Mentioning failure in college admissions essay?
Asked by Tina TOk so I have to write 4 different college admissions essays (I know, i'm about ready to throw myself infront of a moving vehicle) and the one i've "finished" is kinda starting to make me doubt the topic I chose. The prompt is 'tell us about someone who has made an impact in your life, how and why is this person important you to you, etc'. Well... I wrote about how the first failing grade I ever recieved in my life happened sophomore year of high school in Chemistry and how I was really upset and stuff... and when I was on the verge of failing the semester, I approached my dad expecting he'd be all disappointed but he ended up telling me about how he was almost failing the same subject in college. Then I wrote about how my dad worked harder to improve his grades and his English (he was an international student) and that his story inspired me to never give up when the going gets tough. Is this going to make me look bad? Or should I also mention that I ended up passing the semester? My grades are actually pretty good. I have a 3.8 GPA, but I was at one point close to failing honors chemistry (I made sure to mention it was honors) but through my dad's experience in life he inspired and encouraged me to never give up. That's what I wrote, and I hope it's okay. I didn't mention that I ended up passing because I felt like it would have taken away from my cool ending.
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Answered by ooooo
They will see the transcript anyway, so it's not going to hurt. They'll figure out that you passed! I think it sounds good. It shows that you've learned--from your dad and from your experience--how to overcome academic obstacles and that you have the determination to push yourself harder in difficult classes rather than simply fill your schedule with the easiest ones possible or drop out. Those are things colleges are looking for in a student. They'd rather have students who have a hard time with some subjects but work hard to succeed anyway than ones who find everything easy and become lazy.
They will see the transcript anyway, so it's not going to hurt. They'll figure out that you passed! I think it sounds good. It shows that you've learned--from your dad and from your experience--how to overcome academic obstacles and that you have the determination to push yourself harder in difficult classes rather than simply fill your schedule with the easiest ones possible or drop out. Those are things colleges are looking for in a student. They'd rather have students who have a hard time with some subjects but work hard to succeed anyway than ones who find everything easy and become lazy.
