<p>Hi everyone! So I'm looking to get a head-start on my Common App essays (just to make sure that everything comes out exactly the way I want it to) and I need everyone's help with a few questions.</p>
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<li>I'm most likely going to write about a cancer scare (biopsy came back positive, but second test proved the first was an error - by then I'd already had the mass surgically removed, etc. I'm sure somebody could outdo me with this topic) or about my family issues and how they've impacted my life and how I've overcome them. I'm adopted, so if I work this in that might be the best choice. It would also possibly help me explain a lower GPA to some higher colleges - and that's the truth; the issue has put my family through several therapists and countless arguments. I'm looking to move cross- or out-of-country for college. What do you think?</li>
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<p>I know I'll have to be careful not to make it a sob story - it's not my intent to attempt to make colleges pity-accept me.</p>
<p>Edit: I could also write about my tennis career, and how I'm continuing it as a last request from my grandfather. TRYING TO DIG DEEP HERE. |D</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If I choose the second option, should I write about the problems themselves and how I personally addressed them, or how a friend helped me through them towards the end of my junior year?</p></li>
<li><p>What would be considered too 'edgy' to be put in? I'm looking to be seen (as everyone is) as unique and an asset to the campus. If it helps, I'm applying to 13 or 14 colleges (I know. I might narrow it down, but I'd like to keep my options open.) - UC Berkeley and San Diego, Columbia, Oberlin, Stanford, Union (New York), NYU, Fordham, University of Queensland (Australia), UChicago, Occidental, Boston University, Northeastern, and Quinnipiac (CT, major fallback). A few of those may be substituted for similar schools in different locations.</p></li>
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<p>Any help would be appreciated! I'm a bit lost at the moment.</p>
<p>the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz</p>
<p>bump c:</p>
<p>WHY DON’T YOU GUYS LOVE ME.</p>
<p>bump. </p>
<p>;c</p>
<p>okay I probably shouldn’t be responding to this, because I haven’t even started my common app (class of 2013, woo!), but you aren’t getting any other responses, so here’s my opinion:</p>
<p>I’d write about the cancer scare. I know a lot of people in the world have cancer, but a lot of people are also adopted or have other family issues. You said you wanted to be seen as unique, and I think you’re ability to cope with thinking you had cancer shows that & some qualities that colleges will like. I’m not belittling your family issues, but I think without experiencing it first hand, the college admissions officers won’t fully grasp the issues as well as they would understand what you went through with the cancer scare. I think the tennis thing, although touching, would be harder to make NOT a sob story- unless you are looking for a tennis scholarship & are REALLY good at it, and it has somehow otherwise effected your life (like helping you cope with the family issues), I don’t think it would work as well.
Another option would be to combine the second & third options & talk about how tennis helped you cope… but only if that’s actually true, of course. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by ‘edgy’, but I think just like you said, don’t make it a sob story. Past that, include whatever you want! Give it a few rereads and maybe have a stranger or someone you don’t know as well read it to make sure they don’t think it’s a sob story or too ‘edgy’. </p>
<p>Hey, I’m applying to NYU, too! :D</p>
<p>Thanks so much for responding! (:</p>
<p>I’ve actually started the intro and it’s coming out well - I’m going to mix the cancer one with learning how to be a stronger person and cope with personal issues. I’m trying to show the dichotomy between hurting physically and mentally with anecdotes about stories from my childhood. Not a sob story, and I think it’s going to be really interesting if I do it correctly.</p>
<p>Woo! Maybe I’ll see you there. c: Go 2013!</p>
<p>The biggest change on this year’s common application is a 500-word cap on the main essay. Common app officials say it’s not a new requirement, as much as a return to tradition. It has only been in recent years that students were given the write-as-much-as-you-want option, and the result has not been better or more thoughtful essays.</p>