<p>I was wondering if mentioning hardships would help at all. LIke in my essay I mentioned how I moved sophmore year and I had to acclimate to my new enivronment. I also talked about how I'm legally blind in my supplemental essay in relation to my love of piano and violin. Just wondering. thanks :]</p>
<p>How about just not writing an essay at all? People on this forum are so horrible in their responses that you'll just get depressed and feel that you are incapable of making it into college anyway. It doesn't matter how good/bad you do, people will always tell you that it's horrible here (except for me!). My advice, for real, is to write what your heart tells you to write. There is no such thing as a topic in your essay that is going to really help you. It is how you present it and how heartfelt it is. Also, don't let anyone discourage you no matter what. If your hardships are really the most heartfelt thing you can write, then go for it! Make sure it focuses on YOU though, not just on the hardship you went through. I hope that this helps a bit.</p>
<p>Flipchick, what are you talking about and where did you come from? People in this forum are nothing but helpful and supportive.</p>
<p>I think that's a mean thing to say. There are so many wonderful, supportive people here, especially on the yale board. pecwog, I think that a hardship would be an interesting topic to write about if it's really shaped who you are. and in your case, it sounds as if it has. good luck with it.</p>
<p>I'm sorry. I'm just in a bad mood. Forget the whole first part of my reply.</p>
<p>I think discussing hardships is a great way to go.
Admissions officers are always interested in those who have had the spirit, courage and determination to overcome or deal with hardships.<br>
And often, hardships can be defining points in our lives.
If you talk about your hardships in a way that helps convey who you are as an individual, I think it will be very impressive.
You can do it!</p>
<p>Yeah I agree. Hardships can be an excellent essay topic if they have somehow changed you as a person. My activity essay is about running and how I had to overcome mono to get back to my training.</p>
<p>flipchick is referring to her post on the harvard boards- they were harsh to you- i'm sorry</p>
<p>legally blind? how will you read our replies</p>
<p>I thought the same thing.
Maybe he/she has a reader?<br>
Or does "legally" blind mean something different from just..."blind?"</p>
<p>"Legally blind" does not necessarily mean not being able to see. Once your visions gets worse than a certain number, which escapes me at this moment, then you are declared legally blind. One of my friends is legally blind and he can see fine but he needs extremely strong contacts.</p>
<p>OH, I see. That makes sense. I think I have read about this.
I think it might be 20/200?</p>
<p>Ok, it bothered my that I couldn't think of the number so I looked it up. According to Yahoo! Health Encyclopedia, anyone with vision worse than 20/200 that cannot be improved with corrective lenses is considered legally blind. In addition, people with a visual field of less than 20 degrees diameter (10 degrees radius) are also considered legally blind.</p>
<p>thanks for all the replies you guys. :] Yeah legally blind means vision over -1000. Yes I can see, lol. But it has hindered me from like sports because if I jolt one direction or another too quickly or if something hits my eye, my retina will detach. :[ anyhow that's my hardship.</p>
<p>If you can write about your hardships in a way that shows how they contributed to the individual that you are today, that can be quite helpful. I wrote my essay on my connective tissue disorder (Ehlers'-Danlos) and the surgeries that I've had because of it. I got in, so it didn't hurt!</p>