<p>What would readers think about this kind of essay?</p>
<p>I won't lie, I used to smoke a lot of marijuana. But I have stopped (clean for a year now) since I have seen my friends throw away their lives and be destroyed by the law. I feel that it has made me stronger.</p>
<p>Your thoughts?</p>
<p>It's a personal matter and subject, but I am sure it has definitely changed you. If you can really focus in on what good came out of this negative experience, I personally find it to be an okay topic.</p>
<p>don't do it. no matter how good u write it, an essay about drugs will never work, sry.</p>
<p>that will be the auto reject pile. they dont want druggies at their school, no matter if you still use or not</p>
<p>sorry breh</p>
<p>Thanks guys. It was just a random thought lol.</p>
<p>I don't think an essay on drug or alcohol abuse is a bad topic for a college essay, depending on the approach. A friend of mine went to an elite New England boarding school, and was expelled in the fall term of his senior year for drinking. He went to treatment for alcoholism, and continued his sobriety into college. He attended Augsburg College in Minnesota for two years, because it offers an excellent program for students recovering from alcoholism and drug addiction. This school is not particularly selective, but after two years he applied to other schools to transfer out. I have seen the essay he wrote, and it describes in detail his recovery from alcoholism and how it has changed his life. He got into Georgetown and Vanderbilt (as well as a few other schools; I don't remember which ones) while explicitly admitting his alcoholism, and with expulsion on his high school record. He now goes to Georgetown and loves it. Obviously you will not immediately be put into the "reject pile" for admitting your alcohol or drug problems; you can even get into some of the most selective schools in the country. This is conjecture, but I would think that applicants who have had difficulties in their life such as alcoholism but overcame it and still continued their education would be respected by college admissions officers, as it would demonstrate their commitment to achieving the highest quality education despite personal adversity, their ability to overcome a serious problem, and would suggest that they would take their studies at college more seriously than other students who are partying. As long as you approach the essay from the right perspective and focus on how abstaining from drugs has improved your life and the difficulties you surmounted, your essay could help you get into some excellent colleges.</p>
<p>I wouldn't do it. Technically you weren't even legal enough to smoke regular cigarettes so I think they will equate you with criminals. But if you want to write about how you matured and stuff, just be really vague. For example, I think it's okay to mention that "I fell a victim to bad influences and engaged in acts that I regret now" or something like that. I would also focus more on the positives (ie the process of you becoming "better")</p>
<p>i personally wouldn't do it just because i have this image of all college admission people having been hippies. yeah, thats a stupid reason not to do it. so, uh....what they said.</p>
<p>I'm sure that you can think of a more upbeat topic. If the first thing that comes to mind when you think "essay topic for the school I really want to go to" is your past heavy marijuana use, I'm not sure that admissions officers will appreciate that level of "honesty". Maybe rather than focusing on your own use, you can focus on your friends' use, or perhaps you could just steer clear of the topic altogether.</p>