system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
I'm helping a student with her college app and she wants to include childhood sexual abuse. Thoughts?

She's a high school senior applying to college. I saw her first draft and she touched upon some early childhood sexual abuse while she was still in her native country. I didn't pry too much, but it wasn't anyone in her immediate family.

Should this be included or is that a bad idea? I wasn't planning on making the experience the focus of the essay, but I thought it might be important enough to include. She seems fairly well adjusted now.

Also, I know that there are mandatory reporting laws. How would that factor in this kind of scenario where the abuser is on the other side of the world?
gpt
Usually applications are to show the strength of the student as a good fit for the program they are applying for. If she thinks that writing about her past sexual abuse will prove to other people how strong an academic candidate she is, then she should write about it. If it does not, then she should not be writing about it.