<p>OP, you mention that you attend a special school for struggling/troubled teens in Nevada, right? I strongly encourage you to talk to the college counselors there and inquire which colleges have accepted students from your school. That is a good starting point. Some schools will accept you. But you also have to use your main essay to give them some strong selling points about you, and not focus on addiction there. I think you are going to be less likely to be admitted to some of the elite colleges you seem to be striving for, however. </p>
<p>Testaduro, I do not know if you have read every post here or not. But just in case…originally when the OP said he wanted to write about overcoming drug addiction on his application essays, I also advised strongly against it. And I am trained and work as a college counselor. However, LATER, he revealed not only a spotty and irregular transcript, but that he had transferred to a special school for troubled teens. Therefore, these things WILL have to be revealed on his application where he explains extenuating circumstances (very low grades for two years and good grades for two years and also why he attends a school for struggling teens which will be on his record). BUT, he still should NOT use the regular college essay to discuss this but have an extra statement to explain his circumstances and how he has turned his life around and has shown some indication of being able to succeed in a college setting and have his school counselor also speak to this in his recommendation. Given his circumstances he revealed in subsequent posts, he will have to reveal his “history.” But he should use the main essay to showcase other positive attributes, interests, and experiences. To use that essay to focus on addiction is a big mistake and goes against college admissions wisdom. Someone mentioned the anecdote in the book, The Gatekeepers, which I also read which chronicled admissions up close at Wesleyan and the anecdote about the girl who wrote about having the pot brownie and how this caused he application to land on the rejection pile. The college wasn’t willing to take a chance on her and was concerned about her character.</p>
<p>OP, please heed the advice of those well versed on this issue. Please consult the guidance counselors at your special school who have dealt with college admissions for many students coming from backgrounds such as yours. See where alum from your school have landed and that will give you an indication of which colleges were willing to take kids with such backgrounds. </p>
<p>You deserve to go to college and you will. You may not have the same “pickings” of colleges, however, that you might have had, if your high school “career” had been different. You need to accept that.</p>
<p>OP, this is fantastic; if your chosen substance is a cannabinoid then you may want to add that the substance allows you to feel productive, motivated, and agreeable, a state that allows you to maintain your personality without sacrificing character. Maybe the review board should be writing you letters!</p>
<p>BAD IDEA – you might as well write I’M A BIG RISK as the title. Private colleges have enough trouble keeping the alcohol abuse within the confines of the campus playpen without adding yet another possible risk to the campus. While I personally admire your achievement, I wouldn’t recommend writing ANYTHING about addiction. (It is a significant, but maybe a private achievement.) Focus on what you will add to the school (clubs, SGA, etc.), what it can add to your already significant strides, etc. Colleges are looking for a sure thing!</p>
<p>I would like to thank everyone who has provided feedback to this question. I have been struggling with a very similar subject for quite some time. My addiction came after high school and affected my grades in my first two years of college, after which I dropped out. Flash forward to a few years later, having returned to school (local Community College), and I have received straight A’s ever since. I am now looking to transfer to an elite college next fall, hopefully (crosses fingers).</p>
<p>Soozievt provided some excellent feedback. Having numerous posts, she (or he?) is clearly passionate about this subject in particular. So, thank you. In addition, the reference to The Gatekeepers was very insightful. I also believe someone made the comment that the story of overcoming addiction is rather anticlimactic (reminding me of numerous movies) and something the adcomm committee has seen before. And while this may be very personally impactful for you and your family, to a stranger it carries much less significance, likely falling on deaf or unsympathetic ears. Getting someone to believe that you will never try drugs or drink the rest of your life, when you have past addiction problems, is very difficult to do, especially to a stranger. Trust me, all summer I have written drafts of application essay after application essay about my drug past and have yet to come up with a satisfying result. It didn’t occur until recently that this is perhaps because communicating this to a stranger is simply not possible. I completely understand how your addiction has actually made you a better and stronger person, and how it has actually been a catalyst for your current academic performance. This is just not something an adcomm person can really understand, however. As such, I intend NOT to mention my addiction at any point in any of the applications–probably even to Columbia’s School of General Studies (for non-traditional students). When it comes down to it, my high school grades were a little shaky (3.3) and even more so in college (3.0), and the reason for this goes beyond addiction. It had to do with how much I cared for school, which was none. I simply didn’t try at all, having cliff noted my way through English. (This is embarrassing for a current English major!) Now, having matured and gone through some rough situations (like living in my car on the streets of Hollywood), I can’t think of anywhere else I would rather be then in a classroom filled with other likeminded students, being stretched beyond our intellectual limits.</p>
