Adversity/Challenge secondary prompt idea help !

[sadpremedgirl]

I am struggling to decide which adversity to talk about in my secondaries!
1. I volunteer as a crisis hotline texter and once I got a texter who told him he enjoyed seeing inappropriate pictures of young boys and really wanted to act on it. he opened up about how he didnt want these thoughts anymore and ultimately came to the hotline for help. my supervisor asked if she wanted me to take over but I said I could handle it and work with her. She said she was there if I needed her. I had to remain objective at the end of the day this person came for help to succumb nasty thoughts. My personal feelings had to be aside and this was difficult.
2. I had a lot of testing anxiety in college to the point I got official testing accommodations. I rushed the mcat because I was so desperate to apply with my friends and not take an additional gap year so I rushed my two first exams (got very low scores) and for the third one took my time and got accommodations. My score did improve but still was lower than my average practice tests and became a major source of insecurity for me during the app process. I decided to highlight my strengths moving forward (such as my works and activities which I am proud of and having an upward trend in my grades (from a 3.5 average to a 3.9 average)) and learn from the mistakes I made while taking and studying for the MCAT like not being hasty or prioritizing the need to balance studying and my own mental state.

Which should I go with? A friend in medical school recommended the second option since my mcat score is lower and it will make adcom realize I shouldn't be compared to other applicants with no testing anxiety or accommodations vs. others are telling me not to expose my mental health struggles (I wont go in depth) and go with the first option cause it shows objective resilience in a very uncomfortable situation and taking charge.
thank u!

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[Doctoscope]

#1 seems to be very out-of-scope for premeds and their training, so I would avoid talking about it, simply because there really isn't much you can do for that as a premed. I feel like the only thing you can write for it is "it was very uncomfortable but I tried my best to be neutral and deferred to my supervisor," which doesn't really make for a good essay to talk about overcoming adversities.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What's the prompt?

Of your choices, 2 is better than 1, but you need to do much better than talk about your application challenges. Did your test anxiety come with a formal diagnosis?

 

[sadpremedgirl]

What's the prompt?

Of your choices, 2 is better than 1, but you need to do much better than talk about your application challenges. Did your test anxiety come with a formal diagnosis?

There isnt a specific prompt yet, I just wanted to get ahead of the adversity essay since I know many schools ask. Yes, it did come with a formal diagnosis is that too much to add in my adversity essay? I am scared of the backlash from adcom

 

[sadpremedgirl]

#1 seems to be very out-of-scope for premeds and their training, so I would avoid talking about it, simply because there really isn't much you can do for that as a premed. I feel like the only thing you can write for it is "it was very uncomfortable but I tried my best to be neutral and deferred to my supervisor," which doesn't really make for a good essay to talk about overcoming adversities.

so do you think the second prompt is a good idea? I am nervous about the stigma attached to anxiety in adcom

 

[Mr.Smile12]

... Yes, it did come with a formal diagnosis is that too much to add in my adversity essay? I am scared of the backlash from adcom

I basically started my eye rolls when you started to mention the MCAT. Again, most adcoms won't be that interested in a focus with how it held you back in the application process.

You are trying to point out that you found help to overcome your test anxiety, and thus hopefully would be receptive to similar help with your medical school courses.

I'm suggesting you explain how this affected your regular coursework and how you sought help there. Otherwise it feels like you were trying to game the system, and that would be more worrisome than any stigma you are afraid of with your anxiety. Others may differ.

 

[sadpremedgirl]

I basically started my eye rolls when you started to mention the MCAT. Again, most adcoms won't be that interested in a focus with how it held you back in the application process.

You are trying to point out that you found help to overcome your test anxiety, and thus hopefully would be receptive to similar help with your medical school courses.

I'm suggesting you explain how this affected your regular coursework and how you sought help there. Otherwise it feels like you were trying to game the system, and that would be more worrisome than any stigma you are afraid of with your anxiety. Others may differ.

so basically talk about the strength of vulnerability and how I managed to make an insecurity a strength? how, despite the hurdles, I was able to persist and determined to fulfill my goals? Do I mention the formal diagnosis?

 

[sadpremedgirl]

@LizzyM do you mind weighing in ur opinion?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

so basically talk about the strength of vulnerability and how I managed to make an insecurity a strength? how, despite the hurdles, I was able to persist and determined to fulfill my goals? Do I mention the formal diagnosis?

Simplify your thinking. Tell us about the point you needed to ask your campus learning office about needing accommodations. How did you figure this out? How did you overcome your own biases and stigmas?

 

[Doctoscope]

so do you think the second prompt is a good idea? I am nervous about the stigma attached to anxiety in adcom

I personally avoided talking about academic-related adversities/challenges on my pre-written secondaries. Adcoms already know many students have struggled with difficult classes, so talking about school-related hardships (unless it's more like "my family got really sick so I worked to support them while studying and maintained good grades" kind of thing, because that really is commendable and rare) is very common and doesn't tell much about you. #1 is really more about someone else's "challenge" (if you can really call pedophilia that), and you just interacting with it.

Think about any time you worked in a professional setting, or just with other people outside of school, where you personally had to overcome a challenge. What were your thoughts during it, how did you overcome it, and what did you learn from it?

 

[Goro]

I am struggling to decide which adversity to talk about in my secondaries!
1. I volunteer as a crisis hotline texter and once I got a texter who told him he enjoyed seeing inappropriate pictures of young boys and really wanted to act on it. he opened up about how he didnt want these thoughts anymore and ultimately came to the hotline for help. my supervisor asked if she wanted me to take over but I said I could handle it and work with her. She said she was there if I needed her. I had to remain objective at the end of the day this person came for help to succumb nasty thoughts. My personal feelings had to be aside and this was difficult.

This is a challenge, not an adversity

2. I had a lot of testing anxiety in college to the point I got official testing accommodations. I rushed the mcat because I was so desperate to apply with my friends and not take an additional gap year so I rushed my two first exams (got very low scores) and for the third one took my time and got accommodations. My score did improve but still was lower than my average practice tests and became a major source of insecurity for me during the app process. I decided to highlight my strengths moving forward (such as my works and activities which I am proud of and having an upward trend in my grades (from a 3.5 average to a 3.9 average)) and learn from the mistakes I made while taking and studying for the MCAT like not being hasty or prioritizing the need to balance studying and my own mental state.

While the anxiety was testing related, it's best to avoid talking about academic related challenges because Adcoms want to sed that your life revolve around academics. Indeed, you want to show that you have a life outside academics.

The adversity prompt is for you to show your grit, coping skills, and your resilience.

 

[chilly_md]

Don’t use either. I agree with Goro’s description of what the adversity prompt is meant to show. Neither idea matches up with that.