@Fonixi … APPLICATION HINT: Colleges that fund international students are seeking the diversity that these students will bring to the campus. So try to “remind” admission officials of this when you complete your application.
For instance, I helped a Vietnamese student apply to US colleges a few years ago. Her initial Common App essay was about participating in her high school’s poetry slam. She wrote about how shy she was at first and how she even considered dropping out. But then she pushed her herself to stick with it and eventually made a big hit at the poetry slam and realized that she could do anything she set her mind to do.
Well, the draft was decent, but her approach was one that admission folks have seen a few gazillion times (discussing not just poetry slams but also debate tournaments, orchestra recitals, athletic competitions, etc.). And her essay could have been written by an applicant from Massachusetts or Michigan or Montana. So I suggested that she go back to the drawing board and come up with an idea that would highlight something that was specific to her experiences in Vietnam … a topic that would make her seem less like US domestic applicants rather than more like them. And her subsequent essay was a very charming (and informative) description of her visits to her grandfather’s village to celebrate an annual holiday.
So perhaps you, too, should also consider submitting an essay that emphasizes your difference from US domestic candidates rather than your sameness.
Good luck to you, whatever you decide.
