<p>OK Im gonna be really vague because my id on this thing is a little obvious, and my situation is embarassing... and i cant spell (hehe)
Anyway
My parents never married and broke up like 3 years after i was born. As i got older my dad, according to my mother, began "suing the crap out of her." First it was custody and then it was for money because he thought that she should pay for both their legal bills because she was mentally unstable yada yada (i dont really get it either). Anyway all these years my mom has flipped out on me and made my life tough by physically hurting me and emotionally making me a wreck. She once walked into my room threw all my CDs and and started shaking me as i was sleeping because she was so upset. Because i pushed her away and cussed at her, she went and talked with my counselor and even got the principal to give me a lecture on how i "should not abuse my mother..." She is in huge debt, broke both her wrists and fractured her coxic (part of the tail bone), and therefore had not worked from the time i was in 7th grade to the time i was in 11th... I have bounced between her, and my father, who has constantly trashed her, as well.</p>
<p>Basically, my life at home may have appeared wonderful on the outside these past years, but truly i became a wreck and tried to avoid home as much as possible by distracting myself with activities (piano and running and school and grades, etc.)
Anyway
I have to say that life at home has not been the greatest...
Will this in any way influence college admissions? How should i write about it if it does? And if you think im an idiot for posting this than dont say anything... please.
Any good comments i guess would help because i was thinking about writing one of my "overcoming trial/adversity" essays on this situation...
Thanks</p>
<p>I suggest you post this on the parent's forum. You raise a lot of serious issues, which could more appropriately handled by those who are in a position to offer you more informed advice.</p>
<p>Classic adversity story. Milk it for all it's worth.</p>
<p>I don't meant to trivialize it or anything, but just package your troubles in the right way, and some bleeding heart admissions officer will say "I WANT THIS KID!!!"</p>
<p>I would write your essays normally, than explain the whole situation with an extra "letter of explaination" or something of that sort. In this letter you should say something like "I don't mean this to be an excuse for my weak areas or for it to give me favor in the process, but......" This way you have put in their minds the idea of them giving special consideration while specifically telling them not to, it's a great psychological trick. It will seem like you are milking it on purpose if you write about it in the regular essay part. And do post on the parent's forum. You need more help than just what to do on a college app. Good luck in college and more importantly in improving your home life man.</p>
<p>i agree with the above posters, but i'd also add, if you can, please send your essay about this topic to someone you trust, who can read it and give positive feedback. i think it's a fine balance between "look at this student who's accomplished so much in spite of these obstacles!" and "oh my god! i should call someone about this situation", among other variables. it kinda almost happened to me, lol.</p>
<p>this is often one of those things that is better when mentioned by others in their letter (say your counselor) than by you. When a person writes about difficulties themselves it can be hard to stay on the side of the line where you're describing the situation without it looking like making excuses or complaining.</p>
<p>There's some good advice here and a bit of bad. </p>
<p>First off, I know damn near exactly what you have gone through and are still going through. There's nothing that will open your eyes more quickly than being put in the hospital by your parents a few times. I'm more concerned about your well-being than your college chances. I'm not talking about your physical well-being. I think you're probably old enough now that this is not an issue. I'm more concerned about what extreme parental abuse does to the psyche if one doesn't have tens of thousands of dollars to spend on therapy.</p>
<p>So here's some quick life advice. First off, what happened to you was not your fault. You are not bad. You will think you are because, to a small child, parents are gods who are infallible. They will have done their best to convince you that this is all your fault and you will have had no defense against that. It's ********. This is their fault. You need to keep telling yourself, inwardly, that you are good and worthy. I'm not kidding. This is something you need to do for yourself as often as you can do it.</p>
<p>Now, for college. Admissions counselors are funny people. If you make them uncomfortable, they will not like it. It's been my experience that no one wants to hear about being beaten, raped, and emotionally brutalized. Like it or not, most of society will continue to victimize the victim.</p>
<p>If you must write about this, take the advice above and have someone who knows something look it over carefully before you submit it. If you can get a counselor to write about it, that's much better. If you must write about it, then focus on how you are digging yourself out from this background, and how you plan to use this experience to make a better life for yourself and others. For instance, one of your goals in life might be to break the cycle for your own children, so that they grow up in a loving, supportive environment. Or one of your goals might be to study psychology and mass media so that you can, perhaps, make a difference in society's hidden attitudes towards those who have been badly mistreated as children.</p>