers to pay enough attention to the information on social media.

📺 Persuasive Topics for College about Media

• The role of mass media in modern society shouldn’t be underestimated .
• Media affects the way people look at society .

• TV shows have a negative influence on children .
• Parents should control the effects of mass media advertising on teenagers .
• Professional psychologists should review every cartoon before being released on television.
• The information on the internet should be filtered to avoid the spreading of fake news.
• Censorship is a must-have for modern television.
• Old cartoons are more insightful than modern ones. Compare and contrast old and new animated films. Prove the usefulness of old ones. Convince the audience to make their children familiar with old cartoons.
• Social media develops an inferiority complex among teenagers . How pictures of luxurious life in social networking sites influence adolescents’ self-esteem? Persuade the readers to filter the information seen in social media.
• Mass media in the 1950s was more ethical than contemporary mass media. Analyze the ethical issues that are present in modern media. Why is following the ethical rules while sharing the information through the mass media vital?

🏫 Persuasive Essay Ideas for College on Teens

• Both abstinence and sex education should be taught in high schools .
• Professional psychologists or psychiatrists should treat anxiety disorders in children and adolescents .
• Cheating in schools should be strictly punished.
• Understanding teen depression is a crucial step in overcoming it.
• The federal government should enact anti-bullying laws .
• Bullying in school should be the main issue to deal with for the headteacher.
• The teenage period requires constant monitoring of children’s behavior by parents and teachers.
• Parents should have access to teenagers’ academic results.
• The mental health of teens is precarious. Convince the readers to monitor and maintain adolescents’ mental health.
• Parents should control social media usage by teenagers. Why should parents monitor the social networking accounts of their children? Explain why it is useful to teach teens how to behave on social media.

📚 Persuasive Topics for College on Literature

• Literature studying should be mandatory in schools.
• Literature teaches us how to live a worthy life.
• Robin Hood should become an example to follow.
• You have to read some books several times throughout life to get the idea.
• Lyric poetry may help in dealing with inner conflicts.
• William Shakespeare is an outstanding figure of English literature that should always be appreciated.
• Every person should have one book that will always remain their favorite one.
• The theme of Romeo and Juliet will always remain relatable. Support this idea by providing compelling arguments and examples from the play. If you don’t agree with the statement, present clear counterarguments to prove your point of view.
• The parents should read fairy tales to their children from early childhood. Persuade your audience to make their kids familiar with the fairy tales. Explain the importance of positive aspects of this genre of literature.
• Dorian Gray and Oscar Wilde are connected. Describe Oscar Wilde’s background. Analyze how the author reflected his personality in the character of Dorian Gray. Convince your readers to accept your point of view. Propose examples from the book and the author’s biography.

🖐 25 More Topics to Persuade College Students

Here you can find a pleasant bonus from our team—25 more ideas to write about. You can use them not only for essays but also as persuasive speech topics for college.

So, take the benefit of our list of topics. Show an outstanding academic performance in the college.

College Persuasive Essay Topics: Family

• A happy relationship should be based on trust and honesty.
• In small and big families, parents should treat their children equally.
• After giving birth, motherhood should become the primary concern of a woman’s life.
• Parents should be the most significant support for their kids when they are sad, confused, or lost in life.
• Children should take their retired parents to their home instead of the nursing home.

College Persuasive Essay Topics: Health

• Physical activity is an effective way to prevent heart diseases.
• People should quit smoking .
• Mental health is not less important than physical health.
• Well-balanced nutrition is key to a healthy body.
• Taking care of general wellness should be everyone’s primary concern.

College Persuasive Essay Topics: Medicine

• Strong pain killers should be sold by prescription only.
• Drug prices should be set ethically .
• Herbal medications are the safest.
• Self-medication is extremely dangerous, even in the case of a simple cold or an allergy.
• Differentiating various forms of medicines is essential . What is the working principle of a capsule, pill, syrup, etc.? Prove that the inappropriate application will not have an appropriate effect.

College Persuasive Essay Topics: Sports

• Visiting a gym is extremely useful for our health .
• Physical education should be mandatory in high school.
• Extreme sports are only for professional athletes.
• The governments should invest enough money in the development of sports schools.
• Football is not only for boys. Women can create a successful football team, as well.

College Persuasive Essay Topics: Religion

• Discrimination by religion or culture should not be acceptable in modern society.
• Every person should have a right to choose a god or goddess to worship.
• The representatives of different religions should be tolerant of each other.
• The attitude towards wealth in Christianity differs from the perception of wealth in Islam.
• Any other religious representatives should not criticize the central beliefs of Judaism .

Thank you for visiting our page! We hope the information was useful to you. Don’t forget to leave your comments and share the article with other students.

🔗 References

• Persuasive Essays, Writing Resources, Hamilton College
• Persuasive Essay Outline: HCC Learning Web, Houston Community College
• Choosing a Topic for Your College Essay: Essay Writing Center, International Student
• Choosing College Essay Topics: Accepted
• 35 College Essay Prompts and Topics: Kayla Rutledge, SignUpGenius
• How to Write a College Essay: Kelly Mae Ross, Devon Haynie, and Josh Moody for U.S. News
• How To Answer the 2022-23 Common App Essay Prompts: College Essay Advisors
• Writing a Political Science Essay: Charles King, Georgetown University
• Writing a Paper about an Environmental Issue: Frederic Beaudry, ThoughtCo
• Evidence: The Writing Center, the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill
• Introducing Quotations and Paraphrases: UNSW Current Students
• How Do I Write an Intro, Conclusion, & Body Paragraph: College of Literature, Science, and Arts, University of Michigan
• Essay Writing Guide for Psychology Students: Saul McLeod, Simply Psychology
• How to Write a Persuasive Essay: Writing Guides, Ultius
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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, great college essay topics.

I'm a little bit stressed out about writing my college essays. What are some great topics or themes that I can explore for my application? I want to stand out from the crowd and showcase my personality. Any advice is appreciated!

Finding unique and engaging topics for your college essay can be challenging, but it's crucial to help you stand out in the application process. Here are some ideas to spark your creativity and showcase your personality:

1. Personal growth experiences: Reflect on moments in your life that led to personal or intellectual growth. This can include overcoming challenges, learning from failures, or moments of self-discovery.

2. Passions and interests: Write about a passion or interest that is not directly related to your intended major. This can demonstrate your curiosity and highlight your diverse experiences and interests.

3. Unusual hobbies or experiences: Focus on a hobby, extracurricular activity, or experience that is unique or uncommon. Show how this has shaped your life or personality.

4. A specific person, place, or thing that has influenced you: Think about someone or something that has had a profound impact on you. Describe their role in your life and the lessons you've learned from them.

5. Mentorship or role models: Share stories about a role model or mentor who has guided, inspired, or impacted you in some way, and how their advice or experiences have affected your personal growth.

6. Moments of change or transition: Write about a pivotal moment in your life, such as transitioning from one environment to another (e.g., moving to a new city, changing schools), and the insights you gained as a result.

7. Values and beliefs: Discuss your core values or beliefs and how they've shaped your actions, choices, or perspectives.

8. Impact on your community: Reflect on your involvement in community service or leadership roles, and discuss how these experiences have influenced your ambitions, goals, or understanding of the world.

9. Problem-solving and creativity: Describe a time when you devised an innovative solution to a problem or challenge, showcasing your ability to think creatively and find solutions.

10. Unconventional wisdom or challenging norms: Discuss a time when you questioned established norms or beliefs and how this shaped you or led to personal growth or change.

Remember, the key to a great essay is to infuse it with your authentic voice and unique perspective. Use anecdotes, metaphors, and sensory language to paint a vivid picture of your experiences and showcase your personality. Good luck!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Personal Essay Topics

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• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
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A personal essay is an essay about your life, thoughts, or experiences. This type of essay will give readers a glimpse into your most intimate life experiences and life lessons. There are many reasons you may need to write a personal essay , from a simple class assignment to a college application requirement . You can use the list below for inspiration. Consider each statement a starting point, and write about a memorable moment that the prompt brings to mind.

