<p>hey everyone, so i've been told that college admission essays should not include anything too personal (things like sex, drug abuse etc.)</p>
<p>however, what if the event was relevant to my personal growth? like about how in sophomore year i was sexually assaulted and since then i've tried to make my community a safer place for young girls who are also at risk (i live in an unsafe neighborhood where crime rates are high). </p>
<p>i'm just iffy with writing an essay that alludes to sex in general :/</p>
<p>The focus of the essay would not be the assault itself, the focus imo would be the good things you have done in response to the assault. Reveal yourself by giving a lot of specific details about how you have tried to help your community.</p>
<p>I agree with the previous answer, i think writing about that is really courageous and inspirational and i think thats something the college admission boards will really admire and see strength, honesty and leadership through that. Just the couple of sentences you wrote about it here made me feel like you were a really strong, intelligent and bold person with some very clear leadership qualities. I think when they say not to write anything too personal in a college essay they mean irrelevant personal details but this clearly ties into your development and shows the admissions board what you can offer as a student so i think you should definitely go for it. </p>
<p>You’d definitely have to focus mainly on the positive essays, don’t make it sound like you’re asking for pity and an acceptance. And whatever you’re doing to make your community a better place needs to be document-able and hopefully impressive.</p>
<p>Don’t ever shy away from something that has had a huge impact on who you are you and what you do today. </p>
<p>I’m sorry that happened but it seems that you’ve worked to deter incidents like that. I find that very noble.</p>
<p>The rule of thumb for what is “too personal”: if it makes you cry, you should probably shy.</p>
<p>You can allude to the incident without going to into detail about what happened. You can definitely write about that experience as long as you focus on how it made you feel, what you did after, and why you did the things you did after. Basically the positives. An essay like that could show AdComs how you’ve remained strong through adversity and how you’ve grown as a person.</p>
<p>I personally know a girl who wrote about abortion and that impact on her life and character. She didn’t focus on the procedure, though.</p>