Okay, I just posted about this but am looking to get input from its own thread.
Would you guys consider a sub-par home life to be a decent hook? I grew up in a family that had a lot of financial/emotional burdens because of one of my siblings’ crippling illnesses. My older sister is wheelchair bound and constantly in pain, and I have to help my parents a lot with this. The condition is rather complex, but needless to say it has had a very big affect on my family. Not to say I don’t love my sister, but things have been rather hard, and its partially why I don’t have optimal grades (loss of sleep/time/opportunities and constant stress).
I’m also a first generation to college (one parent with and another without an HS diploma), so all of this could potentially lead to very nice college essays, which I had always been thinking about writing regardless. It’s a rather emotional issue for me, and I feel I could take many different views on the situation, whether it be my personal development/dedication to success, my overcoming of adversity, or even just a description of some of the emotional horrors that I’ve had to deal with (think not being able to sleep through many nights because a loved one is screaming in pain, and you know there is nothing you can do). I also know that this topic is very sensitive, and has the potential to be either very good or very disastrous. I have to make the essay about myself, and not about the situation. Although all of this lends itself towards being a sob story, I feel it has potential to show my better characteristics and ability to succeed in the face of great adversity. (Sorry this is getting long!)
I also think that I have a pretty diverse ethnic background (white male from an Eastern European country, with a rather provincial extended family that lives on sub minimum-wage funds through farming), which I have explored to great lengths, and I could possibly dabble with this in a writing as well. Could these things just barely lead me to being accepted to a dream school?
EDIT: To clarify, I’ve always felt a bit disgusted with myself when trying to use her situation to my advantage, but the pragmatic nature of college apps makes me think it might be necessary to get to where I want to be.
A quick rundown of my stats are:
SAT I: 2250
ACT: 35
SAT II: 800/800
8 AP’s this year, 5 more next year, and 3 classes at a university through state government funding
3.83 GPA unw
Highly prestigious national language exam winner ($10k+ to study in Europe for a month, 40/30,000 people)
Lots of orchestra related service hours/ECs
$120k family income
I’m looking at most Ivies + Stanford + MIT; I already know my safeties.
Thanks for any input!