• Your bravest moment
• How you met your best friend
• What makes your mom or dad special
• How you overcame a fear
• Why you will succeed
• Why you made a difficult choice
• A special place
• A place you try to avoid
• When a friend let you down
• An event that changed your life
• A special encounter with an animal
• A time when you felt out of place
• An odd experience that didn't make sense at the time
• Words of wisdom that hit home and changed your way of thinking
• A person that you do not like
• A time when you disappointed someone
• Your fondest memory
• A time when you saw your parent cry
• The moment when you knew you were grown up
• Your earliest memory of holiday celebrations in your home
• Times when you should have made a better choice
• A time when you dodged a dangerous situation
• A person you will think about at the end of your life
• Your favorite time period
• A failure you've experienced
• A disappointment you've experienced
• A surprising turn of events
• What you would do with power
• What superpower you would choose
• If you could switch lives with someone
• How money matters in your life
• Your biggest loss
• A time when you felt you did the wrong thing
• A proud moment when you did the right thing
• An experience that you've never shared with another person
• A special place that you shared with a childhood friend
• A first encounter with a stranger
• Your first handshake
• Where you go to hide
• If you had a do-over
• A book that changed your life
• Words that stung
• When you had the desire to run
• When you had the urge to crawl into a hole
• Words that prompted hope
• When a child taught you a lesson
• Your proudest moment
• If your dog could talk
• Your favorite time with family
• If you could live in another country
• If you could invent something
• The world a hundred years from now
• If you had lived a hundred years earlier
• The animal you'd like to be
• One thing you'd change at your school
• The greatest movie moment
• The type of teacher you would be
• If you could be a building
• A statue you'd like to see
• If you could live anywhere
• The greatest discovery
• If you could change one thing about yourself
• An animal that could be in charge
• Something you can do that robots could never do
• Your most unfortunate day
• Your secret talent
• Your secret love
• The most beautiful thing you've ever seen
• The ugliest thing you've seen
• Something you've witnessed
• An accident that changed everything
• A wrong choice
• A right choice
• If you were a food
• How you'd spend a million dollars
• If you could start a charity
• The meaning of color
• A close call
• Your favorite gift
• A chore you'd do away with
• A secret place
• Something you can't resist
• A hard lesson
• A visitor you'll never forget
• An unexplained event
• Your longest minute
• An awkward social moment
• An experience with death
• Why you'll never tell a lie
• If your mom knew, she'd kill you
• A kiss that meant a lot
• When you needed a hug
• The hardest news you've had to deliver
• A special morning
• How to Write a Narrative Essay or Speech
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How to Write a Personal Essay for Your College Application

What does it take to land in the “accept” (instead of “reject”) pile?

How can you write an essay that helps advance you in the eyes of the admissions officers and makes a real impression? Here are some tips to get you started.

• Start early.  Do not leave it until the last minute. Give yourself time when you don’t have other homework or extracurriculars hanging over your head to work on the essay.
• Keep the focus narrow.  Your essay does not have to cover a massive, earth-shattering event. Some people in their teens haven’t experienced a major life event. Some people have. Either way, it’s okay.
• Be yourself.  Whether writing about a painful experience or a more simple experience, use the narrative to be vulnerable and honest about who you are. Use words you would normally use. Trust your voice and the fact that your story is interesting enough in that no one else has lived it.
• Be creative.  “Show, don’t tell,” and that applies here — to an extent. The best essays typically do both. You can help your reader see and feel what you are describing by using some figurative language throughout your piece.
• Make a point. As you finish your final body paragraphs ask yourself “So what?” This will help you hone in on how to end your essay in a way that elevates it into a story about an insight or discovery you made about yourself, rather than just being about an experience you had.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

We’ve all heard about the dreaded “college essay,” the bane of every high school senior’s existence. This daunting element of the college application is something that can create angst for even the most accomplished students.

• AA Amy Allen is a writer, educator, and lifelong learner. Her freelance writing business,  All of the Write Words , focuses on providing high school students with one-on-one feedback to guide them through the college application process and with crafting a thoughtful personal essay. A dedicated poet, Amy’s work has also been published in several journals including  Pine Row Press ,  Months to Years,  and  Atlanta Review .

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8 College Essay Topics

Exploring college essay topics.

Good college essay topics are as varied and widespread as the universities that require them. So, students will encounter many college application essay formats throughout the admissions process. These include the standard college admission essay, supplemental essay, personal statement, and personal challenge essay, to name a few. 

Whether it’s the “why Northwestern” essay or the Columbia essay prompts, good college essay topics help schools learn more about you and your life experiences. So, you should work to find compelling college essay ideas that reflect your identity. This will help you craft strong responses to any college essay topics you encounter.

Generating college essay ideas

Many students want to know how to write better essays. Students also might wonder how to start a college essay—after all, finding the right “hook” for your college essays can make a major difference. In this guide, we’ll walk you through every aspect of the essay process. 

Different college essay topics require different types of responses. For instance, a “why major” essay should not read the same way as an extracurricular activities essay. Reading college essay examples can also help when considering how to approach different college essay topics. 

This article will look at some of the common categories for college essay topics. We’ll also provide some college essay tips and discuss what makes a great college essay stand out from the rest. Most importantly, we’ll discuss how to write better essays so you feel prepared to start the process.

College Admission Essays

Before we discuss different college essay topics, let’s delve into a bit more context. Specifically, let’s discuss what a college admission essay is and why most top schools require them. 

A college admission essay is a written response, usually between 150 and 650 words, to a specific question or prompt on a college application. Some essays, like the Common Application essay, are standardized. Students have up to 650 words to respond to one of seven college essay topics that every Common Application school receives. 

Other college application essays are considered supplemental essays. These supplemental essays are unique to each individual college or university, though these college essay topics do tend to fall into some common categories. Some school essay requirements, like the NYU supplemental essays, also vary based on the program you apply to.

Understanding the college essay format

Whether it’s a personal statement or supplemental essay, the college application essay format is meant to help admissions officers get to know students better. The college essay format also allows applicants to share information about themselves that may not be clear from the rest of their application. In addition, these college essay examples allow admissions officers to evaluate each student’s character, writing ability, and overall fit for their school.

Good college essay topics help admissions officers to get to know students. So, the best college admission essays provide personal details not found elsewhere in a student’s application. What makes a great college essay is that it could only have been written by the person who submits it. That means you should highlight specific details about your life and experiences. Remember that your college essays are your only chance to provide admissions officers with some insight as to who you are, so don’t hold back!

What are the most common college essay topics?

Most college essay examples fall into one of the following general categories. Although language in individual prompts may vary, the college application essay format will often look like one of the following:

8 Most Common College Essay Topics

1. personal statement.

The personal statement category includes college essay topics about your life and experiences. A personal statement will often pertain to a challenging moment in your life or a time in which you grew or learned a lesson. For most students, the personal statement is akin to the Common App essay. 

2. “Why School” Essay

The why school essay is one of the most common examples of supplemental essays. These college essay topics ask students to describe why they believe a particular college is a good fit for them.

3. “Why Major” Essay

The why major essay asks students to describe why they are interested in the major that they listed on their application. This college application essay format is more common at large universities, where students may be applying to a specific school or program within the school.

4. Personal Challenge Essay

These college essay topics ask students to reflect on a specific obstacle they have overcome in their lives. The requirements are similar to those of the personal statement, where the subject is the writer’s personal life.

5. Cultural Diversity Essay

The cultural diversity essay asks students to reflect on their heritage and how their unique background has influenced their life. Colleges often seek to recruit a diverse student body, and these college essays allow students to share how they would fit into that environment.

6. Extracurricular Activities Essay

These essays ask students to describe an activity they have done during their high school years and how it has prepared them to succeed in college. These are often short essays, meaning that their word counts tend to be 150 or fewer.

7. Unique College Essay

Some good college essay topics do not fit into one of the categories above. Instead, these essays ask students to think outside the box by responding to an unorthodox prompt. These college essay ideas are often some of the most difficult to write about.

Personal Statement

Our first category within our college essay topics is the personal statement. You’ll likely submit a personal statement to every school where you apply. 

As the name suggests, you should be the subject of your personal statement. Likewise, the essay should showcase the parts of yourself that you want to feature. The prompts for essays in this category vary widely. However, the most common example of a personal statement that you will encounter is the Common Application essay.

Although the Common Application essay prompts do change from year to year, they all pertain to your life and experiences. Plus, nearly all of the top schools in the country that use the Common Application require you to answer one of its essay prompts. Listed below are the essay prompts for the 2023-2024 Common Application :

Common App Essay Prompts

1. some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. if this sounds like you, then please share your story., 2. the lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. how did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience, 3. reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. what prompted your thinking what was the outcome, 4. reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. how has this gratitude affected or motivated you, 5. discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others., 6. describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. why does it captivate you what or who do you turn to when you want to learn more, 7. share an essay on any topic of your choice. it can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design., how to write a college essay about yourself.

The most important step in how to write better essays is to focus on yourself. At times, it can feel uncomfortable to focus the entire essay on your accomplishments. However, remember that this essay should help your reader get to know you better. So, before you start writing, think about what aspects of your character you want to showcase. In fact, when generating college essay ideas, it can help to write down a short list of qualities that you want to highlight.

The next step in how to start a college essay about yourself is to select the right prompt. Your prompt should connect to you and your experiences. If you don’t resonate with any of the Common App’s good college essay topics, remember that you can create your own. Just make sure that the topic relates to you personally.

When you actually start writing, think about using the prompt to tell a story . Try to share parts of yourself that have not been featured in other areas of your application. So, your essay should focus on a narrative rather than a list of facts or examples. For example, if you choose prompt #4, you should not simply write several paragraphs about what gratitude means to you. Instead, focus on a compelling story about a time when you learned about the importance of gratitude. Finally, make sure that you are the central figure in whatever story you tell.

