Am I focusing too much on art in my application?

[platypusrex]

Most of my extracurricular activities outside of clinical volunteering and research revolve around art because it's something I enjoy. Would it be appropriate to discuss art in basically all my essays?

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[Moko]

Would it be appropriate to discuss art in basically all my essays?

You run the risk of appearing one-dimensional. You would also lose out on opportunities to talk about other aspects of your life to show that you are well-rounded. Being interested in art is great, but you can have too much of a good thing.

What other avenues have helped you overcome shyness? That may be a better approach. Also, if you bring up shyness, be sure that you are not too shy during interviews. You need to demonstrate that you have overcome it. Just my thoughts.

 

[Kardio]

I would make art a minor part (like, 1 sentence) of your challenge essay while emphasizing the other things that enhanced your communication skills.

As an aside, hold back any stories about chopping off your ear

 

[platypusrex]

You run the risk of appearing one-dimensional. You would also lose out on opportunities to talk about other aspects of your life to show that you are well-rounded. Being interested in art is great, but you can have too much of a good thing.

What other avenues have helped you overcome shyness? That may be a better approach. Also, if you bring up shyness, be sure that you are not too shy during interviews. You need to demonstrate that you have overcome it. Just my thoughts.

These are all the things I am also concerned about. Maybe I can take out the part about art and only write about how my clinical volunteering helped me become less shy? Currently, I am not shy, but I am still quiet. I am great with striking up conversation and things like that , but I do fear that it can be seen as not yet overcoming my shyness.

 

[Moko]

Currently, I am not shy, but I am still quiet. I am great with striking up conversation and things like that , but I do fear that it can be seen as not yet overcoming my shyness.

Plenty of people in medicine are quiet. As long as you can engage in meaningful conversations with your interviewers, you'll be fine. Perhaps avoid the few schools that do group interviews (as a fellow quiet person, that experience was anxiety-provoking).

I think that doing what you wrote would be a good idea. You can always briefly mention that initially art helped you open up to others, and that prompted yourself to push your boundaries even more by engaging in volunteering and other things like that. Good luck

 

[platypusrex]

Plenty of people in medicine are quiet. As long as you can engage in meaningful conversations with your interviewers, you'll be fine. Perhaps avoid the few schools that do group interviews (as a fellow quiet person, that experience was anxiety-provoking).

I think that doing what you wrote would be a good idea. You can always briefly mention that initially art helped you open up to others, and that prompted yourself to push your boundaries even more by engaging in volunteering and other things like that. Good luck

Thanks! I will modify my essay accordingly.