College Admissions Essay - Selling Your Disability :: College Admissions Essays

Selling Your Disability to the Admissions Office "My father was an alcoholic, and I did anything I could to stay away from home. I chose that college because it was the farthest away. But I hated it there, and didn't do very well. Then I began to worry that I'd flunk out and have to go home, and of course my grades just got worse." "My mother was a drug addict. She did everything a person might do to get money for drugs. Often we didn't have food in the house; if there wasn't money for both, drugs came first. I ran away when I was sixteen, and never even finished high school. They figured that out in my third year of college, and made me take an equivalency test." "When my girlfriend got pregnant, we decided to keep the baby. I had to work two jobs to support us, three during the summer. So my grades aren't so hot." "They found out I had bone cancer in my senior year of high school; I hurt my knee playing basketball, and it wouldn't heal. I've had six operations in six years, along with the chemotherapy. But it didn't interfere with my studies; what else could I do in the hospital anyway?" Each of these cases was presented to me by my clients in the last few years. These clients all had two important things in common. The first is that they overcame incredible obstacles which would have completely demoralized many other people. The second is that, in every single case, the client was embarrassed by these events, and wanted to hide them. "Why should I talk about my problems?" Let's step back into the admissions office for a minute. The faculty committee is reviewing the files of two applicants. Both have a 3.0 g.p.a. and a 155 LSAT score. They're the same age and race, and both went to local colleges. But one is in good health, while the other has suffered from a lifelong kidney disease. They only have one seat left. Which applicant should they admit? They could toss a coin. Or they could decide that, in some cosmic sense, the person with kidney disease "deserves" the seat. Now what if you're that person, but don't want to tell the law school about the kidney disease, because you don't want to sound like you're asking for favors?