The Why School Essay

Next on our list of good college essay topics is the why school essay. Each of these prompts is specific to a particular school. So, a “why Yale essay” will look very different from a “why Duke essay” even though the prompt is structured similarly for both schools.

Simply put, a why school essay asks you to explain the reasons why you want to attend that particular school and what you hope to achieve there.

Many schools feature a why school essay. So, let’s highlight two examples of what these college essay topics look like. 

Why school essay examples

The “why Yale essay” prompt allows students a maximum word count of 125. It asks, “What is it about Yale that has led you to apply?”. In a similar college application essay format, the “why Duke Essay” prompt asks, “What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you? If there’s something in particular about our offerings that attracts you, feel free to share that as well.” This essay has a 250-word count limit.

Using a why school essay prompt serves a few purposes for an admissions office. It allows your application readers to see how much research you have done about their campus and facilities. Additionally, it helps them understand what you might bring to their campus as a prospective student. In the end, it’s all about seeing whether you would be a good fit for the school and whether the school would be a good fit for you. 

Structuring a Why School Essay

When writing a why school essay, it is still important to keep yourself as the central focus. Using specific examples, write about what makes the school a good fit for you. So, don’t just start with the most well-known or popular features of a school. A school may have just built a brand new science building, but it is likely not worth writing about unless you plan to major in a scientific discipline. So, before writing, think about the criteria on your personal college list. Then, identify two or three areas in which the school you’re writing about meets them. Remember that these are often short essays, so don’t try to fit in too many college essay ideas at once.

Then, get specific and do some research! If you have visited the school, consider identifying some of the features you enjoyed seeing on your visit. Additionally, if there is a specific professor, lab, program, club, team, or opportunity that interests you, mention those details here. The more specific research you show, the better your case for attending a school will be. However, it is not enough to simply list names and facts in your essay. Instead, describe how these opportunities will help you achieve your goals. Then, highlight why you want to be a part of this particular school’s community.

Nearly every top school in the country, including the Columbia supplemental essays and the why Northwestern essay, uses these college essay topics. Because each prompt is specific to each school, you should avoid using the same generic college essay ideas in each response. Good college essay topics show individuality as well as evidence of reflection and research. 

For more information about how to write a good why school essay, check out our CollegeAdvisor.com resources here . 

The Why Major Essay

The why major essay relates to the why school essay because they both ask about your reasons for being interested in a college. The difference is that a why school essay focuses on the school as a whole, whereas a why major essay asks specifically about your field of study within the school. Many universities include these supplemental essay prompts if students are applying to a particularly popular program at the school. Other schools use these short essay topics to learn more about students’ academic interests and goals.

The UPenn supplemental essay, the Rice supplemental essay, and the Cornell supplemental essays all feature questions that ask about students’ majors. The UPenn supplemental essay prompt has a 150-200 word limit. Here is UPenn’s why major prompt:  “Considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected, describe how you intend to explore your academic and intellectual interests at the University of Pennsylvania.”

The Rice supplemental essay prompt is similar. It gives students a maximum of 150 words to respond to the following statement: “Please explain why you wish to study in the academic areas you selected.”

The Cornell supplemental essays across their eight undergraduate colleges ask similar questions. This prompt comes from Arts and Sciences, their most popular program: “Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s ‘any person…any study’ founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College.” 

Choosing a major for your college essay

You might have many college essay ideas when it comes to writing a why major essay. Still, the best college admission essays in this category are focused and detailed. Therefore, before you start writing, it is important to reflect on your academic interests. Think about how you first became interested in your intended major. What past experiences have you had in this field? What do you hope to accomplish with the degree you wish to pursue? These guiding questions will help give your essay direction and clarity, even before a single word hits the page.

Your interest in your chosen major should stem from a passion for the subject. Some students make the mistake of focusing on their future earnings or talking about how parents or relatives expect them to pick a certain major. Remember that you are the one who will be attending the school and taking hundreds of hours of coursework in this subject. So, make sure you have a good reason for choosing it.

Undecided majors

If you are not sure what major you want to pursue, that’s okay. You can still give a thoughtful answer to this prompt. This is a great time to describe your intellectual curiosity or your passion for multiple disparate subjects. You can also discuss your favorite school subjects or the aspects of learning that you most enjoy, such as a particular science experiment or a time period in history that fascinates you. There are many different college essay ideas that you can pursue even with an undecided major.

Remember that with the exception of a few specialized programs, you will not be forced to stay with the major that you list on your college application. Many schools do not even require students to officially declare their major until their sophomore year. For guidance on selecting a major that is right for you, check out this link . And for more general college essay tips and college essay ideas, see this guide from Harvard University .

Personal Challenge Essay

Our next subject in this series of college essay topics is the personal challenge essay. The personal challenge essay asks students to recount a story in which they overcame some hardship or obstacle and learned a lesson about themselves in the process. These good college essay topics are excellent times to display character traits such as perseverance, dedication, grit, and leadership.

Fordham University’s supplemental essay prompt states: “At Fordham, we expect students to care for and engage with their communities. Please share a specific instance in which you challenged yourself or stepped out of your comfort zone in order to be an advocate for your community.” 

In a slightly different approach, the Emory University supplemental essays provide several options for students to discuss their personal growth. They include prompts like, “Reflect on a personal experience where you intentionally expanded your cultural awareness.” and, “When was the last time you questioned something you had thought to be true?”

Crafting a memorable college essay

A good personal challenge essay can take a variety of forms. Overall, there are many good college essay ideas students can draw from within this theme. This article from U.S. News illustrates some of the more common themes that students employ when approaching these college essay topics. The most important part of any personal challenge essay is authenticity. Nobody’s story is inherently better or worse than anyone else’s. You do not need to write about heavy tragedy in order to develop a good personal challenge essay.

Start by coming up with a list of college essay ideas. These should be stories from your life that present you in a different light, one not seen in other areas of your application. Then, pick a specific story from your list of college essay ideas that presents you in a positive manner and shows off the traits you want your readers to see. The best college admission essays tell one specific and compelling story rather than list several college essay ideas in one response. 

Another important facet of these college essay topics is the demonstration of growth. The important part of your essay is not the severity of the challenge itself, but how you reacted to it and grew from the experience. Make sure you avoid vague sentiments or platitudes like, “I became a better person,” or “This experience caused me to see the world in a new way.” Instead, focus on what you specifically gained from going through this challenging time. In addition, think about what skills or characteristics you showed in overcoming the challenge. Then, use the essay to highlight them.

Cultural Diversity Essay

The cultural diversity essay is a popular topic for a college admission essay. So, understanding how to write college essays of this type is vital. But, before we dive into just how to respond, let’s learn just what a cultural diversity essay is. 

Simply put, these types of college essay topics ask students to elaborate on their relationship with cultural diversity. Namely, they look for how it has shaped the student’s own identity. Like all good college essay topics, the cultural diversity essay invites students to share an important part of themselves with admissions.

What makes a great college essay on cultural diversity? Well, essays will vary greatly depending on each individual. Students could talk about their background, culture, beliefs, skills, experience, or perspectives. Culture can mean many things, meaning that college essay ideas for this prompt are nearly endless.

Exact college essay topics aren’t as important as showing how the matter at hand has shaped you. Additionally, tactfully executed college essay ideas will show how your unique story and experiences will improve that school’s college campus. Specifically, touching on how you’ll bring your perspective, experiences, and culture to campus is always a good strategy. 

To better understand this topic, let’s look at some examples of cultural diversity essay prompts.

Cultural Diversity Essay Prompts

Like many other schools, Amherst College requires applicants to respond to additional Amherst supplemental essays. The Amherst supplemental essays are certainly looking for a cultural diversity essay: 

Amherst Cultural Diversity Essay Prompts

Respond to  one  of the following quotations in an essay of not more than 300 words. it is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay., “rigorous reasoning is crucial in mathematics, and insight plays an important secondary role these days. in the natural sciences, i would say that the order of these two virtues is reversed. rigor is, of course, very important. but the most important value is insight—insight into the workings of the world. it may be because there is another guarantor of correctness in the sciences, namely, the empirical evidence from observation and experiments.”  kannan jagannathan, professor of physics, amherst college, “translation is the art of bridging cultures. it’s about interpreting the essence of a text, transporting its rhythms and becoming intimate with its meaning… translation, however, doesn’t only occur across languages: mentally putting any idea into words is an act of translation; so is composing a symphony, doing business in the global market, understanding the roots of terrorism. no citizen, especially today, can exist in isolation—that is, untranslated.”  ilán stavans, professor of latin american and latino culture, amherst college, robert croll ’16 and cedric duquene ’15, adapted from the print version of “interpreting terras irradient,” amherst magazine, spring 2015.  , “creating an environment that allows students to build lasting friendships, including those that cut across seemingly entrenched societal and political boundaries…requires candor about the inevitable tensions, as well as about the wonderful opportunities, that diversity and inclusiveness create.” carolyn “biddy” martin, 19th president of amherst college, from letter to amherst college alumni and families, december 28, 2015. , “difficulty need not foreshadow despair or defeat. rather, achievement can be all the more satisfying because of obstacles surmounted.”  attributed to william hastie, amherst college class of 1925, the first african-american to serve as a judge for the united states court of appeals, understanding the amherst essay prompts.

