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Personal Essay Topics

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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
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100+ Personal Essay Topics For College And Writing Tips

Table of Contents

70 Great Personal Essay Topics for College

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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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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Do you need to write a persuasive essay but aren’t sure what topic to focus on? Were you thrilled when your teacher said you could write about whatever you wanted but are now overwhelmed by the possibilities? We’re here to help!

Read on for a list of 113 top-notch persuasive essay topics, organized into ten categories. To help get you started, we also discuss what a persuasive essay is, how to choose a great topic, and what tips to keep in mind as you write your persuasive essay.

What Is a Persuasive Essay?

In a persuasive essay, you attempt to convince readers to agree with your point of view on an argument. For example, an essay analyzing changes in Italian art during the Renaissance wouldn’t be a persuasive essay, because there’s no argument, but an essay where you argue that Italian art reached its peak during the Renaissance would be a persuasive essay because you’re trying to get your audience to agree with your viewpoint.

Persuasive and argumentative essays both try to convince readers to agree with the author, but the two essay types have key differences. Argumentative essays show a more balanced view of the issue and discuss both sides. Persuasive essays focus more heavily on the side the author agrees with. They also often include more of the author’s opinion than argumentative essays, which tend to use only facts and data to support their argument.

All persuasive essays have the following:

Introduction: Introduces the topic, explains why it’s important, and ends with the thesis.
Thesis: A sentence that sums up what the essay be discussing and what your stance on the issue is.
Reasons you believe your side of the argument: Why do you support the side you do? Typically each main point will have its own body paragraph.
Evidence supporting your argument: Facts or examples to back up your main points. Even though your opinion is allowed in persuasive essays more than most other essays, having concrete examples will make a stronger argument than relying on your opinion alone.
Conclusion: Restatement of thesis, summary of main points, and a recap of why the issue is important.

What Makes a Good Persuasive Essay Topic?

Theoretically, you could write a persuasive essay about any subject under the sun, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Certain topics are easier to write a strong persuasive essay on, and below are tips to follow when deciding what you should write about.

It’s a Topic You Care About

Obviously, it’s possible to write an essay about a topic you find completely boring. You’ve probably done it! However, if possible, it’s always better to choose a topic that you care about and are interested in. When this is the case, you’ll find doing the research more enjoyable, writing the essay easier, and your writing will likely be better because you’ll be more passionate about and informed on the topic.

You Have Enough Evidence to Support Your Argument

Just being passionate about a subject isn’t enough to make it a good persuasive essay topic, though. You need to make sure your argument is complex enough to have at least two potential sides to root for, and you need to be able to back up your side with evidence and examples. Even though persuasive essays allow your opinion to feature more than many other essays, you still need concrete evidence to back up your claims, or you’ll end up with a weak essay.

For example, you may passionately believe that mint chocolate chip ice cream is the best ice cream flavor (I agree!), but could you really write an entire essay on this? What would be your reasons for believing mint chocolate chip is the best (besides the fact that it’s delicious)? How would you support your belief? Have enough studies been done on preferred ice cream flavors to support an entire essay? When choosing a persuasive essay idea, you want to find the right balance between something you care about (so you can write well on it) and something the rest of the world cares about (so you can reference evidence to strengthen your position).

It’s a Manageable Topic

Bigger isn’t always better, especially with essay topics. While it may seem like a great idea to choose a huge, complex topic to write about, you’ll likely struggle to sift through all the information and different sides of the issue and winnow them down to one streamlined essay. For example, choosing to write an essay about how WWII impacted American life more than WWI wouldn’t be a great idea because you’d need to analyze all the impacts of both the wars in numerous areas of American life. It’d be a huge undertaking. A better idea would be to choose one impact on American life the wars had (such as changes in female employment) and focus on that. Doing so will make researching and writing your persuasive essay much more feasible.

List of 113 Good Persuasive Essay Topics

Below are over 100 persuasive essay ideas, organized into ten categories. When you find an idea that piques your interest, you’ll choose one side of it to argue for in your essay. For example, if you choose the topic, “should fracking be legal?” you’d decide whether you believe fracking should be legal or illegal, then you’d write an essay arguing all the reasons why your audience should agree with you.

Arts/Culture

Should students be required to learn an instrument in school?
Did the end of Game of Thrones fit with the rest of the series?
Can music be an effective way to treat mental illness?
With e-readers so popular, have libraries become obsolete?
Are the Harry Potter books more popular than they deserve to be?
Should music with offensive language come with a warning label?
What’s the best way for museums to get more people to visit?
Should students be able to substitute an art or music class for a PE class in school?
Are the Kardashians good or bad role models for young people?
Should people in higher income brackets pay more taxes?
Should all high school students be required to take a class on financial literacy?
Is it possible to achieve the American dream, or is it only a myth?
Is it better to spend a summer as an unpaid intern at a prestigious company or as a paid worker at a local store/restaurant?
Should the United States impose more or fewer tariffs?
Should college graduates have their student loans forgiven?
Should restaurants eliminate tipping and raise staff wages instead?
Should students learn cursive writing in school?
Which is more important: PE class or music class?
Is it better to have year-round school with shorter breaks throughout the year?
Should class rank be abolished in schools?
Should students be taught sex education in school?
Should students be able to attend public universities for free?
What’s the most effective way to change the behavior of school bullies?
Are the SAT and ACT accurate ways to measure intelligence?
Should students be able to learn sign language instead of a foreign language?
Do the benefits of Greek life at colleges outweigh the negatives?
Does doing homework actually help students learn more?
Why do students in many other countries score higher than American students on math exams?
Should parents/teachers be able to ban certain books from schools?
What’s the best way to reduce cheating in school?
Should colleges take a student’s race into account when making admissions decisions?
Should there be limits to free speech?
Should students be required to perform community service to graduate high school?
Should convicted felons who have completed their sentence be allowed to vote?
Should gun ownership be more tightly regulated?
Should recycling be made mandatory?
Should employers be required to offer paid leave to new parents?
Are there any circumstances where torture should be allowed?
Should children under the age of 18 be able to get plastic surgery for cosmetic reasons?
Should white supremacy groups be allowed to hold rallies in public places?
Does making abortion illegal make women more or less safe?
Does foreign aid actually help developing countries?
Are there times a person’s freedom of speech should be curtailed?
Should people over a certain age not be allowed to adopt children?

Government/Politics

Should the minimum voting age be raised/lowered/kept the same?
Should Puerto Rico be granted statehood?
Should the United States build a border wall with Mexico?
Who should be the next person printed on American banknotes?
Should the United States’ military budget be reduced?
Did China’s one child policy have overall positive or negative impacts on the country?
Should DREAMers be granted US citizenship?
Is national security more important than individual privacy?
What responsibility does the government have to help homeless people?
Should the electoral college be abolished?
Should the US increase or decrease the number of refugees it allows in each year?
Should privately-run prisons be abolished?
Who was the most/least effective US president?
Will Brexit end up helping or harming the UK?

What’s the best way to reduce the spread of Ebola?
Is the Keto diet a safe and effective way to lose weight?
Should the FDA regulate vitamins and supplements more strictly?
Should public schools require all students who attend to be vaccinated?
Is eating genetically modified food safe?
What’s the best way to make health insurance more affordable?
What’s the best way to lower the teen pregnancy rate?
Should recreational marijuana be legalized nationwide?
Should birth control pills be available without a prescription?
Should pregnant women be forbidden from buying cigarettes and alcohol?
Why has anxiety increased in adolescents?
Are low-carb or low-fat diets more effective for weight loss?
What caused the destruction of the USS Maine?
Was King Arthur a mythical legend or actual Dark Ages king?
Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs during WWII?
What was the primary cause of the Rwandan genocide?
What happened to the settlers of the Roanoke colony?
Was disagreement over slavery the primary cause of the US Civil War?
What has caused the numerous disappearances in the Bermuda triangle?
Should nuclear power be banned?
Is scientific testing on animals necessary?
Do zoos help or harm animals?
Should scientists be allowed to clone humans?
Should animals in circuses be banned?
Should fracking be legal?
Should people be allowed to keep exotic animals as pets?
What’s the best way to reduce illegal poaching in Africa?
What is the best way to reduce the impact of global warming?
Should euthanasia be legalized?
Is there legitimate evidence of extraterrestrial life?
Should people be banned from owning aggressive dog breeds?
Should the United States devote more money towards space exploration?
Should the government subsidize renewable forms of energy?
Is solar energy worth the cost?
Should stem cells be used in medicine?
Is it right for the US to leave the Paris Climate Agreement?
Should athletes who fail a drug test receive a lifetime ban from the sport?
Should college athletes receive a salary?
Should the NFL do more to prevent concussions in players?
Do PE classes help students stay in shape?
Should horse racing be banned?
Should cheerleading be considered a sport?
Should children younger than 18 be allowed to play tackle football?
Are the costs of hosting an Olympic Games worth it?
Can online schools be as effective as traditional schools?
Do violent video games encourage players to be violent in real life?
Should facial recognition technology be banned?
Does excessive social media use lead to depression/anxiety?
Has the rise of translation technology made knowing multiple languages obsolete?
Was Steve Jobs a visionary or just a great marketer?
Should social media be banned for children younger than a certain age?
Which 21st-century invention has had the largest impact on society?
Are ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft good or bad for society?
Should Facebook have done more to protect the privacy of its users?
Will technology end up increasing or decreasing inequality worldwide?

Tips for Writing a Strong Persuasive Essay

After you’ve chosen the perfect topic for your persuasive essay, your work isn’t over. Follow the three tips below to create a top-notch essay.

Do Your Research

Your argument will fall apart if you don’t fully understand the issue you’re discussing or you overlook an important piece of it. Readers won’t be convinced by someone who doesn’t know the subject, and you likely won’t persuade any of them to begin supporting your viewpoint. Before you begin writing a single word of your essay, research your topic thoroughly. Study different sources, learn about the different sides of the argument, ask anyone who’s an expert on the topic what their opinion is, etc. You might be tempted to start writing right away, but by doing your research, you’ll make the writing process much easier when the time comes.

Make Your Thesis Perfect

Your thesis is the most important sentence in your persuasive essay. Just by reading that single sentence, your audience should know exactly what topic you’ll be discussing and where you stand on the issue. You want your thesis to be crystal clear and to accurately set up the rest of your essay. Asking classmates or your teacher to look it over before you begin writing the rest of your essay can be a big help if you’re not entirely confident in your thesis.

Consider the Other Side

You’ll spend most of your essay focusing on your side of the argument since that’s what you want readers to come away believing. However, don’t think that means you can ignore other sides of the issue. In your essay, be sure to discuss the other side’s argument, as well as why you believe this view is weak or untrue. Researching all the different viewpoints and including them in your essay will increase the quality of your writing by making your essay more complete and nuanced.

Summary: Persuasive Essay Ideas

Good persuasive essay topics can be difficult to come up with, but in this guide we’ve created a list of 113 excellent essay topics for you to browse. The best persuasive essay ideas will be those that you are interested in, have enough evidence to support your argument, and aren’t too complicated to be summarized in an essay.

After you’ve chosen your essay topic, keep these three tips in mind when you begin writing:

Do your research
Make your thesis perfect
Consider the other side

What's Next?

Need ideas for a research paper topic as well? Our guide to research paper topics has over 100 topics in ten categories so you can be sure to find the perfect topic for you.

Thinking about taking an AP English class? Read our guide on AP English classes to learn whether you should take AP English Language or AP English Literature (or both!)

Deciding between the SAT or ACT? Find out for sure which you will do the best on . Also read a detailed comparison between the two tests .

