Be as proud as you want with people who know you or new friends. Airing your issues with college admissions officers does not help you get into college. Save it for others. There are appropriate forums for revealing and discussing those issues. The application isn’t it, at least not if you want to maximize your chances of acceptance. You aren’t running away at all – I assume no one wants to be known as just their mental health diagnosis or issues. Everyone has other interesting things about themselves. Discuss those instead.
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With no disrespect to intparent, but the answers to this topic appear largely divided by generational differences.
I do find a lot of misgeneralizations and assumptions in the last comment, hopefully readers can look past these to form their own opinion. personally I don’t think an admission officer is going to know a applicant “just” as a mental illness and I also doubt that a applicant would write an essay only illustrating themselves “just” as a mental illness. let’s not be cynical, especially with the way younger generations are changing society/culture (this topic is a perfect example of what younger people are trying to change)
I can also understand the fear of older generations, and its sad many were and still are too afraid to speak about this, because of harsh repercussions if strangers or colleagues found out about another person’s mental illness. I.E. doctors losing jobs if they revealed their depression (which is totally absurd IMO).
Personally, I’d like to support the voices and struggle of the younger generation trying to take down these barriers and prefer to inspire younger people to talk about these issues freely so they can better understand one another, in both the work and academic circles, and offer support to each other in times of need. sometimes the best advise can come from a stranger and the worst advise can come from a loved one or friend - how will we ever know if we constantly talk to the same people and avoid talking to new people.
younger generations - keep voicing your thoughts and opinions freely, even if it is about a mental illness. think more about how you control this mental illness instead of how it controls you - nothing to be ashamed of
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The point behind an admissions essay is to “sell” your application-- to give the adcom a chance to see you as more than just your statistics, to separate you from others with identical qualifications.
I’m not convinced that it’s the best time to point out anything which doesn’t “sell” your application.
No one is suggesting hiding mental health issues. But the suggestion is simply that this particular time and place may not be the right one to highlight it.
As always, take or leave my advice or anyone else’s. But the experience I have from the past 30+ years of teaching high school seem to indicate that kids who highlight mental health issues have a lower success rate at admissions time than those who choose to indicate other facets of who they are.
Your mileage, of course, may vary.
ATTENTION ALL TEENS APPLYING TO COLLEGE: The person reading your essay and deciding if YOU will get into their college is an ADULT. Broadcast your problems if you like, but @intparent is right. No generational difference can erase the fact that, unless you are a great writer (bearing in mind that the vast majority of teens are not great writers), the college admissions officer is primarily interested determining if you can succeed at that college, and if you fit in. The adult reading your app is protecting the bottom line of the college: keeping students in school, who help fill their coffers. If that adult feels you don’t measure up, especially because of red flags in your essay, he/she isn’t going to admit you. You are selling yourself, so give them a reason to say yes.
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And that is not saying the plenty of older adults aren’t sympathetic and understanding of various mental health issues. I had a brother with mental health issues who committed suicide, and I will readily talk about it with others in person or online IF it seems like an appropriate time and subject. But every single minute and (especially) the first minute I meet someone isn’t usually the best time for that. Younger generations often bridle at being told that there is a time and a place to reveal personal information – because for them it is so much easier to just spill it out and not give some thought to your audience. This is a time when you should consider your audience carefully. They ARE judging you. Even a millennial admissions officer is tasked with something of a gatekeeper role to identify students most likely to succeed in their environment. Pointing out the reasons you might not succeed, might add drama to campus (they do NOT want drama on campus), or cost the college more in services, is not helpful.
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The advice provided in the OP’s link “Hack the College Essay” discusses avoiding super-formal language, and essentially writing your thoughts/experiences as if you’re talking in an interview. Does this advice apply to supplemental essays as well, or just mainly for the Common Apps personal narrative?
I’m the OP, and did not post that link. 
But I generally agree with that for the Common App essay. The tone of supplements depends on the prompt. In general, I’d say a less narrative and more straightforward tone is often good for supplements, especially if they are "“Why College X?” type prompts. I think being to formal and “stuffy” won’t usually help you in general. They want to hear a genuine person in your essays, not a thesaurus.
I want to write an essay thats based on personality improvement. I basically used to care about fitting in and while doing that I let go of my values and being cool and then I stopped caring and focused on who I really am and life got better and stuff. But I don’t want to be like “look how great I am” or come of to adults as “look how hard my life is I want to be cool”. Like I feel like its good too be honest, but its scary because they are adults
You should start another thread if you want to get advice on your specific essay topic (this one is more about overall things to consider when writing an essay).