Amherst’s option doesn’t explicitly ask for your experiences. Rather, they want to see how you respond and relate to different perspectives.

Let’s look at another example. In addition to the Common App personal statement, students applying to Harvard are allowed to submit an additional “optional” essay. When responding to any school’s essays, especially an Ivy League , do some digging to see if admissions offers any tips. Check out Harvard’s blog on how to write a great essay. Here is Harvard’s prompt that is very obviously a cultural diversity essay topic:

Harvard Cultural Diversity Essay Prompt

Harvard has long recognized the importance of student body diversity of all kinds. we welcome you to write about distinctive aspects of your background, personal development or the intellectual interests you might bring to your harvard classmates..

Finally, let’s look at the University of Michigan’s prompt: 

University of Michigan Cultural Diversity Essay Prompt

Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. (required for all applicants; minimum 100 words/maximum 300 words).

Specifically, this UMich essay prompt talks about community, which makes up a part of your background and culture. Since “community” encompasses many different aspects, students have lots of room to play with their responses. 

How do you write a college essay on diversity?

Before understanding how to write the college diversity essay, students should consider why they’re popular college essay topics for admissions . Simply put, universities want to have a diverse student body. This enhances campus life by creating constant cross-cultural understanding. Additionally, each student’s unique background, experiences, and perspective shape the school’s community greatly. That’s why these prompts are found everywhere, from Amherst to NYU supplemental essays.

So, how to tackle the cultural diversity essay? First, students need to speak from their own experiences. You should be at the forefront of your essay—not someone else. This essay is all about showing what diversity means to you and how it impacts your own identity. What background or experience do you have that is unique and meaningful to you?

College essay ideas will vary greatly among students. And that’s the point! There’s no cookie-cutter college application essay format to follow. What you talk about within your background and experiences can be any number of things. Ultimately, writing passionately and cohesively, clearly conveying how diversity has shaped you, and how you’ll bring that perspective to campus are key. You should authentically and comprehensively answer the prompt in order to write an essay that stands out . 

Check out our cultural diversity essay guide for more in-depth college essay tips!

Extracurricular Activities Essay

Another favorite among college essay topics is the extracurricular activities essay. Needless to say, this supplemental essay allows students to expand on one of their extracurricular activities . Since the Common App activities section is limited, this is a great chance to provide more context for your experiences.

In general, when writing an extracurricular activities essay, you shouldn’t simply list achievements from your college resume . Feel free to get creative by sharing an anecdote or expanding on what the activity means to you. Has it shaped your identity or your future goals? How have you grown from partaking in this activity? Expand on the deeper meaning to you in order to write the best extracurricular activities essay. 

Now, let’s check out some extracurricular activities essay prompts. 

Sample Extracurricular Activities Essay Prompts

Interestingly, Vanderbilt offers students two college essay topics for students to choose to respond to in 250 words. The first is a diversity essay. The following is their extracurricular activities prompt: 

Vanderbilt Extracurricular Activities Essay Prompt

Vanderbilt offers a community where students find balance between their academic and social experiences. please briefly elaborate on how one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences has influenced you..

Check out our guide with ample Vanderbilt essay examples before writing this school’s essays.

The Princeton supplemental essays also include a similar extracurricular activity prompt. However, for these types of Princeton supplemental essays, students only have 150 words with which to respond:

Princeton Extracurricular Activity Prompt

Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. .

Finally, let’s see the Stanford extracurricular activities essay prompt. You’ll notice it follows the same general trend as the others.

Stanford Extracurricular Activity Essay Prompt

The stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning..

Before working on your own college essay ideas, check out some Stanford essay examples to see what’s worked in the past. 

Unique College Essay Topics

During the college application process, you’re likely to come across many similar college essay topics and prompts. However, some universities keep things interesting with good college essay topics that are sure to keep applicants on their toes. These college essay topics ask students unexpected questions and even err on the side of quirky. They’re quite different from the personal statement . 

Basically, these non-traditional college essay topics are a wonderful opportunity to let your creative side shine with one-of-a-kind responses. But, keep in mind that although these aren’t traditional college essay topics, every college admission essay has the same goal. You should share more about yourself with admissions, and show them just why you’d be a great addition to their university. 

Let’s read some prompts that fall into this category.

Unique College Essay Prompts

UChicago is one school known for their unique college essay topics. Certainly, they have one supplemental essay prompt that’s required and similar to more traditional college essay topics. At the same time, their options for the second of the short essays don’t disappoint. 

Here are the UChicago prompts for the second of their college essay topics: 

UChicago Unique College Essay Prompts

Essay option 1, exponents and square roots, pencils and erasers, beta decay and electron capture. name two things that undo each other and explain why both are necessary. – inspired by emmett cho, class of 2027, essay option 2, “where have all the flowers gone” – pete seeger. pick a question from a song title or lyric and give it your best answer. – inspired by ryan murphy, ab’21, essay option 3, “vlog,” “labradoodle,” and “fauxmage.” language is filled with portmanteaus. create a new portmanteau and explain why those two things are a “patch” (perfect match). – inspired by garrett chalfin, class of 2027, essay option 4, a jellyfish is not a fish. cat burglars don’t burgle cats. rhode island is not an island. write an essay about some other misnomer, and either come up with and defend a new name for it or explain why its inaccurate name should be kept. – inspired by sonia chang, class of 2025, and mirabella blair, class of 2027, essay option 5, despite their origins in the gupta empire of india or ancient egypt, games like chess or bowling remain widely enjoyed today. what modern game do you believe will withstand the test of time, and why – inspired by adam heiba, class of 2027, essay option 6, there are unwritten rules that everyone follows or has heard at least once in their life. but of course, some rules should be broken or updated. what is an unwritten rule that you wish didn’t exist (our custom is to have five new prompts each year, but this year we decided to break with tradition. enjoy) – inspired by maryam abdella, class of 2026, essay option 7, and, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option in the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). be original, creative, thought provoking. draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the university of chicago; take a little risk, and have fun, dartmouth college essay prompts.

Another elite university with some good college essay topics is Dartmouth . While the two required essays are standard college essay topics, the third essay has a variety of unique prompts to choose from. Let’s take a look at their prompts, which have a 200-250 word limit.

Dartmouth Unique College Essay Prompts

A. labor leader and civil rights activist dolores huerta recommended a life of purpose. “we must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things,” she said. “that is what we are put on the earth for.” in what ways do you hope to make—or are you making—an impact, b. what excites you, c. in the boy who harnessed the wind, william kamkwamba ’14 reflects on constructing a windmill from recycled materials to power electrical appliances in his family’s malawian house: “if you want to make it, all you have to do is try.” what drives you to create and what do you hope to make or have you made, d. dr. seuss, aka theodor geisel of dartmouth’s class of 1925, wrote, “think and wonder. wonder and think.” what do you wonder and think about, e. “not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced,” wrote james baldwin. how does this quote apply to your life experiences, how do you write a unique college essay.

At this point, you may have many college essay ideas for these topics. However, keep in mind that these types of supplemental essays should still be answered personally and authentically—just like your personal statement. Especially with creative and unique prompts, it may be tempting to go in a totally different direction when writing. Nevertheless, don’t forget that good college essay topics aim to learn more about the applicant, even if they are unconventional. 

Additionally, the goal of these unique college essay topics is to see that you don’t back down from a challenge. Universities want curious learners who are willing to step out of their comfort zone. So, even if these aren’t your favorite types of college essay topics, persevere in writing something new. They’re an opportunity to indirectly show admissions how you think. Ideally, you’ll want to show your intellectual curiosity and values. However, this can be done indirectly.

More tips on unique college essay topics

Check out these UChicago essay examples in order to see how students successfully responded to these unique college essay topics. If you’re wondering how to start a college essay, reading successful college essay ideas is a good way to begin. Use them as inspiration to spur your own college essay ideas. 

From NYU supplemental essays to personal challenge essays or even a “why major” essay, remember the goal. Tell admissions more about you and what you’ll bring to campus. Additionally, your successful essays will make it clear that you’re a good fit for the school—even if not explicitly stated.

Short Essay Topics

While supplemental essays usually don’t have high word counts, there are certain college essay topics that are considered short essays. Short essays, when it comes to college essay topics, are those that are less than 100 words. They are much shorter than personal statement examples . Those of you who aren’t fans of writing might rejoice at the news. However, it can often be more difficult to write a meaningful short essay. 

Let’s take a look at some short essay topics from different universities. To start, here are the Columbia supplemental essays. These Columbia supplemental essays are considered short essay prompts. 