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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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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242 Personal Persuasive Essay Topics and Ideas

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

Personal Persuasive Essay Topics Ideas intro image

Personal essays are some of the most diverse assignments you can receive. Whether you’re a student in middle school or university, the best personal essay will highlight an individual’s personal views and unique experience. They’re not confined by the restrictions of literary essays and give plenty of opportunity for introducing the writer’s personality. The key here is selecting the right topics to talk about in a personal essay. Usually, this is the toughest part. After all, it’s the emotional core of your text. A lot of people also struggle to write about themselves and their experience as subjects of the text. Where does one start? Essay topics in general are frustrating to formulate so if you need help with some inspiration, take a look at some more ideas here ! And if you’re wondering what some good personal essay topics are, you’ll find a lot of sample ideas here as well as a guide on how to write a persuasive text.

In this article:

How to Write Personal Essays

Personal narrative essay topics, personal experience essay topics, personal argumentative essay topics, personal cause-and-effect essay topics, personal persuasive essay topics, personal essay topics for middle school, personal essay topics for high school students and college students.

Start by taking a trip down memory lane. The most gripping stories come from personal experience, especially if you’re thinking of writing a personal narrative essay. Think about a memory from your past that includes some inciting incident. If this is the first time you come across this phrase, inciting incidents are typically the metaphorical “ hooks ” of the story that have the audience interested in your text.

You could talk about your experience working as a volunteer, for example, or if you aren’t the volunteering type, you can write about some exciting memories from your childhood and summer vacations. Have you taken a trip abroad that has really left an impression on you? Are you drawn to different cultures because of that exotic trip? Maybe you went to visit a museum of your favourite artist, and this has inspired you to become an artist yourself. Perhaps you were immersed by the sound of a different language and decided to have a go at it. What have you enjoyed the most in the process? What did you hate about it? Perhaps you tried acquiring a new skill, but it went completely the wrong way for you. The list goes on and on.

There’s something there. Just remember the golden rule: always be honest in your personal essays . Trying to change your viewpoint on a subject so that it fits the masses’ opinion won’t make your personal essay enticing. The topic you’ll talk about in your personal essay is extremely important and so is the first sentence. Writing phrases such as “ever since I was a baby, I wanted to become a doctor” isn’t convincing or truthful. Try not to stick to clichés. You want to make an impression with your text, so ask yourself: What would grab your attention if you were reading your persuasive essay? I always think of Charles Dickens’ first sentence from A Christmas Carol : “Marley was dead: to begin with.” It begs for explanation and resolve, and it’s short and simple. The same should go for the personal essay entry sentence.

Why Choose Personal Persuasive Topics for Your Essay

If you’re wondering why you should choose personal persuasive topics for your essay, the answer lies in the question. We are a narrative-oriented society, and much of our relatability comes from convincingly expressing to others our individual, personal experience. What better way to let your personality shine than through conveying your emotions and adventures in a gripping story?

Personal experience essay topics vary depending on your age, and it’s quite likely that a story that worked for a high school assignment won’t have the same effect in your university days. That’s why in the sections below, we have divided the best personal essay topics into different categories. That way, you can easily navigate across all topics (and there’s quite a lot of them – a total of 242 ), but don’t let that restrict you. If you’re confident, you can always choose a topic from any of the categories.

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Of course, there are other important takeaways from writing a great personal essay. Usually, your teacher or admissions officer will look out that you have successfully done the following:

Communicated and implemented your critical thinking skills
Spoken convincingly and from experience about challenging themes that make you stand out from the crowd
Demonstrated your creativity and unique voice all the while applying persuasive techniques in your writing

With all this in mind, you can now start by selecting the right type of personal essay topic from our categories. We have included everything from personal essay topics for middle school to personal essay topics for high school, as well as narrative essay topics and many more. Go on, what are you waiting for?

Personal narrative essays are a great way to tell your unique take on a personal story. You just have to choose a project you feel passionate about. Typically, choosing a story involving your success and personality growth is your best bet, but of course, always make sure to check that your topic is suitable for the task given by your tutors. If you’re wondering what topics are suitable for a great personal narrative essay, check out the following ideas:

Starting your first job
Volunteering for the first time
A memorable teacher that made an impact on you
A dangerous experience
Your first journey abroad/to the countryside
An experience that changed your behavior
An experience that made you gain/lose religious faith
A comedic situation based on some misunderstanding
Events from your summer vacation that changed your life
The first time you got a pet
The experience of meeting your little sibling for the first time
A time when you decided what your future job will be
The change of a relationship with some you didn’t expect you’d like
The first time you experienced a dangerous event of some kind
The first time you won something
Your experience participating in a sport/political/environmental design
A story about a teacher who inspired you
A story about a family member who is dear to you
Your experience of being in charge of something for the first time
Your experience traveling on your own for the first time
How a book you read changed your life
How the most exciting subject in school changed your life
How technology changed the way you access information
The first time you experienced an earthquake or tornado
A story about someone who has become your patron/idol
Your reaction/opinion on an event that influenced your country
A moment you caught someone in a lie
An episode that changed your relationship with your parents
An event which showed you taking responsibility and leadership
An event in which you face discrimination
An experience of successfully fighting procrastination
A time when you helped people in a crisis
The experience of creating secret places in your childhood
An experience playing your favorite game
A time you got lost
Your first time going on a trip by yourself
The influence of technology on your younger siblings vs you
What you would do if you won the lottery for the first time
Your best childhood memory
Your experience of discovering a disability for the first time
A secret talent you have
Your experience learning a musical instrument
Your experience with an inexplicable event that happened to you
A story about the greatest fear you have
How your favorite work of art inspires you
The best advice you have heard in your life
A place you would go to if you could travel in time
A story about the most beautiful place you have visited
Something you witnessed in your lifetime that you will never forget
Your favorite holiday experience
Your most awkward moment in college
Your biggest fear
The most crucial lesson in your life
Your experience of being betrayed by someone and your response to it
An advice your parents gave you that wasn’t useful
Describe your biggest moment of failure
Your biggest argument with a family member
A difficult decision you have made
The day you realized you had made a best friend
The most interesting dream you have had

Personal experience essays aren’t that much different from personal narrative essays. They still have an element of narrative storytelling within them, but this time, they focus more on a level of experience you have gained because of a certain event. Usually, personal experience essay topics are focused around the theme of personal development. Many things can be described and included in a personal narrative essay, and you not only are given the opportunity to demonstrate your personal views on a subject, but you can also have your level of determination and ambition evaluated by a professional teacher or college admissions officer. Usually, personal narrative essay papers are written when submitting a college application, but it’s also possible to receive such an essay in school. In my personal experience, some of the greatest essays presenting an intellectual challenge are in fact the personal experience essays.

Let’s get straight into some essay prompts:

How do you handle stress when attending an important exam?
Which school subject motivated you to study hard?
Did a teacher have a significant influence on your confidence in selecting a career?
Is homework a waste of time?
How would you go about doing research for an essay?
What motivates you to study and pursue your dreams?
Everyone has a plan “A” when it comes to choosing a career. What is your plan “B”?
How has your biggest failure shaped your personality today?
What is your biggest accomplishment outside of college/school, and how did you come to achieve it?
What is the difference between female and male roles in your family? In what way would you change them?
How did a book/film change your worldview?
What role have teams and clubs had in your life?
What role has television had in your life?
What is your relationship with social media?
How have moments of racial or religious discrimination affected you?

Personal argumentative essay topics are generally given to college students or sometimes to people applying for a degree in Humanitarian Sciences. Such essays are a great way for admission officers to evaluate your knowledge of current events and relevant social discussions. Personal argumentative essay topics are usually considered more difficult than narrative essays, for example. For more argumentative ideas and speech topics , check the guide! Thus, if you’re planning on taking up this challenge, make sure you have enough time to prepare. If you have a whole term to prepare for this personal argumentative essay topic, you’ll surely be able to tackle it. Also, if that sounds too engaging, don’t worry, there are plenty of other, easier essay ideas on our lists!

Check out our example personal argumentative essay prompts for argumentative essay topics:

Should prisons be abolished? If so, what is the negative and positive impact of this global decision?
How does higher education affect the merit in meritocracy?
Should artificial intelligence be applied actively in warfare?
Does revolution go hand in hand with violence?
Has the COVID-19 pandemic made us more prepared for the prevention of future epidemics occurring worldwide?
In what way has the instant gratification of social media changed our relationship to technology?
How has the digital age changed children’s relationship to empathy?
What would the impact of a potential legalization of productivity drugs look like in current society?
Is there a difference in work performance between Ivy League alumni and lower-ranking university students?
Is obesity preventable?
Is gun control a necessary method for the prevention of shootings?
Should everyone have the right to vote?
Should the right to vote be exclusively available to people with some form of education?
Does the #metoo movement yield meaningful social change?
Is knife control a necessary and sufficient method of knife crime prevention?
How can the value of digital collectible art be accurately determined?
Is fan fiction writing real writing?
Do all students need to learn a foreign language?
Should students take a gap year between high school and university?
Why should universities teach financial literacy?
Should students participate in the maintenance of school property?

Personal cause-and-effect essay topics are pretty self-explanatory. You’re aiming to express your opinion on a subject that has a cause, for example, supposedly, school uniforms are meant to cause discipline among students. Exercising and backing up your opinion on this essay idea will make it personal. Here is a detailed guide on how to write a great cause and effect essay . Think of a topic that excites you. It could be something you’re unhappy with or something you think is unjust.

Here are personal cause-and-effect essay topics we came up with:

How can video games boost people’s IQ?
Can a personal relationship in a family improve with phone use?
Can going to college make for happier marriages?
How can the involvement of a parent change a child’s education?
How have smartphones impacted general communication?
What is the effect of cookies, and does it make people shop more?
What is the effect of tablets on young children?
What is the effect of mobile usage during class?
Why can’t another popular engine be established in place of Google?
What is the effect of the financial success Disney has had in the last 30 years?
Should dating in school be banned?
Can living together before marriage make a relationship between partners stronger?
Can a couple sleeping in separate beds have a healthy relationship?
What is the effect of bullying on mental health?
What is the cause of bullying behavior?
Why shouldn’t women have to work after an abortion or miscarriage?
What is the impact of smoking on a pregnant mother ?
How can the presence of acne affect the life of a teenager? What about an adult?
Why do some people avoid vaccines?
What causes a lack of interest in sports?
How can teenagers better protect themselves against cyberbullies?
What causes certain social media apps to lose popularity?
Can continuous sporting activities cause character development?
Is “cancel culture” sparking meaningful change?
What is the root cause of racism?
Why is it essential to manage forest fires?
What are the harmful effects of antill hunting on the ecosystem?
Why is it important for everyone to conserve water?
What is the environmental impact of a single-use plastic ban?
Can a long-distance relationship work?
What are the causes and effects of cheating during exams?
Is it a necessity to have an obligatory Sex Ed class ?
How has the Internet changed the public’s sexual education?
Should there be student bars on campus?
Should work become mandatory for anyone over the age of 18?
What causes some sports to be more popular among students than others?
What are the effects of using computers and tablets in school? What about university?
Have libraries become more popular over the last few years?
What caused the General Data Protection Regulation, and why is it necessary?
What are the effects of online dating apps such as Tinder or Grindr?
What are the effects of drugs and alcohol on people?
Should people be allowed to drive after drinking a single unit of alcohol?
What are the effects of a family structure on an individual?
Does having a sibling make a person more responsible?
Are siblings better at sharing?
How has the golden child syndrome affected millennials?
How can teachers positively and negatively affect student lives?
What are the root causes of commitment phobia in men and women?
What is the effect of social media on romantic relationships?
How does eating fast food affect the energy levels of an individual?

Unlike personal cause-and-effect essay topics, personal persuasive essay topics aim to convince the reader that your opinion is right. This type of academic writing assignment explains a particular problem and uses research combined with personal experience in order to end up with a powerful persuasive conclusion. Through logic and convincing evidence, as well as always keeping in mind the goal of persuasion, you can write a powerful assignment.

