Would this topic be a good topic? too dramatic? Forum

[gbpackerbacker]

My parents divorce lasted for more than ten years. During this time period, one of my parents had sole custody. He or she neglected me and more or less even though this parent received thousands of dollars in child support every month (several thousand for multiple children), the parent neglected me. I wont go into details on here (but i will elaborate a bit on my statement), but I was living in a house with conditions far below the poverty level (rats, etc...) while my dad/mom continued to spend hundreds of dollars everyday on expensive clothing. My medical needs were not properly adressed and I spent some time in the hospital. Even though the court was aware of these deplorable conditions, I was still forced to live with this individual until my siblings and I were taken into state custody (then I moved back in with same parent). Nothing was wrong with my other parent.

The reason I want to write about this is because I want to talk about an experience where I was wronged by the judicial system, contrasting it with what I would do as an attorney (probably working for a non-profit) to promote the welfare of disadvantaged groups (homosexuals, etc...). Also, I would to contrast my failures in high school (due to said events) with my successes in college.

Sorry for being ambiguous, I want to explain the depth of the events without exposing too much info.

Would this be a good topic? I do not plan to dwell on the events of my childhood, maybe just a paragraph explaining how bad it was. All of it is now documented.

Thoughts?

Thanks...

[Spaceman Spiff]

Not sure about making this the focus of your PS. It seems like it might be a little too dark, without revealing anything about your strengths as a candidate. But, if you go with something else, I would definitely throw this into a diversity statement.

[gbpackerbacker]

Yeah. Also, I do not know if some of it is believable (a lot of it is pretty messed up). What is the difference between a personal statement and a diversity statement?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Most schools offer an optional essay asking about diverse background. For example, from the Georgetown application:

"The Law Center recruits students from diverse racial, economic, educational, and ethnic backgrounds. The Admissions Committee encourages you to attach a brief statement that will enable the Committee to understand the contribution your personal background would make to the student body of Georgetown University Law Center."