Columbia Short Essay Prompts

1. list the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (75 words or fewer), 2. in columbia’s admissions process, we value who you are as a unique individual, distinct from your goals and achievements. in the last words of this writing supplement, we would like you to reflect on a source of happiness. help us get to know you further by describing the first thing that comes to mind when you consider what simply brings you joy. (35 words or fewer).

The sheer number (10!) of short essays that USC requires may intimidate many. However, these USC supplemental essays are super short with a 25–100 word limit. Check out our guide with examples of USC supplemental essays. Here are the USC short answer essay prompts:

USC Short Essay Topics

Describe yourself in three words., what is your favorite snack, best movie of all time: , if your life had a theme song, what would it be, dream trip: , what tv show will you binge watch next, which well-known person or fictional character would be your ideal roommate, favorite book:, if you could teach a class on any topic, what would it be.

Stanford has a 100–250 word limit on their short essays. Let’s take a look at the prompts: 

Stanford Short Essay Topics

Virtually all of stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—get to know you better., tell us about something that is meaningful to you and why..

You may have noticed that many of these short college essay topics were “lists” while others were simply short essays. Now, let’s think about how to respond to them. 

Approaching short essays

While it may seem like these college essay topics are very different from others, the approach is the same. Your responses should highlight what makes you the person you are. The only trick is to do it in a much shorter word count than other college essay topics. 

So, make the most of every word! This part may seem tedious, but you must choose your words carefully to craft the most impactful short essay response. With lots of polish, these types of short essay topics can add dimension to the rest of your application. What you decide to write about should tell the admissions team more about you, your interests, and your values. 

Choosing the best college essay topics

Of course, each college will have different essay prompts. For example, the NYU supplemental essays are very different from the  UChicago essays or the Columbia supplemental essays. Even so, good college essay topics are the ones that you can write the most passionately about. However, your college essay ideas must ultimately share more about you and why you belong on that university’s campus. 

When it comes to choosing good college essay topics, carefully read all the prompts. Is there one that jumps out to you? If so, that’s the best choice for you! If you’re considering various prompts, do a short brainstorming exercise for each prompt. Whichever prompt evokes the most meaningful experience that is an authentic representation of you should be your topic. 

Here is more advice from a student at Harvard on writing your best college essays as well:

What makes a great college essay? Most importantly, across college essay topics, your essays need to be personal, specific, and honest. Excepting short essay topics that ask for a list, normally your essays shouldn’t simply list accomplishments or experiences. Follow the classic writing adage when planning and writing out your best college essay ideas: show don’t tell. Consider anecdotes that highlight who you are. Use those stories as a foundation to craft your essays.

What should you not write in a college essay?

When it comes to good college essay topics, the sky is certainly the limit. And, since essays are so personal, good college essay topics will usually be quite varied. However, there are certain college essay ideas that you should stay away from.

Here are 5 college essay topics to stay away from: 

1. generic topics.

For example, admissions experts note that writing about sports injuries usually doesn’t go over well. Additionally, some sort of “big game” essay usually doesn’t land in quite the way students might imagine either. There is usually too much time spent on the game rather than on a student’s personal growth. But most often, sports-related obstacles tend to center around clichés (never giving up, the happiness of winning, the sadness of losing, team camaraderie, etc.). Predictable essays won’t make the biggest impact on admissions.  

2. Dramatic life events

For some students, this will work. However, don’t try to create some grandiose event in order to write a jaw-dropping essay. In fact, some of the best college essay ideas come from everyday experiences that shape the writer. That is to say, essays should highlight not simply what happened to you, but your responses to those experiences. With that said, if you can convey personal growth and positive change through a difficult life event, go for it.

3. Highly personal topics

This relates to the previous point. Indeed, most good college essay topics are pretty personal. However, there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed. For example, overly personal stories about mental health should generally be avoided, especially unprocessed trauma. While admissions can’t discriminate against you based on these topics, it’s usually a hard topic from which to craft a successful essay. Of course, we’re sure it’s been done. But, your best bet is to choose one of the many other good college essay topics that you’re sure to have.

4. Anything related to alcohol, drugs, or illegal behavior

This may seem blatantly obvious but certainly don’t talk about wild parties with illegal activities (and certainly don’t partake!). You should refrain from talking about your personal experiences with these themes in your college essays. However, if you are close with someone affected by these, that could be a plausible essay topic—but write carefully. Again, it’s probably safest just to take these topics out of the running.

5. High school gossip

This topic is going to make it hard for you to shine. Avoid any type of topics that relate to high school gossip. College admissions officers won’t be impressed, and it will be hard to come off as anything other than immature and superficial. Remember that your college essay will show what you are going to bring to campus. Certainly, admissions officers don’t want to bring this type of culture to their campuses. 

How to write your best college admission essays

Writing college essays is a huge part of the college application process. Of course, most admissions teams use a holistic review process, considering everything from GPA to extracurriculars to essays. Even so, essays are truly of utmost importance, as they are your personal account of your personality and life story. However, rather than stress about college essay ideas, look at it as an opportunity to share more about yourself. 

Here are 5 college essay tips for writing your best college admission essays: 

1. carefully choose your prompt.

You’ll be hard-pressed to write passionately about a topic that doesn’t genuinely excite you. So, carefully consider the prompts you’re given before drafting your essay. Choose the one that most calls to you. 

2. Tell your story

Good college essay topics will tell a story that would tell a total stranger more about you, your values, passions, and experiences. Get creative when it comes to telling a story in your essays. Hook the reader from the start and impress with your writing abilities. 

3. Answer the prompt

Anecdotes are great for writing personal, unique, and meaningful college essays. However, they absolutely need to be pertinent to the prompt at hand. Make sure that you comprehensively respond to the prompt. 

4. Start early

A lot of the stress that comes with college essays has to do with rapidly approaching deadlines. Be sure to give yourself ample time to complete your essays. You’ll need time to brainstorm, draft, revise, and edit. That’s in addition to completing the rest of the application! Ideally, start the summer before your senior year. 

5. Pay attention to grammar and mechanics

Being creative and telling a meaningful story is important when it comes to college essays. However, don’t forget that your grammar should be impeccable. Be sure to thoroughly revise and edit your essays. And, have someone else take a look at them too! An extra pair of eyes can help greatly when it comes to fine-tuning and perfecting your essay in its last stages. 

College Essay Topics Takeaways

In this guide, we’ve looked at many different college essay topics such as the personal statement, unique essays, short essays, and more. We also discussed how to structure the best college application essay format for different prompts. 

In order to craft the best college essay ideas and the best college admission essays, you should read many college essay examples. Studying college essay examples can help you when considering how to start a college essay. Remember you shouldn’t try to copy the stories from these college essay examples. Rather, use them as inspiration to tell your own story.

Are you sharing the impact of your gap year , explaining how you chose your major , or writing a why this college essay ? Whatever you’re talking about, reading successful essays will help you learn how to write better essays. And if you can write better than other applicants, then you’re sure to impress admissions.

At the end of the day, remember that there is no definitive college application essay format. Of course, there are certain things that most successful essays do. However, don’t get stuck on nailing one specific college application essay format. Rather, focus on self-reflection and personal growth when choosing your topics and which anecdotes to include. And, if you need some help along the way, CollegeAdvisor Admissions Experts are here to guide you in writing your best college essays!

This article was written by Sarah Kaminski and advisor, Alex Baggott-Rowe . Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.

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52 Argumentative Essay Ideas that are Actually Interesting

What’s covered:, how to pick a good argumentative essay topic, elements of a strong argumentative essay, argumentative essay idea example topics.

Are you having writer’s block? Coming up with an essay topic can be the hardest part of the process. You have very likely encountered argumentative essay writing in high school and have been asked to write your own. If you’re having trouble finding a topic, we’ve created a list of 52 essay ideas to help jumpstart your brainstorming process! In addition, this post will cover strategies for picking a topic and how to make your argument a strong one. Ultimately, the goal is to convince your reader. 

An argumentative essay tasks the writer with presenting an assertion and bolstering that assertion with proper research. You’ll present the claim’s authenticity. This means that whatever argument you’re making must be empirically true! Writing an argumentative essay without any evidence will leave you stranded without any facts to back up your claim. When choosing your essay topic, begin by thinking about themes that have been researched before. Readers will be more engaged with an argument that is supported by data.

This isn’t to say that your argumentative essay topic has to be as well-known, like “Gravity: Does it Exist?” but it shouldn’t be so obscure that there isn’t ample evidence. Finding a topic with multiple sources confirming its validity will help you support your thesis throughout your essay. If upon review of these articles you begin to doubt their worth due to small sample sizes, biased funding sources, or scientific disintegrity, don’t be afraid to move on to a different topic. Your ultimate goal should be proving to your audience that your argument is true because the data supports it.

