Commuting in Secondaries?

[brandonh4]

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On your secondaries, would you discuss having to commute 1.5-2 hours a day for all four years of college because you couldn't afford to dorm? Perhaps in response to a question like," discuss anything that wasn't listed in your AMCAS." It wasn't a huge hardship, but it did force me to find other ways to network/socialize, as well as it took valuable time out of the day.

 

[Mountaineer12]

I think the only potential place to put it would be in the biggest hardship question and even then I would talk more about the lack of money than the commute. A lot of people have to commute so I don't think it's worth it to mention.

 

[Nymphicus]

You could spin it as a "challenge" and how you had to be more "innovative" with your time and resources as a result of your commute.

But if you have anything better, it would probably be better.

 

[1289]

yeah I'd focus on the money indirectly leading to the commuting/less time for ECs rather than the actual commuting

 

[MiracleforMD]

Sounds like whining. In my opinion, possibility of off-putting well outweighs minimal ?"forgiveness" on the strength of your ECs, GPA, etc.

 

[circulus vitios]

Sounds like whining. In my opinion, possibility of off-putting well outweighs minimal ?"forgiveness" on the strength of your ECs, GPA, etc.

You're right. Limiting oneself to course schedule that minimizes gaps between class and, on top of that, commuting for 10 hours a week has no real impact on strength or quality of extra curricular activities, grades, etc.

 

[NightGod]

I think the only potential place to put it would be in the biggest hardship question and even then I would talk more about the lack of money than the commute. A lot of people have to commute so I don't think it's worth it to mention.

Hell, the examples Lizzy suggested in one thread for "biggest hardship" were things like "you got a flat tire on the way to an important appointment and still made it on time" or "your car wouldn't start and you had to find a ride on short notice". Everyone here seems to think biggest hardship has to involve pulling a buddy out of a live minefield or living on the street for a year while going to school because you had to choose between a house and paying for school. Seems like a perfectly reasonable example of a hardship to use in your essays, especially if you managed to maintain GPA, ECs, etc.

 

[dmf2682]

Hell, the examples Lizzy suggested in one thread for "biggest hardship" were things like "you got a flat tire on the way to an important appointment and still made it on time" or "your car wouldn't start and you had to find a ride on short notice". Everyone here seems to think biggest hardship has to involve pulling a buddy out of a live minefield or living on the street for a year while going to school because you had to choose between a house and paying for school. Seems like a perfectly reasonable example of a hardship to use in your essays, especially if you managed to maintain GPA, ECs, etc.

Not entirely sure without seeing the thread but I believe she was talking about how you deal with bumps in the road, not necessarily your "biggest" hardship. The idea being they wanted to get some idea of how you cope with adversity. So along those lines, I would say that if the essay prompt asked for your biggest hardship explicitly you're SOL on this one, but if it asked for how you overcame a problem or dealt with adversity you'd be fine.

 

[MiracleforMD]

You're right. Limiting oneself to course schedule that minimizes gaps between class and, on top of that, commuting for 10 hours a week has no real impact on strength or quality of extra curricular activities, grades, etc.

My god, some people on this site. Dude read my post again. If anything I'm agreeing that it probably DOES have an impact on "strength or quality of extra curricular activities, grades, etc.", but I am saying it may sound whiney to a go-getter admission committee member who has overcome obstacles all his/her life. Because ,let's be honest, although it is a small inconvenience, it is not worth griping about in the limited space of an AMCAS application. So again like I said:

" In my opinion, possibility of off-putting well outweighs minimal ?"forgiveness" on the strength of your ECs, GPA, etc."

Are you following OK?

 

[jjesque]

As someone who lived on campus all four years of undergrad, I doubt my extracurriculars would've been as impressive if I'd lived hours away and had to commute every day. Would I have wanted to commute to campus to work on a project on a weekend as I often did? Would I have stayed late at an event knowing the public transit system closes early on some days?Would I have participated in some sports activities if I'd known I'd have to lug a huge bag of equipment across town?

I'd say if your extracurriculars/grades are impressive AND you commuted 10 hours/week...that is something to be proud of and I see no problem in writing about it (in a non-whiny way).

 

[MiracleforMD]

As someone who lived on campus all four years of undergrad, I doubt my extracurriculars would've been as impressive if I'd lived hours away and had to commute every day. Would I have wanted to commute to campus to work on a project on a weekend as I often did? Would I have stayed late at an event knowing the public transit system closes early on some days?Would I have participated in some sports activities if I'd known I'd have to lug a huge bag of equipment across town?

I'd say if your extracurriculars/grades are impressive AND you commuted 10 hours/week...that is something to be proud of and I see no problem in writing about it (in a non-whiny way).

Ok, which section. If you say PS and someone how argue that any reason you want to be a physician has something to do with "commuting" then I'm not even going to try and discuss this.
So that leaves you with using an "Activity" spot for it.

Category: Other
Activity: Commuting
Avg. Hours/week- 10
Contact: the commuter
700 characters about your drive and the obstacle you overcame
1325 characters about why it is one of your most meaningful? (might as well right).

You realize these people see applications from low-income households, single parent households, people with debilitating medical conditions, first generation college graduates, and more. Are you sure you want to highlight that your biggest anchor holding you down was a commute?

 

[Praefectus]

Ok, which section. If you say PS and someone how argue that any reason you want to be a physician has something to do with "commuting" then I'm not even going to try and discuss this.
So that leaves you with using an "Activity" spot for it.

Category: Other
Activity: Commuting
Avg. Hours/week- 10
Contact: the commuter
700 characters about your drive and the obstacle you overcame
1325 characters about why it is one of your most meaningful? (might as well right).

You realize these people see applications from low-income households, single parent households, people with debilitating medical conditions, first generation college graduates, and more. Are you sure you want to highlight that your biggest anchor holding you down was a commute?

I'd love to see the faculty member's face reading that application.

 

[jjesque]

Ok, which section. If you say PS and someone how argue that any reason you want to be a physician has something to do with "commuting" then I'm not even going to try and discuss this.
So that leaves you with using an "Activity" spot for it.

Category: Other
Activity: Commuting
Avg. Hours/week- 10
Contact: the commuter
700 characters about your drive and the obstacle you overcame
1325 characters about why it is one of your most meaningful? (might as well right).

You realize these people see applications from low-income households, single parent households, people with debilitating medical conditions, first generation college graduates, and more. Are you sure you want to highlight that your biggest anchor holding you down was a commute?

Why are you being confrontational about this? This is not a rat race to see who is the most disadvantaged -- believe me, that's a race you'll lose. Anything that helps paint a more complete picture of you is useful to the adcom.

 

[MiracleforMD]

Why are you being confrontational about this? This is not a rat race to see who is the most disadvantaged -- believe me, that's a race you'll lose. Anything that helps paint a more complete picture of you is useful to the adcom.

Try and imagine me not as being confrontational (which I'm not, I don't care nearly enough), but just merely trying to not allow people to spread misinformation that this would be a good idea to put on your AMCAS. I am far from dis-advantaged. That is why I am incredulous that other people who are equally far from dis-advantaged are trying to pretend they are.

Edit: Do you not see how ridiculous this sentence is? Proud?!:

I'd say if your extracurriculars/grades are impressive AND you commuted 10 hours/week...that is something to be proud of and I see no problem in writing about it (in a non-whiny way).

This is the problem with our generation. We are all special snowflakes and think each and every one of us deserves an MVP trophy for our little league soccer performance.
3rd Edit: Found the right video for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJD8pZiRIzs&feature=player_embedded