Need Help With Greatest Non-Academic Achievement Essay Ideas

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TheBossDoctor

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Hey everyone, so I'm trying to choose a topic for the greatest non-academic achievement essay. I assume that research accomplishments don't count here so I'm excluding that. Here's ideas I have so far:

1. A club that I was an officer for (it's one of my most meaningful activities) won an award for best club in the country. I could talk about what I learned such as the importance of working together, organization, creativity, goal-planning, and passion. I would be able to write pretty genuinely about this.

2. Lost 25 pounds. I'm still slightly overweight, but I have lost 25 pounds in the past year. I guess I'd talk about the importance of working hard, setting goals, and being persistent.

3. Winning tennis tournament in high school. I played in a lot of tournaments, but I only won one. But I guess I could talk about that. Same lessons learned as #2- work hard, be persistent, don't give up, etc.

I personally prefer #1. Anyone have feedback on these ideas?
 
Hey everyone, so I'm trying to choose a topic for the greatest non-academic achievement essay. I assume that research accomplishments don't count here so I'm excluding that. Here's ideas I have so far:

1. A club that I was an officer for (it's one of my most meaningful activities) won an award for best club in the country. I could talk about what I learned such as the importance of working together, organization, creativity, goal-planning, and passion. I would be able to write pretty genuinely about this.

2. Lost 25 pounds. I'm still slightly overweight, but I have lost 25 pounds in the past year. I guess I'd talk about the importance of working hard, setting goals, and being persistent.

3. Winning tennis tournament in high school. I played in a lot of tournaments, but I only won one. But I guess I could talk about that. Same lessons learned as #2- work hard, be persistent, don't give up, etc.

I personally prefer #1. Anyone have feedback on these ideas?

You've answered your own question. Clearly you prefer #1, so you should write that.
 
Yea but I was just wondering if #1 is a legit topic since it is technically the club's accomplishment and not my own. Since I was an officer, I did play a large role in getting that award, but it was not my own accomplishment (rather, it was the shared accomplishment of me and the rest of the officers).
 
Yea but I was just wondering if #1 is a legit topic since it is technically the club's accomplishment and not my own. Since I was an officer, I did play a large role in getting that award, but it was not my own accomplishment (rather, it was the shared accomplishment of me and the rest of the officers).

What is a club but its members? Seems like a fine topic to me. Teamwork is a good thing.
 
Hey everyone, so I'm trying to choose a topic for the greatest non-academic achievement essay. I assume that research accomplishments don't count here so I'm excluding that. Here's ideas I have so far:

1. A club that I was an officer for (it's one of my most meaningful activities) won an award for best club in the country. I could talk about what I learned such as the importance of working together, organization, creativity, goal-planning, and passion. I would be able to write pretty genuinely about this.

2. Lost 25 pounds. I'm still slightly overweight, but I have lost 25 pounds in the past year. I guess I'd talk about the importance of working hard, setting goals, and being persistent.

3. Winning tennis tournament in high school. I played in a lot of tournaments, but I only won one. But I guess I could talk about that. Same lessons learned as #2- work hard, be persistent, don't give up, etc.

I personally prefer #1. Anyone have feedback on these ideas?

Go with #1

I did similarly and I think it's fine. I also think it is probably more substantive than your other two.
 
Is this true? I wrote about research accomplishments for this prompt, and now I'm nervous...

People seem to be saying that on here since research is essentially academia. If you've already done it, I guess there's nothing you can do about it. If you still have essays left, I wouldn't risk it...just write about something else.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I think I'll go with #1.
 
2. Lost 25 pounds. I'm still slightly overweight, but I have lost 25 pounds in the past year. I guess I'd talk about the importance of working hard, setting goals, and being persistent.

Congrats on losing 25 pounds. 🙂
 
Update: apparently research accomplishments are okay for this prompt. I received an interview at NYU (the school I used this essay for) after writing about research accomplishments as my most significant non-academic achievement. Though n=1, so this isn't a for sure thing.
 
I'm thinking of writing about getting employee of the month at my job working as a personal assistant for handicapped students.... I was thinking either that or skydiving possibly?

what do you guys think?
 
I'm thinking of writing about getting employee of the month at my job working as a personal assistant for handicapped students.... I was thinking either that or skydiving possibly?

what do you guys think?

Personal opinion: sky-diving! That could be a really unique, interesting essay.
 
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