<p>For 2 years I've been going through a lot of drama in my family life. My sister has attempted to commit suicide twice and led to my parents on the verge of divorce. I was an emotional mess and this has slightly affected my ability to perform to the best of my abilities.</p>
<p>Would colleges sympathize or should I just completely ignore this subject?</p>
<p>Interestingly similar to my story.</p>
<p>Let me bring up a tangent to your story to answer your question:</p>
<p>I recently read about a girl who was quoted in a newspaper for wishing something tragic would happen to her family so that she would have something profound to write about. In response, a professor at UChicago wrote that this girl was an abomination of a person. He stated that her logic was flawed, because she thought that having a tragic event to write about ensured that she would write WELL. He went on to say that she was a fool to think that she could write well about a topic as profound as death, when the very reason for her wishing for such a misfortunate event was because she was not able to express herself well on the things that were already happening in her life. </p>
<p>So coming to your question, I think you should certainly write about your situation in the additional information section, but only make it the focus of your apps if you’re confident in your ability to express your sorrow. </p>
<p>BTW, Id be glad to look over your essays and/or share mine [=</p>
<p>I haven’t attempted to begin it yet, so perhaps when I finish. Could you perhaps share your essay? Curious to know how you portrayed your story</p>
<p>It’s a valid point</p>
<p>The problem with using this topic for college essays is that they have to be relatively short; if you want to explore your subject well, you would need to write a much longer paper. A 1-2 page essay would probably come out sounding rushed. People have written successful college essays about family issues (see the book “Essays That Worked for College Applications”), but I imagine that it would be difficult. Maybe try focusing on one or two incidents and describe how they affected you. Or, as questionsg said, write about your situation briefly in the add’l information section.</p>