Adversity/Challenge Essay

[UbiquitinAsian]

So I am trying to work on my adversity/challenge secondary prompt and am a bit stumped. Been lucky to never have to face any extreme circumstances, so I think I need to pick from a more minute obstacle. I have two in my head right now:

1) I played baseball growing up, and I was thinking about describing my experience one summer where I was in an extreme hitting slump and how I overcame that. Does that come off as strange? Would adcoms look at it and be like "This applicant hasn't faced any true adversity?"

2) Another topic I could write about would be the time when my older brother finally moved out of the house for college and how that affected me and how I overcame the initial realization of things being different from now on and how to embrace that change.

Do either sound interesting?

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[SuaveCardigans]

To be honest, both of these make you seem extremely privileged/sheltered. Is there really nothing else you can write about?

I mean, how did addressing them show resilience and character on your behalf?

 

[21Rush12]

I have to respectfully disagree with the above poster. This isn't a "who had the suckiest life" contest essay, it's about addressing and demonstrating how you handle a real struggle. There will always be someone out there with a worse sad story, many of which wouldn't be appropriate to tell in an essay like this anyway. The point is to demonstrate your coping skills and the character traits you possess when faced with hard times.


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[SpoiledMilk]

1) I played baseball growing up, and I was thinking about describing my experience one summer where I was in an extreme hitting slump and how I overcame that.

Of the two, go with this one for the adversity/challenge prompt.

 

[UbiquitinAsian]

To be honest, both of these make you seem extremely privileged/sheltered. Is there really nothing else you can write about?

I mean, how did addressing them show resilience and character on your behalf?

I completely understand what you are saying. To be honest I am priveliged but of course like you said, I should not come off that way. I'll dig deeper. Thanks for the feedback

 

[UbiquitinAsian]

Of the two, go with this one for the adversity/challenge prompt.

Are you joking? Cuz I for sure thought this topic was the more crappy of the two. And by a long shot

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Are you joking? Cuz I for sure thought this topic was the more crappy of the two. And by a long shot

I am a stranger who does not know you on a public forum giving you my impression of the two choices you presented in your "privileged" life. In the end, you have to go with your gut. Whichever choice you decide, make sure to convey humbleness, sincerity, how/what you did to overcome the obstacle, and what you learned in the process.

 

[UbiquitinAsian]

I am a stranger who does not know you on a public forum giving you my impression of the two choices you presented in your "privileged" life. In the end, you have to go with your gut. Whichever choice you decide, make sure to convey humbleness, sincerity, how/what you did to overcome the obstacle, and what you learned in the process.

I understand that, I was just curious as to why you think that first one resonated better than the second. The second one hits closer to home and I know I can talk about it in a more personal manner. Just tryna get your 2 cents

 

[SpoiledMilk]

You brother is moving away for college, not going to Mars and never returning or going off to war as a soldier with the high possibility of never returning. Are you never ever going to see your brother again? Never visit him or have him visit home from break? How many families or Adcoms do you think have children who goes away for college?

The slump can be conveyed in a way that you felt that you were not contributing to the team and that you had to overcome this form of self-doubt, etc...

 

[SuaveCardigans]

I completely understand what you are saying. To be honest I am priveliged but of course like you said, I should not come off that way. I'll dig deeper. Thanks for the feedback

Its okay to come from a fortunate background, most doctors probably do. But the purpose of these is to show resiliency, which is important for medical school. It is not a competition for worst circumstances. Just ask yourself for each topic you consider and start writing, "What does this say about me to a reader?"

Presentation is just as important as content.

 

[UbiquitinAsian]

Its okay to come from a fortunate background, most doctors probably do. But the purpose of these is to show resiliency, which is important for medical school. It is not a competition for worst circumstances. Just ask yourself for each topic you consider and start writing, "What does this say about me to a reader?"

Presentation is just as important as content.

Okay I understand. I have another topic in mind: I immigrated to the US, and growing up it was a mixed identity of being American and my home country. I got teased by friends (in playful manners) about not being American, etc, etc. I took that very personally sometimes because I felt like an outsider sometimes even though I moved to the US when I was around 2 years old, so it's not like I moved during high school or anything. All of this ended with me getting my citizenship almost 17 years later. Truly felt much more like a real American after that. Guess I want to show how I didn't let things my friends say get in the way. Is this too dramatic or overthought out?

 

[SuaveCardigans]

Okay I understand. I have another topic in mind: I immigrated to the US, and growing up it was a mixed identity of being American and my home country. I got teased by friends (in playful manners) about not being American, etc, etc. I took that very personally sometimes because I felt like an outsider sometimes even though I moved to the US when I was around 2 years old, so it's not like I moved during high school or anything. All of this ended with me getting my citizenship almost 17 years later. Truly felt much more like a real American after that. Guess I want to show how I didn't let things my friends say get in the way. Is this too dramatic or overthought out?

In my opinion, this has a lot more potential than the other two.

Still have to actually write it well, but there are so many themes and ideas you can tie into it.

 

[DrivenAndDangerous]

For some of the essays not as explicit about describing "major adversity" in your life, more of "describe a problem and how you handled it," I've prewritten an account of high school softball... It was about getting rocked by a good school, then coming back in the last game of the season and beating them. There was a lot more than that, of course... especially relating to what we and I changed to beat them the second time and lessons learned about resilience, perseverance, tenacity, etc but for what it's worth, I resorted to sports in my secondaries. Could be conveyed good or bad, but I did my best to take it seriously, reflect, and use it as an experience of mine that I learned a lesson from.