Advice writing adversity essays

[Bored_Conscious]

The essay prompt in mind is: Describe any circumstances indicative of some hardship, such as, but not limited to, financial difficulties, personal or family illness, a medical condition, a death in the immediate family or educational disadvantage not mentioned in your primary application essays; OR describe any key academic, personal, or financial barriers that COVID-19 may have posed on you or your immediate family.

In regard to writing adversity essays...even if they do not ask for lessons learned or how it would help you as a physician, is it a good idea to include it?

I feel like this would be a generally good flow for an adversity essay...but curious to know if this is too much detail if they are simply asking you to describe a circumstance: Describing the difficulty --> How I dealt with difficulty --> What I learned from the difficulty --> How I would have dealt with it knowing what I do now --> how that will be useful for me overall or as a physician.

This particular prompt gives you 3500 characters so it is more than enough...of course those with shorter character requirements can remove some of the information above.

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[proudofmykids]

Is this hardship question related to URM or Low Ses?
Also, did you really incur the hardship or are you trying to spin an experience as a hardship.

Also, Often applicants feel like they can check a box, but haven’t really experienced much hardship related to said box but try to spin a story so the box can stay checked. It would be better to not check the box.
if this is not applicable to your post, then disregard.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

Is this hardship question related to URM or Low Ses?
Also, did you really incur the hardship or are you trying to spin an experience as a hardship.

Also, Often applicants feel like they can check a box, but haven’t really experienced much hardship related to said box but try to spin a story so the box can stay checked. It would be better to not check the box.
if this is not applicable to your post, then disregard.

The essay isn't related to URM or low SES. My essay would be about the challenges I faced losing interest in my greatest passion due to a chronic illness.

 

[Goro]

In regard to writing adversity essays...even if they do not ask for lessons learned or how it would help you as a physician, is it a good idea to include it?

If the prompt is not asking you for something, why should you give it?

You need to show that you can follow simple instructions.

 

[LizzyM]

Is this a mandatory essay?

 

[Bored_Conscious]

Is this a mandatory essay?

I can put down "Is not Applicable" but it is applicable so I plan on writing. Just wanted to see if people usually want to see some kind of lesson learned out of a difficult experience.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

If the prompt is not asking you for something, why should you give it?

You need to show that you can follow simple instructions.

Would be rather rudimentary to simply write an adversity essay and leave it at that. Essentially becomes a 3500 character sob-story does it not?

 

[LizzyM]

You never need to use all the characters alloted. Do use at least 30% but don't feel you need to use the entire space.

If they haven't asked for lessons learned or how it relates to being a physician, they aren't interested in that information in that slot. In this case, it looks like they want to know about situations that might mitigate an otherwise borderline application. There are many circumstances including natural disasters, chronic illness in a parent or sibling, a job loss, that didn't fit with the personal statement narrative but that help explain a particularly rough patch in college or after. You don't necessarily have to tell us what you learned from having your parents divorce and your dad lose his job and your mother be treated for cancer and we don't expect that those experiences will make you a better doctor than someone who had different life experiences but it may explain why your GPA in your second semester sophomore year was a 2.8.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

You never need to use all the characters alloted. Do use at least 30% but don't feel you need to use the entire space.

If they haven't asked for lessons learned or how it relates to being a physician, they aren't interested in that information in that slot. In this case, it looks like they want to know about situations that might mitigate an otherwise borderline application. There are many circumstances including natural disasters, chronic illness in a parent or sibling, a job loss, that didn't fit with the personal statement narrative but that help explain a particularly rough patch in college or after. You don't necessarily have to tell us what you learned from having your parents divorce and your dad lose his job and your mother be treated for cancer and we don't expect that those experiences will make you a better doctor than someone who had different life experiences but it may explain why your GPA in your second semester sophomore year was a 2.8.

I see! Good to know thank you for that response.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

You never need to use all the characters alloted. Do use at least 30% but don't feel you need to use the entire space.

