Key Takeaways
- Having too many good topics is a real problem, not a humble brag. It needs a framework, not more brainstorming.
- The right topic isn’t the most impressive one. It’s the one that shows something the rest of your application doesn’t.
- When everything feels essay-worthy, the question shifts from “what happened to me” to “what does my application still need to say.”
“I don’t know what to write about — I have like six things I could use.”
Most essay advice assumes the opposite problem. Not enough material, not enough to say, staring at a blank page.
Some students have the reverse issue. A genuinely interesting life, several strong stories, and no idea how to pick just one.
That’s not a bad problem to have. But it is still a problem, because six good topics compressed into one essay usually produces something shallow, not something rich.
If everything feels worth writing about, what actually decides which one wins?
Why more options make this harder, not easier
When a student has only one real topic, the decision is already made. The work is just writing it well.
When a student has several strong options, every one of them starts to look like the “safe” choice and the “risky” choice at the same time. The internship feels impressive but maybe overdone. A story about a sibling feels meaningful but maybe too personal to hand to a stranger. The random passion project feels distinctive but maybe too small to justify 650 words.
Without a framework, this usually ends one of two ways. Either the student picks whichever topic feels safest, which tends to be the most generic one. Or the student tries to fit two or three topics into one essay, and the essay ends up sounding like a highlight reel instead of a story.
Too much material without a filter produces the same flat result as too little material.
Shift the question you’re asking
Most students facing this problem keep asking which of these is my best story?
That’s the wrong question when you already have several good ones. A better question is what does my application not know about me yet?
Look at your activities list. Look at what your recommenders are likely to say. Look at the version of you your grades and test scores already suggest.
The strongest topic isn’t the most dramatic one on your list. It’s the one that’s covering ground nothing else in your file is covering. Princeton’s own supplemental essay instructions make this explicit — they tell applicants not to repeat their Common App essay and to use the extra space for something that doesn’t already show up elsewhere in the file.
An example of the filter in action
One student had three real options: a research project she’d led at a lab over the summer, a personal essay about her relationship with her older brother, and a smaller story about teaching herself to fix her family’s ancient car.
All three were genuinely good. All three could have worked as a college essay.
But her activities list already showcased the research heavily, with detailed descriptions and a glowing recommendation letter from her mentor lined up. That topic was already covered elsewhere in her file.
The car story, on the other hand, wasn’t visible anywhere else in her application. It showed patience, hands-on problem solving, and a completely different side of her than the research did.
She wrote about the car. Not because it was more impressive. Because it was the only one of the three that added something new.
A framework for choosing
List what each topic would prove about you. Write one sentence per topic: what trait, value, or way of thinking does this story actually demonstrate? If two topics prove the same thing, that’s useful information.
Check what’s already covered elsewhere in your application. Your activities list, your recommendation letters, and your other short-answer responses are already telling parts of your story. The main essay doesn’t need to repeat them.
Ask which topic reveals something only you would notice. A topic where the “lesson” is universal — hard work pays off, teamwork matters — competes with thousands of similar essays. A topic where the specific detail is something only you would have noticed is harder to replicate.
Test each topic for how much room it has. Some strong stories are actually better suited to a shorter supplemental answer than a full personal statement. If a topic feels complete in two sentences, it might not have 650 words of depth in it — or it might be perfect for a shorter prompt elsewhere.
Pick based on range, not ranking. Don’t ask which topic is “best” in isolation. Ask which topic, combined with the rest of your application, gives the fullest picture of who you are.
The takeaway
Having too many good topics isn’t a problem to brainstorm your way out of. It’s a problem to filter your way through.
Before you choose, look at your whole application, not just your list of possible essays.
Which of these stories is my file not already telling?
That question won’t just help you pick a topic. It’ll help you pick the one that actually adds something — instead of the one that simply sounds the most impressive standing alone.
