<p>I want to write my essay about how my dad lost his job and was unemployed for 8 months, and how we moved to America because of it. It is a big part of who I am today. It’ll focus on how my family became stronger and closer because of this adversity. It will be a very family-driven essay. </p>
<p>I know it is hard to judge because you haven’t read my writing style, but my question is, would this topic perhaps seem self-pitying to adcoms? It’s not the same caliber as having a blind mother or escaping from Communist Vietnam, but it is still an integral part of why I try in school, etc. </p>
<p>Stupid, stupid advice. Yes, you could write about how you eat cheese and simply dazzle the admissions officers with fluff, but seeing as how the personal essay is really your only chance to express to the admissions committee who you are, the topic you choose is just as important as your writing style. Choose the topic that offers the greatest insight into your personality and character.</p>
<p>I totally agree that a seemingly ordinary topic can really be wonderful if handled right. You also have the supplementary essay as a chance to tell them a little more about you, so you could put the story of how you came to America in that, instead. Either way.</p>
<p>i’m just speaking from experience talking with friends about their essays. personally, i find that having an “exciting” topic makes it easier to substitute facts for personality. if i wrote about hiking in Africa, i could note that I did x, y, and z, but if I’m writing about eating cheese, i’m going to think a lot harder and deeper to fill up 500 words. not to say that you can’t write a great article on going to Africa.</p>
<p>seriously mustafah, there’s no need to act like such an arrogant dbag. i understand you just got into harvard and you feel like the **** but i really don’t think you need to be so readily dismissive.</p>
<p>If I came off as an arrogant dbag, it was only because I thought it careless and unhelpful of you to say that “the topic is subordinate to your explanation and writing style.” Topic isn’t everything, but it’s important insofar as admissions officers seek to admit applicants who have interesting stories and life experiences. You made it seem as though the choice of topic is only marginally consequential, as though the personal essay is primarily a test of one’s writing ability and creativity.</p>
<p>I wrote my essay about a family crisis not unlike that of the OP. If I can play into my arrogant online persona for a moment, the admissions officer for my region said she was “moved” by my story. If I had written about cheese or if I had related my story using some fanciful metaphor, my essay would not have elicited such a powerful response. </p>
<p>So I think it’s great that the OP is taking such care to choose the most appropriate topic – appropriate to his ends, to how he wants to be perceived by the admissions committee. Subject is just as important as style and substance, in my opinion.</p>
<p>The essay should be about YOU. It can include info on your family, but it should be about YOU. They really don’t care that your mom and sister made up after 10 years of feuding.</p>
<p>In addition, the essay should somehow touch on “Why should Harvard Accept You?”. Did this adversity give you a desire to help others, and now you are the student board member of Big Brothers/Big Sisters?</p>
<p>Choose the topic that will most reflect who you are. If that happens to be writing about cheese, then so be it. If writing about cheese is just something that sounds like it would gain approval from AdmOfficer, don’t do it…</p>
<p>As for the topic of family adversities, as long as you stress the positive outcome of it (ie. you became a stronger person, you learned the importance of family, you became more resilient) and spend less time on the negative aspects. Make sure it focuses on you, though. When you’re finished you should get someone to read it and determine what it can convey about you.</p>
<p>I agree with the general idea thrown in this thread - my essay also had components about my family but I made sure that the essay centered on ME. after all…this is a personal essay. but sometimes a “mundane” topic can be better than a serious one, because many ppl tend to assume that only the life-changing ideas are better. The topics ARE important, but definitely subordinate to your thoughts and writing style. capture your readers in every way.</p>
<p>Your topic can be whatever you want. Take a look at this book if you get a chance. No need to buy it, just browse it at your local library or B&N bookstore.</p>
<p>There isn’t a common theme. Some are just funny, others are compelling. Bottom line: keep in mind that your reader has to go through hundreds or thousands of essays. If you can make him/her want to keep reading past the first few lines, you have come out ahead.</p>
<p>Your “dad” lost his job. Your “dad” was unemployed for eight months. Your “dad” moved here with his family. You were just his luggage.</p>
<p>Harvard should accept your dad. </p>
<p>There are thousands and thousands of pity essays every year. Death of a family member, unemployment of guardian, immigrant life etc… Most of them don’t work. </p>
<p>The essay should be about you!!! Don’t try to leach a tear off them. Just make it about yourself. For Yale supplement essay, I wrote about a philosophical question I had while ordering pizza with a friend.</p>
<p>For you to call the OP’s proposal a “pity essay” is ignorant. Depending on how he writes it, the essay does not have to evoke feelings of pity. Moreover, adcoms encourage applicants to write about formative moments in their lives, and each year thousands of applicants who write such essays (like me) are accepted. Whether these formative moments are happy, sad, extraordinary, or mundane is irrelevant. </p>
<p>It is also not to the OP’s detriment to invoke his family’s story (the key word being invoke) to illustrate a point about himself. That’s what I did, and that’s what many successful applicants do – they draw on their unique experiences.</p>