<p>I am currently a junior and recently i've been visiting many college campuses. I am in love with UCSB and SDSU, but I also want to apply to UCD, Cal Poly SLO, UCI, UCSD (where my brother goes), and some other colleges. </p>
<p>My average high school GPA so far is about a 3.83 and I'm aiming for a 2000 on my SAT (critical reading isn't my strongest area so I'm thinking about taking the ACT too since I'm very strong in math and science).
I've taken a few practice tests and have gotten around 1800 so hopefully I am able to raise my SAT score a lot. </p>
<p>I'm worried with the GPA i have i won't be able to get into the schools i mentioned. Therefore, I want to make my personal statement very good.</p>
<p>I've been thinking about writing it about the eating disorder(anorexia) i had in seventh grade and how it made me become the person i am today, and most of all, made me realize that i want to major in nursing or something medical related. I would make it positive because I've read a lot of threads about why mentioning eating disorders is a bad idea. I do not regret my experience though because its made me a much stronger person. Ive always been a very caring person and i really want to be able to help others who are going through the same thing i did. I always remember thinking (when i had my ED) that no one really understood what i was going through unless they've been through it themselves, and i believe thats true for all EDs. Since I've been through it i think i would be able to help many people who suffer from EDs. So would talking about how overcoming my eating disorder has made me a stronger person and has encouraged me to take on a career in the medical field be a bad essay topic? Again, it was when i was very young(seventh grade) and I am over it now. Please give me suggestions. I really want to have an excellent essay to accumulate for my 3.8 high school GPA.</p>
<p>First of all, a 3.83 is a great GPA and will be an asset to your application, not something that needs to be made up for! (:
Writing about an eating disorder is certainly done frequently. However, if you’re a strong writer and you can make it unique, go for it! Just keep in mind that, when first seeing the subject matter, the admissions officer will probably have already read at least one that is about the same thing. You mention that you’re more of a math/science person, so if your writing isn’t strong enough to make a common topic stand out, you may want to find a more unique topic to stand out that way.
That being said, it certainly sounds like you could write a good essay with that subject, especially as it relates to your major.
Good luck!! :D</p>
<p>I won’t answer your concern about GPA, since I don’t really know. However, this is what I think about your essay idea:</p>
<p>It seems like an interesting topic, it does. However, tread carefully and try to be creative when doing it. Why? Your essay is similar to those who write one where a person or family member has a disease and wants to become in that medical field to help people. It’s a nice essay, but becomes overused after a while. I did one on organ donation since I had a transplant when I was little. I talked about why organ donation is a good idea and how to help promote it. You could do the same thing with yours, just to change it up a bit.</p>
<p>In the end, it’s your essay and you do what you can to make the most of it. Also, essays are usually done as a tie-breaker, not much else.</p>
<p>I hate to be cynical, but I might suggest that you steer clear of something related to mental health. Eating disorders have a high relapse rate during periods of developmental transition, such as when individuals graduate and go to college. You don’t know who will be reading your essay and how sensitive the reader will be to your situation. When adcoms are looking for any reason to reject someone, I can’t help but question whether there might be prejudicial concerns regarding your past diagnosis and whether the adcom might wonder whether you might be another girl who ends up in the counseling center at school. While I doubt any adcom might ever admit this, it might work against you on an unconscious level when the reader is evaluating whether to admit you to the school. </p>
<p>Good luck with whatever you decide, and congratulations on your recovery.</p>