Writing about health problem.. Too risky?

College Essays
1

It’s not really a disease in the sense that, say, cancer is, but it is a condition I’ve lived with my entire life that has done a lot to shape the kind of person I am. I am allergic to literally a million things, and I wrote about it and how it’s a daily challenge for me. I took a pretty humorous take on it and reflected on how it’s shaped my personality. I definitely don’t think I came off like “this is a terrible disease and is a huge horrible hardship” because I don’t want to be insensitive toward people who really do have life-threatening diseases. However, I did elaborate on how it does make my life harder every day.

Is this inappropriate? Usually when people talk about the dos and donts of college essays, the “health problem” tends to come up. I was reading through the well-regarded book “College Admission: From Application to Acceptance” today which says the following under what not to write:

“Health check. Be careful with health issues. Choosing to write about your struggle with childhood cancer may be appropriate, but writing about lactose intolerance as a hardship you overcame is not.”

This worries me a a lot. Any thoughts? Thanks.

2

College might get worried about liability. If you do it, humor is definitely the way to go.

3

I think that if you handle it with a light touch it could be fine.

But one little detail–it’s probably NOT “literally a million things.”

4

I think they do want to know if you had to cope with something difficult, it puts accomplishments in context and can show your coping ability. And describing something that shaped you in an interesting way is a strength. But you miss a chance to talk about more positive accomplishments unless you can tie it together.