adversity / personal struggle in secondary apps

[LizzyM]

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Can this be something like fear of public speaking?

This works if you ended up in a position where you needed to speak publicly and you then had to find ways to overcome your problem. The essay would then describe the strategies you used to overcome your fear and end on a positive note about how you are now able to speak without fear.

 

[Isis24]

Can this be something like fear of public speaking?

I was thinking of writing about becoming an MCAT instructor. That's a LOT of public speaking, plus you have to the answers to everything. I was terrified in the beginning...but it all worked out 😀

comments?

 

[Isis24]

This works if you ended up in a position where you needed to speak publicly and you then had to find ways to overcome your problem. The essay would then describe the strategies you used to overcome your fear and end on a positive note about how you are now able to speak without fear.

I must have typed REALLY slow.

 

[LizzyM]

I do have something that I could write about and I think I could explain my argument decently...the moral or ethical dilemma ideas posted by textuality are also really good starting points, it seems to me. However, the situation I might describe, strictly-speaking should not qualify as adversity, IMHO.

I guess it'll just be important to qualify my statement with recognition of the fact that no, I have never experienced homelessness, significant illness, major natural disasters, car accidents, death of a loved one, verbal or physical abuse, sexism (for the most part), racism, divorce, bankruptcy, etc. etc. etc.

Yeah, I'm lucky, I guess.

Make the "I'm so lucky" statement very short. Keep in mind that you are being judged not by how sad your story is but the strategies and skills you have developed to deal with problems. For you, specifically, I have to imagine that you might have felt some stress ("butterflies") at auditions or other situations where your performance would be judged. What techniques did you use to deal with stress. Another issue might be dealing with the disappointment of not being chosen after an audition and how you would deal with that situation and how you overcame the problem and succeeded at a subsequent audition.

 

[LizzyM]

I was thinking of writing about becoming an MCAT instructor. That's a LOT of public speaking, plus you have to the answers to everything. I was terrified in the beginning...but it all worked out 😀

comments?

I've seen that one. It works if you focus on the things that you did to learn how to be a good instructor.

 

[Isis24]

I've seen that one. It works if you focus on the things that you did to learn how to be a good instructor.

Thank you, I will try it out!

My two other options would be:

1. Orchestra auditions (hmm. but it's been awhile since I had a really important one)

2. Learning how to become a Veterinary Technician without much training... (i.e. no schooling)

 

[pianola]

Make the "I'm so lucky" statement very short. Keep in mind that you are being judged not by how sad your story is but the strategies and skills you have developed to deal with problems. For you, specifically, I have to imagine that you might have felt some stress ("butterflies") at auditions or other situations where your performance would be judged. What techniques did you use to deal with stress. Another issue might be dealing with the disappointment of not being chosen after an audition and how you would deal with that situation and how you overcame the problem and succeeded at a subsequent audition.

Thank you so much for the advice. Musicians certainly face a good deal of stress -- but I really tend to enjoy the "rush" of thinking on my toes and I don't consider it 'adversity' (I already wrote as much in the primary!)

I switched elementary and middle schools probably 9 times before entering high school -- so I suppose out of that will have to come an essay on adversity. Certainly I faced a lot of challenges during that period and it's had a profound influence on who I am.

I still feel weird calling it 'adversity' but it will have to do, I suppose.

 

[LizzyM]

Thank you so much for the advice. Musicians certainly face a good deal of stress -- but I really tend to enjoy the "rush" of thinking on my toes and I don't consider it 'adversity' (I already wrote as much in the primary!)

I switched elementary and middle schools probably 9 times before entering high school -- so I suppose out of that will have to come an essay on adversity. Certainly I faced a lot of challenges during that period and it's had a profound influence on who I am.

I still feel weird calling it 'adversity' but it will have to do, I suppose.

I'd choose a time when you had to switch something as an adult, and how you dealt with that using the techniques you honed as a child (flexibility, adaptability, etc).

