Hello.
So I have an arm dissability and due to this, I have had a rough life until now. There are many extra hardships I have faced which normal people don’t get to face. So I was wondering if having a dissability increases your chances of getting into a college. Wouldn’t it count as a minority? Need some serious opinions.
It’s a serious essay topic if you want to go that route.
But again, does it increase the chances of getting into a college? And what do you mean when you say it’s a serious topic?
I’m guessing ATS means is saying serious to mean ‘legitimate,’ but I don’t know for sure. And to my knowledge, it’s not a minority group.
It could be a very meaningful response to the common app prompt or any school’s more specific essays. For example, what experience in your life has … ? Or what would you contribute to … ? I’m pulling those out of thin air but my point was that you will probably have a different perspective on things. I can’t imagine not being able to button my shirt. Maybe you can. Not trying to be trivial. Anyone who has had to overcome a barrier has something unique to them that they can write about. And anything that sets you aside from other applicants with good grades, test scores, etc. cannot hurt
I seriously doubt that it increases your admission chances, I doubt that it ranks with being a URM, for example, but I am not an admissions person, and I have no expertise in that area.
There was a point in my life when people used to wonder how I would eat or use the restroom or dress. Today, I am able to do everything normally and have always been going to normal school. So would you recommend that I address some issues in the “What was a difficult experience for you…” or some similar question? How do you recommend I address my difficulties in the college apps?
@Aboutthesame is absolutely correct. On its own, a disability will not improve your chances. A well-crafted essay may help (or it may not), but it certainly won’t hurt.
The question is “Do you want to address these difficulties?” If you do, you can certainly write an essay about them. If you don’t, you certainly don’t have to.
Here’s what I would do, if I were to write a story about my family’s difficulties. “Instead of asking, ‘Why me?’ I’ve learned to ask, ‘What next?’” and then I’d elaborate on that philosophy. That’s just an example.
I want to do everything possible to increase my chances and I believe my life experiences stand out from others because like ATS said, how many kids had to worry about how to put on a shirt? And Maine, how does asking “What next?” help?
And as was said above, the way to convey that message is through your essay. That’s where you can talk about how much harder you’ve had to work to accomplish tasks others take for granted. Just be sure to talk about how it made you stronger and how this will bring something unique to the campus. Any bump you get for having a disability is going to be in how you present yourself in your essay.
Congrats on all you have achieved and good luck.
By “what next” I think the poster means that rather than wallowing in self-pity and lamenting your situation, what can you do or have you done to improve your community or society in spite of or because of said disability, or how you’ve grown in the context of the disability.
You can make it a topic for your essay. But I agree that you need to be careful not to write a “woe is me” essay, but rather to focus on how your disability has made your a stronger, more determined, and more empathetic (or whatever adjectives fits for you) person, how it changed your attitude on life, if your disability impacts what you plan to do with your life moving forward etc.
I do not believe that your disability will help to get you into any school that you are not otherwise academically qualified to attend. Many people have different issues to overcome and while your disability is significant, I do not expect that it will provide a “hook” or categorize you as an URM for admissions purposes.
Asking “Why me?” is pointless, because it doesn’t do anything to change your situation. Asking “What next?” causes you to come up with an action plan to improve your situation, whatever it might be. And yeah, my family’s situation really does suck, so I can empathize with you.
Thank you all for your wonderful answers!
So basically, writing this college essay is similar to writing a story about your self? Is there any specific way to write the essay? What is the best way to attack the essay in my situation?
That is so difficult to say. Everyone has a different writing style and there isn’t any one way to approach this topic. I have to say, you need to be careful, because what I am hearing from you now is “I want to talk about my disability so it will get me some extra bonus points in the admissions process.” You would probably be shocked at how many people have disabilities or other extremely challenging life circumstances. It doesn’t mean all these people get extra points though.
Do you want the admissions committee to think “here’s a kid with a disability.” That approach won’t help you. Or rather, “this kid is interesting and has good grades and scores, and he does this thing too, and he does all this despite being disabled.” If you choose to write about your disability, make sure you are framing it in a positive way and try to illustrate how some other aspect of your life has perhaps benefitted from learning to cope. Or maybe an anecdote about some instance where your disability was a problem and you overcame it. I don’t know, I am just trying to give you ideas. May main thought though is that the rest of your app needs to be strong too. And ask you counselor to mention in the rec how you have succeeded despite your disability. Good luck.
Colleges don’t have recruitment target for people with disabilities.