<p>I'm another one of your Ivy League dreamers out there. I have good grades and good scores and all, so my parents just sort of let me do as I want. However, my younger brother is an unmotivated slob who has suspect moral character. My father is really worried about his future, so he hovers over him like a pseudo-Tiger Dad. Unfortunately for me, my father also has a bad temper. I have to spend many of my days listening to angry shouts, scolding, and chastising, which doesn't really help with my studies or my peace of mind. This has been a thing since about sixth grade, when my brother just wouldn't get good grades and my parents started to panic. Trust me when I say it gets bad after a bad test and it gets pretty unbearable when report cards come back.</p>
<p>Does this count as a "hardship"? This isn't like I'm watching my brother is suffering child abuse or anything; he's not being physically harmed. But it isn't anything that exactly helps me. Am I soft or do I have something legitimate I can tell my GC for college as a hardship?</p>
<p>Remember that the essay should be about you, not your brother. I don’t know your situation personally, so obviously I can’t say yes/no for certain, but perhaps you can find the answer for yourself. Has this affected you deeply? Do you feel like you have overcome an obstacle because of it? Have you suffered because of it? <em>dwell more on the possible perseverance than suffering though; don’t make it into a pity party, even if you feel like you deserve one</em> Have you grown from it? Has it made you stronger?</p>
<p>Now, I have to say that the “this isn’t like I’m watching my brother is suffering child abuse or anything; he’s not being physically harmed” part bothered me… Abuse can be mental/emotional as well, and that type of abuse can be just as detrimental to a person’s well-being as physical abuse. I’m not saying that your parents are abusing you or your brother, because again, I don’t personally know your situation. Just pointing out that abuse doesn’t always have to be physical to be real…</p>
<p>Write some thing positive about your experiences or your life. No school likes to read your brother got yelled at because of the bad grade. Perhaps your brother deserves it, but nothing to proof he is or is not. And it added very little to your personal story, after all, your parents still support your college cost.</p>
<p>If you feel like your parents’ behavior has negatively impacted your grades, ask your guidance counselor to write about it in their rec- if you mention it, it’ll probably just sound whiney (not to say that you are just whining, I don’t know your situation really). Things said in recs are taken more seriously.</p>
<p>If this is a serious situation, you should be talking to a counselor at your school or your brother’s school and your mother determine if your father can be persuaded to go to parenting classes or anger management or get some kind of evaluation. Evaluations are usually only forced if there is a situation where the police should be called. You don’t seem to care about your brother but this seems more about him, and it sounds like he needs help. This is terrible parenting, sure.</p>
<p>If it isn’t such a situation, then you will have to decide if your unpleasant home life is the thing to highlight when you write your essay to tell them about yourself. I don’t quite get what you are trying to say, that this caused you to lead a disadvantaged life in some way?</p>
<p>I would imagine that tragic events, like the death of a parent or divorce, might be considered a hardship, if said event occurred while in high school.</p>