Challenge essay question?

[hey5848]

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Hello,

I have been kind of procrastinating on some of my secondaries because of the challenge essay prompt. I have a few essays and wanted to get some opinions about them.

1) I moved to the US from Egypt in elementary school and had to adapt to English and the new culture. I feel like the problem with this one is that I was pretty little and it doesn't really show how I would address challenges today.

2) My freshman year roommate adamantly tried to convert me to her religion. I made sure not to talk about her specific denomination or anything like that, and I talked about how at first I kind of ignored the situation because it wasn't impacting my life too much, but how when she started listening to online services out load while I was studying or inviting her Bible study group to the room everyday, I ended up calmly confronting her. Is this too controversial of a topic? Is it a serious enough challenge?

3) One of my friends got raped in college and only confided in me. I could talk about how I dealt with it and tried to get her help.


What do you think would make a better topic? Thanks!

 

[deleted526486]

Hello,

I have been kind of procrastinating on some of my secondaries because of the challenge essay prompt. I have a few essays and wanted to get some opinions about them.

1) I moved to the US from Egypt in elementary school and had to adapt to English and the new culture. I feel like the problem with this one is that I was pretty little and it doesn't really show how I would address challenges today.

2) My freshman year roommate adamantly tried to convert me to her religion. I made sure not to talk about her specific denomination or anything like that, and I talked about how at first I kind of ignored the situation because it wasn't impacting my life too much, but how when she started listening to online services out load while I was studying or inviting her Bible study group to the room everyday, I ended up calmly confronting her. Is this too controversial of a topic? Is it a serious enough challenge?

3) One of my friends got raped in college and only confided in me. I could talk about how I dealt with it and tried to get her help.


What do you think would make a better topic? Thanks!

Read this thread (particularly the posts by LizzyM) to get an idea of what ADCOMs are looking for in this essay: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=910690

 

[freakingoutabit]

Hello,

I have been kind of procrastinating on some of my secondaries because of the challenge essay prompt. I have a few essays and wanted to get some opinions about them.

1) I moved to the US from Egypt in elementary school and had to adapt to English and the new culture. I feel like the problem with this one is that I was pretty little and it doesn't really show how I would address challenges today.

2) My freshman year roommate adamantly tried to convert me to her religion. I made sure not to talk about her specific denomination or anything like that, and I talked about how at first I kind of ignored the situation because it wasn't impacting my life too much, but how when she started listening to online services out load while I was studying or inviting her Bible study group to the room everyday, I ended up calmly confronting her. Is this too controversial of a topic? Is it a serious enough challenge?

3) One of my friends got raped in college and only confided in me. I could talk about how I dealt with it and tried to get her help.


What do you think would make a better topic? Thanks!

I like #3.

 

[hey5848]

Read this thread (particularly the posts by LizzyM) to get an idea of what ADCOMs are looking for in this essay: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=910690

I have read that thread and all the other ones dealing with this topic, but I'm still struggling to chose a topic. Does a topic like number 3 work even though it isn't technically a challenge I faced but one that I helped my friend face?

 

[freakingoutabit]

I have read that thread and all the other ones dealing with this topic, but I'm still struggling to chose a topic. Does a topic like number 3 work even though it isn't technically a challenge I faced but one that I helped my friend face?

I think so. You had to figure out how best to help your friend without violating her trust. That's a very difficult situation, and the mere fact that she confided in you and no one else says something about your character.

 

[deleted526486]

I have read that thread and all the other ones dealing with this topic, but I'm still struggling to chose a topic. Does a topic like number 3 work even though it isn't technically a challenge I faced but one that I helped my friend face?

Out of the three essays the third is definitely the best topic. The first one is too far removed from your current coping mechanisms and support system to tell much about you as an applicant. The second is a bit weak because a challenge essay should really focus on what you did to get through the challenge and how it influenced your growth. If all you did was talk to your roommate about the situation, that's not that strong of an essay.

The third topic is better. Focus on how you dealt with the situation, what you learned about yourself from the experience, and how it influenced your growth.

 

[Harpsx]

I have read that thread and all the other ones dealing with this topic, but I'm still struggling to chose a topic. Does a topic like number 3 work even though it isn't technically a challenge I faced but one that I helped my friend face?

Absolutely. I talked about something similar that I went through with a friend and schools I applied to seem to have liked it.