 

[Kaydubz]

My biggest struggle was coping with the Red Sox 2003 ALCS loss to the Yankees. (Which was resolved and then some a year later however). Blah...still thinking

 

[Kaydubz]

Would it be ******ed to write about overcoming a 4 month long Everquest II addiction? ( like, long enough to be significant, but short enough to not get the reaction "this kid spent 2 years doing WHAT?" )

 

[LizzyM]

Would it be ******ed to write about overcoming a 4 month long Everquest II addiction? ( like, long enough to be significant, but short enough to not get the reaction "this kid spent 2 years doing WHAT?" )

I can hear you saying that with a Boston accent but you should avoid the use of that word. Write about the difficulty you had overcoming your bad language habit.

 

[pianola]

I can hear you saying that with a Boston accent but you should avoid the use of that word. Write about the difficulty you had overcoming your bad language habit.

👍 Heh, that made my night.

 

[polyoma40]

So I had this interesting experience volunteering in Africa, where a patient stopped taking antiretrovirals because a faith-healer told her to stop. btw the faith healer in my opinion was a criminal bc he forged hiv negative papers so this is a little outside the cultural sensitivity realm (only in disliking the faith healer)



I was thinking of writing about my attitude during the situation, as well as how I reacted. It wasn't really easy to go through that. My friend and I ended up making a documentary for the clinic i volunteered at, to try to let the patients know the outcome of stopping arv treatment (if you are illiterate, how are you going to know this is a bad idea?)

I have a lot of things to talk about in terms of difficult experience, as well as how I respond to situations.



The negative is, and I feel this is really strong, is that the situation itself is so shocking that I feel it would distract the reader, and they would walk away not knowing anything more about me. I'm almost tempted to talk about something more mundane, so the reader only notices what kind of person I am.

what do you guys think? is it too emotionally distracting of a topic???

 

[LizzyM]

So I had this interesting experience volunteering in Africa, where a patient stopped taking antiretrovirals because a faith-healer told her to stop. btw the faith healer in my opinion was a criminal bc he forged hiv negative papers so this is a little outside the cultural sensitivity realm (only in disliking the faith healer)



I was thinking of writing about my attitude during the situation, as well as how I reacted. It wasn't really easy to go through that. My friend and I ended up making a documentary for the clinic i volunteered at, to try to let the patients know the outcome of stopping arv treatment (if you are illiterate, how are you going to know this is a bad idea?)

I have a lot of things to talk about in terms of difficult experience, as well as how I respond to situations.



The negative is, and I feel this is really strong, is that the situation itself is so shocking that I feel it would distract the reader, and they would walk away not knowing anything more about me. I'm almost tempted to talk about something more mundane, so the reader only notices what kind of person I am.

what do you guys think? is it too emotionally distracting of a topic???

I think that it is a good topic if you can make it more about your internal struggles and the facets of your character that came into play in making it possible for you to do something to combat the ignorance you encountered.

 

[premed8844]

I have a situation I feel is important for med schools to know about and to understand me and my app, but I am not sure if I will be judged negatively / not taken seriously. I did pretty bad my freshman year academically, (I felt like I would never be able to apply to med school, I was very discouraged because I was trying but, not getting anywhere) then I was diagnosed with ADD b4 soph yr, My life has changed a lot for the better since then, and I have done a 180 academically, but it was a lot of hard work despite medication. I did not get a 4.0 over night I had to make a lot of changes in my life and I finally got my first 4.0 Jr year. Some have advised me not to mention it unless asked about grades at an interview. So, I didn't mentioned it in my ps, but for the adversity essay / what more do you think we need to know about you essay, I want to explain because it has made such a difference in my life, but I am not sure.

I would greatly appreciate your advice Lizzy M! Thanks!!

 

[Lacheln]

My biggest struggle was coping with the Red Sox 2003 ALCS loss to the Yankees. (Which was resolved and then some a year later however). Blah...still thinking

Haha, I was going to answer about the Pats loss last year. I am still not recovered though so I wouldn't be able to put together a coherent essay. 😀😛

 

[Kaydubz]

Haha, I was going to answer about the Pats loss last year. I am still not recovered though so I wouldn't be able to put together a coherent essay. 😀😛

Me too. And I had an embryology exam 8 hours after that loss. That was probably one of the worst nights of my life.

