Handicap as a hook

Applying to College
1

<p>First I want to state that I find it reprehensible that anyone can look at a racial or ethnic status, traumatic experience, or physical disability as a "hook" to be used to advantage in the admissions process.</p>

<p>That said, the practice of colleges granting favor to students who have "hooks" cannot be changed.</p>

<p>Now, my story. I am in a wheelchair. Would this be considered a "hook"? I am an otherwise all-around good student: 4.0, 2200 SAT, solid ECs. I want to know only whether writing about my disability would set me apart in the admissions process, and if it would be a detriment or a boost. Please respond only if you have a serious answer and can lend some knowledgeable advice. Thank you in advance.</p>

2

<p>Common sense would tell me to write about it - not as a hook, but because it probably has had a substantial impact on your life, and could not otherwise be gleaned from your application. It's something that makes you who you are. You might not be defined by it, but it's something that admissions officers would find interesting/significant.</p>

1 Like
3

<p>Being handicapped is not a "hook." It is not something that is so impressive in itself that colleges would clamour to admit you. </p>

<p>If you have done an excellent job with your coursework, tests and ECs despite being in a wheelchair, you would stand out because of demonstrating the ability to rise above a major challenge. The same would be true of someone who was homeless yet got good grades.</p>

<p>I do not suggest writing about your experience in a wheelchair because that could sound like you're trying to get in out of pity. The exception would be if you're writing about how you overcame some challenge related to your being in a wheelchair. An example would be if you successfully ran for SGA president even though your opponent was saying that because of your disability, you couldn't handle the job.</p>

4

<p>Obviously, I would be writing about myself in the context of how I have overcome challenges -- not necessarily one in particular, but many, because in the course of 17 years my entire life has been a challenge. Of course I do not want to look like I am a pity-monger. So, Northstarmom, you are suggesting that I do not write about it at all, even though it is something that defines me as a person? You really think that it will be looked upon with derision?</p>

5

<p>I say go for it. If you write about how your experience in a wheelchair has substantially affected your life, and how it has been challenging, I think it would garner more respect than derision. It's not asking for pity if you talk about how you have to overcome something daily, and that it has not stopped you from achieving your dreams. Heck, my uncle has been in a wheelchair since he was a kid and he went to MIT and also got into Princeton. I can't say for sure what he wrote for his essay though, I might have to ask him.</p>

6

<p>Thanks, shrizto -- when I posted I was hoping that someone on this board would have had direct personal experience with a case like mine, and your uncle's story is inspiring. Does anyone else have PERSONAL experience with this?</p>

7

<p>I have a friend who spent three years in a wheelchair - not a permanent thing, but impactful nonetheless. She wrote about the experience, etc.. and she got into most of the schools she applied to.</p>

8

<p>I have something of the same dilemma (incidentally, I just had a long discussion about this with someone today)</p>

<p>For me, I have a disability and chronic illness that are visible but I'm not in a wheelchair. Being around and aware of people who have cancer, are quadriplegic, blind, etc., most of the time I think I got off lucky and get annoyed at people who go on about the whole "overcoming obstacles" crap. I never know how to respond to the questions about "describing circumstances that have had an adverse affect on your academic record," etc. I have a 4.0, so obviously my "record" per se hasn't suffered--but, in retrospect, my academic experience certainly has. I've continued to do well for myself in school, activities, even (to my shock) athletics, but as someone put it I have "more to juggle" to accomplish that balance, much as I like to play that down. While my fourth grade teacher recommended that I just skip fifth grade entirely, the administration wanted to make me repeat a grade because my attendance record was bad (surgeries, doctors, illness, etc.) A lot of people assume I have mental retardation because I look a little bit like someone with Down Syndrome. Kids of course tease me outright, but that's not the problem, since if it wasn't about my disability it'd be that I'm short, or clumsy, or whatever--the problem comes when it's the "elephant in the room," and people make assumptions I can't correct because I don't know what they are.</p>

<p>So I'm probably going to redefine the "effect on academic record" sorts of questions to be "academic experience" and talk about that, because that's the elephant. On interviews I have to be especially careful about appearance and such (normally I really couldn't care less), to minimize the assumptions people might make based on my face. Since a lot of the interviewers are just alumni and not professional interviewers, I'm also kinda thinking of writing about it somewhere on the application as a small safeguard against any prejudices that might unconsciously slip into the interviewer's report, etc.</p>

<p>I probably won't be writing about it in my essays, but everyone's experience is different that way. If you have one moment or something you can really focus in on that relates to being in a wheelchair, by all means craft it into a kickass essay--the problem is mainly when you lose focus, because then the essay quickly morphs into a bland, general one about hardship. Don't fall into the typical overcoming obstacles trap, though I think from your posts you already are well aware of that one. The best kind of essay related to this would be, at least to my amateur mind, an anecdote that tells the reader something about you as a person, gives a glimpse into your daily experiences, without making your wheelchair and the obstacles you face because of it the focus. Start with what you want to convey about yourself, or how best to show who you really are in a single essay, and if that includes talking about your experiences in a wheelchair, by all means do it.</p>

<p>Either way, explaining a little about how being in a wheelchair has affected you (academically, personally, whatever) somewhere on the app might be a good idea.</p>

9

<p>"Of course I do not want to look like I am a pity-monger."</p>

<p>It's wonderful that you have that kind of attitude. Believe it or not, I've seen disabled students posting on CC who were basically planning on getting into college because they were disabled.</p>

<p>" So, Northstarmom, you are suggesting that I do not write about it at all, even though it is something that defines me as a person? You really think that it will be looked upon with derision?"</p>

<p>I don't think that it would be looked upon with derision. I do think, however, that if you write about your disability, your focus needs to be more than "I am in a wheelchair. " Certainly being in a wheelchair is part of what defines your life, but you don't want the admissions people to feel that your disability is the main thing that you have to offer the college.</p>

<p>If your experiences in a wheelchair have inspired you to help other people, that could be a very inspirational and interesting essay.</p>

<p>For instance, I have an adult friend who has MS and is in a wheelchair. He also works full time and volunteers extensivel, including being on the board of at least 2 organizations that aren't directly related to disabilities. He also is the type of person who volunteers doing things like staffing our local hotline on holidays like Christmas when its hard to get others to volunteer. He also is a longtime member of a local acting troupe and recently acted with them in "Midsummer NIghts Dream". </p>

<p>If he were applying for college, I'd suggest to him that he write an essay about how he has been fighting to expand health care for people who are less fortunate than him. For instance, even though he has excellent health insurance, he has been active locally fighting to expand health care for the working poor. </p>

<p>Back to you: Based on what you described about your physical appearance and people's misperceptions of you, I think it could be an interesting essay if you described the things that you do in order to rise above those misconceptions. If you can expand your focus to also include what your experiences have taught you about judging others by their appearance that would make your essay even stronger. </p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>