<p>I heard a wonderful story about a student who explained why her grades weren’t the best and her SAT’s were a little low, and she didn’t have many EC’s. But she explained that in helping raise her siblings she was effectively running her own non-profit. I’m sure some will think that story got her in over “more deserving” people, but in my opinion, young people like that are EXACTLY who needs the bump to get into college. But don’t worry, it wasn’t a “tippy top” school so she didn’t steal anyone’s spot there.</p>
<p>I would disagree-my son wrote about two near death experiences due to blood clots in his lungs- the main thing he wrote about is what he did with those experiences- became patient care advocate for large national organization and started his own patient support group to help others who have suffered similar fates. As Rachel Dawes said to Bruce Wayne, “it’s not who you are but what you do that defines you.”</p>
<p>If its an essay prompt, simply pick another one. No biggie.</p>
<p>No one is forcing anyone to talk about a rape. </p>
<p>You could always apply to essay optional schools.</p>
<p>I agree completely with TatinG’s concerns and have often written that college admissions should be focused on academic achievement and not extraneous personal factors.</p>
<p>Actually the best essays I came across were not about hardship. I assume that the hardship essays get a lot of publicity because they are heart breaking but that the majority of “wining essays” (in some way) are not like it. I say I assume because I am not an adcom.
One of the best essays I read was about the student that volunteered in “leading” blind runners and in the end the moral was that the blind runner actually “lead” her in life.
The other one was the girl that took the bus everyday to go to some class but she made friends with the driver and in the end she learned more from that friendship than the class itself (or something of that short). Again no hardship except that she had to take the bus :)</p>
<p>I seriously doubt that what you write in an essay will be considered a HOOK. Beliavsky, if you are not otherwise qualified as an applicant for a college, your essay is NOT going to get you a letter of acceptance.</p>
<p>It might get your application into the review pile…but it’s not a HOOK…it’s not.</p>
<p>And as noted above, there are schools that are essay optional…or simply do NOT choose that particular prompt. </p>
<p>This really is not a huge issue!</p>
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<p>Or inviting cameras in your home to film intimate family/romantic moments in order to make money from reality TV. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Aren’t the contents of the essays maintained confidentially within the college admissions office? It’s not like they’re divulged to fellow students or faculty, as far as I know.</p>
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<p>That’s the hope, but it depends on the character of the people in the admissions office. In the Gatekeepers book, in which the author shadows an admissions officer, he mentions that the officer would make copies of essays that he found really touching and wanted to share with his wife. His intent was certainly not to embarrass anyone, and I don’t think any harm was done, but an applicant does not know who his information and essays will be shared with.</p>
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<p>I wonder if some people feel they’d rather write their own story than have someone else do it. Better to be able to put your own spin that whatever someone else digs up. Some people also feel writing/talking about a difficult experience can be therapeutic. Or do the whole spreading awareness thing. If nobody ever talks about getting raped, it can be more difficult for those raped to come forward to seek support from the law enforcement community. If you know you’re not alone, it’s easier to get help.</p>
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<p>One of my good friend’s parents felt this way. Unfortunately, they also had no money to help them pay for college without financial aid. There’s still a pretty decent grudge held at the fact they had to move out, get a minimum wage job, and attend CC part time while trying to get some aid on their own. Student was no dummy either, valedictorian of their HS, accepted to MIT as well as a bunch of other schools that are brought up a lot on CC.</p>
<p>The purpose of the “hardship essay” is not to promote a contest regarding who has had the hardest life, but to allow the student to demonstrate how s/he handles hardship. It is an essay about strength, not weakness. Colleges have a legitimate interest in knowing how students handle challenges/struggles. College is not easy; schools want to know if applicants have the fortitude to keep going after receiving their first failing grade, if they have developed strategies for doing work that is difficult, and if they will be able to perform in the classroom despite whatever personal drama is going on in their lives. </p>
<p>No one has to write about anything s/he would like to keep private. Students do not need to write about being raped, abused by their parents, bullied about their sexual orientation, losing a friend to gang violence, etc. In fact, they would be ill advised to choose these topics unless they are also writing about how they have overcome the challenge presented by their extreme misfortune. Students can also choose to write about something less personal.</p>
<p>I see kids posting in the financial aid section who think their parents are abusive, and therefore they should be declared independent. I wonder if they are claiming this same abuse to be a hardship story for their essays.</p>
<p>I normally agree with you, Hunt, but not on this one–if I were applying to college now, and wondering whether to write a very personal essay, the fact that it was confidential to the admissions staff would not resolve the issue for me. Applicants vary in the extent of self-disclosure that they are comfortable with, when the disclosure is being made to people they have never met (in most cases)–i.e., the admissions staff.</p>
<p>I think that there is a real issue here–if someone has overcome considerable hardship, but the hardship is of a nature that he/she doesn’t want to share, then in order to maintain privacy, the student is forgoing an opportunity to demonstrate a high level of resilience and strength. I have no solution for this, but I do recognize it as an issue.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d make the decision to maintain privacy, and let admissions work out however it does. But I can see the temptation to overcome the desire for privacy.</p>
<p>Unless the hardship in question is known to no one at the student’s school, there is a good chance that it will be mentioned in the student’s recommendation letters. I have written about students’ medical conditions, difficult family situations, etc. The intent is always to demonstrate how impressive their achievements are in light of the challenges they have faced.</p>
<p>Like Mirabile wrote, it is a very personal decision whether to disclose personal events that they might want to keep private. I know of two siblings who wrote their college essay on the seminal event in their lives, the death of a third sibling. One was a “B” student and wrote how it made him want to appreciate life and enjoy it and how he did at the expense of studying. His brother, an “A” student wrote how it made him want to succeed in all things ,both academic, EC and athletic because life could be so short. Both were comfortable writing about it, not as a hook but as how they viewed life and how it defined them as a person. It was the most personal things in their lives but they were willing to share it with strangers. Yet when the High School English teacher asked the students to read their essays to the class, the " A" student crafted a new one on a different subject. While he was willing to write about it for the Common App, he wasn’t willing to share it with classmates or a teacher. Each person draws their own line as to what they are willing to share…</p>
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<p>At my D’s school, there are faculty members and even a few fellow students on the admissions committee, to the best of my knowledge. At the admitted students’ weekend, I sat next to a faculty member who, upon hearing my daughter’s name, remembered and commented on a particular aspect of her application.</p>