Here are some personal persuasive essay ideas to choose from for your next writing assignment:

Is chess considered a sport or a game?
How is modern music not as well-composed as music from the past, such as the 1970s?
Is it important to put PG labels on music tracks or films?
Elaborate on the importance of the right education when playing professional music.
Is animal hunting an immoral hobby?
Is it a good idea to keep pets indoors?
The cruelty behind testing beauty products on animals
Is it ethical to breed animals for sale?
Schools have to reduce the amount of homework assigned to students.
SATs and ACTs are not effective ways of examining the knowledge of students.
There should be an Emotional Intelligence mandatory class for all years.
Vaccines can lead to autism.
Astrology isn’t an effective way of predicting future events.
All transport vehicles should be automatic or electric.
Can distant online learning replace traditional classes?
Working from home is better for finance but worse for mental health.
The current taxation system is unfair.
Listening to music when writing homework is an effective way of sparking productivity
Hustle culture has taxing effects on mental health.
People volunteer for their personal benefit, instead of kindness
People who have survived a near-death experience have a newfound appreciation for life.
Is “fake it until you make it” a healthy way of progressing?
Why do people lie on their resumes?
Why book reading during summer vacations should become mandatory.
Weekends should change from 2 days to 3 days.
Why we should be making selective school sports mandatory in school.
Cooking and body health classes should be mandatory subjects in school.
Can e-books and Kindles replace physical books?
Should the death penalty exist?
Why should children have chores?
Why should it be made mandatory for children to contribute to the overall maintenance, cleanliness, and gardening of schools?

When choosing a personal essay topic, it’s important to take on subjects and ideas related to your age. Some topics require a lot more research, while others can be a little too sensitive for a younger writer. Selecting the right one for you will leave you with less workload and can guarantee you a better grade. Of course, if you feel confident and knowledgeable enough, you can try your skills with a more difficult essay idea. Paper writing can be a difficult intellectual challenge, but we’re sure that with these essay ideas, you’ll be able to tell your personal story and write a great essay:

How did you make a best friend?
A special top-secret place you have.
A story of a time a friend let you down.
A time when you disappointed someone.
What is your happiest memory?
Your first time receiving a pet.
Your bravest moment.
A time you felt embarrassed.
What would you do if you were omnipotent?
What would you do if you could switch lives with someone? Who would it be?
How did a book change your life?
What would you do if your pet could talk?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
If you could shapeshift into an animal, what would you be? What would you do?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Would you change anything?
What’s your secret talent?
The first time you fell in love.
An accident that changed your life.
Talk about the ugliest thing you have seen.
Talk about the most influential family member.
Talk about your favorite gift.
Talk about something you can’t resist.
Talk about a guest you had in your house that you’ll never forget.
Talk about the hardest news you’ve had to deliver.
Talk about a special gift you have received.
Talk about something that if your mum knew, you’d be in a lot of trouble. A lot.
If you could volunteer anywhere, where would it be?
If you won a million dollars, how would you spend them?
What is an unexplained event that stuck with you?
The one thing you can’t resist.
If you could be a superhero, what power would you have? Why?
If you could teleport anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Personal Essay Topics for High School Students and College Students

This list of personal essay topics for high school students will definitely inspire you to practice your personal essay skills. Covering topics like communication, ethical consumption, personal experience and more, you’ll be able to gain new ideas and express your deepest thoughts within the confines of the page. These personal essay topics for high school students are also a great way of reflecting on your growth and personal opinion, while expressing your thoughts and opinions.

What inspires you?
What inanimate object best embodies you?
What’s one thing your parents don’t understand about you?
What is the one quality a good person must have?
Describe the best decision you ever made
What is one thing you would change that you know will make a great difference in your life?
How do you respond to criticism? Talk about a time you were critiqued.
Do you feel the impact of peer pressure in your life? How is it manifested?
Are you religious, an atheist, or agnostic? Why and why not?
Do you feel comfortable in your body? Do you feel pressure from the media about how you “should” look?
What are your views on ethical consumption? Does it matter to you?
What are your views on veganism?
Do you feel like your friends are honest with each other? Why and why not?
When you look back on your time in high school, what part will you remember with fondness?
If you could tell your 12-year-old self something, what would it be and why?
Do you have a dream profession? What is it?
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Do you believe in “soulmates”? Why and why not?
What is your dream goal? Do you feel like you’ll ever achieve it?
Do you believe in the concept of “best friends”? Why and why not?
Do you believe in astrology? Why and why not?
What do you think the world will look like in 100 years?
If you could bring to life any famous historical figure and spend the day with them, who would you pick, and what would you do?
If you could go back in time, would you kill Hitler?
What TV series you saw recently made an impression on you? Why?
What part of high school do you wish you could get rid of?
If you could start your own business, what would you do?
What issues truly motivate you and why?
If you were an admissions officer, what positive qualities would you look for in students?
What period of school do you think is most important?
What is your dream profession? What are it’s positives and negatives?
Do you think the world can function without money? What would that alternative universe look like?
Do you think all students should go to college? Why?

Writing essays is a great way to showcase your writing skills, as well as clearly communicate your views and ideas. Personal essay writing improves your debating, logical, and deductive skills, so it’s important that you select a topic you’re passionate about and inspired by. This will give you enough fuel to power through the most difficult essay topics while at the same time enjoy what you’re writing about. We hope you enjoyed our personal persuasive essay topics! Make sure to bookmark and come back to this personal essay ideas list in the future when you’re given an assignment! Here are some more college essay topics , check them out!

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Student Opinion

525 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing

Questions that invite students to write about themselves, their lives and their beliefs.

By The Learning Network

Updated with 80 new prompts from the 2022-23 school year!

We’ve been posting fresh writing prompts every school day for over a decade now, and every so often we create a themed collection like this one to help you find what you need all in one place.

Below, we’ve rounded up 525 evergreen questions to encourage you to write about your life. They cover everything from family, friendships and growing up to gender, spirituality, money, school and more. (They’re also all available here as a clickable PDF .)

We hope they’ll inspire you, whether you’re entering our related 100-Word Personal Narrative Contest this fall, or just want to improve your writing skills. Like all our Student Opinion questions , each links to a related Times article, which is free to read if you access it from our site.

So dive in and pick the questions that motivate you to tell an interesting story, describe a memorable event, observe the details in your world, imagine a possibility, or reflect on who you are and what you believe.

Overcoming Adversity

1. How Mentally Tough Are You? 2. What Is the Bravest Thing You’ve Ever Done? 3. When Have You Made the Best of a Difficult Situation? 4. How Have You Gotten Over Disappointment? 5. How Do You Get Over Rejection? 6. How Do You Deal With Self-Doubt? 7. How Resilient Are You? 8. What Do You Gain From Pursuing Something You Do Really, Really Badly? 9. How Do You Handle Fear? 10. Are You Too Hard on Yourself? 11. How Do You Silence Your Inner Critic? 12. Have You Ever Experienced ‘Impostor Syndrome’? 13. Have You Ever Benefited From Rejection? 14. Do You Give Yourself Enough Credit for Your Own Successes? 15. How Do You Overcome Your Fears? 16. Stress, Worry and Anxiety Are All Different. How Do You Cope With Each? 17. How Do You Cope With Grief? 18. How Do You Make Hard Decisions? 19. Have You Ever Quit Something? 20. Have You Ever Felt as if You Didn’t Belong? 21. When Has Starting Over Worked for You? 22. When Have You Reinvented Yourself? 23. Do You Find It Hard to Let Other People Help You? 24. Have You Ever Felt Like an Outsider? 25. Do You Appreciate When Celebrities Share Their Struggles? 26. Have You Ever Worried About Making a Good First Impression? 27. Have You Ever Felt Pressure to ‘Sell Your Pain’?

Your Personality

28. Are You an Optimist or a Pessimist? 29. How Competitive Are You? 30. Do You Like Spending Time Alone? 31. Are You a Good Person? 32. Are You a Perfectionist? 33. Do You Hold Grudges? 34. Do You Seek Out New Experiences? Or Stick With the Things You Know and Love? 35. How Do You Express Yourself Creatively? 36. What Animal Are You Most Like? 37. Are You a Patient Person? 38. Are You a Worrier? 39. Are You a Risk-Taker? 40. How Do You Handle Boredom? 41. How Well Do Rewards and Incentives Work to Motivate You? 42. How Good Are You at Judging Your Own Talents? 43. Are You a Procrastinator? 44. Do You Suffer From ‘Task Paralysis’? 45. Do You Feel Joy at Others’ Success? 46. What Role Does Envy Play in Your Life? 47. How Do You Like to Be Comforted When You Are Sad? 48. How Easy — or Hard — Is It for You to Say No When You Want To? 49. Are You More of a Leader or a Follower? 50. How Well Do You Read Other People? 51. Are You Good at Giving Gifts? 52. Do You Complain Too Much, Too Little or Just the Right Amount? 53. How Would You Rate Your Listening Skills and Those of the People Around You? 54. Do You Prefer to Dwell in the Past, Live in the Present or Dream of the Future? 55. What Makes You Cringe? 56. What Disgusts You? 57. Are You Easily Distracted? 58. How Punctual Are You? 59. Are You a Good Conversationalist? 60. How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? 61. Are You an Orchid, a Tulip or a Dandelion?

Hobbies & Interests

62. What Are Your Hobbies? 63. What Is Your Passion? 64. How Do You Spend Your Downtime? 65. How Do You Have Fun? 66. What Would You Choose to Do If You Had Unlimited Free Time and No Restrictions? 67. What Activities Make You Feel Most Alive? 68. What Big Project Do You Hope to Accomplish Someday? 69. What Work, Sport or Pastime Do You Like to Do at Night? 70. What Seemingly Mundane Feats Have You Accomplished? 71. What Have You Made This Year? 72. What Do You Collect? 73. Which Fandoms Are You In? 74. What Competition Do You Think You Could Win? 75. What Is Something You Want to Try, Even Though Others Might Think It’s Weird? 76. Are There Activities You Used to Love That Are Now So Competitive They’re Not Fun Anymore? 77. What Would You Recommend That Is ‘Overlooked and Underappreciated’? 78. What New Innovations and Discoveries in STEM Intrigue You?

79. What Are the Little Rituals That Keep You Going? 80. What Are Your Best Life Hacks? 81. What Ordinary Moments Would You Include in a Video About Your Life? 82. What Habits Do You Have, and Have You Ever Tried to Change Them? 83. Do You Wish You Had a Different Morning Routine? 84. Does Your Life Ever Feel Too Busy? 85. How Can You Tell a Story About Your Life Right Now Through a Few Simple Numbers? 86. What Is Your Secret to a Happy Life? 87. What’s Your Sunday Routine? 88. What Slang Words Do You Use? 89. How Often Do You Treat Yourself to Something Special? 90. How Often Do You Just ‘Hang Out’ With Others? 91. What Are You Grateful For? 92. Where Do You Find Peace and Quiet? 93. Do You Spend Enough Time With Other People? 94. Do You Talk to Yourself? 95. Is Clutter a Problem in Your Life? 96. How Do You Remember What You Need to Remember? 97. When and For What Reasons Do You Seek Silence? 98. How Do You Greet Your Friends and Family? 99. What Is the Most Wholesome Thing You’ve Seen Lately?

