The topic is something really personal that could potentially split my family up, and I guess it would be ok if I wrote about it to an officer, but as long as there is the confidentiality between me and the officer. I just don’t want anyone else knowing about this, and I want to make sure that if I did, no one else would know but me and the officer. (Please don’t criticize my reasoning to tell an officer but not anyone else. I know it makes no sense, but yeah).
tell us wat the topic is yo
Read this article : http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/opinion/sunday/frank-bruni-oversharing-in-admissions-essays.html?referrer=&_r=0
If the link doesn’t work, Google “oversharing essay nytimes”
No one else will see it (or associate it with you specifically), but make sure it doesn’t become a “pity-party”, as I would put it.
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Actually, not really. It seems that some people are more willing to say certain things if they are anonymous or if they’re talking to people they don’t know.
But you need to evaluate carefully if your topic is appropriate to write about. But yes, for the most part - there will be confidentiality between you and the adcom - unless the content is either a) very troublesome or b) extremely disturbing.
the admissions officer is not a psychologist. If you’re going to talk about a traumatic experience, talk about how it broke you but how you survived and how it’s changed you now, what you learned from it, what you want to do with your life about it. If you’ve read “Before I fall”… it’d have to be a 600 word transformation like that.
In addition, you really need to show the paper to 3-4 people before you submit it so that you can refine it.
There is confidentiality, your parents will not see it, but you really have to be careful that you don’t come off as whiny, or mentally disturbed, or too graphic. In this type of essay, suggestion rather than being graphic, is the key.
If your essay reveals information that could be considered evidence of illegal activity, it is possible that the admissions office (or someone else reading your essay) might feel compelled to take action. http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/09/22/3393360/tacoma-man-charged-after-college.html
It’s not anything illegal, it’s mainly that one of my parents is a little unstable (not drugs or alchohal or anything wise) and isn’t too good with money and how that’s impacted my family’s dynamic
So the answer is that you CAN write about it. But the question is whether or not you SHOULD. The essay needs to be about you - not about your parents or your family. If you choose to write on this topic, be sure that the point in the essay is what it has meant for you in terms of your upbringing, your world view, and/or how it shapes who you are and what that means in the context of what you offer to a college community.