<p>My grandparents on my dad's side of the family emigrated from Germany and the USSR to avoid the Holocaust. I was thinking of writing about how Israel is not, as many people think, every Jewish person's homeland; their homes were in the places they were forced to flee. Will I come off as anti-Zionist?</p>
<p>Also, I'm not Jewish because my mom wasn't (Jewish identity is matrilineal), and because my parents were afraid of job discrimination, I took her last name (which is Irish). Will this make my essay seem false?</p>
<p>Or is the topic just stupid? I'd really appreciate anyone's comments on this.</p>
<p>I don't understand how describing that defines the person you are unless you can make connections between the escaping the Holocaust and the world you grew up in.</p>
<p>Oh ok. Common App questions include describing an issue that is important to you; are essays on this not allowed, or only ok when you don't tie them to family?</p>
<p>Also the essay isn't really about escaping the Holocaust, more about how the countries that my grandparents left (Germany, the USSR) mean far more to them than Israel does--that you can't just say, you are Jewish, therefore, Israel is your homeland. Does this make the topic acceptable, or do you think I should think of something else?</p>
<p>The college essay imo is supposed to be personal, not political. So, the essay should "show" you in action somehow, and in an overall strongly positive light.</p>
<p>An essay that is strictly about the countries your grandparents left, and not about you, is not imo going to help distinguish you from other applicants. But, if you can bring yourself into this topic, so that the essay overall becomes personal, detailed, honest and revealing about you, then you will be on the right track imo.</p>
<p>The mere fact that you are not Jewish, or that you have an Irish last name, will not imo make the essay seem false. I assume, in fact, that those personal circumstances would be part of what makes this topic meaningful to you, and therefore could help to make the essay personal and revealing.</p>
<p>Thank you! I guess although the topic really interests me it doesn't have any great personal importance to me. Now I gotta think of something else. :/</p>