picking a montage path

As I’ve mentioned, there’s no such thing as A Perfect Topic. What you’re looking for is A Pretty Good Topic that will help you demonstrate a range of skills/qualities/values/interests that you’ll bring with you to college. 

I’m about to share with you seven different montage paths. Where did these come from? I recently spent a month analyzing 300+ essays from past students and found that most of the really successful essays followed one of these paths.

Below, I’ll describe each one briefly, then ask you to pick one. Once you do, I’ll show you two example essays, describe four qualities that make each one successful, then give you a 5- to 10-minute exercise to see if that path could work for you. If not, you can simply try another.

Important: The methods described below are not, of course, meant to be exhaustive. There are so many ways to write a montage essay. But the seven methods below have reliably helped other students find their montage essay topics. 

I have a feeling that one of these ways might work for you.

Seven Ways to Find Your Montage Essay Topic

You may notice that these methods connect back to the brainstorming. We started with the “I Love” and “I Know” exercise, for example, which is directly connected to what I call ...

1. The I Love/I Know Method

How it works: Pick something you love or have spent a lot of time thinking about and show how this thing connects to many different parts of you. It could be a subject you’ve explored extensively, something you love to do or think about, or some obscure TV show that no one else your age has even heard of. 

Examples from past students include cooking, meditation, mazes, plants, history, science, knitting, or even pranks.

Why this is a good method: You get to flex on something you know a lot about. And the weirder the topic, the better!

2. The Essence Object(s) or “Stuff in My Room” Method

How it works: Choose an object or several objects and say why it’s (or they’re) meaningful to you and reveal different parts of who you are. 

Examples from past students include describing: 

• Different objects in your room (e.g., a photograph, a souvenir, a whiteboard)

• Objects with something in common (e.g., several different books on your bookshelf or the Polaroid photos on your bedroom wall)

• An abstract thing (e.g., the things you wonder about while falling asleep or the songs you’ve written)

• A single object (e.g., excerpts from a journal you’ve kept or a gift you received)

… and use each one to describe a different side of you.

Why this is a good method: Meaningful objects can correlate to so many different memories, emotions, and values. Plus, the “stuff in my room” essay can be relatively easy to write.

3. The Skill or Superpower Method

How it works: Pick a skill and show how it connects to many different parts of your life. 

Common examples from past students include problem-solving, recognizing patterns, songwriting, and teaching. More uncommon examples include translating, beatboxing, and seeing how the pieces of incredibly complicated systems come together to work in a simple way.

Why this is a good method: Here’s our chance to see you in action doing something you’re awesome at. Plus, by connecting this ability to a wide range of values, you make this about much more than just this one skill.

4. The Career Method

How it works: Pick a career and build a montage around qualities you already have that will serve you in it. 

Examples from past students range from art history to computer science to geriatric medicine.

Why this is a good method: It’s relatively easy to write. Plus, along the way, you’ll demonstrate some great qualities you’ll bring with you to any college campus (even if your career path changes).

5. The Identity Method

How it works: Choose a particular identity or several identities, then describe why it (or they) reveal different sides of you. 

Some students focus on one identity, whether that’s introversion, for example, or coming out as LGBTQ+, or having a natural “mom vibe.” Other students have chosen to describe various identities, whether it’s the many roles they play (sibling, researcher, team captain) or the identities they’ve named in their social media profile: “angry brown girl, feminist, singer, meme-lover.” Kinda’ want to read that last one, right?

Why this is a good method: It can not only be very personal but also lead to some interesting nuances, especially if you sometimes experience conflict between two of your identities (e.g., Catholic identity + homosexual identity).

6. The Home Method

How it works: Describe one place or several places where you’re in your element and say why. 

Some students choose to focus on a single place they feel at home (like a particular coffee shop or the weight room). Other students choose to describe the many places they feel at home (the stage, the lab, in their imagination). Both can work well and lead to a lot of variety.

Why this is a good method: Here we get to see you in your natural state, or states. The multiple “homes” method in particular is a great way to demonstrate that you can adapt to any environment—including that of the college you’re applying to.

7. The Uncommon Extracurricular Activity Method

How it works: Choose an extracurricular activity, make sure it’s uncommon (either in your choice of topic or what you say about it), and use it to reveal different parts of who you are. 

Heads-up: This can be one of the most difficult methods to do well, which is why I’ve listed it last. Why is it so tricky? Many students write about the same activities (debate, piano, volleyball, etc.), so the degree of difficulty is increased, as it can be difficult to stand out. Also, if you’re applying to selective schools, you’ll likely be asked in a separate essay to expand on your most important extracurricular activity. If you’ve already written about that in your main statement, what will you write about? 

Why this can be a good method: I actually don’t think writing about an extracurricular activity for the personal statement is a good idea, as I find it often leads to common essay topics. I’ve listed it here, however, because many students choose to do this, so I wanted to provide some guidance. But I’d suggest trying the other methods first. If several of those don’t work, then try this one.

Exceptions (i.e., cases when you maybe should write about an extracurricular activity):

• If you’re being recruited in a particular thing, or it’s all over your resume and it would be weird not to write about it. Examples from past students include being ranked among the top 5 policy debaters in the world or playing for your country’s national cricket/soccer/rugby team.

• If it’s an incredibly unusual extracurricular activity. Examples from past students include medieval blacksmithing, indoor sky-diving, bee-keeping, and being the world’s top-ranked Magic The Gathering player.

Choose Your Own Adventure Time!

Which of the following methods would you like to try? Pick one:

1. I Love/I Know

2. Essence Object(s)/Stuff in My Room

3. Skill/Superpower

4. Career

5. Identity

6. Home 

7. Uncommon Extracurricular Activity

Important: At the end of Module 1, I'm going to ask you to brainstorm at least TWO topics. I'll tell you more later about why I feel this is important, but just giving you a heads-up now.