Home & Community

100. Who Are the ‘Characters’ That Make Your Town Interesting? 101. If You Made a Mixtape for Your Hometown, What Sounds and Songs Would You Include? 102. What Do the Types of Dogs in Your Neighborhood Say About Where You Live? 103. What Are Your Hometown’s Shortcomings? 104. Do You Have a Favorite Local Hangout? 105. After Home and School, Where Do You Find the Strongest Feeling of Community? 106. What Grievances Do You Have With Your Local Community? 107. Who in Your Community Might Be Interesting to Interview? 108. What Role Do Parks Play in Your Life? 109. What Role Do Trees Play in Your Neighborhood? 110. How Diverse Is Your Community? 111. How Do You Come Together With Your Community? 112. What Is Unique About Your Hometown? 113. What’s Your Favorite Local Business? 114. Do You Wish You Had the Go-to House? 115. Do You Think You Might Like Communal Living When You’re an Adult? 116. Do You Have Enough Access to Places Where You Can Play and Exercise? 117. What Do the Objects in Your Home Say About You?

118. How Do You Define ‘Family’? 119. Who Is in Your Chosen Family? 120. How Well Do You Get Along With Your Siblings? 121. How Well Do Your Parents Deal With Sibling Conflicts? 122. Do You Have a Family Motto or Creed? 123. How Much Do You Know About Your Family’s History? 124. Where Would You Visit To Find Out More About Your Family’s Past? 125. What Is a Meaningful Family Relationship That You Have? 126. What Is Your Relationship Like With Your Grandparents and Elders? 127. Do You Have Any Family Heirlooms?

Parents & Parenting

128. How Involved Are Your Parents in Your Life? 129. How Similar Are You to the Adults Who Raised You? 130. Do You Push Your Parents’ Buttons? 131. How Do You Get What You Want From Your Parents? 132. Do Your Parents Yell at You? 133. What Advice Do You Have for Teenagers and Their Parents? 134. Are You Conforming to or Rebelling Against Your Parents’ Wishes for You? 135. Do Your Parents Spy on You? 136. Do You Turn to Your Parents for Advice? 137. How Do You Connect With Your Parents? 138. Do Your Parents Overpraise You? 139. Have You Ever Felt Embarrassed by Your Parents? 140. Who Cooks, Cleans and Takes Care of the Kids in Your Family? 141. What Kind of Time Management Skills Are You Learning from the Adults in Your Life? 142. Are Your Parents Addicted to Their Phones?

Role Models

143. What Role Have Mentors Played in Your Life? 144. Whom Do You Turn to for Good Advice? 145. What Can We Learn From Older Adults? 146. What Does the World Need to Know About an Important Person in Your Life? 147. Who’s Your ‘Outsider Role Model’? 148. What Does Dr. King’s Legacy Mean to You? 149. Who Do You Turn To in a Crisis? 150. Who Is Someone You Would Like to Thank? 151. Have You Ever Written Fan Mail? If Not, Would You? 152. How Have You Coped With the Death of an Idol?

Childhood Memories

153. What Is Your Earliest Memory? 154. What Things Remind You of Your Childhood? 155. What Childhood Rules Did You Break? 156. What’s the Craziest Thing You Did as a Kid? 157. What Magic Did You Believe In as a Child? 158. What Is the Most Memorable Thing You Have Ever Lost or Found? 159. Have You Ever Given, or Received, a Perfect Gift? 160. What’s the Best Party You’ve Ever Been To? 161. What Smells Trigger Powerful Memories for You? 162. What Is Your ‘Good Luck Charm’? 163. What Objects Bring You Comfort?

164. What Is It Like to Be a Teenager Now? 165. What Is the Best Thing About Being Your Age? 166. What Do Older Generations Misunderstand About Teenagers Today? 167. What Rites of Passage Mark the Transition to Adulthood in Your Community? 168. How Important to You Is Being Able to Drive? 169. Do Other People Care Too Much About Your Post-High School Plans? 170. Do You Hate When Adults Ask You What You Want to Be When You Grow Up? 171. Have You Ever Felt Pressured by Family or Others in Making an Important Decision About Your Future? 172. Do You Have ‘Emerging Adult’ Skills? 173. How Long Do You Hope to Live at Home? 174. What Letter of Inspiration Would You Write to Your Younger Self? 175. What Have You Learned From a Younger Person — and What Have You Taught An Older Person? 176. Have You Ever Helped an Adult? 177. When — if Ever — Do You Call Adults by Their First Names? 178. What Advice Do You Have for Younger Students? 179. Are You Optimistic About the Future? 180. Do You Want to Have Children Someday? 181. Do You Look Forward to Old Age? 182. What Legacy Do You Want to Leave Behind? 183. What Do You Want to Be Known for After Your Death?

Morality & Ethics

184. Have You Ever Taken a Stand That Isolated You From Your Peers? 185. What Acts of Kindness Have You Witnessed or Participated In? 186. How Good Are You at Apologizing? 187. Do You Ever Laugh at the Misfortune of Others? 188. When Have You Either Forgiven Someone or Been Forgiven Yourself? 189. Has Forgiving Someone Ever Made You Feel Better? 190. What Is the Code You Live By? 191. Have You Ever Been Surprised by an Act of Generosity?

Race, Ethnicity, Gender & Sexuality

192. What Cultural Traditions Are Important to You? 193. How Do You Connect to Your Heritage? 194. What Role Does Your Family’s Native Tongue Play in Your Life? 195. How Does Your Identity Inform Your Political Beliefs and Values? 196. How Much Racism Do You Face in Your Daily Life? 197. What Is Your Gender Identity? 198. Do You Feel Constricted by Gender Norms? 199. Have You Ever Been Told You Couldn’t Do Something Because of Your Gender? 200. What Messages About Gender Have You Gotten From Music? 201. How Do You Feel About Being Told to Smile? 202. What Has Your Sex Education Been Like? 203. How Do You Respond When People Ask, ‘Where Are You From?’ 204. What Does Your Accent Say About Who You Are?

Money & Social Class

205. What Are Your Expectations About Earning, Saving and Spending Money? 206. What Choices Do You Make About Money Every Day? 207. How Do You Get and Spend Money? 208. Have You Ever Tried to Make Money Online? 209. How Much Financial Help Do You Expect From Your Parents in the Future? 210. Do You Get an Allowance? 211. How Much Has Your ZIP Code Determined Your Opportunities? 212. What Has Television Taught You About Social Class?

Religion, Spirituality & Beliefs

213. What Role Does Religion Play in Your Life? 214. How Often Do You Start Conversations about Faith or Spirituality? 215. What Do You Think Are the Secrets to Happiness? 216. What Legends and Myths Do You Believe In? 217. Do You Believe in Astrology? 218. Do You Believe in Manifesting? 219. What Are Your Experiences With Meditation? 220. How Important Is Mindfulness to Your Daily Life? 221. How Do You View Death? 222. We Document Life’s Milestones. How Should We Document Death? 223. Do You Believe in Ghosts?

Technology & the Internet

224. How Are You Using A.I.? 225. What Old Technology Do You Think Is Cool? 226. What Don’t Adults Understand About Teenage Life Online? 227. What Online Communities Do You Participate In? 228. Could You Go a Year Without a Smartphone? 229. Is Your Phone Love Hurting Your Relationships? 230. How Much of Your Day is Voluntarily Spent Screen-Free? 231. How Would Your Life Be Different if You Didn’t Have Wi-Fi and Cellular Service? 232. Where Do You Go to Find Cool, Strange or Fascinating Information on the Internet? 233. Does the Future of Robots Get You Excited, or Fill You With Dread? 234. Do You Worry About Your Digital Privacy? 235. Do You Feel Safer When You Know You’re Being Watched? 236. Do You Leave Funny Comments Online? 237. Have You Experienced Any Embarrassing Zoom Mishaps? 238. Have You Ever Encountered Racist or Extremist Content Online? 239. How Do You Know if What You Read Online Is True? 240. How Much Do You Trust Online Reviews?

Social Media

241. How Much of Your Life Do You Share Online? 242. Do Social Media and Smartphones Make Your Friendships Stronger? 243. Are You the Same Person on Social Media as You Are in Real Life? 244. What Does TikTok Mean to You? 245. Who Is Your Favorite Social Media Star? 246. Would You Want to Be a Social Media Star? 247. Do the Adults in Your Life Follow You on Social Media? 248. Have You Ever Gone to a Place for the Primary Purpose of Taking Selfies? 249. Would You Want to Live and Breathe Creating Content for Social Media? 250. Do You Feel You’re Friends With Celebrities or Influencers You Follow Online? 251. What Role Does Instagram Play in Your Life? 252. How Does Social Media Affect Your Mental Health? 253. Does Social Media Affect Your Body Image? 254. Which Emoji Do You Use the Most? 255. Do You Ever Ignore Text Messages?

Music & Podcasts

256. What Music Are You Listening to Right Now? 257. Who Was Your Favorite Musical Artist This Year? 258. What Songs Explain You? 259. What Is Your Favorite Musical Instrument? 260. What Songs Matter to You Now? 261. What Was Your First Concert? 262. Which Celebrity Performer Would You Like to Challenge to a Friendly Battle? 263. What Would You Name Your Band? 264. Do You Listen to Podcasts? 265. If You Could Make Your Own Podcast, What Would It Be About?

Movies, TV & Video Games

266. What Have You Learned About Life From Watching Movies? 267. What Is Your Favorite Sports Movie? 268. What Are Your Favorite TV Shows? 269. Who Is Your Favorite Actor? 270. What’s in Your Queue? 271. What Is Your Favorite Memory of PBS? 272. How Do You Feel About Spoilers? 273. What Stereotypical Characters Make You Cringe? 274. Are You a Fan of Rom-Coms? 275. Do You Like Horror? 276. What’s Your Favorite Video Game Ever? 277. What Classic Video Games Do You Still Enjoy Playing? 278. What Video Games Would You Like to See Adapted for Film or TV? 279. Are You a Fortnite Addict? 280. Do You Gamify Your Life?

Books & Reading

281. What Role Have Books Played in Your Life? 282. What Books Do You Think Every Teenager Should Read? 283. Do You See Yourself in the Books You Read? 284. Has a Novel Ever Helped You Understand Yourself or Your World Better? 285. What’s the Best Book You Ever Read for School? 286. What Book Would You Add to the High School Curriculum? 287. How Do You Find New Books, Music, Movies or Television Shows? 288. What Have You Learned from Comics? 289. What Role Does Poetry Play in Your Life? 290. Do You Like Romance Stories? 291. What Is the Scariest Story You Have Ever Heard? 292. Have You Ever Read a Book You Weren’t Supposed to Read? 293. What Children’s Books Have Had the Biggest Impact on You? 294. Where Is Your Favorite Place to Read? 295. What Role Do Libraries Play in Your Life?

296. What Purpose Does Writing Serve in Your Life? 297. Do You Keep a Journal? 298. What’s Your Favorite Word? 299. What’s Your Favorite Punctuation Mark? 300. Do You Read or Write Poetry? 301. Do You Love Writing or Receiving Letters? 302. What Do You Want to Investigate? 303. What Would You Write a Book About? 304. What Would You Write in a Letter to the Editor? 305. If You Had a Column in The New York Times, What Would You Write About?

306. What Movies, Shows, Books, Music, Games or Other Works Have Made a Strong Impression on You? 307. What Work of Art Has Changed Your Life? 308. Who Is Your Favorite Visual Artist? What Is Your Favorite Work of Art? 309. Which Photograph Stays In Your Memory? 310. What Would You Like to Learn to Make by Hand? 311. Are You Intimidated by Classical Music and Art? 312. Do You Love to Dance? 313. Have You Ever Performed for an Audience or Shared Creative Work With Others? 314. What Show Do You Wish Your School Would Stage? 315. How Would You Design Your Ideal Museum? 316. What Broadway Show Would You Most Like to See? 317. What Are the Most Memorable Works of Visual Art You’ve Ever Seen? 318. What Could You Read, Listen to or Watch to Stretch Your Cultural Imagination? 319. How Often Do You Read, Watch or Listen to Things Outside of Your Comfort Zone?

