I haven't been able to find much on this topic. I know that starting an essay with a quote is cliche, but isn't an epigraph kind of different? Last year I wrote an essay where we had to use a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson as our epigraph-- so basically I applied the quote to my own experiences. The essay ended up being basically the best I'd written all year and my English teacher loved it. I think it would be a good fit for my common app essay because it focuses on a specific experience and shows how I view the world.

I would do some tweaking, but I wanted to know what you guys think - do you think I could take away the epigraph and try to alter it a little bit?

The epigraph isn't inherent to my essay, but it shows my inspiration and jumping-off point. Taking it away would kind of seem like cheating to me, but I don't know. Has anyone else faced this problem?