My daughter is considering writing her Common App essay about her struggles with (and eventually overcoming) OCD.
To be clear, her grades and scores are outstanding (4.6 weighted GPA, 35 ACT, all 5s on her AP exams), so the point of the essay is NOT to explain away an erratic record or anything but rather to talk about her success in overcoming it. She hasn’t been on medication for several years now, and has also “graduated” from the cognitive behavioral therapy that gave her the intellectual tools to recognize and cope with OCD.
My own view is that it could be a dynamite essay, in that it shows both her moral courage and fortitude in successfully managing this condition. But I am aware that others (and possibly admissions counselors) may see it as a red flag and think it best to avoid the topic altogether – especially where, as here, it is not needed to explain away a spotty academic record.
My advice is this. Avoid mental illness on an essay. One of my friends has bipolar disorder, and another had PTSD (she has overcome this). They are both hiding this to the best of their ability for fear that colleges wouldn’t want to deal with students that have any kind of disorders. I myself also have things that I hide because God forbid they think that there’s any chance that I’m not stable.
I totally agree that you should not raise OCD to admissions because what you submit contributes to the admissions decision. Also, you would have an extremely difficulty time proofing OCD factored into an adverse decision. Finally, you could not challenge a negative decision based on disabi!ity when you were the one who introduced disability.
Now, OCD is generally a chronic condition that waxes and wanes through life depending on circumstance. You have been successful before and should expect to be successful in the future. Success in the future is quite different from being cured of OCD. If symptoms recur, then find practical solutions. Also, you may want to see a doctor and consider medication for this medical condition.