My mom has a serious form of breast cancer and my brother has Downs Syndrome. I want to talk about how both of them impacted me. Which essay should I choose from the Common App to write where I can shape my experiences with them into my essay?
Thanks for any help!
I guess it depends on how they impacted you. If it gave you an interest in medicine, that sounds like #1. If you played a significant role in caring for them, that could fit under #4 or #5. There are possibilities for #2 and #3 too, but like I said, it depends.
First, my sympathies on both fronts.
Now, to answer your questions:
Take 2 pieces of paper, and give yourself 5 minutes per essay, just to make a list of what you would say.
After those 10 minutes, look at your lists.
Which says more about YOU?? Did your brother’s disability lead you to a career in Special Ed? Did you really grow up with the responsibilities you’ve taken on since mom got sick? Did you become an adult the moment you offered to accompany mom to those doctor’s appointments so there would be a second pair of ears listening to what the doctor said? Do you find that the problem you want to solve, NEED to solve, is care for families of cancer patients… is your brother getting all the attention he needs now that mom is sick? Or would you solve the problem of all the misinformation that’s out there?
(I’m guessing your mom knows this, but I’ll put it out there: the very worst thing you can do right after that type of diagnosis is to research “breast cancer.” There’s a ton of very scary stuff out there, some of it totally wrong, and most of it NOT related to your mom. Trust your doctors to tell you the basics, and THEN you can hit the internet once you know what you’re dealing with. )
I think you have to be very careful with issues like this. It’s too easy to fall into a “here’s how awful it is for mom” kind of mindset. But that’s not what this essay is about. It’s about YOU. Colleges want to know how YOU have grown, how YOU’RE handling these challenges. And you only have a few hundred words to do it.
Prayers for your family.
@cavalover77 - Good question.
@bjkmom gave EXCELLENT advice. it is about YOU. I would add one more thing: The best essays (like the best movies) have a “story arc” (“character development”). These kinds of challenges change people, hopefully to make them better, wiser, more empathetic, stronger. If that can be seen in your essay, it becomes more powerful and memorable, which should be your goal for your essay.
My very strong advice is to ignore the prompts initially, write the strongest essay you can about how this changed you, and only THEN figure out which prompt it best fits. This avoid trying to fit the essay into what you think the reader wants to hear, and instead lets your voice come through.
And remember, this is for a college admissions review, not an ordinary school writing assignment. Show the adcoms the attributes they value in their freshman class. And remember that it’s important to “show, not just tell.”
Just wanted to say thank you to everybody who helped. I will be attending Harvard next fall!
What did you end up writing about? Congrats!
@cavalover77 How wonderful! How much did the advice in this thread help you? And would you mind sharing your essay (it’s okay if it’s too personal) with this rising senior here?
And congrats!