Taychase09

I am a junior in upperschool and i am now starting to consider and brainstorm common app essay topics. I love to write and i really want to convey this through my essay. I am pretty sure i know what i want to write about although i wanted your opinions as to if it is entirely appropriate/good...

Basically I have been studying ballet for years and in the process developed an eating disorder. I struggled with eating for all of freshman and sophomore year and am still continuing work on it although I am much healthier and much more in control of my body these days. I know that I want to show colleges not only my strength as a writer but also my strength as a person ( i know this sounds corny) and i think that by pursuing an uncomfortable topic such as an eating disorder i will be able to show the maturity and strength i gained when overcoming it. I would really appreciate any feedback on my topic choice including any suggestions as how to approach subjects like an eating disorder

thankyou so muchh

ADad

You might want to look at this thread or search for similar:

Mental Illness in College Admissions Essays

The thread isn't exactly on point but is related to your question. I think there may have been other threads on these topics as well.

aisgzdavinci

it looks good

Hunt

A piece of advice I have read elsewhere, and which I agree with is: don't write about a problem or obstacle unless you have completely overcome it. If you are still struggling with it, it may just tell the college that they are accepting a problem.

Meugenio

If you really like writing, make it allegorical. It would show strength of thought-process and really show your creativity.

FridaKahlo

I completely agree with Hunt. It may be cathartic for you to write about and eating disorder, but save the catharsis for someplace other than your college essay. Also, check out the Mental Illness thread suggested by ADad. Best wishes.

alexsmol

Colleges are a notorious breading place for EDs. A lot of times peoples tendencies come out under college stress and change. Often on account of this academic performance is compromised and sometimes even students have to take time off to recover. This is not in the interest of the college. Eating Disorders have become a big concern in college, and this the Admissions Officers are going to be very worried about accepting someone with a problem that very often does crop up again. I wouldn't mention it, there's more to you then that, and it's not going to give you the extra positive edge that you would want from the personal essay.

p_hp_fan

I think that it all depends on how you approach the essay. Even once you've nailed down an essay topic or thesis, there are still thousands of ways you could go about writing it. I believe that since you are getting such an early start to writing your college essays for next year, you should go ahead and write this essay about your eating disorder. If you don't like it, you can just toss it aside, no harm done. However, as long as you highlight the right things and avoid most of the obvious dangers in writing about such a topic, I believe that it is possible to form a great essay with this topic.

A few tips, though. It's often hard in a "struggle" essay to dodge both a victimized tone and a sappy, melodramatic tone at the same time. Just be concise and heartfelt. Include anecdotes or tell an overarching story. Also, I'd talk about the ballet quite a bit to take time away from the ED.

Good luck and best wishes in all of your various pursuits and hardships.