<p>Sorry for the wrong articles in the title. :(</p>
<p>I am an international student from China and currently in my senior year.</p>
<p>I wonder if “my mother constantly worrying that I may abandon her someday” can be considered a extenuating circumstance. She has been feeling very insecure since she divorced my father when I was six, and I lived with her until my high school junior year. She is convinced that my father has abandoned her (although it was she who sued to divorce) and therefore I will abandon her someday in the future, not fulfilling “filial piety”. She was so insecure that whenever I came home late from school and missed normal dinner time due to activities, she’d accuse me of not respecting her hard work of making me dinner. So I tried to avoid activities after school. What’s more, she didn’t allow me to contact with my father for reason that my father had abandoned her and me and therefore should be considered an enemy. So I had been pretty distressed until I moved with my father last year when I decided I couldn’t put up with her any more. And my father is willing to pay for my education in America. </p>
<p>In addition, after divorce my mother has been unemployed for more time than employed, so I lived in a poor family for almost 10 years.</p>
<p>Above is a brief description of my situation. Despite all the difficulties and domestic turmoil, I excelled at my school work and did some decent extracurricular activities. And I think my mother’s irregularity has made me more mature and independent.</p>
<p>TOEFL 112.SAT highest single sitting 2320, super score 2370. Straight A’s on my transcript.</p>
<p>I don’t like sounding whiny or accusing anyone, and just want to present myself as who I really am in my application. Should I mention the situation mentioned above? If I should how can I avoid being whiny and show admissions officers that I am a strong person? </p>
My goodness, this is trivial stuff. Lots of mothers complain when family members miss dinner. Unless you’re mother was diagnosed with and treated for a mental illness, your story will indeed sound like a typical teenager complaining about a helicoptering parent. And the fact that you did in fact “abandon” your mother by going to live with your father makes her concerns seem quite valid! You’ll have to fund a better way to reveal yourself in your applications.</p>
<p>MommaJ:
Maybe I got a little obsessed with my family issue, thank you for your opinion. Other parts of my application are good and I have plenty much other things about myself to say. Btw my mom did freak out frequently like crying about how unfair life is and I don’t know what to say. Maybe I’d better assess these issues several years later.</p>
<p>Your GPA and SAT score make you a viable applicant just about anywhere. However, admissions will be more difficult for you everywhere because you are an international applicant. Find out from your father how much he can afford to pay each year. That will determine your application list.</p>
<p>Just my opinion, but in general college is the time when a young person starts to take the necessary steps to become an adult. Part of that involves ceasing to blame one’s parents for one’s circumstances, accepting that you are where you are, and believing that from here on, you alone will be responsible for your future. </p>
<p>Most adolescents have challenges. Even the rich kids! It is one thing to say that you had an unhappy childhood because of your parents’ divorce, etc. and another to say that although your parents’ divorce was not ideal, you are proud of your accomplishments and understand that all things that happened in your childhood, good and bad, combined to make you the person you are today. </p>
<p>Colleges like to see young people who look forward, not those who are stuck in the past. You are your own person. Don’t define yourself by who your parents are.</p>