What kinds of topics do most colleges require?
At some schools, the topic is wide open, and offers students the opportunity to think independently and creatively. Many schools, like Puget Sound, allow students to write on whatever topics they wish, but also provide sample topics from which students can choose. Another college asks applicants to hand-write their essays, while yet another asks for a page out of the “middle” of a student’s autobiography. At one point, The University of Chicago included an essay option in which applicants are asked to construct a theory linking Elvis Presley sightings to five of the following: the metric system, the Mall of America, the crash of the Hindenburg, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, lint, J.D. Salinger, and wax fruit. Another topic at University of Chicago asked students, “If you could be any kitchen implement, which would you be, any why?