320. How Did You Grow and Change This School Year? 321. Do You Like School? 322. What Motivates You to Learn? 323. Would You Want to Go to a School Like This One? 324. What ‘Pop-Up’ Classes Do You Wish Your School Offered? 325. How Is What You Are Studying in School Relevant to Your Life and the Larger World? 326. Do You See the Point in Learning Math? 327. How Much Do You Speak Up in School? 328. How Diverse Is Your School? 329. Is Your School a Safe Learning Space? 330. How Comfortably Can You Speak Your Mind at School? 331. Are You Able to Be Your Whole Self at School? 332. Do You Feel Your School and Teachers Welcome Both Conservative and Liberal Points of View? 333. How Have You Learned About Slavery? 334. How Much Have You Learned About Black History? 335. Has a School Assignment or Activity Ever Made You Uncomfortable? 336. Are You Stressed About School? 337. How Good Are You at Handling Challenging School Work? 338. Do You Need a Homework Therapist? 339. What Are You Doing to Change Your School? 340. What Are Your Thoughts on Riding the School Bus? 341. Is the Diversity of Your School Accurately Reflected in Its Promotional Materials? 342. How Have Your Teachers Shaped Who You Are? 343. Does Your Teacher’s Identity Affect Your Learning? 344. Has a Teacher Ever Changed Your Mind-Set? 345. Would You Want to Be a Teacher Someday? 346. What Have Been Your Experiences With Substitute Teachers?

347. How Prepared Are You For College? How Well Do You Think You’ll Do? 348. What Worries You Most About the College Admissions Process? 349. How Much of Your Real Self Have You Revealed on Applications? 350. What Worries Do You Have About College? 351. Do You Intend to Study Abroad While You Are in College? 352. Are You Worried About the Rising Cost of Attending College? 353. Do You Talk to Your Family About the Cost of College? 354. Do You Want Your Parents to Live Nearby When You Go to College? 355. What Specialty College Would You Create?

Work & Careers

356. What Jobs Are You Most Curious About? 357. How Much Does Having a ‘Dream Job’ Matter to You? 358. Would You Pursue a Career If You Knew You Likely Would Not Make Much Money? 359. Will You Follow in Your Parents’ Footsteps? 360. Would You Consider Moving Overseas for a Job? 361. Do Your Summer Plans Include Employment? 362. Would You Consider Serving in the U.S. Armed Forces? 363. What Volunteer Work Would You Most Like to Do? 364. Have You Had a Job Recently? What Has the Experience Been Like?

365. Do You Have Satisfying Friendships? 366. How Alike Are You and Your Friends? 367. Do You Have Any Unlikely Friendships? 368. How Have Your Friends Helped You? 369. Do You Like Your Friends? 370. How Often Do You Text Your Friends Just to Say ‘Hi’? 371. Have You Ever Been Left Out? 372. Do You Ever Feel Lonely? 373. Have You Ever Had a Significant Friendship End? 374. Do You Have Any Close Friends? 375. How Many Close Friends Do You Need? 376. How Do You React When Your Friendships Change? 377. What Have Your Friends Taught You About Life? 378. What Have You Learned About Friendship This Year? 379. Do You Have Any Intergenerational Friendships? 380. What Makes a Great Conversation?

Dating, Love & Relationships

381. How Much of a Romantic Are You? 382. What Does Love Feel Like to You? 383. How Do You Think Technology Affects Dating? 384. Have You Ever Been Ghosted? 385. Do You Want to Get Married Someday? 386. Would You Want to Be Proposed to on a Jumbotron? 387. If You Got Married, Would You Want to Keep Your Last Name or Take Your Partner’s?

388. What Are You Doing to Take Care of Your Health? 389. What Rules Do You Have for Staying Healthy? 390. Do You Have Any Bad Health Habits? 391. Do You Have More Good Habits Than Bad? 392. What Do You Think Are the Secrets to a Long Life? 393. How Well Do You Sleep at Night? 394. Do You Enjoy Taking Long Walks? 395. Do You Learn Better After Moving Around? 396. Do You Have a Healthy Diet? 397. What Is Your Relationship With the Weight-Loss Industry? 398. How Strong Is Your Sense of Smell? 399. Have You Ever Jumped Into Ice-Cold Water? 400. How Is Your Mental Health These Days? 401. Do You Ever Get the ‘Bad News Blues’? 402. How Do You Hold It Together When You’re Feeling Stressed? 403. How Does Your Body React to Stress? 404. How Do You Practice Self-Care? 405. What’s Your Favorite Mood Booster?

Sports & Games

406. What Kinds of Games and Puzzles Do You Like? 407. What Are Your Favorite Games? 408. How Would You Change Your Favorite Sport? 409. Have You Ever Learned Something From a Professional Athlete? 410. Have You Ever Felt Too Much Pressure to Win? 411. What Is Your Favorite Rivalry? 412. What Role Have Coaches Played in Your Life? 413. Have You Witnessed Bad Behavior in Youth Sports? 414. Do You Like a Comeback Story? 415. Would You Ever Want to Run a Marathon? 416. Would You Make a Good Ump?

417. What Is Your Dream Travel Destination? 418. What Is Your Most Memorable Family Vacation? 419. How Would You Spend Your Ideal Family Vacation? 420. Would You Ever Go on a Solo Vacation? 421. What Do You Think You Would Learn From Traveling to All 50 States? 422. What Are the Places in the World That You Love Most? 423. What City or Town Most Captures Your Imagination? 424. How Good Is Your Sense of Direction? 425. How Much Do You Know About the Rest of the World?

Shopping, Looks & Fashion

426. What’s Your Favorite Item of Clothing? 427. What Does Your Unique Style Say About You? 428. What Does Your Hairstyle Say About You? 429. Are You a Sneakerhead? 430. Do You Like Getting Dressed Up? 431. Could You Stop Shopping for an Entire Year? 432. Are You an Ethical Consumer? 433. What Would You Wait All Night in the Rain to Buy? 434. Do Politics Ever Influence How or Where You Shop? 435. Do You Wear Clothes for the Logo? 436. Would You Like to Be a Fashion Model? 437. How Do You Feel About Your Body? 438. How Do You Feel About Your Height? 439. How Do You Feel About Tattoos?

Meals & Food

440. What Foods Bring Up Special Memories for You? 441. What Foods Are Closely Linked to Someone You Love? 442. Who Is the Best Cook You Know? 443. How Do You Celebrate Your Culture Through Food? 444. What Do You Eat for Dinner on a Typical Weeknight? 445. What Are the Most Popular Dishes in Your House? 446. Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been, a Picky Eater? 447. What Are the Best Places to Eat in Your Town? 448. What Foods Best Represent Your Hometown? 449. What Are the Essential Foods to Eat Where You Live? 450. What New Flavor Ideas Do You Have for Your Favorite Foods? 451. What Convenience Foods Make You Happy? 452. How Do You Like Your Pizza? 453. Would You Ever Consider Becoming Vegetarian? 454. Would You Eat Food Grown in a Lab? 455. Have You Ever Experienced Food Insecurity? 456. What Do You Think Your Favorite Book or Movie Character Eats For Dinner?

Holidays & Seasons

457. Do You Make New Year’s Resolutions? 458. What Healthy Habits Do You Hope to Build in the New Year? 459. How Do You Celebrate Spring? 460. What Are Your Favorite Memories of Spring? 461. What Are Your Plans This Summer? 462. What’s the Most Memorable Thing That Happened to You This Summer? 463. What Were Your ‘Mundane Joys’ of Summer? 464. What Are Your Memories of Halloween? 465. What’s Your Favorite Halloween Costume, Past or Present? 466. How Much Scare Can You Handle in Your Halloween Entertainment? 467. What Does Thanksgiving Mean to You? 468. What Has Been Your Most Memorable Thanksgiving? 469. What Will You Talk About on Thanksgiving? 470. Did You Take Part in Any Thanksgiving or Post-Holiday Traditions?

Animals & Nature

471. How Do Animals Provide Comfort in Your Life? 472. What Have You Learned From Animals? 473. What Are Your Experiences With Animal Adoption or Fostering? 474. How Do You Feel About the Spiders, Insects and Other Tiny Creatures in Your Home? 475. How Do You Get Your Nature Fix? 476. What Are the Most Memorable Things You’ve Seen or Experienced in Nature? 477. What Is the Coolest Thing You Have Seen in Nature? 478. Have You Ever Tried to Grow Something?

Environment

479. How Are You Doing Your Part for the Environment? 480. How Concerned Are You About Climate Change? 481. Do You Experience Climate Anxiety? 482. Do You Think You Make Good Climate Choices? 483. Would You Change Your Eating Habits to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? 484. Could You Live an Entire Day Without Plastic? 485. How Good Are You at Recycling? 486. How Have You Experienced Extreme Weather?

487. How Similar Are Your Political Views to Those of Your Parents? 488. How Important Is It to You to Have Similar Political Beliefs to Your Family and Friends? 489. Is Your Online World Just a ‘Filter Bubble’ of People With the Same Opinions? 490. Do You Think You Live in a Political Bubble? 491. How Do You Talk With People Who Don’t Share Your Views? 492. What Do American Values Mean to You? 493. What Does Your Country’s National Anthem Mean to You? 494. Are You Optimistic About the State of the World? 495. Have You Ever Changed Your Mind About a Hot-Button Issue? 496. How Have School Shootings Shaped Your Experience as a Student? 497. How Has the Threat of Gun Violence Affected You? 498. How Do You Feel About Active-Shooter Drills in Schools?

The Pandemic

499. What Does the End of the Pandemic Emergency Mean to You? 500. How Have the Last Two and a Half Years Made You Who You Are Today? 501. How Would You Describe Your Pandemic Experience in Six Words? 502. How Have You Commemorated Milestones During the Pandemic? 503. Do You Think You Have Experienced ‘Learning Loss’ During the Pandemic? 504. How Has the Pandemic Changed Your Relationship to Your Body? 505. What Have You Learned About Yourself During This Lockdown? 506. How Will We Remember the Coronavirus Pandemic?

507. Would You Want to Live to 200? 508. Would You Want to Live Forever? 509. Would You Like to Be Cryogenically Preserved (Frozen!) Upon Your Death? 510. Would You Want to Live a Life Without Ever Feeling Pain? 511. Would You Like to Be Famous? 512. Would You Want to Be a Child Star? 513. Would You Like to Be a Farmer? 514. If You Had an Extra Billion Dollars, What Cause Would You Support With Your Philanthropy? 515. Do You Think You Will Ever Travel to Space? 516. What Fantasy Invention Would You Want to Exist in Reality? 517. If You Could Have Any Animal Feature, What Would It Be? 518. What Fictional House Would You Want to Stay In? 519. What Scientific Mysteries Do You Want Solved? 520. What Idea Do You Have That Is Ahead of Its Time? 521. What Era Do You Wish You Had Grown Up In? 522. Do You Like Your First Name? Would You Change It If You Could? 523. What Would You Like to Ask Your 40-Year-Old Self? 524. What Items Would You Place in a Time Capsule for Future Generations? 525. If the World Was Ending, What Would You Want to Say?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate them into your classroom.

How to Write a Personal Essay: Topics, Structure, & Examples

Even though a personal essay seems like something you might need to write only for your college application, people who graduated a while ago are asked to write it. Therefore, if you are a student, you might even want to save this article for later!

A personal essay is a first-person narrative that describes a writer’s life experience and its influence . You may think that writing such an essay is easy-peasy. There is so much freedom regarding the topic, isn’t it? However, soon enough, you realize that it’s more of a curse than a blessing. Custom-writing.org experts understand it’s super confusing as you don’t know where to start. But this simple yet comprehensive guide on how to write a personal essay is here to help you out!

❔ What Is a Personal Essay?

🚦 how do you start a personal essay.

🙋 Essay Topics
📑 Personal Essay Types

🔗 References

A personal essay is just what you think it is: a piece of writing that presents some experience from your perspective . It doesn’t need to be extraordinary, but it has to show how you changed thanks to the experience you got. Such an essay also creates a feeling of intimacy.

