College essays and controversial opinions

[cintinative]

One of my son's honors college essay prompts is "in your opinion, what is the most pressing social or political concern of today?"  (There is more to the prompt, including how you have educated yourself on alternate viewpoints, etc.)

So I want him to be true to himself, but it seems like you could write an essay taking a position that is less popular (in general, or at the college itself) and get yourself into problems. For example, he could write about the cost of higher education and the burden of student loan debt. Or, as Christians, there are lots of things we could write about that might ruffle feathers. This is not a Christian college.

Any parents here BTDT and where did you land with this?

 

[ScoutTN]

I’d play it safe. 

The essays are really a writing and thinking demonstration. Well written is more important than the topic. A clear thesis defended well, done.

I’d let him write about what is important to him, but not perhaps taking an extreme viewpoint on it. 
 

 

[LinRTX]

Play it safe. Someone my daughter knew took an unpopular stance on a subject (Christian at a non-Christian college) and received an F on the paper. Don't remember the reason given, but she could not recover from that to pull the grade to an A. Up until that time she had a 4.0. This was here junior year. And she pulled the grade to a B, but still it was hurtful. 

[8filltheheart]

We live in a society where everything not PC is villianized. I think, unfortunately, that says it all. A college app is not the place to take that on.

[KimberlyW]

During my time in admissions, I personally only rejected 2 candidates for espousing insane views in their otherwise very well-written essays. But, to be clear, these weren't just unpopular opinions; one was blatantly bigoted and the other was arguing why they (male) could never be successfully instructed by female professors and shouldn't be in biblical studies classes with women if those women were going to be allowed to speak in class. 

We never rejected anyone just because we disagreed with them (though, sometimes, it was obvious that an applicant was just searching for a hot take which was annoying but semi-expected based on the age range and popular admissions advice books). I would say to answer the question in the way that feels true to him and could sincerely convince someone who might disagree. Barring the above insane viewpoints, I wouldn't be too worried about playing it safe and being actively agreeable. I would worry about being able to build and support a cohesive argument in a way that is engaging, compassionate, well-written, and demonstrates maturity/ critical thinking skills.

ETA: Do you have any specific directions he's considering going with the prompt? That might effect/ change my answer a bit.

Edited September 5, 2023 by KimberlyW
Added question

[cintinative]

13 minutes ago, KimberlyW said:

 

ETA: Do you have any specific directions he's considering going with the prompt? That might effect/ change my answer a bit.

Not yet. 

Personal debt was one I threw out as an option that seemed relatively "safe." My son does not want to go into debt at all.

College debt is something he is seeking to avoid, but I was worried that the college would not like him addressing that.

He mentioned something about how people lack purpose and meaning in their lives. That would go in a faith-based direction (I assume) which may mean it's a no.

Every idea my dh had was horribly controversial  He is irritated at higher education in general. LOL   

[EKS]

When we were in this boat in 2019, we specifically targeted state flagships rather than small liberal arts schools because of this issue.  We also came to the conclusion that if a school rejected my son because his views were not in line with a school's radical left ideology, then he didn't want to attend that school.  For the most part, he steered clear of any hot button topics.

On the one essay that specifically required that he discuss "diversity,"* he talked about how being a homeschooler and being friends with kids from other homeschool families gave him an appreciation for viewpoint diversity that he might otherwise not have had.  The local homeschoolers in the 10-15 years ago seemed to come in pretty intense varieties--ultra religious, crunchy granola, rigorous academic, etc--and he had friends from all of these backgrounds.  I was honestly wondering whether he would get in, but he did (as an in state student).

In the counselor letter, I also dropped a hint that he didn't fall in line with the common ideology on college campuses in that I mentioned that he didn't participate in the student** climate change walkout that had happened the previous year because he thought that that sort of protest was idiotic (I didn't use that word exactly).  I was talking about how he thought for himself.

The schools he got rejected from were all reach schools, so I don't think it was because of his centrist views.

*From UW: Our families and communities often define us and our individual worlds. Community might refer to your cultural group, extended family, religious group, neighborhood or school, sports team or club, co-workers, etc. Describe the world you come from and how you, as a product of it, might add to the diversity of the UW.  [To UW's credit, they have broadened the word "diversity" out to its appropriate meaning rather than the ridiculous and more common race, gender, sexuality meaning.]

**He attended the local public school part time.

[Farrar]

It depends a bit on what he wants to write about, but I think a little controversy is fine. The cost of college is a totally fine topic. Trust me, college admissions knows it's a problem. An issue of religious significance is potentially okay as well. Are there no go issues? Sure. But I've seen more students shy away from great topics because they're afraid to offend than students say something politically too offensive somehow when I've helped with essays. Honestly, the number one thing that I have to tell students not to say isn't a political or religious viewpoint, it's that you can't slam public schools or public school students or other teens in general in your essays. It won't make you look good because you think you're "better" than them.

[Roadrunner]

I would not take on a controversial topic in a college essay. My kid took a conservative economic view on one of his school English papers and the fallout was unbelievable. The attacks on him from classmates and from the teacher (who by the way wanted a well supported research paper, which it was) were eye opening. I wouldn’t be a contrarian in a college essay. 

[KimberlyW]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

Not yet. 

Personal debt was one I threw out as an option that seemed relatively "safe." My son does not want to go into debt at all.

College debt is something he is seeking to avoid, but I was worried that the college would not like him addressing that.

