<p>Hi, I’m applying to Princeton but have an essay topic I’m not sure if I should use for my Common Application essay.</p>
<p>Basically, about 5 years ago I had an eating disorder which obviously played a large role in my life and which I’d like to write about as I’ve learnt a lot from it. However, do you think it will down be looked down upon and therefore hinder my chances at admittance?</p>
<p>Thanks if you can help. It feels odd posting something like this on a forum, but I really have no idea whether it’s a good or a bad idea to put in my application.</p>
<p>I think you have it right in the thread title. It’s a risky essay topic. Risky means a large range of potential outcomes, good and bad. A great essay about what you learned from a significant personal problem can be very powerful. On the other hand, any responsible adviser would counsel you against disclosing something bad in your medical history to a potential college or employer up front unless you had absolutely no choice not to. (Which I assume is not the case here – i.e., if you don’t write about it, the colleges won’t know about it from anything else on your application.)</p>
<p>Furthermore, if you have it in you to write a great essay about your eating disorder, you probably have it in you to write a great essay about something less risky. It may not be quite as powerful, but it will do the trick. And if your essay on your eating disorder happens to be less great than you think it is . . . you would be much better off having written about something else. Remember, too, that “What I Learned From My Life-Changing Experience” is a very common essay topic, so it takes something pretty special to stand out from the pack.</p>
<p>If it were I making the decision, I wouldn’t choose this as my Common App essay topic.</p>
<p>There’s a group of students at Princeton known as Eating Concerns Advisors, and they attempt to deal with student anxiety about weight, food, etc. Do some research about them. Perhaps you could implicitly paint yourself as someone they’d want on campus in such a capacity.</p>