<p>I had lunch with some friends and their daughter today. The daughter, who is a recent college graduate told me that one of her friends made up some kind of traumatic experience and wrote her admission essay about it. She said that the girl got into an ivy and is now a reporter (which I found ironic).</p>
<p>Anyway, I was pretty amazed. How often do you think this is done?</p>
<p>Well, if one of the choices is “Topic of Your Choice” (usually is. . .) then, technically, that wouldn’t exclude FICTION, would it? </p>
<p>Sure, it happens, but I don’t think most students would want to write fiction. Also, I think essays about traumatic experiences often make the person look like a “victim” (“Look what terrible thing happened to me. And I survived!”) Generally not the greatest idea for an essay, IMO–but she must have written a good one.</p>