He mentioned something about how people lack purpose and meaning in their lives. That would go in a faith-based direction (I assume) which may mean it's a no.

Every idea my dh had was horribly controversial  He is irritated at higher education in general. LOL   

College debt isn't particularly controversial.  Certainly, there are controversial ways you could address it but there's a big difference between saying "here's why college debt is a problem and I would like to avoid it" and "colleges are money-making ideology machines that are ruining the future generation by perpetuating wage slavery without appropriate returns."

Lacking purpose in life could also be a good topic.  Again, there is a world of difference between "young people lack purpose because of XYZ which is a problem because of ABC" (even if some of those thoughts are informed by faith) and "the biggest societal problem is that people lack Jesus.  Here's my 7 step evangelism plan for converting all of the heathens on your campus."

Maybe a good gauge of the controversy of an opinion would be seeing if you can find bi- or non-partisan organizations advancing the same cause? Thinking of things like lack of purpose in young adults, college debt, waning free speech on campuses, etc., they all seem to cross/ transcend party lines (even though different orgs. have different opinions on appropriate solutions).

I get that people have had negative experiences with college professors and controversial topics but I think it's worth noting that admissions committees are often much more balanced because (1) it's a committee and not one person with a personal vendetta to advance and (2) everyone in admissions is (or should be) afraid of being sued. 😅 

[ieta_cassiopeia]

It might be worthwhile to consider what the college has on campus, what it considers to be important. Is there, perhaps, a political issue or two where the college already has something that could assist (even in a small way) with the issue? Including this in the answer would hopefully make it clear that your son understands the environment he's getting into, isn't hostile to it, and isn't going to accidentally get expelled in the first semester due to a mismatch of expectations.

For example, he mentioned "people lack purpose and meaning in their lives". Perhaps he could think about how the college which set the essay attempts to help students find meaning and purpose. Explicit faith options can be among the variety mentioned in the essay, if the college offers them (directly or via hosting student-led organisations). Then he can consider expansions of the idea in other contexts of society (including in faith, if there's a natural way to fit this into the essay and it's not a virulently atheist college). At all points, mention how the issue impacts people in that particular context. That would be a way of taking a potentially problematic topic, starting on familiar ground with the admissions officer nodding "yup, this looks OK", and then naturally integrating some ideas that are important to him while demonstrating it is a society-wide issue. Also remember that the average essay gets less than 10 seconds of attention, so starting with the familiar and definitely-shared parts (ways in which the college helps answer the political issue) may mean any number of minor issues with the essay get overlooked.

Other candidate topics can be handled the same way - though college debt is probably good to avoid unless the college setting the essay already has an overt anti-debt attitude (or other declared attitude to debt that your son feels comfortable integrating into his essay). Controversial topics are fine as long as student and college can find some area of the topic where there is agreement (it is not, in this case, necessary to mention the areas of disagreement, because this is not intended to be that sort of persuasive essay). Where the college shows, through word or action, that it does not agree with a student's position on an given issue, it should be avoided completely on admissions essays - and, where possible, in essays written for grade purposes too.

The thing to avoid most of all is making the admissions officer feel sympathetic but also thinking there's no way the candidate can settle into life at this particular college. They prefer candidates they can please.

Edited September 5, 2023 by ieta_cassiopeia

[Porridge]

1 hour ago, Roadrunner said:

I would not take on a controversial topic in a college essay. My kid took a conservative economic view on one of his school English papers and the fallout was unbelievable. The attacks on him from classmates and from the teacher (who by the way wanted a well supported research paper, which it was) were eye opening. I wouldn’t be a contrarian in a college essay. 

I’m sorry that happened to your child. 

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 9/5/2023 at 9:50 AM, cintinative said:

Not yet. 

Personal debt was one I threw out as an option that seemed relatively "safe." My son does not want to go into debt at all.

College debt is something he is seeking to avoid, but I was worried that the college would not like him addressing that.

He mentioned something about how people lack purpose and meaning in their lives. That would go in a faith-based direction (I assume) which may mean it's a no.

Every idea my dh had was horribly controversial  He is irritated at higher education in general. LOL   

I don't think most colleges would be particularly shocked that student debt and ROI is a big concern. Many in admissions are pretty recent graduates themselves who may feel this keenly.

There could be lots of ways to write about man's search for meaning and some might include a discussion of the student's faith. I don't think that is necessarily a red flag unless the essay suggests that their faith is the only one that could offer someone purpose and meaning.

Essays that suggest higher education is useless or beset with extremists probably isn't an effective way of persuading a school to select that student for admission.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 9/5/2023 at 10:24 AM, Farrar said:

It depends a bit on what he wants to write about, but I think a little controversy is fine. The cost of college is a totally fine topic. Trust me, college admissions knows it's a problem. An issue of religious significance is potentially okay as well. Are there no go issues? Sure. But I've seen more students shy away from great topics because they're afraid to offend than students say something politically too offensive somehow when I've helped with essays. Honestly, the number one thing that I have to tell students not to say isn't a political or religious viewpoint, it's that you can't slam public schools or public school students or other teens in general in your essays. It won't make you look good because you think you're "better" than them.

Yes, to the bolded. An essay shouldn't need to put someone else down to be effective in describing the applicant. And there could be a reason to portray someone's negative actions or traits, like if a student is describing speaking up in a difficult situation. But I'm seeing students take swipes at others, sometimes unwittingly and sometimes to make themselves seem better.

It's not endearing.