<p>I was born with a cleft palate and as a result, require annual operations until I leave for college. My insecurities about the physical trait grew until it caused other problems in my life. In a nutshell, I became severely depressed and suicidal at several points. The depression affected my junior year and my grades plummeted. I went from straight A’s (in freshman and sophomore year) to three C’s and a mix of A’s and B’s in the first semester of junior year. I managed to get three A’s and three B’s for the second semester. I heard that it was bad to discuss psychological problems in the essays, but it would properly explain why my grades dropped. I can almost guarantee that my drop in grades would never happen again. (I’m seeing a psychiatrist.) However, I’m not sure if the topic of my cleft palate, what it led to, and how I overcame it would make it sound as if I was unstable-- unlikely to thrive in a college environment. </p>
<p>Thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>Only write an essay if it will portray you in a positive light. I’m not saying you’re unstable, but your essay might suggest that. It’s probably safest to choose a different topic!</p>
<p>i wouldn’t use that for essay topic, but mention it in the application somewhere</p>
<p>The cleft palate part sounds like quite an ordeal. They should know about that. It would be okay to say that you struggled in life sometimes because of it, but feel you have gained perspective/control/whatever sounds right and got back on track. If you work on it, and are a good writer, I think you might incorporate it into an essay that also shows your aspirations, aspects of yourself as a student and what you think about and are interested in. You might start in on the other topic, and bring in the operations you have to suffer later, which may surprise the reader and cast things in a different light. Sorry if this sounds so vague. Just do some practice writing and see what comes up.</p>
<p>But having an essay that focuses on depression isn’t a good idea–suicidal, never.</p>