Is love an okay topic for a college essay?

Question

Okay so i'm in the process of writing my college admissions essay. i've read some articles on how to "succeed" at writing a college essay, and one of the biggest things they say is to choose a topic thats personal to you and one that you can write passionately about. Well, there's not another topic that i could write more passionately about than if i wrote about love. I have this amazing girlfriend and we've been together for a long time and i know i could write a great essay about love and how the whole experience has affected me/my character..etc..but i was just curious...would love be a bad topic to choose? i mean would the admissions office think its lame? I dont want to write a great essay but then not get accepted because the topic isnt appropriate for a college admissions essay. Anyways, opinions would be greatly appreciated. THANKS!

Answer 1

Short answer: Love is the greatest topic of all--no matter what.

Long answer: Those reading your college admissions essay will be paying exponentially closer attention to your format, structure, and writing style than they will your content. If you can write a pensive, cogent essay on love and how it relates to you as a person (and how that, in turn, relates to your educational goals) then that is all that matters. When it comes to these essays, as long as you don't write something that is disturbing or revealing in a negative light, you have free reign. In the end, unless there are more guidelines than "something you are passionate about," you should write about just that: something you are passionate about. It doesn't get any better than love, my friend.

On a side note, love is/was/and always will be the most written about topic on the planet... for good reason.

If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to read it when you're done. I edited college essays for a living for two years and am currently an English teacher, so I think I'm legit. :)