<p>I'm a Canadian student and considering the above topic for an Ivy League admission essay. </p>
<p>Last year, in grade 11 IB, my average severely dropped because I was living with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. This entire summer, after knowing, I've been focusing in getting my life back on track and learned so much from it. I'm ready for a new school year very soon, ready to obtain extremely high IB marks.</p>
<p>My relationships with people around me have been mending, I've improved my SATs by over 200 to near perfect, and I can control myself much better. I have over 500 volunteer hours with specific institutions that I am passionate about, and am a varsity swimmer with bronze. I'm applying to the Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Columbia and UPenn. Given my situation, should I even write about my bipolar disorder? Will it hurt my chances, being as perceived "mentally ill"?</p>
<p>Well this advice came from a non-official youtube video. I don’t know how valuable and correct this is, but I’m following this advice for my essay.
This guys says that there are 7 topics you should AVOID in your common app essay. Those topics are used so often by students that adcoms will go through these essays without paying real attention :</p>
<p>1) Death (ex : your mom died, your best friend died… how it affected you)
2) Divorce (ex : you parents divorced, you felt really bad but now you’re stronger)
3) Disease (ex : you’ve been diagnosed for a terrible condition…)
4) Trips or cruises (ex : community service trip to Venezuela when you were 16, how you taught English to children)
5) Break-ups (ex : I have been with the same guy for 3 years and he cheated on me – this is not the place to tell that story…)
6) Sport injuries
7) DISORDERS!!
You fall in that last category.</p>
<p>Talking about ANY kind of disorders, mental, physical is not recommended. Recovering drug addict, recovering alcoholic, recovering from a mental discease… Not a good topic for your college essay.
I know how hard it’s for you not to talk about the most important life-changing experience of your life in your essay. But remember : this essay is for the adcoms to admit you instead of anybody else. So try to focus on a positive UNIQUE thing about you. Bipolar disorder is hard, but it’s common. There are other students applying to the Ivies who went through the exact same thing as you. BUT you are DIFFERENT than them!! WHY?? Well the answer to that question should be your topic.</p>
<p>I was best friends with a girl who had bipolar disorders. I know what you’ve been and still are going through. It’s tough. But seriously : let your past make you better, not bitter. You have done amazing ECs, you will get high grades I’m sure, so you are a good candidate! Now don’t let your essay ruin everything. Write about something really unique to your character. Tell them about your PERCEPTION on the world. That is the most unique trait about you. Write about an experience you had, even if it’s common, but explain how you felt about it through your own eyes. You can mention your disorder, but don’t make it the general idea of your essay. Because as I said, many many many people (more than you think) will write about that. Distinguish yourself.</p>
<p>Hope that helps, tell me what you think.
And I’m currently writing my essay as well (applying to the same schools as you!) so maybe we can exchange our essays via PM. </p>
<p>Thanks for the advice!! We can definitely exchange essays soon I’m still working on mine. Good luck to you as well! It’d be cool if we both end up getting into those schools :)</p>
<p>No, you shouldn’t write about being a recovering alcoholic/drug addict. They will fear a relapse and reject you. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write about bipolar disorder, provided you have been consistently on meds and doing well since diagnosis. You do, however, run a huge risk as coming off as too negative if you choose this topic. If you write about it, take a positive spin and talk mainly about how good your life is now.</p>
<p>That said, if you have something better to write about, write about that.</p>
I’m still working on mine. Good luck to you as well! It’d be cool if we both end up getting into those schools :)</p>