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I've read some places that one should avoid writing about a travel experience, any thoughts? My parents are from central Asia and I went there for the first time recently. I didn't do anything super cool but I was gonna write something along the lines of how seeing the differences and way of life made me more appreciative, aware, mature, etc.

Why not talk the trip in the context of understanding your parents background, their old way of life, their immigration story and how that compares to your life, the lessons you've learned, etc.?

Seems like you potentially have the ingredients for a good PS/DS

I think it depends on how long you were there for, what you did while you were there, etc. I lived abroad and interned with a domestic violence org and wrote about it in my PS and did well considering my shitty numbers. It also depends on what else you have to write about.. I'm pretty boring and vanilla and had nothing else substantial to write.

Just about any topic CAN be a good PS topic. Also, just about any topic CAN be a bad one. It really just depends on how you write it. Put together a first draft, then you can get some advice from people about whether they think it is compelling or not. That's my advice.

Thanks for the feedback

If you can make this a compelling statement, then go for it.

Here are some of the reasons travel might not work well in a PS; if you can avoid these pitfalls, you'll be in decent shape:

1) Generalizing: It is easy to accidentally lump together people from another culture; this can make the writer seem insensitive or prejudiced.

2) Shallow experience: The travel did not involve anything much more than hanging out and seeing some new things.

3) Travelogue: The PS reads like an advertisement for vacation in the country you visited. The PS needs to be about you and your experiences - think more about what you *did* than what you *saw*, for example.

Best, Dani

Does what you write about in the PS require that you actually did something or can it be a reflection of what you have seen and learned.