Take care in your delivery.
Imagine your son or daughter is getting married and you want to look your best on the big day. So you get a haircut, buy a new outfit, and visit a tailor to make sure it’s perfect. You spend a lot of time getting ready until you’re sure to look your best not just at the event, but also in all the pictures that will live on.
Then you show up to the wedding and your son or daughter says, “I don’t like your outfit at all. You’d look much better in something else.”
Wouldn’t you be hurt? Wouldn’t it seem insensitive? Wouldn’t you feel dejected to have all that time and care and pride you’d taken be so flippantly dismissed?
So imagine how your student feels when you read their college essay and say, “I don’t like this topic at all. You should write about something else.”
You might be right about the topic (though please read this post, and this one, before you decide). But your delivery is all wrong.