<p>College adcoms want to hear about what makes you you. I consider myself a devout Muslim, I pray everyday, fast the whole month of Ramadan, and I even went to Mecca with my parents for pilgrimage.
So my religion is certainly a huge part of my self identity. But it always struck me as something controversial to talk about in any normal discussion, even at school. I can't imagine how uneasy it could get if some random atheist or agnostic was reading my essay.
I wanted to write about the glorious moment right as you break your fast after sunset. My essay would talk a lot about my perseverance and determination, respect for rules and order, compassion and possibly other attributes. But it would just be impossible to not include the religious background of why I do what I do.
What do you all think of me writing an essay like this which will inevitably discuss my religious views? Is it too controversial too write about, even if its a really big part of who I am?
Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Lol wow I just made a thread about that. I didn’t look.</p>
<p>I sounds like a great topic! I think it can be well done as long as you keep the focus on you, and not on projecting your beliefs to the reader.</p>
<p>Your essay won’t be read by “some random atheist or agnostic.” It will be read by people who have agreed to evaluate you as an individual. This is not a random person. It’s a person who has been chosen. As long as you values are consistent with those of the university, you should be OK. Higher Education is big on diversity, and post-9/11 it is one of the few parts of the country where Muslims can catch an even break. In fact, it’s likely that atheist readers may be the most sympathetic readers of all, since they won’t have allegiance to other religions.</p>
<p>@WasatchWriter Thanks for that!! I’m doing this with the commonapp though so I can’t write about how anything aligns with the values of a specific university. So then is it a good idea to tie up how all these attributes about me (which I show I gained through my ‘content moment of breaking of the fast’) would make me a desirable college student?</p>
<p>It’s a very touchy topic to write about - religion. You don’t want to make it look like God has been guiding you through your journey, regardless whether or not you think so. You want to show the college admissions officers you can rely on yourself and push yourself to succeed. You can use religion in the way you’ve said you would in the OP - showing adherence to rules, preserverance, etc. Try to stay as far away from the “supernatural”, if you get what I’m saying.</p>
<p>When I wrote about values that are consistent with those of the university, I meant very basic stuff that virtually all Common App schools value, such as diversity and the honest exchange of ideas. Nothing in your original post seems to disagree with those, so you should be OK.</p>