@aristicslobe , supplemental essays can be another beast, depending on word count. I’ve seen them vary hugely, from 100 words up to full essays. Be very targeted with supplemental essays, and make every word count, especially for,those with extremely low word counts. Do thorough research to hone in on what that supplement is asking for. Usually the supplements are of the why this college variety, or your intended area of study. If it’s a very selelctive college, anything generic won’t work.
the older people on here do offer some very good advise to those who are still very very sick and should probably be focusing on their mental health rather than applying to college. if you are not mentally healthy, college is going to be so much harder.
but for those who have worked hard at managing their mental illnesses and are in healthier states of mind/clarity, then I think you can “sell” mental illness the same way a handicapped person can “sell” their success at not letting the disability hold them back.
it is all about perspective, and yes, it is hard to keep a positive perspective on mental illnesses, especially ones like depression, but always try to keep a positive perspective on yourself if you can.
I just worry that maybe there are many young people with mental illnesses reading these forums who may not know exactly anything else other than their mental illness because these diseases consume so much energy and time, especially adding in teenage hormones and peer pressure, etc. what if they don’t have anything else they think is worth writing about? what if getting healthy was the biggest accomplishment (health is super super important)
however, intparent and another do highlight a very good point and that is writing ability and personal perspective. playing the victim card will definitely look poorly on the admission committee IMO because it doesn’t indicate you’re healthy enough to handle the stress of college work and life (college is already hard enough for people without mental illness, so the admission committee will think youre not ready for college if you’re clearly not describing your mental illness in a healthy way)
so if you are out there with a mental illness and feel like this illness has truly shaped your character or purpose in life, and just absolutely want to tell the admissions committee, then my suggestions are:
- don't use mental illness expecting a sympathy card, guaranteeing instant admission.
- have your mental health under control (medicine, therapy, meditation)
- spend a lot of time reflecting how this mental illness describes you as a unique, intelligent person. consider how your life story can inspire others battling mental illness.
@intparent - so sorry for your loss and I didn’t mean to offend by any means. I pushed boundaries and there are limits, I hope I wasn’t crossing any. i think both of our viewpoints are equally important and I learned a lot reading your thoughts - thanks for sharing with me.
No. I’m sorry, I don’t agree that they are equally valid. Young people THINK they are past their mental health hurdles, but often they are not. Admissions officers have more experience than 18 year olds, and they know that odds are high that issues will come back. Again… their job is partly to protect the college. I don’t care how good the writing is – save it for journaling, social media admissions can’t see, non-admissions school papers, etc. Admissions essays are one area where you should find some other aspect of yourself to talk about. Your goal is to get admitted – keep your eye on that ball.
this opens up a whole big slimy can o worms
so if I understand you correctly (maybe this is how others could interpret this as well)
are you advising a potential student with a mental condition to not disclose their mental issues to anyone responsible for admissions (in the essay, application, email, etc.) because it may or may not effect their admission results.
so a student taking your advise gets admitted and enrolls into college with the mental issues. let’s say these mental issues possibly come up half way through first semester once school work and tests pick up or maybe there is a conflict between college students. I guess you’re expecting the school is responsible for preventing this situation or pouring more money and time into mental health services on campus?
what if a student with a mental issue takes your advise and later has to drop out because of their conditions. Admission isn’t looking to good at that point, especially with the student debt.
In worst case scenario, what if a student commits suicide or harm others because of the mental issues?
do these situations reflect poorly on the students not telling people or on the admissions officers for selecting students who were in fact never ready for college in the first place because of their mental issues?
if your goals are short sighted to focus only on admission, then ya, I guess some people may find your point more valid. I wonder though, do you have any proof that mental illnesses lower admission chances? I actually thought it was against the law to discriminate admission based on the health conditions of applicants.
keep your eye on the ball that your advise could have dire consequences for the entire college community. but as long as they get in, thats what matters - I can count on you to not take any responsibility for what happens post-admission
Yes, that is what I advise. I do not advise students to ATTEND a college that they may be suited to. Nor do I expect counselors or teachers to pull punches if they think a student can’t handle a specific school.
explain why my friend received a full tuition scholarship despite their main essay being based on their mental health condition
I agree with @OffersTemple the person in my school last year who is attwnding harvard right now wrote his essay about something traumatic in his childhood and the anxiety and depression it brought him into. He had other things in there as well such as how he wants to move on from that but his main focus was his mental condition and he got into harvard
MODERATOR’S NOTE: This is not a debate site. I am closing this thread.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: I’m going to try reopening and pinning this thread, because I know it’s helpful for people. I am going to repost @skieurope’s earlier post. If there is ANY more debate, the thread will be closed immediately. Thanks for your cooperation in allowing the thread to remain open.
Is it appropriate to write an essay on how you have changed certain character traits for the better through activities you dedicate time to in your community? For example, how someone has learned to be happy with what they have after doing something for the less fortunate.
It is a very common essay topic. Serviceable for most schools, but probably doesn’t stand out for top schools.