But yeah, Cleveland or Buffalo fans are probaby like f*** off

 

[LizzyM]

I have a situation I feel is important for med schools to know about and to understand me and my app, but I am not sure if I will be judged negatively / not taken seriously. I did pretty bad my freshman year academically, (I felt like I would never be able to apply to med school, I was very discouraged because I was trying but, not getting anywhere) then I was diagnosed with ADD b4 soph yr, My life has changed a lot for the better since then, and I have done a 180 academically, but it was a lot of hard work despite medication. I did not get a 4.0 over night I had to make a lot of changes in my life and I finally got my first 4.0 Jr year. Some have advised me not to mention it unless asked about grades at an interview. So, I didn't mentioned it in my ps, but for the adversity essay / what more do you think we need to know about you essay, I want to explain because it has made such a difference in my life, but I am not sure.

I would greatly appreciate your advice Lizzy M! Thanks!!

Is it possible that revealing that you have ADD might be held against you? If you think that it might be, you might want to use a euphemism like "chronic condition" and "treated with medication" and "lifestyle changes". You can go into details about what you did (e.g. limit a, get more b, etc) to acheive good health. A chronic condition could be anything from diabetes to asthma to hypothyroidism (to ADD). If you had rheumatoid arthritis and required medication plus changes in the way you did things no one would tell you that you shouldn't include it in your essay which makes me thing that ADD is in some way considered stigmatizing in some quarters.

 

[premed8844]

Thanks Lizzy M!

That's why I'm hesitant to talk about it, because of a possible stigma or others who may not believe ADD is a "real" condition or that it is over diagnosed, but I like your suggestions!

Have you seen any adcoms react neg towards this, or have you had any experience with applicants in a similar situation?

Thanks again!!

 

[Lacheln]

Me too. And I had an embryology exam 8 hours after that loss. That was probably one of the worst nights of my life.

But yeah, Cleveland or Buffalo fans are probaby like f*** off

I turned off the game with a minute and a half left and started looking for a therapist. The odd thing though is that I was expecting to get ENDLESS crap from my friends in Tx and Cleveland, and not one person said one word. I think they figured I was suffering enough. I hope you rocked that exam - "Do it for Tom!" 😉

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks Lizzy M!

That's why I'm hesitant to talk about it, because of a possible stigma or others who may not believe ADD is a "real" condition or that it is over diagnosed, but I like your suggestions!

Have you seen any adcoms react neg towards this, or have you had any experience with applicants in a similar situation?

Thanks again!!

I've seen adcom members express reservations about applicants who took the MCAT under "non-standard conditions" (whatever those are... no one tells us what that means). I've not heard anything about applicants with ADD but it could be that many of them don't go around broadcasting it so we don't know about them and we therefore do not express an opinion about them.

We have had some applicants who have exhibited odd behavior at the interview and that can be bad.... regardless to what is on your application.

 

[Raryn]

I've seen adcom members express reservations about applicants who took the MCAT under "non-standard conditions" (whatever those are... no one tells us what that means). I've not heard anything about applicants with ADD but it could be that many of them don't go around broadcasting it so we don't know about them and we therefore do not express an opinion about them.

We have had some applicants who have exhibited odd behavior at the interview and that can be bad.... regardless to what is on your application.

Usually "non-standard conditions" just amounts to extra time on each section.

 

[TheElement]

Exceptional Circumstances

If you do not have any exceptional circumstances, click here to return.
Describe any personal difficulties you have experienced such as financial difficulties, educational disadvantages, personal medical illnesses, illness or death of a family member, disability, etc. Please explain what you have learned from these circumstances or experiences.



That was the prompt for one of my schools. I was thinking of writing about fear of public speaking but the prompts mentions "exceptional circumstances." For a case like this should I still put it anyways or leave it blank?

 

[Begaster]

Unless you suffered from an extreme form of social anxiety disorder, public speaking in not an exceptional circumstance.

