<p>In the Notre Dame supplement, there is a essay topic that says something like "You have 1000 words. Take a risk." </p>
<p>I was considering tell them about an addiction I had in my Freshman and Sophomore years (non-drug), that causes my grades in those years to be sub par. (My grades we not bad; I just was not getting all As, and it did effect my GPA through the years). I was thinking about saying how it was harming my creativity and inhibiting mind, and explaining how I overcame it, and the strives I've made in education since. I'm confident I could form it into a good essay.</p>
<p>I am wondering, will mentioning something like this hurt me? I think it is definitely a risk. Would it be something to make me stand out and help my cause? Or would they be turned off by this?
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I would say that it depends what the addiction was to. For example, telling an admissions officer you had an addiction to pornography would definitely be a no-no.</p>
<p>I think that your proposed topic is much too risky and can only harm your application.</p>
<p>Pick a topic that would serve to present you as a great fit for the college. Surely there are academic areas that you’ve explored on your own, current affairs issues that have caused you to rethink your academic focus, sports/arts that you took on knowing that they would challenge you and caused your friends to wander “why that”. Anyway, I recommend that you stay mainstream despite the opening that you see in the essay topic for venturing into personal areas.</p>
<p>I would tread carefully here. A problem that can be encountered with essays like this is that they can come across as making excuses – “ignore my actual performance because of X and Y”. If you do chose to do this essay, have a trusted person (perhaps your GC or a teacher) read it and tell you their impression.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. I can easily find another easy that is not as risky as this, I did not know how it would go over with admissions, so thank you for saving me! </p>
<p>If I read a book like “American Psycho” (Brett Easton Ellis) over the summer, should I list that in list of books I’ve read recently or will they take it as a bad thing?</p>