If they haven't asked for lessons learned or how it relates to being a physician, they aren't interested in that information in that slot. In this case, it looks like they want to know about situations that might mitigate an otherwise borderline application. There are many circumstances including natural disasters, chronic illness in a parent or sibling, a job loss, that didn't fit with the personal statement narrative but that help explain a particularly rough patch in college or after. You don't necessarily have to tell us what you learned from having your parents divorce and your dad lose his job and your mother be treated for cancer and we don't expect that those experiences will make you a better doctor than someone who had different life experiences but it may explain why your GPA in your second semester sophomore year was a 2.8.

Hello again! I appreciated this response and am now making some adjustments for some of the secondary prompts that simply asked me to discuss my hardships/adversity.

For hardships/adversity essays that have been asking me about lessons learned and how it impacts me as a physician I have been writing the following:

• I wrote about how my diagnosis with a chronic illness has drained me of my passion for fitness (I discussed my passion for fitness and how it ties into my desire to do medicine for my personal statement). Then I discussed how I pushed through it, overcame some of the more challenging hardships associated with it, and how overcoming that hardship/my experience as a patient will make me a better physician.

However, for hardships/adversity essays that do NOT ask me about lessons learned, I find that my previous approach to be sort of irrelevant. If my hardship/adversity is supposed to assist with a potentially borderline application or provide some sort of explanation to a bad semester then this is the potential essay I could write.

• During the summer I was studying for my MCAT, my chronic illness started to flare-up. By the time I was taking my full-lengths and took the actual exam I was experiencing a full-on flare. I ended up scoring a 510. A little lower than I wanted (FL scores: 505, 508, 510, 513). To be honest, I do not know if my flare-up caused me not to be able to perform as well.

Would the above be more appropriate? Would a flare-up during a stressful period of my life make adcoms a bit concerned about whether or not I will be able to maintain my condition during medical school? (This was a big reason why I did NOT include my illness for the primary application. However, after further consideration, I decided to bite the bullet and write about it for secondaries as long as I could spin it in a positive light...however, you can't really do so for this essay if they don't want to know how it will make me a better physician, what I took away from my experience, etc.)

 

[LindaAccepted]

The essay prompt in mind is: Describe any circumstances indicative of some hardship, such as, but not limited to, financial difficulties, personal or family illness, a medical condition, a death in the immediate family or educational disadvantage not mentioned in your primary application essays; OR describe any key academic, personal, or financial barriers that COVID-19 may have posed on you or your immediate family.

In regard to writing adversity essays...even if they do not ask for lessons learned or how it would help you as a physician, is it a good idea to include it?

I feel like this would be a generally good flow for an adversity essay...but curious to know if this is too much detail if they are simply asking you to describe a circumstance: Describing the difficulty --> How I dealt with difficulty --> What I learned from the difficulty --> How I would have dealt with it knowing what I do now --> how that will be useful for me overall or as a physician.

This particular prompt gives you 3500 characters so it is more than enough...of course those with shorter character requirements can remove some of the information above.

An essay with no growth or change would be pretty boring. "This happened to me and then that happened to me." While you don't have to fit every adversity essay into "this is what I learned and will make me a better physician," since as was pointed out that's not being asked, you should try to have adversity essays show you as having overcome and being stronger at the end. What did you do to overcome the adversity? That should be the focus on your essay. Yes it can explain a dip in grades from your sophomore year. Good to know and share. However, you don't want your adversity essays to leave the reader questioning whether you'll be able to handle medical school. It should show resilience.

Since the connection to your MCAT score and the fact that it's lower than you wanted is not obvious or certain, and it could raise concern about whether your condition is under control, I wouldn't make that connection in your application.

If the flare-up was connected to stress associated with the MCAT and stress typically triggers flare-ups, are you going into the right profession?

 

[LizzyM]

Since the connection to your MCAT score and the fact that it's lower than you wanted is not obvious or certain, and it could raise concern about whether your condition is under control, I wouldn't make that connection in your application.

