Top Clichés and How to Avoid Them in Your Personal Statement
The college personal statement is one of the most important pieces of your application. It’s your chance to show admissions officers who you are beyond grades, test scores, and extracurriculars. But here’s the problem: too many essays sound the same. Year after year, admissions officers read thousands of essays that lean on predictable themes and tired storylines. That’s where clichés become dangerous.
A cliché isn’t just an overused idea, it’s a missed opportunity to reveal something unique about yourself. If your essay could easily be swapped with another student’s and still make sense, you’re probably leaning on a cliché.
Below, we’ll walk through the top clichés students often fall into when writing their college essays and, most importantly, how you can avoid them. By steering clear of these traps, you’ll be one step closer to crafting a personal statement that’s fresh, authentic, and memorable.
1. The Sports Victory Essay
The cliché: You worked hard, your team was down, you gave it your all, and you finally won (or lost) the big game. You walked away with lessons about teamwork, perseverance, or resilience.
Why it’s a problem: Admissions officers have read thousands of versions of this story. While sports are a meaningful part of many students’ lives, the “big game” arc has been overplayed.
How to avoid it: If you want to write about athletics, focus on a unique angle. Maybe it’s the quiet moments of discipline like waking up before sunrise for practice or learning how to support teammates even when you’re on the bench. Instead of the outcome of the game, write about how the process shaped your identity or challenged your mindset.
Better approach: Frame sports as a backdrop, not the story. For example, rather than describing a game-winning shot, describe how the repetitive drills taught you patience or how coaching younger kids made you a leader.
2. The Service Trip Abroad
The cliché: You traveled to another country, volunteered in a less privileged community, and returned home with a new appreciation for your life and opportunities.
Why it’s a problem: While these trips can be transformative, the essays often come across as one-dimensional or unintentionally self-centered. They sometimes read more as a travelogue than an exploration of personal growth.
How to avoid it: Don’t focus on how you “saved” or “helped” others. Instead, highlight what you learned about humility, listening, or how culture shaped your perspective. Ground the story in small, specific moments: a conversation with one person, a detail that surprised you, or how your assumptions were challenged.
Better approach: Admissions officers will be more interested in how the experience sparked a change in your behavior after you returned home. Did you start a local project? Did it shift how you engage in your community now?
3. Overcoming Injury or Illness as a Sole Identity
The cliché: You were injured, sick, or faced a medical challenge, but through determination, you overcame it and are stronger than ever.
Why it’s a problem: While health struggles are incredibly meaningful, they often lead to essays that feel predictable. The “triumph over adversity” arc can flatten a complex experience into something one-note.
How to avoid it: If you want to write about an illness or injury, focus less on the condition itself and more on how it reshaped your outlook, relationships, or long-term goals. Avoid framing yourself solely as a victim or a hero. Instead, emphasize the nuanced ways it influenced your growth.
Better approach: Share unexpected details like how missing school forced you to develop new ways of learning, or how you discovered creativity while stuck at home. Humanize the experience with specificity.
4. The “Immigrant Experience” Without Depth
The cliché: Your family immigrated to a new country, faced struggles, and overcame hardships. You now feel grateful for opportunities and inspired by your parents’ sacrifices.
Why it’s a problem: These stories are deeply important, but they can sometimes be told in ways that are too broad or general. Without personal depth, they can sound like a storyline admissions officers have read hundreds of times.
How to avoid it: Don’t just write about the fact of immigration, make sure to zoom in on your individual experience. What specific moments stand out? Did translating for your parents teach you communication skills? Did moving between cultures give you an unusual perspective on belonging?
Better approach: Tell your story in a way that only you could. Focus on the personal micro-moments that shaped your identity, not just the sweeping arc of hardship and gratitude.
5. The “Tragic Loss” Story
The cliché: You lost a loved one, and the experience taught you about grief, resilience, and cherishing life.
Why it’s a problem: Loss is a profound human experience, but essays on this theme can sometimes sound too similar if they stop at “I was sad, but I grew stronger.”
