101 Compare and Contrast Essay Topics for College Students

For a compare and contrast essay, you cannot just write anything and compare the details. There are certain things that you have to consider when it comes to compare and contrast essay topics. First, you have to find a topic that you would want to compare and contrast. Unlike other kinds of essays, your choices are limited. There are also instances where you will not be asked to write this kind of essay but in your work you might want to compare and contrast using certain details to further establish your arguments and points.

Things Students Should Consider

With compare and contrast essay topics, one might find it easy to write. But there are essential things that you have to consider. Firstly, you need to know the similarities as well as the differences. Depending on your style and what you want your content to look like, you can focus on just the similarities or differences. You may also want to discuss both for as long as your essay doesn’t look too difficult to read or understand.

Tips in Writing Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

In doing this kind of essay, students need to consider the following steps and details before they start writing down your essay work. First, you need to organize everything first. Make sure that you organize the details first before you write the introductory part. The challenge in writing this type of essay is that you have to clearly identify the differences as well as the similarities. With so many details, it might be quite difficult to have a structured essay, especially in university. So, before you finally start writing your draft, make sure that you organize the complete details and other pertinent facts that you can use in comparing and contrast. After that, you need to decide what your main point is. What is that main point which will serve as you basic for comparing two things or people? Your main point will help you shape and give structure to your essay.

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics for College

Life in college gets interesting and difficult at the same time. Interesting because you meet a lot of new people and participate in many great events and difficult because you have to work on many different essays, one of them being compare and contrast essay. This perfect list will help you get the job done.

  1. High school and college
  2. Charter schools and private schools
  3. Student loans and grants
  4. Couture fashion and street fashion
  5. Women CEO’s and Men CEO’s
  6. Co-ed dorms and same sex dorms
  7. White collar and blue collar jobs
  8. Modern art and Abstract art
  9. A university campus and community college campus
  10. WWII and the Korean War
  11. A graduate degree and a PhD

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics for High School Students

High school is different from university, you have more free time and the tasks are not that difficult (well, you will see when you graduate) and the topics for compare and contrast essay might seem easy. Nevertheless, we’ve brought you something interesting to write about.

  1. Two world famous restaurants
  2. Rap music and Jazz music
  3. Household pets and zoo animals
  4. Rising a toddler and a teenager
  5. Divorced parents and single parents
  6. Spring break and Christmas break
  7. Country living and city living
  8. A play and movie
  9. Camping in the woods and on the beach
  10. Urban neighborhoods and suburban neighborhoods

Easiest Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Most students will look for easy topics. It’s quite obvious – if you know the topic well, you will write something decent about it. Here is a list of not the most difficult topics (actually quite easy ones) that will help you write an interesting and engaging compare and contrast essay.

  1. The worst day of your life and the best
  2. Professional boss and unprofessional boss
  3. Going to a movie and watching one at home
  4. Fine dining and fast food
  5. Fruit and vegetables
  6. Growing up rich and growing up poor
  7. Having a dog as a pet and having a cat as a pet
  8. Two late night talk show hosts
  9. Physical beauty and inner beauty
  10. Mexican food and Spanish food

Best Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Many compare and contrast essays are great but some of them are simply the best. What defines the best idea for essay? It’s relevance to current events. You don’t want to write something long gone, you want to stay put and elaborate on something that will concern your audience. Here is a list of the best compare and contrast essay topics:

  1. Obama administration vs Trump administration
  2. Alcohol and marijuana
  3. Books and movies
  4. Free speech and censorship
  5. Corporate politics of Apple and Microsoft
  6. Pepsi vs Cola – differences and similarities in companies’ structure
  7. Warm weather vacations and cold weather vacations
  8. Living conditions of upper and lower class
  9. Digital currencies vs standard world currencies
  10. Child raised by mother vs child raised by father

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics on Historic Figures

Luckily, history gifted us so many people we can write about. Some of them were terrible, some of them were great but whatever the case may be, they are all worth talking about. Decide who you are interested most and write a perfect compare and contrast essay about him or her.

