<p>I'm Korean-American obviously, and I was thinking about writing an essay about Korean-American culture, its strengths, its barriers and how I've overcome them, and how it has affected me and diversified me. Is this a good idea? Also, would talking generally about the aspects of the culture and their existence in my life be too un-personal? I also want to talk about how I stepped away from the designated line that Asian parents set for there children. I also want to open the admissions officer's eyes about the difficulty of having to cope with two different cultures. Can i get some feedback? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>by the way.. i want my essay to be interesting (be able to help me in admissions process) because my objective stats aren't spectacular and I'm applying to very competitive schools.</p>
<p>help please?</p>
<p>I think that if you can inject some personality in it, it could be quite good. I want to point out though that you would have to be pretty careful when trying to "open the admissions officer's eyes." You never know; they could be a trilingual African American who lived through the 60's.
Be humorous and show them a side of you that they might not otherwise see. For example, is there anything that people might not know by looking at Korean culture (anything some people might view as silly or odd...I know my culture has tons)?
Also, when speaking about stepping away from the designated line your parents have set for you, explain how you have stepped away. Obviously, applying to very competitive schools sounds like something that most parents would be thrilled at. Explain how your culture may have sometimes discouraged you, but that you have never for a moment been anything less than proud to be Korean (hopefully that's the case).</p>
<p>Good luck, and I hope this helps!</p>
<p>While I believe that any topic can result in a good essay if well-written, I think that this essay path might be a bit TOO overdone. There is a huge pool of international applicants, to begin with, and with the addition of the gigantic group of applicants that are Korean/Hispanic/Japanese/Native-American/Polish/Taiwanese/Chinese/Malaysian/German/Swedish/Nigerian/etc./etc., I think that an essay about the cultural barriers might be a little bit too overdone. If you are anxious about your essay really helping you through the admissions process, I would try to write this essay from a different approach. I, like you, have had to overcome cultural barriers and such and my first draft of an essay was similar to the one you described. However, I decided that I needed to be more original in my essay. </p>
<p>I'm sorry if that at all sounded harsh. Hopefullybright gave some wonderful advice and I'm sure that either way your essay will turn out beautifully.</p>
<p>Write the essay and then get some opinions on it. An analysis of Korean American culture probably won't be make interesting reading--but the impact the culture has had on YOU could be an interesting and entertaining read.</p>
<p>Some top schools are specifically looking for students who have perspective that is broader than their high school lives.</p>