So… I would like to stand out in my common app essay and make it interesting. I know that this is a pretty stupid idea, but what if I wrote it about learning finance through Pokemon and how it sparked my interested in finance. Thoughts? 
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Not a bad idea at all: The connection to these iconic creatures could captivate the reader and draw him to the impressive finance substance!
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Sounds cool to me but maybe run it past your professor? There is definitely plenty of information available to you on the subject.
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I wrote about it… that was literally my only finance-related hobby/activity (no FBLA, DECA, etc.) and I believe it’s what tipped me into being admitted into a top undergrad business school (along with the necessary grades, etc.)
Edit: Just wanted to note that I didn’t write this as my common-app essay – it was a supplement to the college I was applying to. I think colleges have an idea of what kind of common-app essay they want to read, so I just went with that, lol.
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It’s not a bad idea per say, but it requires much more work than writing a cookie-cutter college application. You’re going to need to put in x2 more effort because you’re going to have to significantly separate yourself from the emotional aspect of collecting cards into a pure, quantitative and analytical way of making money with cards.
Remember, the people who are going to look at your application are not your professors or even educators sometimes. They are looking for a “certain” type of person in entering their college, and you must consider that they will think of you in the same way the general population will look at you. Since you have no idea who is going to read your paper, you should aim for something that everyone likes, and unfortunately, collecting pokemon cards is not everyone’s cup of tea. Some may find it childish, some may not like Pokemon in general 
BUT there’s one way to turn things around and make it into a Pokemon essay while making it seem super credible. What does people in general like? Money. What does financial people also like? Also money.
Just spin your application into a story where you were collecting Pokemon cards at and early age, in which that gave you a lot of in depth experience over the years that enabled you to plot statistical models and popularity among released cards. Using this data, you managed to trade and sell non stop using pokemon cards like the stock market (since you were too young to own a stock market account), making your 5$ booster pack your parents got you at the age of 4 into a $500,000 portfolio (or whatever high amount that is realistic to you) that you can easily convert into cash, but you’re holding onto them for now because this year alone your card portfolio went up by 100% so you are expecting even more profits. Something like this. In the eyes of the examiner, instead of them seeing you as a young adult collecting cards, you made yourself look like an unparalleled genius who skirted the law by using pokemon cards like stocks in order to make a financial profit.
People can laugh and joke about any subject and ridicule them, but it’s hard to ridicule something when it’s tied so closely to money. It’s like Bitcoin, people can laugh and crap on early Bitcoin owners, but they can’t laugh when it’s so clearly tied to a valuation that is downright impressive to the common folk. Same with Pokemon cards. Examiners will take you very seriously if you can express clearly that your collection of Pokemon cards netted you a lot of money at an early age, especially if you tie it to financial aspects that you will learn in college.
On a related note, I once wrote an essay about Yugioh in my finals papers and I still got an A, so it’s definitely doable. I also cited myself as a primary source. 
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Great idea! Through my three years of writing university essays and grading papers as a TA I can tell you one thing: you write better and score higher when you’re talking about something you are genuinely interested in.
Also, merging your interests (Pokemon & finance) is something that will help you stay interested in both in the long term. I study sociology and comparing my experience in Pokemon to various theories has allowed me to critique/support them in ways I couldn’t have without this knowledge.
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Thank you so much for your well though out response! I love specially what you said in bold since this was what I was primarily thinking about writing it on. I think that I will also include how this hobby led to me expanding into things like getting certified as a specialized in Excel and Access and learning JavaScript and Python (and maybe… hopefully… one day also VBA). My school is fairly large (2000 students) and over 75% of the school qualifies for free or reduces lunch, so the counselors don’t have any time to spend with us college bound folk, so I really appreciate all feedback.
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Make sure to link it to real world applications. It is one thing to discuss theories, it is another to reflect on events that have happened to make it impressive. My profs always told me to apply the knowledge, not just regurgitate it.
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(I am nosy, I know 
) What school did you attend?
I have definitely noticed this as well, I love how Pokemon can be incorporated into nearly anything from finance to history to sociology to marketing and communication. Thank you so much for your reply! 😊
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pm’d
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Formulate it properly and make it interesting and it’ll be accepted. It’s certainly an interesting subject finance wise. You’re free to use my story as an example;)
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No problem, glad you appreciate my response 
If you are able to handle JS and Python, along with access, VBA would not be difficult to you especially since it has ample resources online for you to troubleshoot with.
Good luck with your application, and the community here has got your back!
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