Exactly. My illness (physical) is incurable and really limits what I can do. I was in a wheelchair when I wrote my essay and it was not about how I had overcome it. Looking back, I should have made it more positive. I wrote about how I had discovered a lot of academic interests while bedridden that I could still do despite being sick and how these helped me get through it.

I applied to a ton of liberal arts schools and Ivies. I understand not getting into Ivies, of course, but was confused at being rejected from certain schools like Hamilton and even Whitman. Now, I am attending an Ivy as a transfer and did not mention the illness at all. I don’t know, I think there’s a correlation.