  1. Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin
  2. Albert Einstein and Elon Musk
  3. Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher
  4. 2Pac and John Lennon
  5. Napoleon and Vladimir Putin
  6. Quentin Tarantino and Hideo Kojima
  7. Vladimir Nabokov and Earnest Hemingway
  8. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Donald Trump
  9. Mike Tyson and Conor McGregor
  10. Beyonce and Britney Spears

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics on Biology and Nature

There is a lot to compare and contrast in nature. How are we different from plants and animals? What cells have in common? Maybe Earth and Pluto have something in common? Topics on biology and nature will let you dwell more about those interesting things.

  1. Human DNA and monkey DNA
  2. Climate in China and in India
  3. Air pollution in 1950’s vs air pollution today
  4. Forestation 20 years ago vs forestation today
  5. Birds and mammals
  6. Cell division and cell replication
  7. GMO and natural products
  8. Farming technologies in USA and in Germany
  9. Waste management in China and in USA
  10. National parks in Australia and in UK

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics on Technology

Needless to say that technology plays an important role in the modern society. But what would be interesting is to compare some perhaps outdated technology, things our parents used with something we use today. You will be amazed how much we improved over the last 20 years. Here is a perfect list:

  1. Uber and regular taxi
  2. iPhone 3G vs iPhone 10
  3. Building technologies in Ancient Greece and in Ancient Egypt
  4. How are Android and iOS different and similar?
  5. DVD ROMs and USB flash drives
  6. What’s better: Japanese or German car?
  7. Japanese technologies vs American technologies
  8. Old film cameras vs digital cameras
  9. Analog television and 4K flat screen TVs
  10. iPad and any Google’s tablet

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics on Art

Smart people love art so it is a perfect idea to write a compare and contrast essay about it. Besides, art is such a diverse topic, there is so much to discuss that you will definitely find something to your liking. If you are in university and you study art – here are some excellent topics.

  1. Compare two paintings by Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet
  2. Compare Earnest Hemingway’s biography to one of his novels
  3. Art in Ancient Greece and art in the Medieval
  4. Architecture in Greece and in Roman Empire
  5. Similarities and differences in the concept of Renaissance and Baroque
  6. Gothic architecture and modern architecture
  7. Orchestral music and computer made music
  8. Modern art vs classic masterpieces
  9. Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings vs Michelangelo’s painting
  10. Video games and traditional concept of art

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics on History

There is a lot to talk about in history, especially if you want to compare some things to others. It’s a good idea to compare some historic events because it will surely empower your brain and perhaps you will find out something you never knew before. Here is a list:

  1. Fascism and Nazism – do they have any differences?
  2. Communism and Socialism
  3. The Great War vs World War II: combat differences and similarities
  4. Development of North and South in the US 19th century
  5. Politics of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington
  6. Cowboys and Native Americans
  7. Weapons 100 years ago vs weapons armies have today
  8. Napoleon’s war campaign and Hitler’s war campaign
  9. Pearl Harbor vs D-Day
  10. American government today vs American government 100 years ago

General ideas on Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Some topics will never go out of date, because the issues still remain unsolved and such topics are still interesting for people. Seems like we will be talking about those things forever. But due to our great list, your essay will surely stand out.

  1. Differences and similarities between Master’s and Ph.D. degrees
  2. SAT and TOEFL: English exams
  3. American English and British English: main differences
  4. Riding a bus to school vs driving a car
  5. Art class and science class
  6. Radio podcasts and TV shows
  7. Dating online and dating in real life
  8. Sending e-mail vs sending traditional letters
  9. Where does more profit come from: digital advertising or traditional one
  10. Facebook or Twitter: what social media to use and why

These are just some of the compare and contrast essay topics that you can try. This list can give you an idea but you can always choose the most suitable topic.

Comparison and Contrast Ideas Will Make Your Essay Shine

When you are writing an essay, there are cases where you have to compare and contrast things or people to highlight or show your arguments. If your professor is specific and you are asked to write and choose among compare and contrast essay topics then you will have to structure your work in such a manner that you can show the similarities and differences of your chosen topic. For students, it might appear to be an easy essay writing assignment. But it is definitely not an easy one. Apart from integrating facts and gather information for you to know the similarities and differences, you also have to make sure that your essay work is organized and structured. For you to make an organized essay, you cannot just write it right away without gathering information first and without organizing your thoughts first. The next step is to start working on the main argument. And remember – if you need more great ideas, be sure to visit our service. You will get all kind of topics for you to use.