<p>I am not talking about my own drug use because I don't use drugs, but I was thinking about writing my common app essay on a substance abuser in my life. I will make the essay about me, though, and not focus on the other person. </p>
<p>I have heard a lot of people say don't talk about your own past problems because that can show weakness, especially when you're talking about past depression and anxiety and stuff like that. However, I've never read a thread that talked about drug use. In fact, I've never even heard of anyone bringing up drugs in their common app essay. How do you think this will look, not only at top tier universities (who may appreciate the riskiness of it), but state universities who are less accustomed to risky essays?</p>
<p>Also I have a side note. I am writing multiple common app essays and will pick my best one, and the other one I'm writing has to do with the failure prompt. Do you think I should still do this prompt if the failure I experiences is pretty bad? I didn't want to start another thread, so I thought I'd just ask it here. In the vaguest possible way, I thought I was helping someone but it turns out I actually did the wrong thing and it may have cost him his life (yup pretty bad, but thankfully everyone is fine). Even if I reflect on what I have learned and what I should have done, do you think it is smart to write an essay about this? I feel that this essay prompt is daunting because colleges may see me as irresponsible for me letting it get that far in the first place.</p>
<p>Is there anyone not in class of 2015 or younger who I can message about the specifics of the essay? I obviously do not want to give away too much detail because first it's a) personal and b) then it would be super prone to theft, but I would not mind giving away more detail in a private message.</p>