 

[TheElement]

Yeah, I think I'll leave it blank then .. although it feels weird. It's definitely nowhere as bad as some of the problems other people have been faced with.

 

[tokyoalisa1]

In these essays, should I focus on the adversity or what I learned from the adversity?

 

[LizzyM]

In these essays, should I focus on the adversity or what I learned from the adversity?

I think that it depends on the prompt/question. Some might want to know something biographical (the events, situations you experienced) and others might be more interested in the virtues you developed (lessons learned). Unless you are given very little space I think you can cover both what happened and how that made you who you are today. People with really wild and wooly stories might have less room for "lessons learned" but sometimes experiences speak for themselves. (I'm referring to anyone whose ever been homeless, been in foster care, been abandoned or evicted as a kid, had a parent killed or inprisioned, etc).

 

[unlucky87]

This question is for LizzyM and anyone who can help me. For the problem/stress/crisis question, can I write how I got a job and learning things at this new job stressed me out at the beginning but now i do well? I am having hard time to come up with examples. I know I have some but I just can't think right now. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[LizzyM]

This question is for LizzyM and anyone who can help me. For the problem/stress/crisis question, can I write how I got a job and learning things at this new job stressed me out at the beginning but now i do well? I am having hard time to come up with examples. I know I have some but I just can't think right now. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

A new job is like a new school, right? So this might be a good case to show that you had feelings of stress and what you did to relieve the bad feelings you had when you were just starting out and how you became competent in the job to avoid future bad feelings of stress.

 

[unlucky87]

;

 

[unlucky87]

Thanks LizzyM,
Is it also applicable for crisis question? I mean, I don't really have anything in my life that I would call "crisis". This is the only one I can think about.

Thank you so much.

 

[LizzyM]

Thanks LizzyM,
Is it also applicable for crisis question? I mean, I don't really have anything in my life that I would call "crisis". This is the only one I can think about.

Thank you so much.

Go back to the ancient Greek and consider crisis to mean a turning point or a decision that needed to be made.

Isn't there anything that's kept you awake at night with worry or had you thinking "how am I going to get out of this jam?" or "I've got to stay calm so that things don't get worse."

It could be having your purse or wallet stolen or otherwise being a victim of a crime, having a financial crisis because an expected check was delayed or an unexpected expense cropped up, having symptoms and needing to wait for results of a medical test, living through a natural or man-made disaster, surviving a crash or other automotive situation, being responsible for others during a difficult situation, being diagnosed with a life-altering medical condition, fearing for your life or the life of a loved one, having someone entrust you with a secret that you think it would be best not to keep (because the person is a danger to themself or others).

 

[usermike8500]

Hell, I can't think of any at all. I've had a pretty stable life...

I feel ya. I am fortunate to have had a pretty easy life. I've seriously considered writing things like: beating Mike Tyson in the Mike Tyson's Punchout NES game, or learning how to sing despite having no talent and tonality difficulties. Sure, these things exemplify challenges I have overcome, but they just sound downright stupid on the application.

 

[unlucky87]

Go back to the ancient Greek and consider crisis to mean a turning point or a decision that needed to be made.

Isn't there anything that's kept you awake at night with worry or had you thinking "how am I going to get out of this jam?" or "I've got to stay calm so that things don't get worse."

It could be having your purse or wallet stolen or otherwise being a victim of a crime, having a financial crisis because an expected check was delayed or an unexpected expense cropped up, having symptoms and needing to wait for results of a medical test, living through a natural or man-made disaster, surviving a crash or other automotive situation, being responsible for others during a difficult situation, being diagnosed with a life-altering medical condition, fearing for your life or the life of a loved one, having someone entrust you with a secret that you think it would be best not to keep (because the person is a danger to themself or others).

*** None of the above. All the things that I have gone through is either school related or family problems but none directly affected me. So confused. My deadline is approaching and I can't think anything.

 

[gujuDoc]

Oh my goodness! I'm so glad someone posted this thread! The adversity question is getting to be my worst nightmare 👎

Part of the problem for me is that I rarely, if ever, view my life in terms of "adversity". To me, adversity seems to refer to some force acting outside of my control -- and, by and large, my life has been within my control. Do you guys have thoughts on this?

