Adversity/challenge essay advice

[veveyvincent]

I was prewriting the adversity/challenge essay. As an international transfer student, I was thinking about writing my failure to enter the med school in my home country at 18 years old. After a few months of depression, I overcame the frustrating feelings, tried to do well in my current major, transferred to a school in the states, and developed leadership, research abilities, and volunteering experiences. I was wondering whether this will be a good topic for the adversity/challenge essay. It was definitely the biggest challenge I had ever met and I had learned a lot from it. But I am afraid how med schools will view it. Will they dislike students who didn't consider the US med schools until they failed to enter their home country's schools?
Thanks!!

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[deleted972488]

I would come up with something else.

 

[Moko]

I would come up with something else.

Strongly agree with @EmbryonalCarcinoma . Do not write about this. Even though you no doubt have personally grown a lot from this experience, it reveals a lot of unnecessary red flags (failure to enter medical school abroad, propensity for depression despite a relatively minor setback). I'm assuming that you are applying as an international student, so the decks will already be stacked against you. You need to think of something else.

 

[Goro]

I was prewriting the adversity/challenge essay. As an international transfer student, I was thinking about writing my failure to enter the med school in my home country at 18 years old. After a few months of depression, I overcame the frustrating feelings, tried to do well in my current major, transferred to a school in the states, and developed leadership, research abilities, and volunteering experiences. I was wondering whether this will be a good topic for the adversity/challenge essay. It was definitely the biggest challenge I had ever met and I had learned a lot from it. But I am afraid how med schools will view it. Will they dislike students who didn't consider the US med schools until they failed to enter their home country's schools?
Thanks!!

Please show Adcoms that your life has something more than academics in it.

 

[veveyvincent]

Strongly agree with @EmbryonalCarcinoma . Do not write about this. Even though you no doubt have personally grown a lot from this experience, it reveals a lot of unnecessary red flags (failure to enter medical school abroad, propensity for depression despite a relatively minor setback). I'm assuming that you are applying as an international student, so the decks will already be stacked against you. You need to think of something else.

Thanks! But if I was asked questions like "Why did you transfer to the US" or "Why don't you apply for med schools in your home country" in the interview, should I tell them the real story?

 

[veveyvincent]

Thanks for all your feedback! I came up with a new one... I was planning to knit a scarf for my grandma as a Christmas gift and I promised her that I would make a great surprise a few days before the festival. But I didn't realize the workload until I began. The result was I failed to complete the knitting on time. I stayed up to knit the scarf and finally finished it on 31st so at least I can give it as a New Year's gift. The failure made me realize that I shouldn't talk big before I know the exact difficulty of a task. How do you think about this one? @Goro @Moko @EmbryonalCarcinoma

 

[Goro]

Thanks for all your feedback! I came up with a new one... I was planning to knit a scarf for my grandma as a Christmas gift and I promised her that I would make a great surprise a few days before the festival. But I didn't realize the workload until I began. The result was I failed to complete the knitting on time. I stayed up to knit the scarf and finally finished it on 31st so at least I can give it as a New Year's gift. The failure made me realize that I shouldn't talk big before I know the exact difficulty of a task. How do you think about this one? @Goro @Moko @EmbryonalCarcinoma

I believe that you could do better

 

[veveyvincent]

I believe that you could do better

haha thanks! How about talking about failing to find an internship/work-study job? By improving myself and changing strategy, I finally got one.

 

[907914]

haha thanks! How about talking about failing to find an internship/work-study job? By improving myself and changing strategy, I finally got one.

These all sound like routine life issues that everyone has. Try to find something uniquely challenging you have experienced

 

[Moko]

Thanks! But if I was asked questions like "Why did you transfer to the US" or "Why don't you apply for med schools in your home country" in the interview, should I tell them the real story?

You are not required to shoot yourself in the foot. You can simply say that there are more opportunities here in the US and that you are interested in practicing in the US rather than your home country.

Thanks for all your feedback! I came up with a new one... I was planning to knit a scarf for my grandma as a Christmas gift and I promised her that I would make a great surprise a few days before the festival. But I didn't realize the workload until I began. The result was I failed to complete the knitting on time. I stayed up to knit the scarf and finally finished it on 31st so at least I can give it as a New Year's gift. The failure made me realize that I shouldn't talk big before I know the exact difficulty of a task. How do you think about this one? @Goro @Moko @EmbryonalCarcinoma

Sorry, that's terrible material.. Pretend that you're the adcom: is this something you would want to read about and/or be impressed by? Every essay in the application should exist to convey something positive about yourself. You need to show people that you are thoughtful and capable of reflecting on your experiences. Keep brainstorming.

How about talking about failing to find an internship/work-study job? By improving myself and changing strategy, I finally got one.

Heading in the right direction but way too mundane and inconsequential (everyone has been rejected from a job)... There are plenty of adversity / challenge threads on here. Take a look at them to get a glimpse of which ideas people prefer vs which ideas fall flat. These questions aren't meant to be tricky, but they also aren't meant to be easily answered either. Good luck

 

[veveyvincent]

Thanks for all your input!! Really appreciated.
If I have already talked about my foreign background in the diversity essay, will it be too repetitive to mention my experience of overcoming language and culture barriers after transferring to the US school in the challenge/adversity essay?

 

[Moko]

Thanks for all your input!! Really appreciated.
If I have already talked about my foreign background in the diversity essay, will it be too repetitive to mention my experience of overcoming language and culture barriers after transferring to the US school in the challenge/adversity essay?

For the same secondary? I would argue "yes" -- it would be seen as too repetitive. You don't want people to see you as using that as a crutch.