<p>I was first going to hand in an essay discussing my weakness in high school and how I went downhill due to lack of confidence after moving to a new school which I did not want at all and was not prepared at all for it. I realized that my essay made it sound like I was afraid of interacting in a new environment but in reality it was the school location and it's community which I could not connect with until now.</p>
<p>I am more of an urban person and like having shops and an ice cream truck nearby but when you go to a school which is in the middle of a forest and the nearest outlet is about 2 miles away, you kind of go crazy (well at least me).</p>
<p>Anyways, so I decided to rewrite my whole essay with an entirely different topic: My experience with interning at a hospital in Manhattan but I feel although it portrays my interests and everything perfectly, it completely avoids the reason why my grades suffered and why I did not do and participate in many club activities.</p>
<p>Your essay should be present you in a fair, but distinctly positive, light. It should give a sense of the sort of presence or personality that you would bring to the classroom, the dorm, the campus generally.</p>
<p>If there is a need to explain a spell of bad grades, then my advice is to submit a supplemental statement on that point (or if possible ask your guidance counselor to address it). Don’t use your main essay to explain poor grades.</p>
<p>I keep repeating Alan Gelb’s advice: Do not use your essay to explain, complain, or brag.</p>
<p>As to your question: Talking about a weakness is OK if the overall essay is to show how you confronted it and overcame it to become a stronger person. The way you explained it above is not that; it sounds more like “I moved. my environment was more to my liking, and now things are OK.” But that doews not sound like facing the issue head-on and overcoming it.</p>
<p>I agree with ADad and digmedia, it’s probably not the best idea to just talk about your weakness as an excuse, you want the essay to show colleges why they want to accept you, not that you can make excuses. If you want, I’ll look at the essay you changed to and give you some feedback!</p>