@0br0123 I think this is what I’m going to do. Judging from a lot of people’s reactions and answers, it probably isn’t a good idea to spend an entire essay talking about depression, so I’m going to be vague about it and focus on other positive things. Thanks!
I don’t happen to agree with posters who seem to think that only people with challenges their life circumstances suffer from (or are “allowed to suffer from”) depression. ANYONE can have this issue – just like anyone can have issues with heart disease, kidney disease, etc. The brain is an organ of the body, and depression often has a chemical or biological basis. It cuts across all sections of society. So I actually disagree with THAT as a reason to not write on this topic.
But as I think I already said above, it isn’t the thing you most want them to know about you. And I don’t even think the “couple of sentences” makes sense. Change your topic altogether. I suspect you are blocked in coming up with other ideas, but you need to spend some time doing that. I am thinking you are a junior, right? You have time. Start jotting down a list of things… ECs you do that are unusual, interests you have that many others don’t, etc. One of my kids wrote an essay on how she has tried to imitate Sherlock Holmes ever since reading his books in middle school. Another wrote on studying an unusual foreign language and then traveling to the country where it spoken. One also wrote an essay on her favorite EC (speech, Great Speeches category) – how she got interested, how it has changed how she views the news and the world, and how it makes her feel. One wrote an essay on her hobby of entomology. You need to expand the universe of what you are thinking about for topics.
@intparent Fortunately, I do have plenty of other subjects I can talk about (eg I went on an international service trip to Nepal to build houses). Thank you for the advice!
Okay… I am going to be (probably in your opinion) not helpful, but the “going on an international service trip” essay is very overdone, and hard to do in a way that impresses admissions officers. It is a cliche topic, and very difficult to say anything they haven’t read a bunch of times. Sorry… but my advice is to keep thinking of more topics. Glad to hear that you have plenty to draw on. 
That is the #1 most overused topic according to an interview transcript with admissions officer I read in one of those ‘essays that worked’ books, so make sure your essay has something very meaningful to say and is really different if you go that route.
What are you passionate about? Do you look at things from a granular aspect? If you were…, if you could…,
Not sure what are the “essays that work”. These are some of the thoughts given at the parents’ nights.
Thanks all, I realize now that the whole international service day spiel probably is REALLY overused, especially at those top colleges. I do have plenty of other awesome stuff that I’ve passionate about, so that’s good.
@kalefornia , I am so glad to hear that you’ve overcome depression. My sister is struggling with ED’s and depression and I would love nothing more than for her to get better. I think that you should definitely at least write a draft essay about overcoming depression, especially since it was a huge part of your life and a good representation of yourself. I think that, if executed well, it would be an absolutely amazing essay (this is the hard part though). To be safe, I would write some backup essays in case that one doesn’t end up working out. Like someone else said already, you still have several months to spit out some drafts and muse through your thoughts. Why not give it a go? I would then have close people I trust, possibly a counselor or teacher, read over them and give some advice on editing. Wishing you lots of luck!!!
Hi, I too wrote my essay on depression and how I overcame it. Is there any way you could read my essay and let me know how it would sound from an admission counselor’s point of view?
@kalefornia - As another “expert” I was about to chime in, but then I read the post by @intparent which said exactly what I was going to say.
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please use old threads for reference only. You can ask your question in a new thread if you’d like (although I think the previous answers are excellent).