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Needing to withdraw from 3 major classes is a situation that almost demands an explanation. I know that as a reviewer, I'd be asking "what happened here?" So, using the OIE section to say that your grandmother's death required your parents to be out of the country for several weeks to settle her affairs leaving the care of your __ year old brother in your hands. The demands of caring for him precluded you from keeping up with your coursework and you decided to withdraw from those classes and then successfully completed them the following semester.
 
LizzyM said:
Needing to withdraw from 3 major classes is a situation that almost demands an explanation. I know that as a reviewer, I'd be asking "what happened here?" So, using the OIE section to say that your grandmother's death required your parents to be out of the country for several weeks to settle her affairs leaving the care of your __ year old brother in your hands. The demands of caring for him precluded you from keeping up with your coursework and you decided to withdraw from those classes and then successfully completed them the following semester.
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Alright, thank you so much! If secondaries ask about extenuating circumstances, do I just repeat myself? Or should I assume that the explanation in the OIE will suffice?
 
misosoop said:
Alright, thank you so much! If secondaries ask about extenuating circumstances, do I just repeat myself? Or should I assume that the explanation in the OIE will suffice?
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That's tricky. I think it might be best to ask each school if the application reader has access to the primary application or only the secondary and if you should repeat something in the primary or if just once is enough.
 
LizzyM said:
That's tricky. I think it might be best to ask each school if the application reader has access to the primary application or only the secondary and if you should repeat something in the primary or if just once is enough.
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Ok, I will definitely ask. Thanks again!
 
If for some reason you are still in doubt despite asking (for example you don't get a clear answer), repeat your explanation. Don't copy and paste from the primary, but change the answer to respond to the specific question.
 
Read my advice. We will also cover this on Sunday for Expert Advice Live.
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Other Impactful Experiences Essay: Exploring Your Unique Story | SDN

Beginning with the 2024 cycle, the AAMC allowed AMCAS and ERAS applicants an opportunity to describe Other Impactful Experiences (OIE) that have helped
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The Weather on Your Application Journey | SDN

In many literary epics, the protagonists’ journey is adversely affected by the weather or some force of nature. In Odysseus’s voyage home, Frodo’s quest,
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This is just my take from the original description. First off, what is the "experience"? You list a lot of different events that present your answer more like an "excuse" for your withdrawals.

As I note in the articles, the intention of this essay is to give us additional context about your life and journey. it does not need to be related to your academic difficulties or your journey to medicine. It also does not need to focus on trauma or disadvantaging events or circumstances (though you can if you wanted to), as the essay should not be used as a "confessional."

For the concern about repeating yourself in secondaries, I would focus on what amount of detail you would want to disclose to all schools and why it belongs in OIE (or CASPA Life Experiences). Secondaries really want specific answers; even when the prompt asks for a time when..., you should focus on ONE time instead of ALL the times.

Explaining academic challenges or aberrations to your performance should focus on your growth and what you learned to better manage and perform in future classes. If you had to take a semester withdrawal, you can explain your circumstances, but I don't think OIE is the best place for this. (Again, read the articles.)
 
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misosoop said:
Would this context work?

My parents, as young immigrants who were struggling to find work, sent me back to their home country to live with my grandma. I was raised pretty much exclusively by her from age 1-5 before I rejoined my parents here (yes it was an early attachment theory disasterclass lol). I think I could pull this in two different ways in terms of "OIE":

1. Explore the effect of grief on my perspective, not just its effects on my academics, but pushing me to volunteer in hospice, etc. It was a really difficult time because I was torn between grief (especially since it seemed very sudden and I had not seen her in person for many years due to COVID), responsibility for my brother, and feeling like a failure in withdrawing from my classes.

2. Explore the experience of "assimilating" after I returned, especially since I grew up in a more rural area in the south. Experiences like bullying, developing a cultural identity, etc. have shaped the way I view medicine as well. However, I feel like every immigrant kid shares this story, plus I'm ORM anyway, so IDK.

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm also OK with simply not writing for OIE if nothing fits.
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I caution against trauma dumping, which you are offering with both of your "choices." Being separated from your parents at a very early age has an impact, but you don't have to tell us the domino effect. Were there any benefits about living with your grandparents that you can remember?

Of the two, I would choose a very brief version of number 2, IMO.
 
Mr.Smile12 said:
I caution against trauma dumping, which you are offering with both of your "choices." Being separated from your parents at a very early age has an impact, but you don't have to tell us the domino effect. Were there any benefits about living with your grandparents that you can remember?

Of the two, I would choose a very brief version of number 2, IMO.
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Thanks for the advice; if I do end up writing this I will definitely try to avoid trauma dumping by keeping the context concise and focusing more on the perspective I gained/the way the experience shaped me.

The major benefit (although it was a drawback at the time) is that my first language is something other than English. I can definitely work this into option 2.

However, if neither of these options fits the brief - I would rather not fill in the OIE just for the sake of it - I know it used to be the "disadvantaged" essay and I don't want to force myself into a space that I am privileged to have been unassociated with for most of my life.
 
misosoop said:
Thanks for the advice; if I do end up writing this I will definitely try to avoid trauma dumping by keeping the context concise and focusing more on the perspective I gained/the way the experience shaped me.

The major benefit (although it was a drawback at the time) is that my first language is something other than English. I can definitely work this into option 2.

However, if neither of these options fits the brief - I would rather not fill in the OIE just for the sake of it - I know it used to be the "disadvantaged" essay and I don't want to force myself into a space that I am privileged to have been unassociated with for most of my life.
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Check your secondary prompts. You likely have more opportunities than just the OIE.
 
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