<p>The prompt is: Tell us about the neighborhood that you grew up in and how it helped shape you into the kind of person you are today.</p>
<p>I was going to write about how I am a Korean adoptee, adopted by white parents in a very predominately white neighborhood and how I have had to come to terms with stereotypes I didn't understand, being different, etc. etc.</p>
<p>Is it too cliched? A minority kid talking about their minority experiences?</p>
<p>You could work with this essay. There will be lots of applicants who lived in that neighborhood saying “Oh, it was a GREAT neighborhood, a safe place, a supportive environment, lots of kids to play with, and it helped me to live a good life and be the best person I can be so I could apply to your school!” But you’re living in the same exact neighborhood and have a completely different view of it. You can work this essay by showing how you lived in this typical neighborhood but had a completely atypical experience living in it, and how this experience has made you different and made you the person you are today.</p>
<p>So if I worked at it from that angle, it would make a decent essay?</p>
<p>It seemed to me like every minority student applying for a school would talk about how they had to overcome that adversity that comes from being different.</p>
<p>You could definitely make it work as long as your wring style is not cliche.</p>
<p>I think being adopted would definitely set you apart from the other essays that talk about being a minority.</p>