Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed

[lelele]

Hey y'all! I wanted to see if any of you can help me decide if my idea for this prompt is good or not?
I received a research scholarship during the summer of my sophomore year. It was my first time in the lab, and I really didn't know what I was doing. I was also studying the MCAT that summer. My prof was actually very nice to me while I was in the lab. However, when I asked her for a reference letter a couple of months after I left the lab, she said she was suprised I was applying to another research position. She said I didn't take enough initiative, and I should have tried harder to think about my results myself. It was extremely embarrassing, and it left a big impact on me. I worked in two other labs afterward, and because of my first prof, I worked extra hard in those lab, and made sure I took initiative and ownership of my projects. I have ref from both PI and they are both good. Would this be good to write about? Or was my unprofessional behavior a red flag? Thank you guys!

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[Goro]

Hey y'all! I wanted to see if any of you can help me decide if my idea for this prompt is good or not?
I received a research scholarship during the summer of my sophomore year. It was my first time in the lab, and I really didn't know what I was doing. I was also studying the MCAT that summer. My prof was actually very nice to me while I was in the lab. However, when I asked her for a reference letter a couple of months after I left the lab, she said she was suprised I was applying to another research position. She said I didn't take enough initiative, and I should have tried harder to think about my results myself. It was extremely embarrassing, and it left a big impact on me. I worked in two other labs afterward, and because of my first prof, I worked extra hard in those lab, and made sure I took initiative and ownership of my projects. I have ref from both PI and they are both good. Would this be good to write about? Or was my unprofessional behavior a red flag? Thank you guys!

Can you try and think of something that doesn't have to do with anything in academia?

 

[Billy Ruben]

I’ve been involved in selecting applicants for fellowship positions but not medical school. That said, this sounds bad. It suggests you have a hard time picking up cues because you asked someone for a ref who had a bad opinion of you. It doesn’t show much growth besides “I worked harder”. Finally, it’s not really a failure, since you didn’t really try in the first place.

When I was stumped on a prompt I’d think of some trait I was trying to show, and then picked a story around that. Think about what trait(s) they are asking for here.

The prompt that I would write about for myself relates to a younger researcher in my lab assigned to work with me who was disorganized, made mistakes, and didn’t establish much of a relationship with lab mates. I had a few conversations with her and changed my approach somewhat. Ultimately she didn’t improve and began to say bizarre things, finally told our supervisor who recommended she have counseling where she was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. A story like that would show an ad com how I would react to an underperforming team member (such as a med student or intern) in the future and shows some personal experience with mental health issues which are common in patients. It doesn’t show any weakness or mistakes on my end.

 

[LizzyM]

I’ve been involved in selecting applicants for fellowship positions but not medical school. That said, this sounds bad. It suggests you have a hard time picking up cues because you asked someone for a ref who had a bad opinion of you. It doesn’t show much growth besides “I worked harder”. Finally, it’s not really a failure, since you didn’t really try in the first place.

When I was stumped on a prompt I’d think of some trait I was trying to show, and then picked a story around that. Think about what trait(s) they are asking for here.

The prompt that I would write about for myself relates to a younger researcher in my lab assigned to work with me who was disorganized, made mistakes, and didn’t establish much of a relationship with lab mates. I had a few conversations with her and changed my approach somewhat. Ultimately she didn’t improve and began to say bizarre things, finally told our supervisor who recommended she have counseling where she was later diagnosed with schizophrenia. A story like that would show an ad com how I would react to an underperforming team member (such as a med student or intern) in the future and shows some personal experience with mental health issues which are common in patients. It doesn’t show any weakness or mistakes on my end.

That's not exactly what medical school adcoms are trying to get at with a question like that. They want people who have the ability to identify and admit to having made mistakes or having a weakness. Self-assessment and identifying areas for improvement in one'se self are very important.

Furthermore, they are making the assumption that medical students will face disappointments and failures while in medical school. They want to choose people who have experienced such things in the past and shown the ability to cope, bounce back, power through, problem solve or whatever else the prompt might ask about the situation. How you've dealt with problems in the past is considered a predictor of how you might handle them in the future.

 

[BeMoConsulting]

Hi there! This is what we would call a negatively charged question, and there is a structure that you can reference when answering it in order to provide a strong response that will help you showcase your skills and those essential qualities programs value in applicants. Needless to say, you first need to be sure to include a personal example that is relevant to the question. You have already selected the situation you want to discuss, so make sure you briefly explain it. Remember that secondaries should be concise. Then, you want to discuss how you overcame this challenge or failure and mention the main takeaways. Remember that every experience we go through teaches us something, so your job now is to reflect on what you learned from this. What skills did you develop? What characteristics did you enhance or refine? Lastly, you want to discuss how you can apply what you learned moving forward in your career. In other words, what does this learning mean for medicine? This last bit is what shows the program that you are prepared for this next step. As you can see, identifying a good experience to talk about is only the first step. It’s how you present it and how you structure your response what will ultimately make a difference. Hope this helps! Best of luck to you.

 

[chayadoing]

do they want to see the posituve takeaway? What is the time frame of questions like these? Should I mention something else if I already kind of mention it on my PS but not in detail?

After graduation, I ran away from home due to Pentecostal / fundamentalist Christian family being transphobic. My significant other broke up with me once I started hormones. I ended up staying in an LGBTQ youth shelter. With just a pure science degree, I initially struggled to find a job before my legal documents got having been changed. I had my laptop and camera (photography was my backup livelihood) stolen in the shelter; I faced physical and sexual violence; I lost several friends to overdose (in that regard I felt like I had truly failed).

