<p>My friend is interested in applying to Princeton, and I'm trying to figure some stuff out for him as he is currently in rehabilitation for his addiction. He has the scores and EC and everything, pretty amazingly actually, but has been suffering an addiction for the last few months (I think he got started during the summer of last year, he is now a senior). He hopes to come out of it rehabilitation clean and will be off of it when he starts college next year. He will not attend if he is still using crack cocaine. </p>
<p>What should he do about it in terms of his essays? Should he mention it or try to pretend it never happened? Thank you very much in advance on my and his behalf.</p>
<p>…I would recommend either kicking his habit completely and then writing about overcoming this particular obstacle or not mentioning it at all.</p>
<p>Probably pretend it never happened if he never faced legal charges and knows there’s no way Princeton will know about it before decisions come out. Writing about being addicted to crack cocaine, imo, will show his vulnerability and inability to make healthy decisions, even if he did go through rehab.</p>
<p>Say nothing about a trip to rehab!</p>
<p>Check the Ask the Dean archives or numerous other sources. This is a can of worms that should not be opened unless absolutely necessary. Unless the college will find out some other way (such as via a criminal background check, or if there is a gap in school attendance or if there is some other way they can find out), colleges do not want to take the risk of having someone revert to a previous drug habit, especially if the trip to rehab was recent.</p>
<p>They also don’t want to have someone who could potentially wind up distributing illegal drugs, or getting connected to people on campus or off campus who distribute illegal drugs.</p>
<p>Writing an essay about overcoming drug addiction is not something that will get any college excited, especially one like Princeton that can easily drop any applicant and replace him or her with another extremely well-qualified applicant. This is not one of those things that happened beyond the applicant’s control that they had to overcome, such as a death in the family or adjusting medication for ADHD or a physical health issue that has been resolved. People can argue whether this is fair or not, but the success rate of people kicking a crack cocaine habit after one trip through rehab is far, far from 100%. </p>
<p>This is a nothing to gain and a lot to lose issue. Keep quiet about it.</p>
<p>He sure doesn’t have much time to finish researching colleges and pull his app together, while in care. And he must be missing school now, right? Sorry, but with Hustla in your user name, I wonder if this is real. </p>
<p>In general, you show adcoms your strengths and suitability for that college’s opportunities and challenges.</p>