A typical personal essay consists of a 1-paragraph introduction, a 3-paragraph body, and a 1-paragraph conclusion.

Long story short, it is a first-person narrative that describes a writer’s life experience and its influence. This type of essay allows you to use any writing style you want and usually has an informal tone. It helps the reader to gain a connection with you.

There is a wide variety of topic options: you may want your writing to be inspiring or, on the contrary, warning so that others could avoid your mistakes. However, the most important thing is sticking to the general guidelines.

The most popular personal essay outline would consist of three parts:

Start with an introduction . It should include only one paragraph
Continue with the main body . It should be at least three paragraphs long
Write a conclusion . Don’t make it too long, one paragraph is enough

Let’s also note that typically you would write a personal essay as a part of the college application process. However, it’s not rare that this type of writing can help employers understand if the candidate meets the job requirements.

👀 Personal Essay Examples

To give you some inspiration, we included a list of excellent examples ranked as the most successful personal essays by The New York Times , The New Yorker , and America’s top universities.

The first and the most important thing you need to do when you are about to write a personal essay is to determine its purpose . When you know your audience, it becomes easier to find an appropriate topic for your writing. After that, you can draft an outline, which is the foundation of your future essay!

🙋 Personal Essay Topics

By now, you might have understood the idea of the personal statement. Your goal is to show off your personality from the good side. However, there is an endless amount of options on how to do it. The most popular way is to tell the story from the past. It can be either something you achieved or an obstacle you managed to overcome. Either way, it needs to highlight the lesson you learned.

Next, you can make your writing even more inspirational by revealing your future goals, showing that you have potential and determination. But remember to focus on things that the whole community can benefit from because just getting rich is a lame objective!

Last but not least, be yourself and use creativity! Show your potential employers and college administration how much you can contribute to their development. You should convince them that it can be a mutually beneficial experience.

Here, we prepared some of the best personal essay topics for you:

How did the most significant loss of your life make you stronger?
Who would you like to switch live with, and why?
The time when you think you made the wrong choice.
How would you spend a million dollars?
Is there anything you have never shared with anyone?
A special friend that influenced your life.
One morning that has changed your life forever.
The time when you had to deliver devastating news.
A near-death experience and how it felt.
Describe the longest minute of your life.
Something you can’t resist and keep doing.
A meaningful event that is hard to explain.
Would you start a charity foundation if you could?
The most precious gift you ever received.
The wrong choice you never regret making.
A secret place that gives you peace of mind.
Something you’ve seen and wish you could forget.
A hidden talent no one knows you have.
A day when you felt like the unluckiest person in the world.
The most beautiful thing you’ve seen.
A skill you have that robots will never learn to do.
What is the one thing you want to change about yourself?
Where would you like to live?
The most important discovery you made.
What if you were a teacher?
The most fantastic movie scene that changed the world.
What would you like to change in schools?
Describe something you love about yourself and why.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Time with your family that you cherish the most.
The achievement you’re proud of.
Describe the time when you learned something from a child.
The words that made you hopeful again.
Write about the time when you were at the bottom.
A stranger that had an influence on you.
What would you do if you could go back in time?
Would you like to redo something in your life, would you?
The superpower you wish you had.
The person you would be grateful to at the end of your life.
The time when you avoided danger.
Family celebrations, and what do they mean to you?
Write about the time when you saw your mother crying.
Did you disappoint anyone?
Is there anyone you are not fond of?
A place that you try to keep away from.
How did you overcome your fear?
The most challenging choice you had to make.
The time you felt like an outsider.
When did you realize you’re not a child anymore?
Why does your hobby interest you?

📑 Personal Essay about Yourself: Main Types

Personal essays on hobbies.

Writing an essay on a hobby is not as easy as it seems. Take a look at any hobbies essay sample, and you will be likely to see a widespread thing: these essays can be boring, which is an easy way to get a low grade.

Below are some common problems with hobby essays (and their solutions).

No matter what, make sure the focus is on you. When you are writing about a personal hobby, you should aim to make yourself the star by essentially telling your reader about yourself through an interest of yours.

Life-changing Experience Essays

The purpose of a life-changing experience essay is obvious: simply put, you need to tell the reader about a specific event that changed your life . Note that it also works for a closely related type of essay, the personal narrative essay .

Three essential elements should be clear to readers of any life-changing experience writing:

The reader should understand the event — both what happened and how it made you feel at the time.
The reader should understand what the event changed about you. It is best to tell the reader about your condition before the event and after it. However, this depends on the essay’s length.
The reader should understand how you feel about the event now.

If you need personal experience essay ideas, focus on events that you can write about to meet the three above criteria. If your assignment is very free form, take a look at a list of prompts for personal writing.

Education Essays

As a student, you will be asked to write an education essay eventually. It is important to remember that personal writing is about setting yourself apart. Tell the reader what made your educational experience unique.

How can you make your educational essay stand out? First, go beyond generic stories of overcoming an academic weakness by avoiding essays that take the following form: “I was terrible at subject X, but through hard work, I became quite excellent at subject X!”

Instead, focus on an assignment or subject that captured your attention — the more unusual the situation, the better. Use storytelling to enhance your essay. The best education essays can be essays about life-changing education experiences; for example, many great educational stories focus on the teacher or class that changed the author’s life.

Biographies

Writing a short biography is easy. All you need to do is to use a very basic biography template. But first: remember that you need to keep the attention of your reader. Tell a good story about yourself ! Learning how to write a biography is about learning how to tell a good story .

A Biography Template

A solid biography is a solid story. For this reason, the biography template is essentially the template of a well-crafted story, which is typically divided into three specific parts:

Establish the characters. In this case, these are people that play important roles in your life. For example, if your autobiographical essay includes family members, you need to describe them briefly before anything exciting happens.
Build tension. If you write about your family, you can describe a problem that exists there.
Describe a resolution. Not that it is not the same thing as a problem being solved. For example, when a loved one dies, there is no solution to that problem. Instead, you grieve and learn to live without that person in your life.

If your biography manages to achieve all three of these elements, you will indeed have one of the class’s strongest essays.

Personal Statements

The last type of personal writing is probably the most important. When faced with their first college application, most students go to the web to find a personal statement format.

If you learn from examples, the best thing to do is check out several strong personal statement examples. As mentioned in the second section, many universities post essays from accepted students. Or perhaps you should read a breakdown of portions of a personal statement. The point is, read what others have done for inspiration.

Sometimes colleges offer personal statement templates. However, they often use freeform personal statements to identify focused, articulate students. Thus, the top tip for these is to write a clear thesis statement . A thesis statement for an essay without a prompt should be so clear that it sounds like it addresses a writing prompt. When there is no prompt, this is the time you should specifically use the standard 5-paragraph essay . Your discipline will impress your readers, which is exactly what you want.

However, an open-ended essay prompt is sometimes just too much to handle in time, but that is alright. It happens to everyone, and our writing experts can help, luckily. You can work with one of their expert writers or editors to create the perfect personal essay.

Personal Essays – Georgia Tech Admissions
The Personal Statement // Purdue Writing Lab
Application Essays – UNC Writing Center
How To: Write Your Personal Essay
Essays | Penn Admissions
Writing the Personal Statement | Berkeley Graduate Division
Personal Insight Questions – UCLA Undergraduate Admission
Essay Topics | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions
Complete Your Application: Indiana University Bloomington
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At 82, I am assuredly a ‘mature student.’ However, I wanted to thank you for being the most helpful resource I have discovered on ‘google’ to look at how I can consider writing an autobiography to perhaps leave my children.

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The personal essay.

Photograph of blank Microsoft Word document titled "The Most Awesome College Essay Ever"

Unlike the rest of your application, which primarily consists of filling in boxes, the personal essay gives you the freedom to essentially write about whatever you want. No rules! Show who you are! Which sounds pretty cool, until you’re sitting there looking at a blank Word document.

While the personal essay is a great opportunity to infuse your voice into the application, I think some people (cough, me, cough) can get overwhelmed by it to the point where they don’t know how to begin. What do I write about? What makes me stand out? How can I explain all of this in only a few hundred words?

Well, as someone who eventually managed to get some words down on that blank document and turn out a decent college essay, here are a few words of advice.

1. Start by writing something.

I know, that sounds really obvious. But sometimes the hardest part of writing is just getting started – if you spend too much time criticizing your ideas before you write anything down, you won’t get anywhere. Write a few sentences, jot down some random ideas, note a couple anecdotes that might be interesting… just get something on paper that you can look back to. Maybe one of those ideas will catch, and BOOM you have an essay – or maybe you’ll look back to this list after a few weeks and think of something else that you would rather write about. That’s fine! The beginning of the creative process involves coming up with ideas, judging them comes later. Trust me, I took a class on this (really: it was a psych class called “Creativity: Madmen, Geniuses, and Harvard Students.”)

2. Think about something that has some significance to you.

Many students feel like they have to write about some huge, life-changing, important event in their lives. If you have something like this that you want to write about, that’s great! However, you can also write an awesome essay about something other than The Most Important Thing Ever. It can be the littlest things, if you explain their significance well, that actually stand out. In my case, somewhere in my essay I mentioned that I got up at 5:37am (rather than 5:30 or 5:45) because I liked prime numbers – and the first thing my admissions officer said when I walked into the room for my interview was, “So, prime numbers, huh?” That being said, remember that this is a college essay, so keep this audience and goal in mind as you write. When they finish reading, what do you want the admissions officers to know about you? Does this essay demonstrate something about who you are and what you care about? If not, you might want to go back to the drawing board.

3. Don’t be afraid to start over.

After finishing my first draft, I was glad to have something, but I wasn’t completely happy with it either. A week or two later, as I was reading over my essay again, I had an idea for a totally different topic - so I opened another document and completely started over. The second attempt was so much better, and I felt happy with how it turned out. It can be hard to scrap an initial attempt after spending so much time on it, but think of that time as just part of the process of getting to what you really want to write about.

4. Get an outside perspective.

One of the most useful things I did while working on my college essay was asking a couple people to read it over. At the time, I had two drafts that I was choosing between, and I wasn’t sure which one captured “me” better. When I asked my parents and teacher what they thought, they unanimously picked one option over the other. In the end, it’s important to have an essay that you are happy with – but sometimes having a fresh set of eyes can help you see what that is.

This is an important step! Both you, and perhaps someone who knows you well, should read over your essay and make sure it is in tip-top shape before you turn it in. There should be no grammatical or spelling mistakes – that gives the impression that you did not take your time on it. I know you’ve spent a long time on it by this point, but those last edits are super important!

The personal essay is a snippet of who you are and where you’re coming from – a snapshot for the admissions officers to look at as they read your application. It will never be able to capture everything about you, but you want to make sure that you’re giving them your best angle. So sit down, smile, and get to writing!

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My Harvard Monomyth

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Where to Begin? 6 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises

←8 Do’s and Don’ts for Crafting Your College Essay

Creating the First Draft of Your College Application Essay →

The Common App publishes a list of 7 prompts each year. They ultimately ask for similar types of responses, regardless of slight alterations year-to-year. The Common App prompts provide you with a forum to write about yourself, using whatever anecdote or vehicle you wish in order to communicate something profound and genuine about yourself to adcoms.

If this feat seems daunting or spellbindingly vague to you, you are not alone. For virtually every student applying to college, the moment when you sit down to draft your personal statement is likely the first—and may end up being the only—time in your life when you are pushed to describe your entire identity succinctly and eloquently. So, where to begin?

As with any writing assignment, the best way to approach the personal essay is to brainstorm what it is you want the entire essay to communicate about you to the adcom that will be considering you for admission. Read on for 4 surprising brainstorming exercises that will lead you to an effective personal statement strategy.

