Trauma in the Personal Statement, Part 2

Level 5 - Ivy League

Welcome back! Previously, we mentioned the dangers in a trend in applications where applicants are trying to sell their trauma in undergraduate and graduate applications.

These applicants are disclosing personal information about themselves often to create a personal connection, when in reality they are over disclosing and creating an awkward reaction with readers.

If you missed the article, you can find it here:

There have been some reactions to this, and we want to help parse through some of the arguments against our position.

Part 1: The dissent

From our conversations, most of the dissent on this position is that college admissions officers should be looking for students who are authentically themselves. If providing a harrowing tail of your battle with anorexia is part of who you are, why should any admissions officer look at you differently?

We will preface by stating - we do not work in a world based on how things should work, but instead based on how they do work.

Admissions is like dating - you put your best self forward and hope for the best prospects. You could lie about yourself, but eventually you will be found out and then you will be disqualified.

But when you overshare your deepest, most intimate moments upfront, you put yourself completely at the mercy of the reader. Sure, some people may find it strong that you can speak to clearly about your addiction history, but again, imagine its a date. If this is speed dating, do you want to lead with the fact that you were an addict? Do you really need to provide a detailed story of how you woke up after you went on a bender?