How much do sob stories actually help?

College Essays
1

<p>I'm sure many of your have seen this video: College</a> Admissions: Inside the Decision Room - YouTube</p>

<p>"The night before AP exam, she found out her father had an affair with a prostitute. How many would like to admit?"
<em>everyone raises hands</em></p>

<p>Do these colleges actually want students with tough lives? I understand that colleges want to seem like humanitarians and help unfortunate students, but won't those students be negatively affected by the troubles in their lives?
My parents are struggling to afford a house; their dream is to own a house in their lifetime. This motivated me to work hard to buy them a house. If I write this on my college application, will they not want to accept me because I'm poor? On the other hand, will they feel bad for me and want to accept me?</p>

2

<p>Victim stories are a drag. A writer who shows how she overcame a problem shows character. But a really, really awful story can be just TMI.</p>

<p>As the the affair thing. I got the sense it was explaining why she maybe didn’t do so great on the test. It wasn’t a reason to get admitted by itself.</p>

3

<p>Applicants with tough experience do get potential advantage, but how to make it work really depends in person</p>

4

<p>I think that if you are using a “sob story” and know it will be to your advantage, that’s a little too personal for the sake of getting a pity vote. As WasatchWriter said, if you can show how you overcame a problem, that’s admirable.</p>