Olivia Crosby

Think for a second: What’s been your biggest ethical dilemma?

Everyone’s got one, right?

Maybe it’s that time you parked your car in a staff parking spot.

Maybe it’s that time you drank half of a water bottle before paying for it.

Or maybe it’s that time you borrowed your sister’s shirt without asking.

Are these really ethical dilemmas? Probably not. If it took you more than 10 seconds to think of an “ethical dilemma” you’ve found yourself in, then you haven’t had many ethical dilemmas.

But juniors, sophomores, and freshmen: you might run into some difficulty when writing your college essay next year, mostly because the Common App is officially removing the “topic of your choice” essay from its list of prompts. “Describe an ethical dilemma” is one of the current prompts, so you’ve got a little while to rack your brain for some good (read: made-up) ethical dilemmas.

Here are some of the other prompts from this year, minus the “topic of your choice” option:

● Discuss a local or international issue and its importance to you.

● Indicate someone who has influenced you, and describe that influence.

● Describe what you would bring to the diversity of a college community.

Still awake?

Forcing kids to write college essays under predetermined, predictable prompts just isn’t cool, Common Application, Inc.

There’s no denying the fact that the college process is a numbers game. Grades, test scores, GPAs, and community service hours all mix to create a numerical profile. For years, the personal essay has been the last remaining bastion of individuality within a college application. Getting rid of the ability to write about whatever you want to write about only further separates your personality from your college application.

Under the new policy, students will have to force their personal essays to fit the rigid guidelines set by a group of nameless, faceless admissions officers.

We’re not spreadsheets.

You won’t, for example, be able to write about your quirky obsession with hedgehogs—if you do, you’ll have to pass it off as an “international issue” that’s important to you. If you want to write about all the places you’ve been in an old pair of Converse, you’ll have to portray a pair of shoes as “someone who has influenced you.”

Common Application, Inc. has offered minimal explanation regarding the basis for their policy overhaul. Some speculate it will level the playing field while others feel that it will challenge students to write creatively under constraints. But by eliminating the “topic of your choice” essay, genuine creativity will be silenced.

At a recent college information session, an admissions officer stood in front of the room and declared that his office uses a term “LMO” to describe mundane, tired essays. LMO, as in, Like Many Others. So, we ask, why deprive us of what is already miniscule creative breathing room?

It’s suffocating.

An important part of the personal essay involves asking yourself a question, and exploring the answer within yourself. The Common App’s new policy undermines this personal process and leaves you to respond to uninspired questions with uninspired answers.