adversity/obstacle essay

[robocop1998]

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hey, i have a question on how to write an adversity/obstacle essay for secondary. I am thinking of talking about how my collegiate athletic team got booed during a particular conference championship game and I found a way to thrive under pressure. Would this work?

 

[robocop1998]

bump!!! much help is needed here!

 

[funkydrmonkey]

hey, i have a question on how to write an adversity/obstacle essay for secondary. I am thinking of talking about how my collegiate athletic team got booed during a particular conference championship game and I found a way to thrive under pressure. Would this work?

Were you playing or in the audience...

Usually they want something about financial, social hardships, but if you cannot find anything else, I guess you could😕

 

[am9451]

well, right off the bat, it doesn't sound super compelling...
why were you booed? if it was something like... you were an all-minority team playing in an uber conservative/even racist town and they were booing you for THAT, that would be different i think...

 

[robocop1998]

in college i played in a competitive NCAA athletic team so it was normal for us to get booed when we played in away matches. i can talk about how i found a way to perform under pressure. Would this be considered as an adversity? OR i can talk about how i came to the US for high school from a foreign country and experienced cultural shock. the problem is that was in high school and i dont know if med schools want anything prior to college. so which one sounds better: performing under pressure or experiencing a cultural shock in high school? thank you!!

 

[Jolie South]

in college i played in a competitive NCAA athletic team so it was normal for us to get booed when we played in away matches. i can talk about how i found a way to perform under pressure. Would this be considered as an adversity? OR i can talk about how i came to the US for high school from a foreign country and experienced cultural shock. the problem is that was in high school and i dont know if med schools want anything prior to college. so which one sounds better: performing under pressure or experiencing a cultural shock in high school? thank you!!

i think the cultural shock is more the type of thing that this essay is looking for as it created an obstacle that you had to overcome.

 

[justapremed]

ithe problem is that was in high school and i dont know if med schools want anything prior to college.

i actually have the same problem. I mean, it was a very big "cultural shock" for me and did affect me a lot. And I cannot really htink of anything else that had been this big in my life (I couldnt' work so I don't have crazy work stories; my family was fine financially; no other earth-shattering events...). But it was a while ago...

 

[amph119]

I have a hard time believing that adcoms have a preconceived notion in mind for these kinds of essays. If you feel that your situation actually FITS the prompt and can write about it eloquently and answer the question appropriately, I say go for it.

 

[Jolie South]

I have a hard time believing that adcoms have a preconceived notion in mind for these kinds of essays. If you feel that your situation actually FITS the prompt and can write about it eloquently and answer the question appropriately, I say go for it.

that's a good point.

if you can write about the first thing and make it seem significant, go with it. it'd probably be an interesting essay.

 

[pianola]

If you can write about the 'booing' compellingly then you *could* choose it. I think that the 'culture shock' of high school should be considered an acceptable adversity and, if it were me, I'd write about it.

Speaking entirely in generalities: Most of the people who experienced true adversity with irreversible consequences in COLLEGE are likely NOT applying to medical school. This isn't true across the board, of course, but let's face it, if your adversity was really that bad in college, you may not have done so well grade-wise. And if your grades suffer, you probably won't consider applying to medical school (usually). Or at any rate, you'll be making up those bad grades for quite a while before you DO apply.

Adversity = not a great topic 👎.