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10 Bad College Essay Topics In English You Should Never Take On


Just things that there really are some things that you should never attempt to do – even as a student! Then, some English topics are no go areas. The reasons for this are numerous, however here are just a couple:

They might have been done to death

The characters might be iconic and any attempt to portray them in a different light might be frowned upon.

The last thing that you want is to find yourself in a position where your choice of topic has torpedoed any chance that you may have had of getting a good grade.

So, just to make sure that you don’t happen to fall into that very same trap. Here’re 10 bad college topics in English that you should never take on.

  • Personal accounts of drug or alcohol abuse.
  • While misuse of drugs and alcohol might have been socially acceptable in the 1960’s and 1970’s it is most definitely frowned upon in this day and age. I can totally understand why students might feel that sharing their experiences might benefit others, this is really not the place to do it as it could impact upon your overall grade.

  • Sordid accounts of your sexual activity
  • Okay, so while bragging about your sex life and how many sexual encounters you have had might seem great when you are having a few pints with the lads, your tutor does not want to hear about this. The last thing that you want to do is make people cringe.

  • Hatred of cute, fluffy animals
  • I get that we live in an era of free speech. However, people are very intolerant of others who openly don’t like animals. While it is okay to say that you would prefer not to have pets because you are allergic, openly admitting to disliking or hating animals could easily make you a target. Don’t go there!

  • Extreme political views
  • Even respected political bloggers sometimes come under fire for their views, whichever side of the fence they happen to sit on. It doesn’t matter how passionate you feel about a particular issue, expressing your leanings – unless it is specifically for a politics based essay – is never a good idea.

  • Expressing homophobic views
  • Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, an essay outlining homophobic or any other kind of phobic views will be met with disdain.

  • Admitting to violent tendencies
  • This is similar to the drug/alcohol misuse scenario. It doesn’t matter if you are receiving counselling or support. Admitting to violent thoughts or actually hurting someone could compel your professor to actually contact the police.

  • Feeling sorry for yourself
  • Everyone has their off days. Those days when they feel the entire world is against them. Your essay should broadly speaking be positive. If you are feeling down, go vent it somewhere else, don’t risk slipping a grade over it.

  • Hatred for the College system
  • Okay, so I can see how taking a sarcastic swipe at the establishment within college might be tempting. However, I can assure you that no matter how caustic your humor is, this will not go down well and could easily see you being blacklisted.

  • Comedy pieces
  • Your idea of humor might be someone else’s worst nightmare. There are comedy clubs that would fall over themselves for funny guys like you. Leave it out of your essay!

  • Travel essays
  • Unless you have traveled somewhere really remote and off the wall then I would urge you to steer clear of these kinds of essays. In the same way that too many holiday snaps on social media can drive people up the wall, then likewise a blow by blow account of your jollies in Marbella might be enough to make people reach for the sick bag.

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