If my child hasn’t overcome significant obstacles in life, they really have nothing to write about in their college admissions essays — certainly nothing that will set them apart, right? Wrong. It’s a common refrain we hear from folks who are not our clients. They seem to be under the assumption that young people need to overcome significant obstacles in their childhood or young adulthood to distinguish themselves in the elite college admissions process. The presumption is, of course, false. While yes, there are college applicants who build windmills out of spare bicycle parts in Malawi to harness the wind to power their villages, and, yes, there are homeless students in the applicant pools too, one does not need to live in a village with no power or lack shelter to earn admission to highly selective American universities.

Adversity is Not the Key to Elite College Admission

Audrey Smith, former Vice President for Enrollment at Smith College, articulates this sentiment best in a letter to the editor published in The New York Times. As she writes, “I agree wholeheartedly that we do a disservice to college applicants when we signal that overcoming adversity is the only way to distinguish oneself in the college admission process. Resilience is an important characteristic for future college students. But even more important factors for colleges to consider are how applicants approach learning, what they see as the purpose of their education, how they investigate their intellectual interests, and how they react when their assumptions are challenged. Too many students worry that if they have not faced major adversity in their young lives, they don’t have a college essay topic. Is this really the message we want to send to our future scholars and leaders?…I have read thousands of essays. Those that I remember best are not the essays that reflect the greatest hardship or the most pain, but those that show the ability to make meaning from everyday situations, demonstrate a sense of humor, reflect a commitment to the community, and, most of all, demonstrate the joy the student finds in learning.”

Well said, Audrey! Well said indeed. We salute you, Audrey, at the conclusion of your 40-year career in elite college admissions, for telling it like it is.

Why Adversity Isn’t the Key to Elite College Admission

Twenty years ago, we might have been singing a different tune. There was a brief moment many years ago — particularly for LGBTQ+ applicants — when writing about experiences of adversity and subsequent growth was a winning formula for gaining admission to a top school. But those days are long gone. For one thing, LGBTQ+ students, including trans students, are no longer considered underrepresented minorities by elite college admissions officers. But for another, any essay on your college application is an opportunity to wax rhapsodic about your singular hook and convey how you intend to take advantage of the hook-related resources and opportunities on your future college campuses. 

The adversity you’ve faced has no room in this equation. What’s more, college admissions officers might misconstrue your story of a challenge you’ve faced as evidence that you’re not resilient, that you may struggle with your mental health, or that you won’t think of your college years as fondly as they would like. Whether this is actually the case or not is besides the point — the point is that when word count is at a premium in the various college essays you pen in your application, there’s no room for a topic that could backfire.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance With Choosing the Most Competitive Essay Topics

There’s no such thing as a single college essay. Instead, between The Common Application’s Personal Statement, college-specific writing supplements, the graded paper (in the case of Princeton University), video prompts, etc., students have to plan rigorously so that they don’t run out of content as they pen their college applications. 

Optimize Your Child’s Admission Odds With Ivy Coach’s Expertise

Instead of taking on this burden alone, enlist the help of Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers to work with you and your child to land on essay topics and framing devices that put you in the best position to optimize their odds of admission to the school of their dreams. To get started with us, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch with an outline of our services.