<p>My question now is the following: Do I even mention the “rough situations” I have been through? I would, of course, mention this in the “extra information” section of the application. While that period of time has been influential to who I am today, I fear of putting even a doubt in the adcomm committee’s minds. For example, I fear that they might wonder what got me in those situations to begin with, and would I be a risk to be homeless again. While the answer is no, I’m not sure I can truthfully convince a stranger otherwise, no matter how well I write. I suppose the alternative would be simply to state that I have a completely different take on education now, so much so that I can’t not picture myself anywhere else, putting the focus more on why I love school.</p>
<p>Great post CAphotographer. I think the answer depends on two things: 1. How you view your chances of admission and 2. Whether you can discuss your homelessness legitimately without referencing your past addiction issues. </p>
<p>If you are a shoe-in for admission, you should avoid the subject. If you are applying to a school that rejects a fair number of applicants, an essay about your homelessness can be useful. That will certainly help you stand out, especially if you have been an over-achiever since then. However, they will DEFINITELY want to know how you became homeless. If you can’t explain it without referencing your past drug use then it’s not worth it.</p>
<p>In a way, this entire thread isn’t fair. You should be able to write about the topic that best describes the person you are today, but strategically, it’s a bad move.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the response CollegeATeam!</p>
<p>I don’t feel I’m a shoe-in to most of the schools I am applying to. I do think, however, that I can write an essay about living out of my car without referencing my drug use, while still remaining honest. In other words, there were other factors involved in my becoming homeless, like a poor choice in friends and mismanaging finances and laziness–all characteristics which no longer are a part of my identity. Actually, now that I think about it, many of the characteristics that led me to becoming homeless were also the reason my grades were rather poor in high school and my first stint college.</p>
<p>And I agree, it’s completely unfair to many of us that did make some very bad decisions when we were young, but have since corrected that and have, in fact, become stronger for it. You’d think this would be something of a no-brainer to write an essay about, but I see now the risk involved. And I am not willing to take that risk in this situation. Certainly, once I am settled in a college I am the type to bring my past up to friends and discuss how I dealt with it and how it made me who I am today.</p>
<p>Great! Go for it if you can avoid mentioning drug use. I’d be happy to look at your essay when it’s finished and put it through our review process, as long as I can get permission from our company owner to do so for free. PM me if you would like, so as to not hijack the thread.</p>
<p>Don’t. Drugs are very available in college and even though you may be very past your addiction, it still might be seen as a liability. they don’t want their kids to be drug addicts, and having a past makes you more prone to becoming an addict. Again, i’m not implying you will, though college admission ppl go by statistics, and the odds aren’t really in your favor.</p>
<p>It worries me when people think they are “very past” their addiction. There are a lot of not “normal” people out here, and “they” know “they” are never too far from a relapse. </p>
<p>Not talking about essays here.</p>
<p>“IDK, I just have trouble with the idea of someone who used drugs being more susceptible.”</p>
<p>You better believe it. Maybe not for someone who just “used drugs”, but for someone who admits to themselves they were powerless about it. Two years ( of sobriety) is not that long when you think in terms of a lifetime.</p>
<p>In those orbs, you had best present yourself as part of the solution if you insist on discussing such things, never the problem. At least if you want to leave every door of opportunity open to yourself. So no, it’s NOT a good idea to admit anything, ever, about being involved in drugs or having any sort of mental or emotional problems. Present yourself as perfect. Hide anything that isn’t, or get ready to move mountains to compete with those who do so, for that desired position in your dream career. Your competition is willing to make the sacrifice of cutting off all the ugliness that is part of every human’s reality to get where they want to be, are you? Yes, these things are integral to who and what we are and how we became us, but they don’t want even the appearance of imperfection. The right choice, every time, that’s what they want to see. Yeah, ya gotta be ‘that guy’ lol.</p>