<p>In my college essay, I wanted to include my background info as a U.S. immigrant. I came from Africa when I was 4, with my mother, and we left my dad and two sisters behind. We've been in America for more than 12 years and the rest of my family still hasn't come to the U.S. In America, I've been in an honor roll student and have taken all advanced classes, including all the AP classes my school offers. I'm in many school clubs, and volunteer out of school, on my own. Should I add my bg info, or is that not good to include? </p>
<p>In your college essay? While it may tell some interesting info, that might be reflected in the common app already where you mention where you have lived and such. But maybe you could talk about how the sacrifice had an impact on you. I feel the second part about ECs, extracurriculars, and such will either be reflected in your resume or your reccomendations/transcript and restating in the essay may be redundant. You only have so much space in the essay. So use it to show who you are. They want to know about your character, so use it to show as much of your personality as possible. If that story is a big part of your life, sure tell it! But avoid restating things that are already shown in the rest of your application. Remember, show don’t tell</p>