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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
NP here.  It does seem like, if a teenager has come from a modest background with few advantages, he or she might as well write about that in the college essay (even if he or she is not trying to play the victim.)  It is admirable for a teen to overcome those obstacles and be motivated enough to work hard and figure out how to apply for college and financial aid when there is no college advisor paving the way.

But if you come from a relatively privileged background, you still need to write about something on your college essay.  If I were an admissions official, I would find it annoying if a kid wrote about how he knows he lives in a bubble.  Maybe a privileged teen could write about teachers that have influenced him/her.

It's a lot to ask teenagers to write a detailed essay about themselves.  I could write it about myself now (at age 47), but it's hard to have perspective at age 17.  It would be nice if there were an option to just submit a research paper in lieu of an essay about yourself.  We don't ask job applicants to do that, after all.[/quote]
I don't know if the first PP was a troll, but I certainly hope you are.  There are many ways to demonstrate self-awareness and growth.  And there are many things that spur it besides coming from an underprivileged background.  My parents are wealthy, I went to a top private school, and my sister tried to commit suicide when I was in middle school.  Everyone has hardships that shape them.

But don't feel jealous of my harsh life experience that gave me the opportunity to write a great college essay.  To my dream school (one of HYPS), I submitted a poem I had written about a sunset and got in.  I don't think anywhere in that application did I mention my sister.  Everyone has hardships.  You don't need to tug on emotional strings, however, to demonstrate that you are not frivolous.[/quote]

I think the first PP was a troll, but not the one to which you were responding. As a person with bipolar who has contemplated suicide several times, I must say that the thought of family members using my illness in a college essay is hurtful. I didn't use my condition as a means to get into a (lesser) Ivy, but a story about my grandmother's trips to the Goodwill and the tarot reader. [/quote]

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