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[username1000]

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[Moko]

Which of these is better for my adversity essay for secondaries:

1) My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer at the end of my second year in undergrad. I had to drive back and forth from school (2 hour trip) to take care of her and attend her chemo sessions and surgeries in addition to keeping of my school work and activities.

2) I moved around a lot cross-county when I was growing up. I only went to each school for K-12 for a max of 2 years before changing schools. This led to a lot of bullying and feelings of inadequacy because I did not know the curriculum the new schools were teaching and I always felt behind. I also had very little support system because I lost my friends whenever we moved.

Would either of these work or should I come up with something else?

Both of these are fine in my opinion. For #2, focus on what you gained from these experiences, e.g resiliency, adaptability, independence, etc.

 

[Saturday’s Child]

I’d lean toward #2 based on what you’ve written here, but let’s dig a bit deeper. Which of these situations would you say was more formative for you? From which one did you learn and/or grow the most? What skills did you use to overcome each one, and how might those skills contribute to you being a better physician? When thinking about these adversity prompts, it’s often beneficial to consider the strength of the solution and lessons learned more than the difficulty of the problem itself. Adversity comes in myriad forms and affects us all in different ways, but in these questions it’s our response to that adversity that tells the admissions committee more about the kind of person we are.

 

[Goro]

Which of these is better for my adversity essay for secondaries:

1) My mom was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer at the end of my second year in undergrad. I had to drive back and forth from school (2 hour trip) to take care of her and attend her chemo sessions and surgeries in addition to keeping of my school work and activities.

2) I moved around a lot cross-county when I was growing up. I only went to each school for K-12 for a max of 2 years before changing schools. This led to a lot of bullying and feelings of inadequacy because I did not know the curriculum the new schools were teaching and I always felt behind. I also had very little support system because I lost my friends whenever we moved.

Would either of these work or should I come up with something else?

#1 all the way. Very sorry to hear of this sad news.

 

[Sky138]

I’d pick 2 if I were you. You could easily tie those feelings into your calling for medicine and perhaps a desire for serving underserved/disadvantaged. I wouldn’t put this if you aren’t genuine about it because it’ll be easy to tell if you faked it once they meet you. Besides, I think everyone likes a good underdog story so if you managed to overcome bullying to help people that always sounds good. Again, be genuine regardless what route you pick.