I toughed it out even though at times I wasn't sure what my future would look like. I started tutoring and working multiple other gigs. I found my way out of homelessness although my sublet-based housing was unstable at times and I moved frequently. I paid for my EMT training out of pocket. I started work as an EMT. I put myself through non-matriculated coursework and my MS biochemistry program as a DIY postbac. I was invited by my PI to join her lab.

I found truly stable housing where I was on the lease and had rights. I found a warm and accepting community and converted to egalitarian Conservative Judaism which embraces queer and trans people. After witnessing too many hospice patients and their loved ones express lifelong regrets in the back of my ambulance, I reconciled with my mom who has accepted me for who I am and given up on "converting me back." I found a significant other who is also trans and queer.

Are stories like that too personal? Would they prefer a story of the times we couldn't ROSC a pt in cardiac arrest? Would they prefer a story outside the context of patient care?

 

[LizzyM]

do they want to see the posituve takeaway? What is the time frame of questions like these? Should I mention something else if I already kind of mention it on my PS but not in detail?

After graduation, I ran away from home due to Pentecostal / fundamentalist Christian family being transphobic. My significant other broke up with me once I started hormones. I ended up staying in an LGBTQ youth shelter. With just a pure science degree, I initially struggled to find a job before my legal documents got having been changed. I had my laptop and camera (photography was my backup livelihood) stolen in the shelter; I faced physical and sexual violence; I lost several friends to overdose (in that regard I felt like I had truly failed).

I toughed it out even though at times I wasn't sure what my future would look like. I started tutoring and working multiple other gigs. I found my way out of homelessness although my sublet-based housing was unstable at times and I moved frequently. I paid for my EMT training out of pocket. I started work as an EMT. I put myself through non-matriculated coursework and my MS biochemistry program as a DIY postbac. I was invited by my PI to join her lab.

I found truly stable housing where I was on the lease and had rights. I found a warm and accepting community and converted to egalitarian Conservative Judaism which embraces queer and trans people. After witnessing too many hospice patients and their loved ones express lifelong regrets in the back of my ambulance, I reconciled with my mom who has accepted me for who I am and given up on "converting me back." I found a significant other who is also trans and queer.

Are stories like that too personal? Would they prefer a story of the times we couldn't ROSC a pt in cardiac arrest? Would they prefer a story outside the context of patient care?

To start at the end, they are not expecting a story in the context of patient care.

Read the prompt. Each school might have a adversity/failure/difficulty essay but each is asking a different question. You might be able to use the same experience but you may want to focus on a different portion of the story depending on whether you are being asked how you overcame a difficulty, how you coped with a difficulty, or what you learned from having dealt with something difficult.

I've read your story three times and I don't see any failures. I see challenges and heartache and hard work but I don't see someone who was unsuccessful or who failed. The typical essay of this kind covers a period of a month to six months or maybe a year. "I tried out for xyz, but was not selected. I asked for feedback, used that to ... and succeeded in being chosen the following year."

As a photographer, did you ever have photos that were not what you had hoped. How did you manage that disappointment?> How did you troubleshoot the situation? What did you change? Did your photos improve? That's a little thing but really, that's all that they are looking for in this essay.

 

[Moko]

After graduation, I ran away from home due to Christian family being transphobic. I ended up staying in an LGBTQ youth shelter. I initially struggled to find a job before my legal documents changed. I faced physical and sexual violence; I lost several friends to overdose. I toughed it out even though at times I wasn't sure what my future would look like. I started tutoring and working multiple other gigs. I found my way out of homelessness although my sublet-based housing was unstable at times and I moved frequently. I started work as an EMT. I put myself through a DIY postbac. I found truly stable housing. I found a warm and accepting community and converted to egalitarian Conservative Judaism which embraces queer and trans people. After witnessing too many hospice patients and their loved ones express lifelong regrets in the back of my ambulance, I reconciled with my mom who has accepted me for who I am and given up on "converting me back." I found a significant other who is also trans and queer.

Your story is incredible. Unless the bolded details are in your primary application, I would recommend making sure that this information gets conveyed on your secondary in some way, shape or form. If your story doesn't fit any of the prompts, you should make sure that these details are included in your response to "anything else?".

With regards to failure, how was your coming out process? Was there an initial failure to fully embrace your gender identity? If so, can you discuss your journey of accepting yourself and how that led to significant conflicts with your family and a period of significant instability marked by homelessness, physical and sexual violence, witnessing substance use disorders, etc.? Through this journey, what resources did you seek out or rely on to help you reach this self-acceptance? What insights and lessons did you learn through this process?

Just brainstorming some ideas. From my perspective, this reframing wouldn't be too much of a stretch for this prompt. Best of luck.

 

[Goro]

do they want to see the posituve takeaway?

No, what they want you to do is answer the question.

What is the time frame of questions like these?

Ideally, I suggest something in your adult life

Should I mention something else if I already kind of mention it on my PS but not in detail?

The PS is for "Who am I?" and Why Medicine?"

After graduation, I ran away from home due to Pentecostal / fundamentalist Christian family being transphobic. My significant other broke up with me once I started hormones. I ended up staying in an LGBTQ youth shelter. With just a pure science degree, I initially struggled to find a job before my legal documents got having been changed. I had my laptop and camera (photography was my backup livelihood) stolen in the shelter; I faced physical and sexual violence; I lost several friends to overdose (in that regard I felt like I had truly failed).

None of this is a time that you failed; you are not responsible for your friends' unfortunate decisions. The above makes for great fodder for the adversity/greatest challenge prompts.

Would they prefer a story outside the context of patient care?

Not everything has to be about Medicine, as the wise LizzyM has mentioned.