Should I not write about my brief homelessness in my personal essay?

[Professor Deej]

I decided not to write about it. Thanks for all the responses!

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[typicalindian]

It does make you look like an idiot at that point in time, but you should reflect on it and say how that experience helped you to grow and how it helped you (if at all) in choosing a career in medicine.

 

[sirenomelia]

Sounds like it would be an interesting and off the beaten path pers. statement as long as you weren't a gutter crack ***** gangbanger.

 

[sector9]

What positive traits are you trying to show from this experience exactly..?

This.

I don't see a problem with mentioning it except I am having a hard time connecting the dots between your homelessness and you picking medicine as your career (and no, making lots of skrilla so you won't be homeless again doesn't count). If you have a convincing way to talk about it within the context of "Why medicine" then I say go for it

 

[Professor Deej]

What positive traits are you trying to show from this experience exactly..?

It's a piece of a longer story that ultimately shows how this experience helped me to mature, and it also ties into some of the things I saw and why I plan to work in an underserved area. My worry is that my young/brief marriage and past financial issues may be seen in more of a negative light than a positive one.

Im also worried about writing a personal essay that's too depressing. No one likes a buzz-kill.

 

[Musclemass]

Your intuition seems spot on - too often essays expected to cause a sympathetic or understanding impression/reaction can backfire. In this case, I think the more detail, the more likely to backfire.

If this is what you want to write about, keep it general. Your marital status is irrelevant anyway. You went to work after high school, not knowing what you wanted to do with your life. After a few years, you realized it was a mistake and you wanted a college education, blah blah blah.

 

[saveourpens]

I'd try to tie it in if it had an impact on your path but I wouldn't use the term "homeless".

 

[Professor Deej]

Your intuition seems spot on - too often essays expected to cause a sympathetic or understanding impression/reaction can backfire. In this case, I think the more detail, the more likely to backfire.

If this is what you want to write about, keep it general. Your marital status is irrelevant anyway. You went to work after high school, not knowing what you wanted to do with your life. After a few years, you realized it was a mistake and you wanted a college education, blah blah blah.

Duly noted :thumbsup:

I'd try to tie it in if it had an impact on your path but I wouldn't use the term "homeless".

Point taken

You can talk about a depressing incident without the essay coming off as being depressing. Having said this, I wouldn't mention your marriage and being kicked out in your personal statement because the negatives here (in my opinion) really do outweigh the positives.

I don't want to come off as being mean-spirited here, but I also don't see how being homeless and having gone through a divorce contribute to a person's maturity. If I'm understanding this situation correctly, you stopped being homeless because your parents took you back in. You could try to spin it as being persistent in the face of hardships or something like that, but even then, there are much better ways to display these two qualities (persistence and maturity)..

You might, however, be able to tactfully incorporate the things that you saw when you were homeless without directly referencing your marriage, divorce and being kicked out, etc. This would be able to help explain your desire to work in an underserved area (ideally you'll also have ECs that show you're actively helping this community).

Hmm.. Good points. I should probably just right about something else or something more generic like musclemass suggested. Thanks guys

 

[kduck]

Maybe if you don't talk about it in your PS, you can use it for secondaries that ask about challenges you have overcome? Again, in a vague way, like previous posters have suggested.

 

[Professor Deej]

Maybe if you don't talk about it in your PS, you can use it for secondaries that ask about challenges you have overcome? Again, in a vague way, like previous posters have suggested.

i forgot all about secondaries.. Thanks

 

[raltima07]

thank god for people who quote the OP - i was able to read what they had written =)

 

[JHU 2010]

thank god for people who quote the OP - i was able to read what they had written =)

+1 it's silly when posters delete their own posts. the internet remembers!

 

[Professor Deej]

+1 it's silly when posters delete their own posts. the internet remembers!

I replaced it to let all of the new readers know that I was no longer in need of any advice. That way, they won't waste anymore time here than need be.

 

[BiopsychStudent]

What if someone else wants to write a PS about homelessness? Its silly to delete your original posts because someone else might have similar circumstances and want to read about it.