1. Consider the four core questions.

When writing your personal statement, there are four questions that your essay should answer:

“Who am I?”
“Why am I here?”
“What is unique about me?”
“What matters to me?”

These questions are important because they help bring awareness to the kind of person you are and touch on things such as your personality traits, your journey throughout high school, the interests and skills that make you unique, and what’s important to you. Colleges want to understand how you became who you are, and where you’re going (successful alumni reflect well on their school, after all!).

2. Try freeform writing.

To help answer these questions and start brainstorming, freeform writing is a good place to start. Begin by writing down 3-5 aspects of your personality or experiences and spend some time constructing narratives out of these different combinations.

This process of getting some ideas on paper and seeing how they can relate to each other can help you better identify a prompt that works for you. For example, you might note that you enjoy tutoring students in STEM, and are now working with a local school to create a Women in STEM initiative in your school district. You may also have tried previous initiatives that failed. These experiences could be constructed and applied to a number of Common App prompts. You could address a specific identity or interest you have associated with STEM, discuss what you learned from your failed initiatives, explore how you challenged the lack of women in STEM programs in your school district, envision solving for the lack of women involved in the science and mathematics fields, etc.

3. Make a list of opinions you firmly hold and explain them.

This exercise requires you to think about aspects of your identity that you have actively chosen. While exercise #4 asks you to consider what parts of your identity you have struggled to overcome, this exercise asks you to consider what aspects of your identity you are most proud of—those opinions that you hold because you chose to believe in something specific of your own accord.

This is an important brainstorming exercise because it should get you thinking about things you are passionate about. Ultimately, you will want to write your personal statement about something that defines you, gets you excited, and can exhibit your ability to think and speak for yourself. So now, before you start writing, make a list of the things that you care about most, and explain why you feel that way about them.

This list can include everything from your political affiliation to your stance on McDonald’s decision in the past year to serve breakfast for longer. The point of this exercise is that there is no right or wrong way of going about it, no topic that is more worthwhile than any other so long as you are passionate about it.

4. Make a list of your character flaws.

While the ultimate goal of the personal essay is to present yourself in as positive a light as possible to adcoms, the challenge is to do so in a way that is realistic and genuine. To do this, you’ll need to do some serious thinking about what types of character flaws accompany your best traits.

There are two main reasons why we suggest that students not shy away from talking about their own shortcomings as well as their achievements. The first reason is quite simple: a personal statement that paints a picture of its writer as perfect and without flaws will come across as dishonest and unrealistic. Obviously, you want to avoid this at all costs. Second, and even more important, if you are able to write a personal statement that acknowledges your flaws and recognizes that you are imperfect, it will reflect positively on you and vouch for your maturity.

If it feels counterintuitive or scary to dwell on anything other than successes, do not fret: that is the expected reaction to this advice. But if done correctly, acknowledging that you are not perfect can add genuineness to any personal essay. So, how to discuss character flaws? There are several ways to go about this.

One way is to discuss a character flaw that you have always struggled with and worked to improve upon throughout your life. In this scenario, discussing flaws can help introduce a discussion about growth or maturation and give your personal statement a nice narrative arc. Yet another way to discuss your character flaws is to acknowledge how certain struggles or personal shortcomings have shaped your identity, allowing you to go into more detail about the ways in which you were able to better yourself by identifying a flaw in yourself and being willing to fix it.

The thinking here is that students have no difficulty remembering all of the accomplishments, productive experiences, and glowing achievements that they want to include in their personal statements. After all, it is easy to write about these things. It is much harder to force yourself to think about aspects of your identity that rankle, and to think about how these things have shaped you.

5. Reflect on your choices and why you made them.

Another brainstorming exercise that can help you think of a topic is to reflect on what choices you’ve made and why. Once you come up with a list, it will be easier to see what you value and the direction in which you can take your essay.

Think about some of these questions to get the juices flowing:

Why are they my best friend?
Under what circumstances did we become friends?
When did we last fight?
If I had to spend 10 days doing the same exercise or physical activity, what would I choose? Why?
Say I had to pick one food, and my three closest friends or family members could only eat that food for one week. What would that food be and why?
Say I had to start a business selling something, and I would achieve the average level of success (financially, socially, etc) within that business, what would I choose to do?
What movie would I want to take the place of a character in and which character would I want to play? Why?
What class or teacher did I like most, and why? What class or teacher did I dislike most, and why?
If I had to choose between singing, doing standup comedy, or dancing in front of 18,000 people, what would I choose? Why?

6. Make a list of anecdotes, childhood memories, or stories about yourself. Then choose one and make it your “vehicle.”

Finally, you should conclude your brainstorming session by searching for a vehicle: an anecdote that you can use to frame your personal statement.

You can use anecdotes in your personal statement in a number of ways. Some students choose to open with one, others close with one, and still others will use two or three anecdotes in order to add color and rhetorical flair to the points they are trying to make about themselves. The best types of anecdotes are the ones that tell the most about you or give insight into your character.

When we help students write their personal statements, we usually begin by brainstorming a few potential anecdotes to use in your essay. But if you are wondering what the point is of using an anecdote— Why use one at all when I could save words and just talk about myself ?—it’s useful to first understand why telling a story or two makes your personal statement stronger.

Ultimately, you will want your personal statement to communicate something about your character and personality that is unique and appealing to schools. When an adcom reads your personal statement, they are looking to hear about you in general, they are looking to learn something unique or special about you (so they can differentiate you from other applicants), and they are also looking for evidence that you would be a valuable addition to their community. But the fact of the matter is that these are fairly broad and vague directives to write about if you don’t have something specific to focus on.

This is where the anecdotes come in to save the day! They help instigate a conversation about yourself, your personality, your identity, and your character while also giving you something concrete to talk about. This is why we call it a “vehicle”—it can exist in its own right, but it carries with it important information about you as well.

Now that you know what the purpose of this vehicle is, it should be a little easier to brainstorm the anecdote(s) that you choose to frame your personal statement with. If you are not yet sure what to write about in your personal statement, you can start brainstorming anecdotes from your childhood, from favorite family stories to fond memories, from hilarious vacation mishaps to particularly tender moments. Do your parents have favorite stories to tell about you? Write those into your list as well.

Once you have a collection of stories to work with, you may begin to see certain patterns forming. Perhaps all of your favorite stories take place in the same setting—a vacation home that meant a lot to you or in the classroom of your favorite teacher. Maybe, you will realize that all of your fondest memories involve a certain activity or hobby of yours. Or, alternatively, you may notice that one story from your childhood mirrors or foreshadows a like, dislike, or accomplishment that would come to fruition later in your life.

If you already know what you want to say about yourself, you can come at the same exercise from another angle: try to think of several anecdotes that could be potential vehicles for the message about yourself that you want to transmit. If you want to illustrate that you love to learn, try to think pointedly about where that love comes from or what you have done that proves this. In this case, remember that any given anecdote can reveal more than one thing about you.

It is hard to imagine all of the possible personal statements that could come out of this brainstorming session, but it is almost certain that this exercise will help you come up with several concrete points to make about yourself and provide you with a tangible way to say those things.

Final Thoughts

If after doing these six brainstorming exercises, you still don’t feel ready to write your personal statement, fear not! Writing a personal essay is daunting and won’t be done in three steps, or even three days!

For more guidance, check out these blog posts:

How to Write a Personal Statement That Wows Colleges

How to Come Up With an Idea for a Personal Statement

How to Write the Common App Essays

Mastering the Personal Statement

5 Tips for Editing Your College Essays

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

73 Best Colleges Without Supplemental Essays – 2024

May 27, 2024

When college application season arrives, it’s easy for students to become overwhelmed about the essays. There’s the personal statement , which many students have a general idea about, and then there are the supplemental essays. Supplemental essays can cover a range of college-specific prompts that help the colleges better understand why you’d be a great fit . Due to how personal and varied the supplemental essays can be, students often end up spending weeks, if not months, writing them.

However, across the country, there are colleges that do not require supplemental essays at all. For some students, applying to colleges without supplemental essays can make the overall application process much smoother. Benefits include experiencing less stress in their application preparation and diversifying prospective colleges while focusing more on their priority schools. Sometimes, though, these schools do ask for program-specific essays or optional essays, depending on the applicant.

Best Colleges without Supplemental Essays

1) albion college.

At Albion College, the application essay is not required, but it is recommended. Students are encouraged to provide any more details that they believe the admissions team should consider.

2) Allegheny College

As noted on their website, Allegheny College has not required the supplemental essay since their 2013-2014 application cycle. Students will find more essay questions in the Member Questions section of the Common Application.

3) Augusta University

Augusta University joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays as they do not require a personal essay at all. They do still require SAT or ACT scores and GPA.

4) Bates College

Since 1984, Bates College has not required SAT Subject Tests or ACT scores in their applications. There is an optional arts supplement for students who are applying to study art, creative writing, dance, film, music, and theater.

5) Case Western Reserve University

At Case Western Reserve University, the Common Application personal essay is required. However, if you’re applying to the Pre-Professional Scholars Program, then you’ll have to write supplemental essays.

Best Colleges Without Supplemental Essays (Continued)

6) clemson university.

Clemson University does not require students to complete a personal essay with the Common or Coalition Application. There is also a test-optional policy that may appeal to some students.

7) Coe College

At Coe College, the personal essay is optional for students who meet the college’s minimum academic standards. Coe College joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays that also have a test-optional policy.

8) Colby College

Colby College accepts the Common Application, Coalition Application, and QuestBridge Application, and they do not have any additional writing supplements. Test scores are optional for applicants at Colby College, and there is no application fee.

9) Colgate University

Colgate University is one of the colleges without supplemental essays required, but there is the option to write them. As stated on their website, “These prompts are not meant to feel like essays; they are simply an added perspective.

10) College of the Holy Cross

College of the Holy Cross does not require supplemental essays, but the following are optional: personal interview, SAT or ACT scores, and supplementary materials.

11) Denison University

Denison University joins this list of colleges without supplemental essays. Their website states that they wish to provide “equal access” to a Denison education, and they are also test-optional.

12) DePaul University

For first-year student applicants at DePaul University, personal essays are not required but optional. They have also been a test-optional university since 2012.

13) Dillard University

Dillard University is the oldest HBCU in Louisiana and is one of the colleges with no supplemental essay requirements. However, if students do not meet the minimum GPA and standardized test score requirements, then they must submit two letters of recommendation and a personal statement.

14) Drew University

At Drew University, a personal statement is required, along with a counselor evaluation, teacher evaluation, and high school transcript.

15) Drexel University

Drexel University joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays. They do require all students to complete the 250 to 650 essay on the Common or Coalition Application. However, the short answer question is optional.

16) Fairleigh Dickinson University

At Fairleigh Dickinson University, all essays, résumés, and recommendations are optional.

17) Florida Gulf Coast University

The only essay required by Florida Gulf Coast University is a two-page personal essay that discusses academic performance, special talents, and what the student can contribute to the campus.

18) Florida State University

Although Florida State University is one of the colleges without supplemental essays, students should invest time into the Common Application personal statement.

19) Fordham University

At Fordham University, the Common Application essay is required, but there are also optional writing sections. If students choose not to write in these sections, they will not be penalized.

20) Franklin and Marshall College

Franklin and Marshall College joins this list of colleges without supplemental essays. They do require the personal essay in the Common Application, as well as standardized test scores, recommendations and other materials.

21) Furman University

At Furman University, first-year applicants do not need to submit a personal essay, and they are also test-optional.

22) Gannon University

Gannon University does not require students to submit a personal statement. It is optional but recommended for students to submit a statement. However, it is required for LECOM 4+4 Medical Program applicants.

23) Gettysburg College

Although Gettysburg College joins the list of colleges without supplemental essays, it does require a personal statement on the Common Application.

