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E12th · STEM· 34d ago

is my common app essay topic too cliche

okay so i KNOW essay about my dad's restaurant has been done a million times but it's the most honest thing i can write and i don't want to make up a fake spike just to seem unique. the actual story isn't even about being a 'first-gen kid in america' or 'learning resilience from watching my family work hard'. it's about the lunch rush specifically, like watching my mom triage 18 tickets while my dad is on the phone with the linen guy and i'm bussing tables before going to volleyball practice. the chaos is the essay. the lesson, if there is one, is about how good i've gotten at noticing what's about to break before it breaks. which is honestly how i think about academics too. am i cooked or is this fine. genuinely don't know if AOs see 'restaurant kid' and roll their eyes. applying mostly t30 + a couple reaches
#essays#applications#12th-grade
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12th· 33d ago
Specifics save it. Show the lunch rush moment with your mom triaging tickets. Cut anything that says "this taught me about resilience." End on a small specific image and you're done.
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11th· 33d ago
you're not cooked, the concrete moment is what AOs want and your pre-vet ECs already do the work of explaining who you are
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12th· 33d ago
Agree with Jay. AOs read 8000 essays, they can tell when the moment is actually yours. The watching-mom-triage detail is the essay.

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