How to avoid it: If you write about loss, don’t center the essay solely on the tragedy. Instead, focus on how it shaped your perspective on everyday life. Did it inspire you to pursue a particular passion? Did it redefine how you connect with others?
Better approach: Let the essay be less about the loss itself and more about how you now choose to live or act because of it. Show how the event continues to influence your daily choices in ways that reveal character.
6. The “Mission to Save the World” Essay
The cliché: You want to become a doctor, lawyer, or politician because you want to “help people” or “change the world.”
Why it’s a problem: While noble, this phrasing is too vague. Almost every applicant wants to make a difference, and saying so without specifics doesn’t tell admissions officers much about who you are.
How to avoid it: Be concrete. Instead of “helping people,” describe which people and how. Did a specific experience spark your passion for medicine? Did a debate in class push you toward law? Tie your future goals to personal, tangible moments.
Better approach: Replace broad mission statements with a personal lens. For instance: “After watching my grandmother struggle to communicate in English at the doctor’s office, I want to study medicine and language access so patients like her feel truly understood.”
7. The “Perfect Student” Essay
The cliché: You’ve always worked hard, excelled academically, and are proud of your achievements. You want colleges to know that you’re diligent and responsible.
Why it’s a problem: Your transcript and activities list already show this. Writing about being hardworking doesn’t add dimension to your application.
How to avoid it: Instead of repeating what admissions officers already know, show the quirks, struggles, or passions that aren’t obvious in your resume. What’s a surprising hobby you have? What’s a personal challenge that isn’t tied to academics?
Better approach: Reveal character through unexpected moments. Maybe it’s the resilience you built after failing to bake bread five times before getting it right, or the patience you developed while teaching your younger sibling math.
8. The “Grandparent as a Hero” Essay
The cliché: You admire your grandparent (or parent, teacher, coach) and write an essay about their life story and how they inspire you.
Why it’s a problem: Admissions officers want to admit you, not your role model. Essays that focus too heavily on someone else can leave your own voice lost.
How to avoid it: If you want to write about someone important in your life, make sure the essay still centers on you. How did your grandparent’s story directly shape your choices, values, or identity?
Better approach: Use the role model as a jumping-off point, but pivot quickly back to your own experiences. For example: “My grandmother’s strength during her battle with cancer didn’t just inspire me, it taught me how to face my own fears of public speaking.”
9. The “Life-Changing Epiphany” Essay
The cliché: You had one major moment of realization (maybe at a concert, a camp, or while gazing at the stars) that completely changed your perspective.
Why it’s a problem: Rarely does personal growth happen in one sudden flash. These stories can come across as exaggerated or insincere.
How to avoid it: Instead of framing your essay around a single, dramatic turning point, focus on a process of change. Growth usually happens gradually, through reflection and repeated experiences.
Better approach: Highlight the smaller, less glamorous steps that shaped you. For example: instead of claiming that one night at camp changed everything, describe how weeks of uncomfortable but meaningful conversations shifted your perspective over time.
10. The “Thesaurus Essay”
The cliché: You use overly complex vocabulary, flowery language, and try too hard to sound impressive.
Why it’s a problem: Admissions officers are looking for clarity and authenticity, not SAT words strung together. Overwritten essays can feel distant and inauthentic.
How to avoid it: Write in your natural voice. If you wouldn’t say a word in conversation, don’t force it into your essay. Focus on clear storytelling instead of fancy phrasing.
Better approach: Prioritize honesty and readability. Simple, vivid language often carries more power than complicated words. For example: “I was nervous before my first speech” is more effective than “I was beleaguered with trepidation prior to my initial oration.”
Final Thoughts
Avoiding clichés doesn’t mean your essay has to be shocking, dramatic, or about something no one has ever experienced. Instead, it’s about making your essay feel personal, specific, and reflective. Admissions officers want to know what you notice, how you process experiences, and what makes you tick.
Remember: the most powerful essays often come from ordinary moments told with honesty and detail. It could be as simple as how folding laundry with your siblings taught you patience, or how sketching in your notebook became your way of understanding the world.
By steering clear of overused themes and focusing on your unique perspective, you’ll create a personal statement that stands out for the right reasons: because it sounds like you.