<p>Suppose someone’s sufficiently qualified and wants to go to college to further their education. What if they also come from a dysfunctional family,and college is their only chance to get out of that situation without compromising their education? What if college will be the beginning of a “normal” life, their first chance to make real friends?</p>
<p>If they’re also applying for those reasons and write an essay/talk to the interviewer about it, will it affect their chances?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>If the essay is good, u’d be super in.</p>
<p>If your “sufficiently qualified” why would you need to bring your dysfunctional family into it? Unless your saying look what I overcame and then go on to show your accomplishments. </p>
<p>Might come off as, let me into your college so I can be normal (because I wasn’t normal before)</p>
<p>Besides - Having a dysfunctional family can almost be considered normal.</p>
<p>i wrote about how school was an escape from my disfuctional family[more eloquently of course], i got into most of my top colleges except for ivies-if you tie it into how it stemed your love for a particular subject or career goal, along w/ awesome letters of rec/score/ec’s, then you have an amazing story to tell</p>
<p>College acceptances:ucla,cal,ucsd,uc davis, cal poly slo,usc, and waitlisted for stanford[and my letters of rec were not that good, i asked a teacher instead of a professor at ucsd that i got to work with because his wife was going through brutal cancer treatment at the time]</p>
<p>I feel like I’m a normal person in abnormal circumstances, if that makes sense. If you only knew… a Dad who’s spent half his life in jail and a sis who worked in the oldest profession, to name a few, are not normal. I can’t act the way I would if I were at college, because someone in my family has anger issues to put it mildly.I have good grades,but sometimes just getting through the day has been a struggle.But thank you for the advice.</p>
<p>^ yeah it seems you had many obstacles to overcome because of it! my parents were divorced, i became a caregiver to my younger brother, and had a schizophrenic older brother who attempted suicide more than 5 times, all while doing ec’s, ap’s, and community service-i guess anything that sets you apart positively is good</p>
<p>I think you need to be careful about mentioning parents in jail, especially if the result of that might be someone in the admissions office running a name check and finding out that there is violence in the background. For example, if your father is someone who would be potentially dangerous on parent’s weekend, that could hurt.</p>
<p>Maybe the better approach is to get one of your recommendation writers to talk about overcoming significant personal obstacles.</p>
<p>This is a delicate area. Be careful.</p>
<p>I wasn’t referring to my dad, although he too has those kinds of issues. My mum actually divorced him (grudgingly) after he went to jail the last time: let’s just say he shouldn’t be around people my age. He doesn’t live here any more, but he still comes round often. He is definitely not paying for college though, or coming to parents weekend… I don’t think he’s even allowed to leave the UK.</p>
<p>Sorry. It’s a long story.</p>
<p>If you can craft an essay that talks about your ability to do decently despite your family circumstances, that can help. But an essay that talks about what you will do in college once you’re free of your family? That wouldn’t be very useful. </p>
<p>You want to anchor application and essays in who you are, not who you would be if only. If you can do that - focus on your ability to get through it despite extremely adverse circumstances, and <em>then</em> talk about how the university will allow you to take the next steps toward your dreams - that angle could work.</p>
<p>Actually, you’re right… I suppose that would be the best approach. I think I know what to do now. Thanks for the advice :)</p>
<p>Good advice RoaringMice! Hey! That rhymes.</p>
<p>As long your circumstances didn’t negatively affect your mental stability, your background should help you.</p>