Writing about mental illness in college essay?

egrace14
Sat, 16 Jul 2016 20:37:57 +0000

As my senior year approaches, I’ve begun to think about what I’ll write for my common app essay. The one glaring topic I can think of to write about is my anxiety disorder, something that I’ve struggled with (but overcame) for years. It doesn’t affect me anymore, but it was a huge part of my life freshman and sophomore year. I’ve heard that mentioning any kind of mental illness can be risky on an application essay as it labels you as a risk to the school, or as someone who may not adjust well.

Obviously, I do not plan on focusing on the dark times of my disorder, but more so how I overcame it, how it taught me valuable lessons, and how it has influenced what I want to do with my life (I will be majoring in psychology, hopefully. I want to be a psychologist or psychiatrist). I will be more apt to discuss how it spurred me to write for an online anxiety magazine, rather than how it dragged down my grades my first two years of HS. My main goal will be to focus on the positives I have pulled from my struggles.

Aside from this topic, I’m not really sure what else I could write about as there has been nothing that compares in terms of growth and personal impact.

If it makes any difference, I will be applying to BU, BC, Providence College, Salve Regina University, UNC (Wilmington+Chapel Hill), possibly Elon or Furman, and College of Charlesron.

Would this be too risky? Or would it instead show perseverance? Thanks for any advice