what is appropriate to include in a college essay?
I’m a junior and I haven’t really been focused on my neuroscience/biology major of choice until this year, though I have had great grades throughout. I go to a rigorous art school so most of my good ecs are art-related. I want to double major in art and neuroscience or biology. For my essay, I wanted to write about the why of my transition in interests and emphasize that I’m interdisciplinary to avoid being pigeonholed into art or being rejected for my lack of continued science ecs pre-junior year. But the problem with that is the reason I became so into neuroscience and biology is because my close friend passed away in sophomore year (I won’t describe how it’s related because it’s sensitive, so just trust me). I’m not sure I’ll get into my colleges without describing my interest in both and science, and that probably cannot work without mentioning the main why. i’m worried that that is trauma dumping, which I don’t want to do. I also feel icky about it because essays are supposed to focus on your personal growth, so I feel like I’d be
making the situation about me, which I also don’t want to do. I was wondering if this was an appropriate thing to write about for the common app, and if it is, how to do it tastefully? I also have other ideas I can share if you’d like.