I wrote a first draft of my college essay and it is about how being/being labeled as smart has affected me, etc. I won’t post it for fear of plagiarism but I fear that it will make me seem ungrateful, since I talk about the disadvantages to being smart. I have other topics that I can write about, but I’m not as passionate about them.
In short, would it be bad/ would it come across as me being ungrateful, if I wrote about the negatives of being smart?
I don’t know, maybe a couple of people would be offended 
Those are though stories, actually. Being “the smart one” can really damage people.
Would you be comfortable talking about this in your interview? Because for me it would be a too touchy topic. Personally.
Maybe you could frame it in a different way? Like… I would focus on the intellectual curiousity that being smart gives me and would talk about the books I like. Or how I help my friends out with academics and stuff like that. I’m just throwing an idea or two that come to my mind right away.