Okay, so I know you all might be bored to death of hook threads…but here’s another one:
My best friend had really bad dyslexia as a child. She didn’t learn to read until she is was in 4th grade but then when she did learn she became an amazing reader and was reading at a twelth grade reading level in eighth grade.
When she was diagnosed with dyslexia in kindergarden, a doctor told her mother that she would never really be able to read, but she obviously proved them wrong None of her teachers believed that she would ever become a good student, but She is now in the top 5 % at her highschool and has excellent EC’s. Her test scores are good but not perfect, and she takes the most rigorous schedule possible. She has definately overcome her learning disability, and even has used her learning disability to her advantage (she is a very unique thinker).
Do you think that she could write about her dyslexia in a college essay? Would this be useful as a hook?
<p>I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to consider dyslexia as a hook, but I think it could make a very effective topic for discussion in an essay.</p>
<p>Having a disability isn't a hook, but emphasizing that you overcame one might help. I don't think it's a bonus, but if the applicant can write about it and talk about how they've managed to accomplish a lot despite it, it might be touching or help to explain low marks or whatever.
But I definitely don't think it's a hook, especially since now so many people have or claim to have learning disabilities it's really hard for the colleges to believe every person.</p>
<p>It is certainly part of her story, but keep it in perspective. Something like 30% of the world has LDs. Almost 10% of the population is dyslexic, another 8% are ADD and then there are a ton more I don't remember, but the numbers are huge. Almost everyone has something to overcome.</p>
<p>And also, if your friend decides to write about it, I think she should keep a light-hearted tone, and don't make it sound like a huge burden. Nobody likes a downer, even if it's depressing.
It's like writing about death; yes it's sad, but you need to talk about what you learned/gained.
You mentioned that she used dyslexia to her advantage. This sounds really interesting, so I would focus on that.</p>
<p>Yea I knew about Albert Einstein. Wrote about him (and Tom Cruise, who also had it) for my writing SAT II essay lol</p>
<p>It's really sad that some people would take advantage of such a thing, i have even heard of people hoping a relative would die so they would have an interesting essay, yuck.</p>
<p>It's not that people would try to take advantage of a disability. There is nothing you can do about the fact you have it. But you can do something to overcome it and that deserves to be recognized.</p>
<p>The only way to get it into the app is by writing an essay on it. It would be more unusual than the standard "EC's essay", but adcoms still see many "overcoming disability" and "dead parents" essays. In this case, she might get one of the college guides on how to write essays. There are entire books on this. I've never read one, but it would probably address this question very well.</p>
<p>I have read extensively about this subject, and it has been suggested that the best place for a discussion about the disability is from the counselor or a personal recommendation, not from the student in the essay.</p>
<p>As for a disability of not being bright enough, eulenspiegel, there are ways of being tested to show you have a disability that would cause poor performance on standardized tests. Your sarcasm is hurtful to those who can't help their documented problems.</p>
<p>I agree that the best place to get the dyslexia into the app would be if the GC could address it. </p>
<p>Some of the recent comments are harsh and don't apply to the OP. I think some of the motivation may be the way that LD's have been expanded so that now we hear that 30% of the population has some LD or another. There have been posts by parents saying that their child got only got a 700 on the SAT Math because of a math LD.</p>
None of her teachers believed that she would ever become a good student, but She is now in the top 5 % at her highschool and has excellent EC’s. Her test scores are good but not perfect, and she takes the most rigorous schedule possible. She has definately overcome her learning disability, and even has used her learning disability to her advantage (she is a very unique thinker).