<p>I've been clean for 2 years now and I now have a 4.0GPA. </p>
<p>Do you guys think I should write on that change, as something I have overcome, and now I'm succeeding?</p>
<p>Any input would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I definitely wouldn't.</p>
<p>No, even if you have not touch drug for 2 years. It's very risky I think.</p>
<p>Congratulations on being clean. That is great and I'm sure it was one of the biggest challenges you have overcome. </p>
<p>Having said that, Do NOT write about it. </p>
<p>Unless you know for a fact that your colleges will know about your past addition (eg. because the school is required to disclose it).</p>
<p>Absolutely not....read "The Gatekeepers" to see the repercussions. </p>
<p>Female student chose to write her essay (against the advice of many) about an incident at where she took a mere bite out of a pot-laced brownie (while at school), received a suspension, turned it around into a positive learning experience to become a student leader and then felt the cold slap of rejection from schools that she had visited where drug use was quite visible and rampant.</p>
<p>Not worth it...too many drug users relapse and that is what the admissions counselors will be thinking while they read about your struggles. Good for you beating it...but don't advertise it.</p>
<p>No! No! No!</p>
<p>I thought it wasn't so much the experience, but rather how you grew from it?</p>
<p>yes please do, i would like your spot.</p>
<p>mental illness and drugs are a NO NO</p>
<p>yea, and if ur gonna do that, u should probly also write that u replaced ur old drug addiction with the new habit of booting black tar heroin....</p>
<p>seriously though, dont mention it.</p>
<p>Haha, I think we've all reached a consesus.</p>
<p>"mental illness and drugs are a NO NO"</p>
<p>I was actually planning on writing about growing up with my mother, who is bipolar and how I've learned to deal with that and help her.</p>
<p>Would this be a bad idea also, even if it's not about me being mentally ill? Or will they think I have it also since it could be passed down thru genes?</p>
<p>nope, very strong essay^</p>
<p>As long as you aren't the mentally ill one, it's fine</p>
<p>I don't see why it is such a negative subject as almost all personal achievements and/or overcoming hardships, whether it is an addiction or not, can be used to portray yourself positively.</p>
<p>As long as you can write the essay and present yourself well, there is no reason to definitively rule out overcoming a drug addiction as your essay's emphasis.</p>
<p>It could possibly work out for the best and make a compelling story but I myself would not take the chance. But if you feel this is a major accomplishment in your life and you want people to know about how you overcame your addiction than you should write it. I would just be concerned that there could be a backlash.</p>
<p>Funny, all of the speculations here. </p>
<p>Take it from one who has ACTUALLY experienced this. I come from the same position as you. I was a 0.7 HS GPA dropout, into drugs and alcohol. I wrote about all of this in my UC personal statement, and I was accepted by both UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz for Winter 2008. 2/2 schools accepted me with my mention of past substance problems. </p>
<p>So, you never know until you apply and see. Just make sure you don't exaggerate, be truthful. Another thing, I didn't spend a lot of time on the subject, I only tied it in to where I am going in the future. Really, it was used to magnify my current accomplishments. And it worked. Just goes to show, you can only learn so much from these boards. Although you have many people talking as authoritative experts, reality on any given subject is not so black and white. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Be Quiet and Drive; it seems you were out of hs for a while before applying to college (?) so admissions office would see you as older and wiser...I don't think it is a good idea at all for a high school senior to discuss drug use in a college application. In the book The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg, discussed above, the girl who wrote about her past drug mistake then visited the college who waitlisted her on "Zonker Harris Day" so everyone on campus was smoking pot...she was very hurt by the hypocrisy of the admissions office.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think you guys are coming about this wrong. It's not like the whole thing is taboo. How have you grown from this? Overcoming? </p>
<p>I mean, a good essay is a good essay. If you write about it poorly, that's one thing. But no way the topic alone is going to exclude you. </p>
<p>And congrats on your time. That's awesome.</p>
<p>Congratulations on overcoming your addiction. As for your question to include it, I really have no answer for that. =X</p>