The hardest essays to write are the ones that you don’t care about. If you don’t care about your topic, why should someone else? Topics that are more personal to the reader are immediately more thoughtful and meaningful because the author’s passion shines through. If you are free to choose an argumentative essay topic, find a topic where the papers you read and cite are fun to read. It’s much easier to write when the passion is already inside of you!

However, you won’t always have the choice to pick your topic. You may receive an assignment to write an argumentative essay that you feel is boring. There is still value in writing an argumentative essay on a topic that may not be of interest to you. It will push you to study a new topic, and broaden your ability to write on a variety of topics. Getting good at proving a point thoroughly and effectively will help you to both understand different fields more completely and increase your comfort with scientific writing.

Convincing Thesis Statement

It’s important to remember the general essay structure: an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. A strong thesis statement will set your essay up for success. What is it? A succinct, concise, and pithy sentence found in your first paragraph that summarizes your main point. Pour over this statement to ensure that you can set up your reader to understand your essay. You should also restate your thesis throughout your essay to keep your reader focused on your point.

Ample Research

A typical argumentative essay prompt may look like this: “What has been the most important invention of the 21st century? Support your claim with evidence.” This question is open-ended and gives you flexibility. But that also means it requires research to prove your point convincingly. The strongest essays weave scientific quotes and results into your writing. You can use recent articles, primary sources, or news sources. Maybe you even cite your own research. Remember, this process takes time, so be sure you set aside enough time to dive deep into your topic.

Clear Structure

If the reader can’t follow your argument, all your research could be for nothing! Structure is key to persuading your audience. Below are two common argumentative essay structures that you can use to organize your essays.

The Toulmin argument and the Rogerian argument each contain the four sections mentioned above but executes them in different ways. Be sure to familiarize yourself with both essay structures so that your essay is the most effective it can be.

The Toulmin argument has a straightforward presentation. You begin with your assertion, your thesis statement. You then list the evidence that supports your point and why these are valid sources. The bulk of your essay should be explaining how your sources support your claim. You then end your essay by acknowledging and discussing the problems or flaws that readers may find in your presentation. Then, you should list the solutions to these and alternative perspectives and prove your argument is stronger.

The Rogerian argument has a more complex structure. You begin with a discussion of what opposing sides do right and the validity of their arguments. This is effective because it allows you to piece apart your opponent’s argument. The next section contains your position on the questions. In this section, it is important to list problems with your opponent’s argument that your argument fixes. This way, your position feels much stronger. Your essay ends with suggesting a possible compromise between the two sides. A combination of the two sides could be the most effective solution.

• Is the death penalty effective?
• Is our election process fair?
• Is the electoral college outdated?
• Should we have lower taxes?
• How many Supreme Court Justices should there be?
• Should there be different term limits for elected officials?
• Should the drinking age be lowered?
• Does religion cause war?
• Should the country legalize marijuana?
• Should the country have tighter gun control laws?
• Should men get paternity leave?
• Should maternity leave be longer?
• Should smoking be banned?
• Should the government have a say in our diet?
• Should birth control be free?
• Should we increase access to condoms for teens?
• Should abortion be legal?
• Do school uniforms help educational attainment?
• Are kids better or worse students than they were ten years ago?
• Should students be allowed to cheat?
• Is school too long?
• Does school start too early?
• Are there benefits to attending a single-sex school?
• Is summer break still relevant?
• Is college too expensive?

Art / Culture

• How can you reform copyright law?
• What was the best decade for music?
• Do video games cause students to be more violent?
• Should content online be more harshly regulated?
• Should graffiti be considered art or vandalism?
• Should schools ban books?
• How important is art education?
• Should music be taught in school?
• Are music-sharing services helpful to artists?
• What is the best way to teach science in a religious school?
• Should fracking be legal?
• Should parents be allowed to modify their unborn children?
• Should vaccinations be required for attending school?
• Are GMOs helpful or harmful?
• Are we too dependent on our phones?
• Should everyone have internet access?
• Should internet access be free?
• Should the police force be required to wear body cams?
• Should social media companies be allowed to collect data from their users?
• How has the internet impacted human society?
• Should self-driving cars be allowed on the streets?
• Should athletes be held to high moral standards?
• Are professional athletes paid too much?
• Should the U.S. have more professional sports teams?
• Should sports be separated by gender?
• Should college athletes be paid?
• What are the best ways to increase safety in sports?

Where to Get More Argumentative Essay Topic Ideas

If you need more help brainstorming topics, especially those that are personalized to your interests, you can use CollegeVine’s free AI tutor, Ivy . Ivy can help you come up with original argumentative essay ideas, and she can also help with the rest of your homework, from math to languages.

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

110 Personal Essay Topics

Though written from a lived experience, personal essay topics can be tricky to come up with because they have to be universal enough for other people to relate to.

Since the skill of writing a good essay is being able to paint an image with words, students must choose a topic that will get others interested in the story and what it has to say about life, society, or themselves.

In essence, personal essays are written from a personal point of view and express a writer’s own insights, opinions, and feelings on a particular topic. Additionally, these types of essays lead to an overall point, lesson, realization, or revelation.

Most commonly, personal essays are written by high school students as part of their college applications. However, there are many other reasons that a personal essay may be assigned or written, including:

• Scholarship applications
• Job interview
• Writing contest
• Grad school admission

Students and others struggling with a valuable personal essay topic can choose from any of the 110 personal essay topics on this list to help them get started.

How to Write a Personal Essay

Writing a personal essay will require you to follow a traditional essay’s guidelines, structure, and format. However, you will also need to ensure that your essay is personal or tells a story about yourself rather than being entirely academic.

For example, you might want to explain an experience that changed how you saw the world or share an opinion on something important to you – even if the rest of the world doesn’t agree with it.

It often helps to make a list of experiences that you may want to share before starting with the writing aspect of the personal essay.

Introduction

The introduction to your personal essay will set the scene for the reader. Therefore, your personal essay needs to start with a compelling hook that will draw the reader in and make them want to read more.

This hook statement could be a humorous or poignant anecdote related to your topic or a line of questioning that the reader will be interested in following. For example, some possible opening lines for a personal essay could start with:

• “I remember exactly where I was when I first realized …”
• “What would you do if you knew the world was going to end tomorrow?
• “So, I once had this problem …”

These beginning lines will often create questions in the reader’s mind, which is an excellent way to capture their interest and keep them reading. Following this initial opening sentence, you can introduce other details as you build up the main point of the story.

Your introduction should end with a thesis statement that verbalizes the general direction the story will go.

Body Paragraphs

Generally, a personal essay will have no less than three body paragraphs that detail your experience in chronological order. Each section should discuss one part of the story, including the events leading up to it, what happened during the experience, and what you learned from it.

Body paragraphs may also include examples of feelings, emotions, or arguments that support your experience. The goal of a personal essay is to share a compelling story and teach the reader something about life or themselves by using specific details and language.

Consider this formatting when creating the body paragraphs of your personal essay:

1st Paragraph

• Beginning of the story that answers questions related to “Who?” and “Where?”
• Initial attitudes, moods, feelings, and assumptions about the event or experience about to take place

2nd Paragraph

• Middle of the story
• Details that show how the situation evolved over time, including any changes in mood or assumption on your part

3rd Paragraph

• Ending of the story/resolution
• The final analysis on overall feelings, emotions, and mood

By sticking to this formatting for the body paragraphs, students can ensure that they are telling the story correctly and including every key detail as it happens.

Conclusion Paragraph

The conclusion of a personal essay is optional and depends on what you want to accomplish with the telling of your story. If you want to leave the reader feeling inspired or emotionally moved, then focus on summarizing the main points in a short paragraph that ends on a positive note.

However, if this was a darker story, you may want to use the concluding paragraph to sum up your feelings after the experience has ended or explore any unanswered questions that remain.

In any event, your conclusion does need to include an overall moral or lesson of how the writer:

• overcame hardship
• rose to the occasion
• identified new traits or abilities that they never realized existed
• turned defeat into success
• followed their instincts and made the right choice
• came to appreciate something about life after the experience took place

Any of these statements can stand alone as a powerful lesson learned. However, when combined in one concluding paragraph, you will leave your reader with a profound impression.

Using any of these 110 personal essay topics will ensure that you have a strong and interesting story to tell.

Personal Essay Topics About Relationships

• What was a time when you made a friend?
• What would your worst enemy say about you?
• Talk about the death of a friend.
• How did it feel to be bullied in school?
• The time when you had to get along with a sibling despite being different ages
• What you learned from your first relationship
• Why marriage isn’t important to you
• How you discovered polyamory, and how it changed your view of relationships
• How your best friend made you a better person
• The lesson you learned from being catfished
• The first time you experienced heartbreak
• A funny story about how technology ruined a relationship.
• How did you learn to recognize love?
• Who would you consider your soulmate? What makes them that person specifically for you?
• What was your most embarrassing moment as a boyfriend or girlfriend, and what did you learn from it?

