Trauma and Application Essay

I’m applying as a non traditional student (~ age 30) to a prestigious East Coast university. I have 4 semesters of community college under my belt (4.0 GPA). I’m not sure how to approach some stuff from my past, or if I should should even mention it at all. From High School to age 23 I was just sort of a garden-variety underachiever. Dropped out of HS, got a GED, dropped out of CC, smoked weed, depression etc etc.

At 23 I had a genuinely horrifying, potentially life destroying experience. If PTSD was a house you could say I never moved in, but spent a couple years crashing on it’s couch. I got treatment, recovered and I am unquestionably a better person as a result.

Do I put it in my essay? It’s a part of what makes me unique and my recovery is a source of serious strength. On the other hand I’ve been told not to include anything that might look like you are trying to get sympathy, as well as anything shocking. Obviously, I don’t want to go into all the gory details, but even just the general outline is fairly heavy. What do you guys think?

Leave it off. Focus on your recent successes and how you want to build on them. Not to dismiss your life experiences, but they will raise too many red flags. They want to see squeaky clean, no fuss transfers that will successfully complete their bachelor’s in a timely fashion. Everything else is noise to an overburdened admin. They definitely don’t want to hear about drug use. Don’t lie, but don’t volunteer to hang yourself.

i agree with @da6onet. keep the drug use and the suspect actions out of the essay, but you can actually include how you bettered yourself.

In general I agree with the prior posters, but there are some exceptions. If you are applying specifically to a non-traditional admissions program, especially one that requires all of your HS transcripts, then you may need to provide some additional detail about the gaps in your education because they will be readily apparent from your records. If you are applying as a conventional transfer and the school doesn’t request HS records, then I’d provide just a brief explanation of the CC drop out and move on to now.

In either case, absolutely the primary focus should be on your current strengths and capabilities. You need only say enough about the past to make it clear that the past is behind you and the present you has the will and capacity to succeed in their program.

If you still want to say more about the PTSD incident because you regard it as a defining moment in your history, just remember that that is your true mission: to define yourself for the admissions officer. You’re not looking to be pitied or sympathized with, you’re looking to be understood. Connect that past difficulty with the strong and capable person you are now, and again, let the focus be on that present person.

It’s all a matter of tone. Strike the wrong one and you’ll seem to be saying “Let me in because I’ve had it hard.” Strike the right one and you’re saying “I’ve never been more ready to excel than I am right now.”