24) Grinnell College

Grinnell College does not require supplemental essays and it also does not have an application fee. Standardized test scores are also optional.

25) Hamilton College

Although Hamilton College joins this list of colleges without supplemental essays, the optional essays are still encouraged.

26) Hampshire College

Hampshire College only requires supplemental essays from international students applying as first-year or transfer students.

27) Hanover College

Hanover College states on their website that the essay or personal statement is optional, alongside test scores, letters of recommendation and résumé.

28) Hollins University

At Hollins University, for first-year students no personal statement is required and standardized test scores are optional.

29) Howard University

Howard University requires students to complete the Common Application essay and there is one optional supplemental essay.

30) Indiana University – Bloomington

Students applying to Indiana University – Bloomington must write the one essay in the Common Application or through Apply IU.

31) Kent State University

At Kent State University, first-year students are not required to submit a personal essay or a letter of recommendation. Test scores are also optional.

32) Kenyon College

Kenyon College joins this list as it is one of the colleges without supplemental essays. For first-year and transfer students, test scores are optional and flexible.

33) Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University does require the Common Application personal statement, but as of its most recent admissions cycle, no supplemental essay is required.

34) Mercer University

At Mercer University, applicants who wish to be test-optional must complete the supplemental essays. They must also have a 3.5 GPA and letter of recommendation.

35) Miami University

Miami University, not to be confused with the University of Miami, requires the Common App personal statement but not the supplemental essays.

36) Michigan State University

Michigan State University requires students to write only one essay on the MSU application, Common Application or Coalition Application.

37) Middlebury College

Middlebury College is one of the best colleges without supplemental essays. They do still require the personal statement on the Common Application.

38) Muhlenberg College

Muhlenberg College requires students to submit the personal essay but no other supplemental essays.

39) New College of Florida

New College of Florida is one of the many colleges with no supplemental essays. However, they do still require a personal statement.

40) New Jersey Institute of Technology

New Jersey Institute of Technology only requires a personal statement included in the Common Application. There is no supplemental essay requirement.

41) New York Institute of Technology

Students applying to the New York Institute of Technology are required to write a 300 to 350 word essay as their only essay. They may require test-optional applicants to submit a graded essay.

42) Northeastern University

Northeastern is one of the best colleges without a supplemental essay requirement. They do require a personal statement, alongside other materials.

43) Nova Southeastern University

At Nova Southeastern University, the essay is entirely optional, and students can self-report their test scores.

44) Oberlin College

Oberlin requires a personal statement, but does not require any supplemental essays.

45) Ohio State University

Ohio State University only requires a personal statement. However, they also offer a COVID-19 impact statement on the Common Application for interested students.

46) Ripon College

At Ripon College, the personal statement itself is optional for applicants, along with other materials.

47) Rhodes College

Rhodes College does not require a supplemental essay, but they have the option for students to record an optional “ Elevator Pitch .”

48) Rowan University

Rowan University requires a personal statement in the Common Application, but joins this list as a college without supplemental essays.

49) St. Lawrence University

St. Lawrence University has no supplemental essay requirement, but it still requires the personal statement essay. They are also test-optional, depending on the applicant.

50) St. Mary’s University (San Antonio)

For students applying to St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, the personal statement is only required if they choose not to submit test scores.

51) Seton Hall University

At Seton Hall University, the personal statement is required, but there are no other supplemental essays.

52) Siena College

Siena College has made the personal statement (open topic) optional for students applying.

53) Skidmore College

While Skidmore College does not require supplemental essays, students do often send in supplemental materials to further support their application.

54) Stony Brook University

At Stony Brook University, only a personal statement is required. However, students applying to the Honors, WISE, University Scholars, Scholars for Medicine, and Scholars for Dental Medicine must write supplemental essays.

55) Sewanee: The University of the South

Sewanee does not require supplemental essays and SAT/ACT scores are also optional.

56) Susquehanna University

Susquehanna University only requires supplemental essay materials for students applying to the creative writing, graphic design, studio art, and music programs.

57) Temple University

Temple University offers an optional essay as part of the Common Application for students to tell more about themselves beyond grades or test scores.

58) Union College

Union College does offer an optional supplemental essay question as part of their application.

59) University of Alabama

At the University of Alabama, essay submissions and letters of recommendation are not required but they are optional.

60) University of Albany

University of Albany joins the list as one of the colleges without supplemental essays. However, it does require a personal essay of at least 250 words on the Common Application of SUNY Application.

61) University of Arkansas

At the University of Arkansas, first-year students are not required to submit a personal essay. They accept self-reported test scores and letters of recommendation are also not required.

62) University of Arizona

Although the University of Arizona does not require an application essay, they strongly encourage students to submit the 500-word personal statement.

63) University of Cincinnati

Students applying to the University of Cincinnati are required to write the Cincinnati personal statement and the Common Application personal statement. However, there are no other required essays.

64) University of Colorado-Denver

University of Colorado-Denver requires the personal statement on the Common Application, but not other supplemental essays.

65) University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut joins this list as one of the best colleges without supplemental essays. The university does require a personal essay on the Common Application or the Coalition Application.

66) University of Dayton

The University of Dayton does not require any supplemental essays, although it does require a personal statement. The university is also test-optional.

67) University of Denver

The University of Denver only requires the personal statement on the Common Application.

68) University of Houston

Students who apply to the University of Houston without a test score must submit a short admissions essay and extracurricular activities.

69) University of Iowa

The University of Iowa does require a personal statement as part of their application, but there is no supplemental essay requirement.

70) University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a college without supplemental essay requirements for first-year students. However, students applying to the Honors Program or the Engineering SELF Program must submit their responses.

71) University of Kentucky

The University of Kentucky requires students to write one personal statement from seven of their given writing prompts.

72) University of Minnesota – Twin Cities

For first-year students applying to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, the personal essay is not required, although it is encouraged.

73) University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln does not require a personal statement for first-year students. However, those applying to the Honors Program must write a 300-600 word essay.

Whether for the personal statement or any supplemental essay, writing college application essays can prove to be a challenging task. But if students plan ahead about how they want to approach the essays, it helps tremendously. Those who are about to apply to a college without supplemental essays can focus any extra time on other schools that do require them. It’s also great for students who wish to be considered primarily for their grades, test scores, personal statement and other reasons.

Best Colleges Without Supplemental Essays – Additional Resources

10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples
How to Write a Body Paragraph for a College Essay
UC Essay Examples
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Personal Essay Examples, Topics & Format
Personal Narrative Essay Examples
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🏷️ What is a personal essay. 🌱 Personal essay thesis. Definition and
Steps to Write an Essay about Yourself
Personal Statement Essay Format

VIDEO

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COMMENTS

Personal Essay Topics and Prompts
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 ...
650 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing
Here is a PDF of all 650 prompts, and we also have a related lesson plan, From 'Lives' to 'Modern Love': Writing Personal Essays With Help From The New York Times.. Below, a list that ...
53 Stellar College Essay Topics to Inspire You
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.
100+ Personal Essay Topics For College And Writing Tips
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 ...
21 College Essay Topics & Ideas That Worked
Here's a list of essay topics and ideas that worked for my one-on-one students: Essay Topic: My Allergies Inspired Me. After nearly dying from anaphylactic shock at five years old, I began a journey healing my anxiety and understanding the PTSD around my allergies. This created a passion for medicine and immunology, and now I want to become ...
110 Personal Essay Topics
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 ...
550 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing
Update, Sept. 9, 2022: We published a new collection of 445 narrative and personal writing prompts. We've been posting fresh writing prompts every school day for over a decade now, and every so ...
Choosing Your College Essay Topic
47. 10. Kirsten Courault. Kirsten studied political economy at U.C. Berkeley and has seven years of experience as a writer, editor, and English teacher. She cherishes helping students unearth their unique stories for college admissions essays. A strong college essay topic should be personal, original, and specific.
30 Personal Essay Prompts
Personal Essay Prompts 1-10. 1. ABC Segments. Write the alphabet on a sheet of paper. Pick one letter. Make a list of all the things you can think of that start with that letter - ideas, concepts, emotions, objects. Choose one word from that list and write a paragraph. Repeat. Three times works well.
How to Write a Personal Essay: 6 Tips for Writing Personal Essays
Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Sep 9, 2021 • 3 min read. People write personal essays for a number of reasons. High school students write them for college admissions and writers use them to share personal stories with others. A personal narrative essay can enlighten and inspire an audience with information gained from real life ...
113 Perfect Persuasive Essay Topics for Any Assignment
List of 113 Good Persuasive Essay Topics. Below are over 100 persuasive essay ideas, organized into ten categories. When you find an idea that piques your interest, you'll choose one side of it to argue for in your essay. For example, if you choose the topic, "should fracking be legal?" you'd decide whether you believe fracking should ...
19 College Essay Topics and Prompts
Avoid passing your paper along to too many people, though, so you don't lose your own voice amid all of the edits and suggestions. The admissions team wants to get to know you through your writing and not your sister or best friend who edited your paper. 5. Revise your essay. Your first draft is just that: a draft.
How to Write a Personal Essay for Your College Application
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 ...
242 Personal Persuasive Essay Topics and Ideas
242 Personal Persuasive Essay Topics and Ideas. Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class. Personal essays are some of the most diverse assignments you can receive.
200 Narrative & Personal Essay Topics Ideas
Here we developed several personal essay prompts to make your essay sound perfect for readers. A choice of good personal narrative topics is essential, as it should be interesting for readers. We hope that these ideas for personal narrative papers will help you write awesome essays. More than 100 personal essay topics are available here.
525 Prompts for Narrative and Personal Writing
Updated with 80 new prompts from the 2022-23 school year! We've been posting fresh writing prompts every school day for over a decade now, and every so often we create a themed collection like ...
How to Write a Personal Essay: Topics, Structure, & Examples
If you need personal experience essay ideas, focus on events that you can write about to meet the three above criteria. If your assignment is very free form, take a look at a list of prompts for personal writing. Education Essays. As a student, you will be asked to write an education essay eventually. It is important to remember that personal ...
The Personal Essay
The personal essay is a snippet of who you are and where you're coming from - a snapshot for the admissions officers to look at as they read your application. It will never be able to capture everything about you, but you want to make sure that you're giving them your best angle. So sit down, smile, and get to writing!
How to Write Your Personal Statement
A personal statement is a short essay of around 500-1,000 words, in which you tell a compelling story about who you are, what drives you, and why you're applying. To write a successful personal statement for a graduate school application, don't just summarize your experience; instead, craft a focused narrative in your own voice. Aim to ...
10 Personal Statement Essay Examples That Worked
Personal Statement Examples. Essay 1: Summer Program. Essay 2: Being Bangladeshi-American. Essay 3: Why Medicine. Essay 4: Love of Writing. Essay 5: Starting a Fire. Essay 6: Dedicating a Track. Essay 7: Body Image and Eating Disorders. Essay 8: Becoming a Coach.
Where to Begin? 6 Personal Essay Brainstorming Exercises
6. Make a list of anecdotes, childhood memories, or stories about yourself. Then choose one and make it your "vehicle.". Finally, you should conclude your brainstorming session by searching for a vehicle: an anecdote that you can use to frame your personal statement. You can use anecdotes in your personal statement in a number of ways.
How to Write a Personal Statement
Insert a quote from a well-known person. Challenge the reader with a common misconception. Use an anecdote, which is a short story that can be true or imaginary. Credibility is crucial when writing a personal statement as part of your college application process. If you choose a statistic, quote, or misconception for your hook, make sure it ...
73 Best Colleges Without Supplemental Essays
When college application season arrives, it's easy for students to become overwhelmed about the essays. There's the personal statement, which many students have a general idea about, and then there are the supplemental essays. Supplemental essays can cover a range of college-specific prompts that help the colleges better understand why you'd be a great fit.