Personal Essay Topics About Hardships

• The worst thing that ever happened to me
• The roughest time in my family’s life
• The hardest challenge I’ve ever had to overcome
• How did you deal with the stress of moving?
• What was your most embarrassing moment as a kid?
• What are some reasons that I am grateful for my disability/illness/condition?
• When have you had an “Aha!” moment in life?
• What’s something terrible that happened to you that turned into something good?
• What’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from my failures?
• The time when it almost felt like the world was against me
• How did I handle/recover from a severe illness/injury/accident?
• When was the first time I realized that life isn’t fair?
• What was the biggest struggle I went through in my teens?
• The most challenging situation I faced in high school
• When was a time when I made a negative impact on someone else?
• The first time I got caught stealing
• The most embarrassing mistake I ever made with money
• What was the most challenging thing about getting sober/clean/overcoming addiction?
• When did I realize that life is short and that nobody is promised tomorrow?
• How did you learn to persevere through tough times?

Personal Essay Topics About Success & Achievements

• Best moment in my sports career
• My greatest success story
• The time I overcame my fear and found strength I didn’t know I had.
• What’s the happiest day of my life?
• How did I learn to overcome failure?
• The time I knew that dreams really do come true
• My greatest triumph over adversity – and what it taught me about myself.
• What made you realize that you have to work hard in order to achieve something meaningful in life?
• When did I know that I had made it in life?
• When was the first time you were acknowledged for your achievements?
• The night when my hard work truly paid off
• My most powerful moment after overcoming a setback
• How did I become successful?
• What are some defining moments in my career?
• How did I make it through a difficult time in college/university?
• What motivated me to become the person I am today?

Personal Essay Topics About Personal Growth & Self-Reflection

• Whose lifelong encouragement helped make me who I am today
• The first time I took responsibility for my own actions
• What gave me the courage to be myself?
• The most valuable life lesson I’ve ever received. Who taught it to me, and what was the context?
• How did I get through a difficult childhood/adolescence/teenage years?
• What did I learn from becoming a yoga master?
• How has meditation helped me overcome anger issues?
• How did I recover from using drugs and alcohol?
• What’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from quitting my job?
• When did I realize that life is too short to hate someone?
• The moment when I knew it was time for a change
• I made a mistake – and this is how I bounced back
• How did I overcome depression/anxiety/mental illness?

Personal Essay Topics About Passions & Hobbies

• How did learning a skill change my life?
• Why exercise makes me a better person
• My passion for writing
• What’s the best advice I’ve ever received? Who gave it to me, and in what situation?
• The moment when I realized my true calling in life
• The importance of keeping a journal and how it has helped me become a better person
• My biggest bucket list dream and why it’s so important to me
• What is my vision for the future?
• How did I find peace, contentment, and happiness?
• The time when I truly lived outside of my comfort zone
• When was the moment when I felt like I “got” meditation?
• My journey towards becoming vegan. What inspired me to make this change, and what were the challenges I faced?
• What lessons have been easy for me to learn, and which ones have been harder?
• The time when travel changed my life

Personal Essay Topics About Challenges & Failures

• The low point of my life and how I got through it
• How did an illness/injury/death in the family affect me?
• Why did I decide to stop going on blind dates?
• What were the consequences of losing my temper, and how did I make amends?
• The time when I was broken. What happened, who got hurt, and how did it affect me? How did I overcome this experience?
• When was the moment when I realized that my words carry weight?

Personal Essay Topics About Family & Childhood Memories

• The time when my family showed me what unconditional love means
• My most vivid childhood memory and how it has affected me as an adult
• How did I learn to be patient and kind?
• What was the moment that sparked a change in my life? What caused this change, and what happened after the changes took place?
• The moment when I realized the true meaning of friendship
• What lessons did growing up teach me about life?
• My childhood dream and what it taught me about myself
• How do I feel about my hometown after living in three different places?
• Why is it important to visit your birthplace/hometown during holidays/vacations?
• My family’s most influential life lesson and how it has affected me
• What was the moment when I realized that my parents had their own struggles?
• The time when I learned about my family history. What happened, why did this happen, and how did it affect me? How did things change after this event?
• What do I know about family traditions now that I didn’t understand as a child?
• Why are your family memories vital to you?

Personal Essay Topics About Cultural Heritage & Identity

• What does being bilingual/multilingual mean to me? Why is it unique?
• My first interaction with someone from another culture
• What’s wrong with cultural appropriation, and how did I learn to stop?
• The moment when I became aware of my race/ethnicity
• My culture’s most influential life lesson and how it has affected me
• How I learned to not be afraid of my cultural differences
• Why is diversity important in my community? In what ways do I contribute?
• The moment I realized that I am proud of my culture
• How has the immigrant/refugee experience shaped who you are today?
• How traditions have changed the way I view my family

Personal Essay Topics About Childhood Dreams & Aspirations

• What were my childhood dreams, and how have they changed over the years?
• How did I make peace with the fear of growing up?

Any of these 110 personal essay topics are perfect for students struggling to find a topic that will impress a college admission officer or any other person with whom you’re trying to connect with on a personal level through storytelling.

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• Personal Statement

50 Personal Statement Topics Recommended by Experts

If you’re looking for good personal statement topics, don’t worry, you are not alone: millions of students all over the world are in the same boat. Writing such an essay is an extremely responsible task because in many ways, it determines the degree of success your application is going to have. To overcome your competition, the first thing you should do is understand what a personal essay is and why colleges and universities ask their potential students to write one. Personal statements for undergraduate admissions are a piece of writing describing personality, achievements, hobbies, and plans of students who want to join a specific educational establishment.

What makes them important? They help the committee see who a person is, what they think, what motivations they have, and how well they are capable of essay writing. Reading through academic numbers is great, but the only thing they indicate is how well a student could study. What professors want to see instead is how motivated and inspired people applying to them are, and this could be done only via an application essay. The tricky question is, where to find a great topic for it?

Tips For Choosing the Best Personal Statement Ideas

Finding a topic is always difficult. It has to resonate both with you and with people who are going to review your work, so it is vital not to make a mistake. Here are some tips you could use for solving this problem.

• Think about your life.  Even the most boring and monotonous lives have their small tragedies and victories. Start remembering them. Go through key moments and think about details surrounding them. The clearest memories are the best foundation for essay topic.
• Focus on an interesting event.  Whatever personal topics you consider, they must revolve around a prompt that evokes some genuine feelings in you. It must be something you are passionate about, something that has really affected your growth as an individual. Feel invested as you describe this situation.
• Add a challenge to it.  Don’t forget that such essays should somehow show your strong sides or your willingness to learn. Describing a situation that didn’t have a meaningful impact related to your growth won’t fit here, so focus on challenging memories. Topics must be unique.
• Speak by yourself.  Application essay is your chance to speak and present things from your perspective. If you ever felt misunderstood, betrayed, or under-evaluated, this is an opportunity to shed light on it and explain everything in a way you see it. By combining these four tips, it’ll be easier to narrow down a potential range of topics and choose a truly great one.

50 Inspiring Topics for Personal Essay

Apart from options we mentioned above, there is another alternative. When you are fruitlessly looking for possible topics and cannot find anything, it is time for using the Internet. There are many lists with suggestions people could choose from — they offer free themes and encourage students to pick them in case they find them inspiring. We present 50 top ideas that could give you a sense of direction.

Personal Statement Topics on Your Past

These topics for personal statement never get old. Look into your life; consider every relevant moment that has ever happened. Here are some ideas.

• First Day at School: My Fears, Hopes, and Strength I Gained
• Living with Workaholic Parents & How This Background Made Me Who I Am
• Accepting a Concept of Death: Frightening Story of Loss, Recovery, and Acceptance
• Overcoming Envy and Learning Self-Control
• Why I Hated Risks and How I Learned to Start Taking Them
• How Reading This Book Changed My Life & Goals
• When I Realized Why I Want to Go to College
• The Event That Brought Me to a Start & Changed Direction of My Life
• The Thing You Did That You Are Still Proud Of
• Which Event Made You Regain Faith in Humanity

Personal Statement Ideas About Challenges

We all have challenges, and some of them leave a deep mark on our hearts. Check these good personal statement topics examples — maybe they’ll remind you of a problem that you managed to overcome.

• First Taste of Betrayal & Its Impact on Me
• My Biggest Accomplishment and Challenges on Its Way
• How I Stepped Out of My Safety Zone & Changed My Core Belief
• How Being Academically Unsuccessful Made Me Want to Be the Best
• The Biggest Embarrassment of My Life: Learning From Mistakes
• Having Two Best Friends at Once Is Tough
• Coping with Stereotypes Inflicted By Other People
• Days When Panic Attacks Did Not Let Me Get Up From Bed
• Understanding Depression and Learning to Live with It
• Event That Broke My Heart & How I Healed It

Personal Statement Prompts on Academic Subjects

How about some subject-related ideas for personal statements? They are always welcome by application committees.