Like other people are saying, I've had my share of personal issues that I have no intention of discussing with some random ADCOM I've never met. However, overall, I've been extremely fortunate and I'm thankful every single day for my good luck.

Me too. I am glad for this post. Although I've faced much adversity, I didn't think of the things LizzyM pointed out in her post in terms of what they are looking for. So this has given me some guidance.

I'm bookmarking this thread.

 

[kac714]

*** None of the above. All the things that I have gone through is either school related or family problems but none directly affected me. So confused. My deadline is approaching and I can't think anything.

i have screwed up knees but I run anyway. i've needed tons of pt to get better. i wrote about this... i couldn't think of anything else because i've also had it pretty easy.

 

[LizzyM]

*** None of the above. All the things that I have gone through is either school related or family problems but none directly affected me. So confused. My deadline is approaching and I can't think anything.

So write about the job difficulty you faced (that you mentioned earlier) or take a year off and try to find a job. That should give you something to write about.

 

[Kaya12]

After reading these posts, I feel sort of strange. I was going to write about how I grew up w/ just my mom and brothers, working after school since 15 to help pay rent. But for me this wasn't an "adversity." It was just sort of a fact of life, like the way my family just was.... I don't know... I don't want to sound like im looking for sympathy, should I just write about something in college, like working in college to pay for my tuition/expenses??

 

[LizzyM]

After reading these posts, I feel sort of strange. I was going to write about how I grew up w/ just my mom and brothers, working after school since 15 to help pay rent. But for me this wasn't an "adversity." It was just sort of a fact of life, like the way my family just was.... I don't know... I don't want to sound like im looking for sympathy, should I just write about something in college, like working in college to pay for my tuition/expenses??

Did you write about working to pay the rent in the "disadvantaged" section?

It sounds like your adversity or personal struggle in college was not having enough cash for the things you needed. So how did you address that? You could outline how you figured out how to find work (did you get hired at a job on or off campus, start a business, work independently as a tutor or nanny, etc). , how you got hired, what you did to earn more money, if that was necessary (did you try to get more hours of employment, ask for a raise, get a second job). How did you cope with time pressures between work and school (needing time off during finals week, etc).

Put the focus in the essay on the skills you used to meet the challenges you faced.

 

[ElCaminoReal]

Did you write about working to pay the rent in the "disadvantaged" section?

It sounds like your adversity or personal struggle in college was not having enough cash for the things you needed. So how did you address that? You could outline how you figured out how to find work (did you get hired at a job on or off campus, start a business, work independently as a tutor or nanny, etc). , how you got hired, what you did to earn more money, if that was necessary (did you try to get more hours of employment, ask for a raise, get a second job). How did you cope with time pressures between work and school (needing time off during finals week, etc).

Put the focus in the essay on the skills you used to meet the challenges you faced.

I have a similar situation, but did not write anything in the disadvantaged blurb on AMCAS. I did this, because at the time I did not want to seem as if I was "whining," and I did not feel that such a background has greatly hindered my quest for acceptance to medical school...

However, I did describe such situations in my personal statement and in the "adversities" questions, to illustrate how I coped w/ it. Is it a bad thing that I did not list this in the disadvantaged section on AMCAS? I also receieved FAP, does that correlate? What do you think... Should I have filled out that section?

 

[pianola]

^I don't think schools will question your decision to fill out the 'disadvantaged section' or not

Just so you guys know (if this is helpful), when I was asked about adversity in an interview, the question was phrased "Describe some sort of adversity that you or your family have faced (if any)." And you know, it's a lot easier to think about hardships that may have affected your mom or your dad than what you might consider your own personal 'adversity'. So maybe, if you try to look at it from the perspective of "family adversity" the question might be easier to answer. For me, when the interviewer said "your family" a lightbulb went off and it was really easy to answer the question. My mom was virtually alone in taking care of me and my sister when we were growing up because my dad was sick so much of the time.

Anyway, ok, good luck to all the people answering the adversity question.