Identity Politics, College Essays, and Telling the Truth

because what else is there

As some of you may know, we just had an election. We were a country riven by identity politics before November 5, and now, a week after the election, we are still riven by identity politics, maybe even more so. We like to label ourselves and other people. We telegraph our affiliations and affinities through t-shirts and hats and bumper stickers and social media posts and even to-go coffee cups (Team Merry Christmas! No, Team Happy Holidays!).

With one notable exception: college essays.

College essays are not the place to take risks. College essays are not the place to antagonize your readers. College essays are not the place to pick fights. So sayeth the internet and your child’s best friend’s cousin who goes to Dartmouth.

Here is a very partial list of potentially fraught essay topics I’ve compiled over the past 18 years of working as a college counselor:

-being Indian

-being Chinese

-being Jewish

-being Muslim

-…