<p>Like they threantened to kill themselves and I helped them realize their worth and sought help for them.
Would this be a good topic to write about or does it fall under those to aviod? If it does, what are some essay ideas?</p>
<p>I think its a great idea, but you need to focus on what you did to help them.</p>
<p>Obviously you are going to need to set the basis of the story up, so use the introduction for that, and only the introduction.</p>
<p>Okay, great! I wouldn’t get in any trouble, would I? My teacher has to read this essay and maybe my guidance counselor too.</p>
<p>No, I wouldn’t write about it.</p>
<p>idk but if it were me I would stay away from that kind of topic.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think the two people who said that you should stay away from the topic are crazy</p>
<p>The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it’s a very mean and cruel place </p>
<p>How many college essays do you think these admission offices get that are about sports and other generic topics. </p>
<p>My advice is be yourself, if you can focus on how you grew from the experience I think its a great topic</p>
<p>Are you applying to the big ivies? Then I would stay away from those topics…I mean if I was reading the essay - I would think the family is dysfunctional or something and that would affect do I really want you in my college for 4 years. I dont know…it is risky.</p>
<p>Just because mt family is dysfuntional means I can’t go to NYU? What is this world? It’s not my fault my famly is like this. I’m only trying to help.</p>
<p>As a parent, the situation as you describe it where two parents threaten to kill themselves but found guidance from their children sounds pretty bizarre. However, maybe it makes more sense when fleshed out. I would give it a shot, but definitely have some teachers look at it.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about being controversial, I would worry that it is a very complex topic that’s going to take a lot of maturity and self reflection on your part to pull off well.</p>
<p>I kind of get what gialah is saying and I sort of agree</p>
<p>Example - I wrote my first college essay about the death and illness of my mom and dad - sounds like a deep, college like essay, right?</p>
<p>Problem is, it was too complex. If I had to write a 10 page paper it would have been a great topic. But this was a 500 word paper. I soon found out that there was just not enough room to write about what happened to my family and how it affected me.</p>
<p>So I scaled it down. Instead, I talked about my grandmother who had dementia - but I didn’t focus on her - I focused on me. Its a much more lighthearted, even humorous topic</p>
<p>The problem with being controversial is turning off readers. It’s very hard for a hs kid to offer a balanced perspective or new insights. So, it’s more challenging a topic than you need. Plus, you don’t want to inadvertently suggest to adcoms that you have a major problem at home that can interfere with your commitment to school. It may make a great topic in a literary or issues-oriented journal.</p>
<p>Would talking about an epiphany be a better idea?</p>
<p>The topic is really secondary. It’s the treatment of the topic that matters. You want something that lets your personality shine through. If the epiphany was important to you and helps the adcoms understand how you have developed into the person you are, then it’s a great topic. Certainly easier to do well than the other one.</p>
<p>i would write about it, but don’t try to do the guilt trip. i wrote about my mother’s illness and my epiphany.</p>
<p>I think it could end up sounding like a sob story too. You wouldn’t want that.</p>
<p>I think it could be risky for another reason…it could be taken that there are deep problems in the applicant’s family, and that he is likely going to be having ongoing family problems, and thus not be as focused on school and academics when he is on campus.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think a kid with the ability to bring his parents back from the brink of oblivion probably has the emotional maturity and coping skills to stay focused no matter what gets thrown his way. </p>
<p>I work with an organization that mentors at-risk kids who are applying to college–some are even accepted to the kinds of schools favored on CC. These kids have plenty of family issues–poverty, parents in prison, parents on drugs etc. and despite it all, they manage to thrive at college. Ad coms are neither social workers nor psychologists. I think they know better than to evaluate a kid’s chance for sucess based on randomly disclosed family issues in an essay.</p>
<p>It really depend on your other stats. If you GPA and SAT/ACTs are high, then it could show that have an ability to balance challenging family conflicts while staying focused on getting good grades. It would not be a good story if your grades are not so strong or your ACT/SAT’s are not strong, as it would come off as a ‘hook’ which I don’t think you want. The GPA and SAT stats are like an initial screen, if you get past that, don’t freak them out by dumping your family situation on them unless you can tell it in a way that shows your character and perseverance in a difficult family situation. You don’t want to have them thinking that you’re going to bring these issues to campus or have these issues pull you away from the intensity of the academics on campus.</p>
<p>I think that it’s ok to write about helping your parents overcome adversarial conditions, but I would not mention suicidally. That may flag you as being at risk, as well (suicide runs in families). Also I believe you mentioned NYU as your top choice? Definitely don’t mention suicide on your essay to NYU. They have struggled recently with a number of student suicides- in fact they added panels to the upper floors of their library to keep students from jumpingnfrom upper floors to the inner courtyard of the library.</p>
<p>Also, a well-liked young NYU professor jumped to his death last year- I think he jumped from his office, not the library.</p>