If the flare-up was connected to stress associated with the MCAT and stress typically triggers flare-ups, are you going into the right profession?

Completely agree with these concerns!

 

[Bored_Conscious]

An essay with no growth or change would be pretty boring. "This happened to me and then that happened to me." While you don't have to fit every adversity essay into "this is what I learned and will make me a better physician," since as was pointed out that's not being asked, you should try to have adversity essays show you as having overcome and being stronger at the end. What did you do to overcome the adversity? That should be the focus on your essay. Yes it can explain a dip in grades from your sophomore year. Good to know and share. However, you don't want your adversity essays to leave the reader questioning whether you'll be able to handle medical school. It should show resilience.

Since the connection to your MCAT score and the fact that it's lower than you wanted is not obvious or certain, and it could raise concern about whether your condition is under control, I wouldn't make that connection in your application.

If the flare-up was connected to stress associated with the MCAT and stress typically triggers flare-ups, are you going into the right profession?

Thanks for your response! I agree that an essay that discusses nothing outside of just the adversity itself would be boring. That point is well taken.

And, as you said, I don't want adcoms to believe I won't be a successful medical applicant. Which is exactly why I framed my adversity essay in a way to seem like it is under control. (It actually is for the most part. The reality is that IBD is an unpredictable condition. Could my flare-up have been triggered by stress? Maybe. But I have also encountered similarly stressful events and handled it completely fine.)

So, I am going to steer clear of writing that second version of my essay. Would you say that writing about how my chronic condition caused me difficulty with staying consistent with my passion and how I overcome that would be a suitable essay? To be honest, I wouldn't be able to use my condition to explain transcript issues (I did well in school) and I don't think a 510 is a horrible score...considering it is average.

 

[LizzyM]

There is a desire (and a necessity) to pre-write the secondaries but you really need to take each prompt apart and get at what the committee wants to know. What information are they trying to gleen from your essay? Is it an explanation of difficulties you had in school? A better idea of your coping style? A description of your problem solving abilities or your ability to make ethical decisions or work with a group that experienced a conflict.
A secondary that is not a response to the school's specific response won't be as helpful to you as one that is spot on.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

There is a desire (and a necessity) to pre-write the secondaries but you really need to take each prompt apart and get at what the committee wants to know. What information are they trying to gleen from your essay? Is it an explanation of difficulties you had in school? A better idea of your coping style? A description of your problem solving abilities or your ability to make ethical decisions or work with a group that experienced a conflict.
A secondary that is not a response to the school's specific response won't be as helpful to you as one that is spot on.

Are adversity/hardship essays mostly for explanation of difficulties one has had in school? I always thought it had to do with determining our resiliency and determination to overcome difficult circumstances in or outside of school.

I know my essay would show my resiliency and dedication. Not entirely related to school but it has definitely made me more willing to push through any difficult situation (school or not school related)

 

[LizzyM]

Are adversity/hardship essays mostly for explanation of difficulties one has had in school? I always thought it had to do with determining our resiliency and determination to overcome difficult circumstances in or outside of school.

I know my essay would show my resiliency and dedication. Not entirely related to school but it has definitely made me more willing to push through any difficult situation (school or not school related)

This is my point. Read the prompt. Respond to the prompt. Don't plan on a "adversity" essay and plan to trot it out in all circumstances that seem remotely related to adversity. The school is trying to learn something about you. Figure out what that is and write in response to that specific interest on the part of the school.

 

[Bored_Conscious]

This is my point. Read the prompt. Respond to the prompt. Don't plan on a "adversity" essay and plan to trot it out in all circumstances that seem remotely related to adversity. The school is trying to learn something about you. Figure out what that is and write in response to that specific interest on the part of the school.

Understood. I appreciate your responses. Thank you!

 

[LindaAccepted]

I complete agree with Lizzy M's response. And along those lines, I'd add that you want to view and respond to the question in context. How can your answer to this specific question for this school add to the reader's insight into you -- given what's in the rest of your primary and secondary app?