Personal Statement=Explain Personal Issue?

Applying to College
1

<p>Im about to send my application to WashU (ED) and have been going back and forth on whether or not to include my personal statement regarding my eating disorder (during 10th grade). I missed a lot of school from going to doctor appointments, the hospital, etc and although I never took a 'leave of absence' my grades definitely suffered. I dont want to seem like Im making an excuse for my poor grades, but on the other hand, I want to explain the situation. It's just very frustrating because I was always a very hard working student (which had a large part of the eating disorder) and I dont want the admins thinking Im just stupid or dont try. My grades improved tremendously once I became healthy and my test scores are high, so it sort of just looks like I didnt try freshman/sophmore year and then decided to start once it was time to start looking at colleges. What do you think? </p>

<p>P.S: I won 3rd place in the Newsweek "My Turn" Essay Contest and the essay is about my eating disorder/getting over it, but does not mention my grades or anything of that type at all. The essay will be sent along with the application, so they will obviously know about the problem, but I dont know if two and two will connect.</p>

2

<p>I'd write a quick blurb about it affecting you and how you overcame it.</p>

3

<p>This is always tricky ground. It can be very difficult to write a 1st-person essay that explains a situation without appearing to be making excuses or avoiding responsibility. You say you don't want to do this, and I believe you, but it often creeps in without notice.</p>

<p>On the other hand an illness and many other situations can affect one's schoolwork, and the adcoms ought to know about this when evaluating your record.</p>

<p>The best suggestion is often to have it brought up by a 3rd party. If your counselor is aware of your history I'd suggest having them discuss it in there letter, hopefully with something along the lines that since you've stepped past your problems your grades have improved due to the reasons you mentioned.</p>