My college essay is about the time I ran over my mailbox on the first day of school because I was pulling out in reverse. I am making is a metaphor for my need/desire to change and broaden my perspective (if I turned the car around, my new perspective would not have let me hit the mailbox) and the benefits of failure (I would still be pulling out in reverse if I had not hit the mailbox). I want to add some dry humor into the essay since the topic is innately humorous. I just want to make sure this is okay and will not detract from my essay.
I like your idea. It shows maturity, creativity, and a great perspective. I like dry humor. I have the impression you will use it appropriately and it will work well.
Humor is in the eye of the beholder and can be hard to pull off. If you can pull it off, it could be great but many people fail at that. My advice is to run your finished essay by more than a couple people who you trust to give you an honest answer - and people of different ages and backgrounds than you - and see if they like it and think it is funny.
One of my sons wrote a very humorous essay which we think helped him get good college and scholarship acceptances. It followed a singe humorous theme from start to finish. I have often thought that making the admissions people laugh helped him, although I have no way of really knowing if this is how it was.
It needs to be humor that an adult gets. And remember, readers are strangers, can’t fill in the blanks or understand you as a teacher does
Done well, fine.
I would recommend that you go with it, you need to stand out in your essays and good humor can go a long way in making you stand out.