• My Love for Seeking Truth Was Born the Day I Discovered the Role of Law in Our Lives
• Visiting the Hospital for the First Time and Why It Fuelled My Interest in Medical Education
• My Work Was Stolen & It Woke My Interest in Intellectual Property
• Why Seemingly Impossible Career Seems Closer Now
• My Thirst for Knowledge and Why It Could Make Me a Good Journalist
• The Most Beautiful Building I’ve Ever Seen or the Day When My Love for Design Was Born
• Spending Every Sunday in My Life Cooking: Where Does That Lead Me?
• Outrageous Historical Lies and Why That Inspired Me to Study History
• From Toys to Engineering Devices: I Was an Inventor Before I Could Work
• Animals Are as Important as People: My Hopes For Becoming a Vet

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Personal Qualities Topics

People might have the same interests, but their personal characteristics make them different. These personal statement prompt examples could help demonstrate it.

• Being the Definition of Stubbornness & Its Ups and Downs
• Why My Resilience Makes Me a Good Fit For This College
• How Love and Education Come Together: My Background and My Goals
• Three Key Events That Boosted My Creativity
• Suspiciousness Is My Second Nature: It’ll Help Excel in My Field
• Passion for Politics I Carried Through Life: Then vs. Now
• Loving to Argue: Childhood Screaming Matches vs. Mature Evidence-Based Discussions
• Crying When Others Cry: How My Empathy Lets Me Live Complete Life
• What Having Creative Mind Means For Me
• I Wanted to Be a Superhero: How It Affected Who I Want to Be Now

Diversity Ideas

College personal statement topics related to diversity never lose their relevance.

• Witnessing Cruelty for the First Time and What It Taught Me
• The First Time I Faced Prejudice and Cried
• Complex Story of Figuring Out My Sexuality: Why Things Should Have Been Easier
• How My Race Affected My Social Acceptance
• Understanding Racism After Making a New Friend
• How I Believe Diversity Should Be Publicly Celebrated
• How Being Strange Became a Norm For Me
• Small Ways in Which I Intend to Change This World
• Why Diversity Is Key to Achieving Peace
• Racial Make-Up of My School  Class and How It Shaped My Views

Write an Essay That’ll Move Everyone

As long as you’re truly invested in your chosen topics for personal statements, you have every chance of crafting a stunning essay. Basically, you’ll be retelling a meaningful experience from your life, showing how you found purpose and how it led you to select this specific college. This kind of writing is always emotional, so you could affect your readers and share your joy, pain, and determination. The more effective you are in this, the more likely it is that you’ll reach success. After you settle on personal statement essay topics, write about them with sincerity and passion, and this will definitely get you some precious points!

Can’t come up with a topic for you paper? We’ve prepared a collection of essay topics for you

Want to write a winning essay but lack experience? Browse our free essay samples

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The Influence of Jeff Bezos’ College Education on his Business Success

This essay about Jeff Bezos’ college education at Princeton University examines how his academic experiences shaped his future success as the founder of Amazon. Focusing on his rigorous studies in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the essay highlights how Bezos’ problem-solving skills and analytical thinking were honed during his time at Princeton. It discusses the significant influence of his professors and the importance of his leadership roles in student organizations. The essay also notes how the innovative and demanding environment at Princeton inspired Bezos to adopt bold strategies and a big-thinking mindset, which were crucial to his business achievements and the founding of Amazon. The educational background and experiences gained during these formative college years are portrayed as foundational elements that contributed substantially to his professional endeavors and success in the tech industry.

How it works

One of the most important people in the contemporary digital economy and the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has frequently credited a variety of causes for his enormous success, including his time as a student at Princeton University. Examining how his educational experiences influenced his viewpoints and, ultimately, his career aspirations is fascinating.

Bezos started his academic career in 1982 at Princeton University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1986 with honors. His academic experience is not just a trivial aspect of his biography, but rather a fundamental factor that shaped his perspective on technology and business.

At Princeton, Bezos was exposed to rigorous academic challenges that fostered his analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. The curriculum in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science is known for its demanding nature, requiring students to not only grasp complex theories but also apply them practically. This blend of theoretical and practical learning is crucial in the tech industry, which relies on both innovative algorithms and real-world application.

Moreover, Bezos’ participation in various extracurricular activities, including the leadership roles in the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS), provided him with early experiences in managing teams and projects. Leadership in such groups requires one to inspire and mobilize peers, a skill that proved invaluable when he later founded and expanded Amazon.

The influence of his professors and the intellectual environment at Princeton cannot be underestimated. One notable figure during Bezos’ time at Princeton was his professor, Dr. Alain Kornhauser, who had a significant impact on him. Dr. Kornhauser, who taught a course in transportation, emphasized the importance of innovation and efficiency in systems, ideas that are palpably present in the business model of Amazon.

The academic rigor and the culture of innovation at Princeton likely instilled in Bezos a deep appreciation for meticulous planning and bold, innovative strategies. Amazon’s early days are marked by strategic decisions that were both daring and meticulously calculated—traits that are often nurtured in challenging academic settings. The decision to start with books, for instance, was due to their large, global demand and uniformity, which made them easier to catalog than other items.

Post-college, the lessons Bezos learned at Princeton were not just applicable in the direct sense of technological and business strategies but also in his general approach to challenges and opportunities. His famous ‘regret minimization framework’ which he used to decide whether to leave his job and start Amazon, echoes the analytical decision-making processes honed during his college years.

Beyond specific courses and projects, the environment at an institution like Princeton, surrounded by highly motivated peers and leaders in their fields, fosters a mindset geared towards innovation and excellence. This atmosphere undoubtedly encouraged Bezos to think big—a prerequisite for anyone aiming to revolutionize retail through an internet bookstore that would eventually become a global marketplace and cloud computing powerhouse.

While it’s clear that many factors contribute to a person’s success, the influence of a solid educational background, especially in a field as dynamic and demanding as computer science and electrical engineering, cannot be understated. For Bezos, Princeton was not just a stepping stone but a launchpad that provided him with the tools, skills, and mindset necessary to innovate and lead in the digital age.

In essence, the college years of Jeff Bezos are a testament to the profound impact that a focused and challenging academic environment can have on an individual. It nurtured his curiosity, armed him with critical technical and leadership skills, and instilled a problem-solving mindset—all of which played a pivotal role in his later success. The story of Jeff Bezos and Princeton is a reminder of how transformative years spent in academia can be when they align well with one’s long-term aspirations and career path.

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Miss Teen USA steps down just days after Miss USA's resignation, citing 'personal values'

Srivastava said her 'personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.'

Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.

In an Instagram post Wednesday, Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava said her "personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization."

"After months of grappling with this decision, I have made the choice to resign from the title of Miss Teen USA 2023," wrote Srivastava in a statement on her personal account. The high school teen from New Jersey won the pageant back in September and had expressed her pride at being the first Mexican-Indian American to hold the role.

"I look forward to the rest of the year as I finish 11th grade as part of the National Honor Society and start the college application process, knowing that my academic career has been defined by my hard work, and my hard work alone," she added. She said she would continue her advocacy for education and acceptance alongside work with the Lotus Petal and Bridge of Books foundations.

The pageant responded with an Instagram post, writing that it respected Srivastava's decision, considered the well-being of titleholders "a top priority," and that a successor would be named soon.

Srivastava and the Miss Universe and Miss USA organizations did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment.

Her resignation comes on the heels of another queen relinquishing her title earlier this week.

On Monday, Noelia Voigt stepped down from her Miss USA title, citing her mental health. When she took the crown in November, Voigt, who is Venezuelan American and from Utah, said she would work to connect with diverse communities across the United States.

"Deep down I know that this is just the beginning of a new chapter for me, and my hope is that I continue to inspire others to remain steadfast, prioritize your mental health, advocate for yourself and others by using your voice, and never be afraid of what the future holds, even if it feels uncertain," she posted on Instagram.

"Never compromise your physical and mental well-being. Our health is our wealth," she wrote.

Her post drew speculation from fans that Voigt was sending a hidden message about a non-disclosure agreement, with the first letter of the first 11 sentences of her statement spelling out "I am silenced."

A spokesperson for the Miss USA Organization told CNN in a statement on Monday that they supported Voigt's decision to step down from her duties and that "the well-being of our titleholders is a top priority, and we understand her need to prioritize herself at this time."

The organization added they are reviewing plans for the "transition of responsibilities to a successor" and that they will announce the new Miss USA soon.

The resignations, along with the organization's social media director Claudia Michelle also stepping down last week, have raised questions among fans around the culture of beauty pageants and whether aspects are in need of an overhaul.

Michelle has been more candid about alleged problems at the organization. In an Instagram post she wrote she disavows "workplace toxicity and bullying of any kind."

Miss Universe and Miss USA did not immediately respond to CNN's requests for comment.

Some of Voigt's fellow Miss USA contestants shared a post claiming that "the majority" of the 2023 class supported her decision to leave and asked the Miss USA Organization to release Voigt from her NDA clause "so that she is free to speak on her experiences."

(The-CNN-Wire & 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.)

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