<p>My friend is writing her essay for her application to Stanford at this very moment.</p>
<p>She wants to know if writing about suffering a history of child abuse is a good topic. </p>
<p>To be honest, I cringe a little at that topic. For one thing, her story is extremely controversial. She’s literally about to go and question the true definition of child abuse, and government issues, and how her life was affected by all of it. Another - I’m worried it might sound like a sob story, and make her sound a little too desperate… And I wonder, IF SHE GOT IN FOR IT - would it affect her college life? </p>
<p>I’m really on the fence for this sort of topic. :/</p>
<p>She’s a great writer though, she’s won several writing contests. </p>
<p>I’m just worried that such a topic might affect her negatively. Especially when, rumor has it, the essay for any Stanford college app can possible determine acceptance or rejection. :/</p>
<p>I’d really like your honest opinions and views on this! :)</p>
<p>I’ll leave answering the question to others, but why would it affect her college life if she got in with it? I doubt she’ll be bothered, and only the adcoms will see it (who frankly will not remember which student had which essay).</p>
<p>I guess I’ll take the reins on this one. As someone who as experienced a very similar situation, I say that it IS a safe topic. However, there are some things to keep in mind. There are too ways to write an essay of this nature, one is the “sob story” and the other is the “conquering expectations” essay. It’s important to remember the context in which he/she is writing in. Don’t just throw out what your horrible childhood was like. Instead, demonstrate that you were able to overcome the obvious obstacles and in doing so, grow as an individual. This way you don’t come off as simply writing a sob story. Although I’m not an expert on essay writing, I just got home from a pretty selective summer program and one of the senior staff members told me that they pulled for me to get into the program because they were moved by my essay. So for your friend, as long as they are cautious, they should have ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM in writing an essay like that. In fact, I personally think that if something like this happens in your life, not writing about it is more of a crime. I hope this helps :)</p>
<p>The topic itself isn’t off limits, though the precision in voice required to write about it effectively is elusive. Writing awards =/= ability to write about child abuse successfully.</p>
<p>More likely than not, the admissions officer will cringe, then sympathise slightly, then doubt, then cringe again before cursing the applicant for writing such a controversial essay.</p>
<p>QuestBridge students handle this kind of thing successfully at relatively high rates. I’m not sure how they accomplish it, though. It certainly can be done.</p>
<p>Okay, so she’s decided to show her passionate love and empathy towards children. She’s gone abroad a summer to go assist doctors in treating children pro bono, and she volunteers weekly as a tutor for children at a large hospital nearby. She has been a consistent and cheerful volunteer there for the past 2 and a half years. Sound alright? Because this essay topic is a little too risky for her… she might, however, allude towards a history of child abuse. </p>
<p>Does this sound like a winning essay? Passionate?</p>
<p>You can write about the child abuse as long as you don’t make it a sob story. Winning essays that write about controversial topics like that are written in a way so the reader can learn how the applicant grew and changed from it.</p>