<p>What do people think of using vacations to other countries as an influence for my interest in international relations as an essay topic? My dad is convinced that is great, but I'm a little hesitant (I feel like it indicates some level of privilege or something like that).</p>
<p>Yeah, travel is generally overdone. If you have a truly unusual story, you might be able to make it work, but it’s definitely something to be wary of. </p>
<p>I would be cautious about that as well, but I think it could be done. It depends on the type of experiences, how in depth are the vacations or are they typical tourist experiences or destinations?</p>
<p>More importantly, how much does the experiences say about you? As I have advised many people when starting to do their college essays: they want to see you, the person, the personality, the passions, the voice, who you are. If your essay can say that in a meaningful way, go for it! However, if you think there is a better story you could use then go with the one that has more depth to you. </p>
<p>One part I would be cautious about is you only have a limited word count. If you go in depth about each place that impacted you (again, evaluate how you were affected) then you may run out of space at the end. Just something to consider. Some people have done it and it came out as a fine essay, it all depends on your story and your penmanship.</p>
<p><a href=“Why Your Brilliant Child Didn't Get Into The Ivies | HuffPost Life”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost;
From an article title “Why Your Brilliant Child Didn’t Get Into The Ivies”:
3. Your child’s application stinks of privilege. You had the best of intentions when you sent your son or daughter to Oxford last July to read the classics. But guess what? The colleges, who eventually are happy to accept your $200,000, aren’t thrilled about $11,000 summer programs, even the life-changing ones. Outward Bound now looks dubious as well – it used to be about achieving clarity through eating bark, but now could be a euphemism for “troubled teen.” And forget those service opportunities in Central America – the whole isthmus is now frowned upon.</p>
<p>There are many people who tell me that they want to study international relations and often have blank looks when I ask them what it has to do with, other than the obvious. Can you tell me what the study of IR entails and what exactly your travels had to do with your interest in it? If you can answer this question briefly but convincingly, I suppose you are cut-out to write this essay as long as it is handled tastefully and doesn’t sound like it was something facilitated by privilege.</p>