<p>I would not say overcoming a difficult hardship merits any more weight than determination or passion. I would side on the argument that hardships aren’t necessarily pertinent to a college application; however, scholarships are a different story. Unless the hardship or difficulty faced in life led to your academic statistics you are showing to the University, I would not include it. If I may ask, what was the difficult situation or hardship you had to overcome?</p>