ok so
I wrote my common app essay and one of the UC personal insight questions (the personal hardship one) about me working to overcome anorexia. I spent A LOT of time on it and in the end I thought it was a decent essay and I submitted EA to chapman and all my UC apps already.
Then I was looking around on CC and a lot of people were saying how its really bad to write about mental health for the essays because colleges will view it as a liability???
first of all mental health issues should not be viewed as a liability what the heck but anyways thats beside the point
my point is should I change my essay for future common apps?? My essay wasn’t just me ranting about my eating disorder; I wrote about how it had affected my grades and life in general, and how I’ve taken steps to recover from it and how I’m determined to be recovered and how much stronger I am and how much I’ve learned and grown since then.
thoughts and experience?
Did your guidance counselor, a teacher, or someone familiar with college admissions read the essays? If not, have it reviewed.
There is a pinned list of essay reviewers at the top of the board if you don’t have anyone to read it at school.
From my research (searching in CC, talking to a HS counselor, etc), I think what you’ve done is good. I think it would not help your chances for admission if you come across as being unstable or someone who won’t make it through fall quarter. But if you talk about facing the challenge, recovering, and being able to reflect on it and gaining strength from having come out the other end, then I think that’s a strong essay.
Personally, I’d do something else for your remaining apps.
@intparent has a point. No sense doing the higher risk topic with all your schools.
Any health issue is not only a ‘higher risk’ topic, but one that a) is very very hard to do well and b) has been done so many times that it is hard to have it be fresh.
Think about the people who have to read your essay: they will read hundreds of essays about adolescent health challenges (go see the recent thread by an Aspergers student). Pretty much all of them will be trying to show that they have been through a tough time (that might have impacted their grades) but that they are through the other side now. Most will be written by students who are still so close to it- for whom it has been such a big part of their lives- that they can’t have much of a perspective yet. Many will fall into the trap of telling way too much about the facts of the journey, and not enough about who they are now (which is why @AroundHere asked if you had an objective person read it).
Your essay may be fantastic, and done is done. But if you are going to submit more apps, at the least have your GC or similar read it first.
Congrats to you for getting on a road to health.
But I wouldn’t write about it in a college essay. It’s too hard to do well and you never know who is reading it and how they will react. At the least have it read beforehand and get feedback.
How many “future apps” do you have at this point?
I agree… anorexia can be a difficult topic. The concern is that some kids who think they’ve conquered it find that it can relapse.
If you’re still writing essays, I think I would choose another topic.
Please read the pinned post on this forum, Essay Tips to Consider. You will find helpful info there.
Colleges want a reason to say yes, not a reason to suspect that you might be at risk of mental health issues while in college. It doesn’t mean they dislike kids who have had problems. It means they want to protect their bottom line, which is maintaining their student body. They know that kids who have struggled with mental health issues in the past may be at risk for doing so again. Plus, why do they need to know about your health issues? Mental health, physical health, it’s not really any of their business. Unless there is a necessary reason for them to know about your ailments, and there are definitely times when that is the case, the less said, the better.
At this point you may want to wait and see how you do in the EA round and take it from there. If you get into schools you are happy with then it probably means the essay was written in a way that didn’t make colleges admissions officers nervous about the prospect of your coming to campus as a freshman – if you find you didn’t get in then I’d absolutely consider a new topic for any RD applications.
I saw from other posts that you are interested in running XC in college, I would really stay away from writing about anorexia if you are looking for a spot on the team or help from a coach getting accepted.