Disadvantaged applicant - looking for other opinions

[Funny_Current]

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Thanks for taking a look at my thread. I've read through a lot of other threads to find some insight about whether or not I want to designate myself as disadvantaged. I've found some similar situations, but I just want some advice/opinions on how people see my situation.

I'll just bullet point this

• grew up in a toxic home - mom had severe mental illness, was always drunk and abused Rx's
• witnessed multiple suicide attempts by her
• multiple police interventions
• she was frequently institutionalized, so spent a lot of time with family and family friends while dad worked
• parent's ultimately separated
• Ironically, both became physically i'll (mom began to suffer chronic bowel obstructions, dads spinal surgery went wrong and developed foot drop, immobility) so was traveling back and forth between their houses.
• their health continued to decline, especially moms mental health in dealing with GI issues
• vicious cycles of suicide attempts, police intervention, and hospitalizations began again
• dealt with this last two years of high school and all through college, some semesters way worse than others so had to take lighter course loads and it took longer to acquire degree - did graduate with a 3.4
• last year of college, father had a stroke and was left completely incapacitated (incontinent, incoherent, and immobile)
• mom was obviously unable to care for him
• I was his power of attorney, medical guardian, and full-time caregiver - literally 24/7 because mom wasn't able to help and his well-being depended on me
• father had a private practice so the day he had his stroke the $ stopped coming in
• ended up having to file bankruptcy, sell all of our assets, and ultimately his and her house to pay off all his unsettled loans and debts
• the rest of the $ went to his nursing home fees until he passed away
• all the while was trying to move forward with goal of becoming a physician and took MCAT way too many times before got a decent score
• mom continues to deal with her issues, but she has since moved to NY to live with my sis

I'll spare the deets about how this has helped me acquire skills that will valuable to me as a doc. I do feel like these circumstances have put me at a disadvantage, but at the same time I want to reiterate that the experience has allowed me to do some pretty incredible things since then. I don't want applying as a disadvantaged student to overshadow my accomplishments, I just want to be able to provide what I consider to be a necessary context. Thanks!

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Seems disadvantaged to me, but regardless of how it's ultimately interpreted for med school admissions I commend you for persevering through such insanely difficult circumstances!

I wish you the best!

 

[Funny_Current]

Seems disadvantaged to me, but regardless of how it's ultimately interpreted for med school admissions I commend you for persevering through such insanely difficult circumstances!

I wish you the best!

Thank you for taking a look and your kind words!

 

[claduva94]

Marking disadvantaged will never trivialize accomplishments. I do think you could make an adequate argument that you are disadvantaged as well.

http://www.usnews.com/education/blo...t-it-means-to-be-a-disadvantaged-md-applicant

 

[Funny_Current]

Marking disadvantaged will never trivialize accomplishments. I do think you could make an adequate argument that you are disadvantaged as well.

http://www.usnews.com/education/blo...t-it-means-to-be-a-disadvantaged-md-applicant

Yea, I guess you are right. I don't know why I have that complex about it. Thanks!

 

[Domepiece]

Would suggest you apply as disadvantaged; giving your accomplishments context won't hurt you. Coping skills with setbacks/difficult personal situations are also a great skill and may speak to your personal character in the eyes of those that review your application.

Marking disadvantaged will not trivialize your accomplishments, that is a silly idea.

 

[Funny_Current]

Would suggest you apply as disadvantaged; giving your accomplishments context won't hurt you. Coping skills with setbacks/difficult personal situations are also a great skill and may speak to your personal character in the eyes of those that review your application.

Marking disadvantaged will not trivialize your accomplishments, that is a silly idea.

Thanks for your input! Yea, I don't know why I feel that way. But everyones input is making me see it's a wrong impression.

 

[Crayola227]

Thanks for your input! Yea, I don't know why I feel that way. But everyones input is making me see it's a wrong impression.

I felt the same way. Imposter syndrome.

Maybe I felt like I was relying on the pity vote to get into med school, and that otherwise I didn't belong.
(the numbers say otherwise)

I shake this feeling whenever I use that insight or empathy to reach a patient, especially when I see others fail.

Check that box proudly. Don't let pride **** you as Mr. Wallace from Pulp Fiction might say.

EDIT:
I see know that OP mentioned private practice, I still assumed they were financially disadvantaged based on everything in their post and now see I was wrong.

Kids, if you weren't poor 0-18 checking that box is gonna look real bad for you in general.

 

[LizzyM]

The key phrase that argues against "disadvantage" is "father had a private practice". So, until your last year of college, your father had a private practice and, I presume, he was financially successful and, as mentioned, your family owned a home.

Adcoms will crucify you if they think you are throwing a pity party despite being financially well off from from 0-18. I have seen it happen to a URM student whose family owned a small neighborhood store.

If your parents' woes were some of the inspiration to enter medicine or if they give you a perspective as a family member that you believe will be helpful when you interact with families then you might make it part of your personal statement but I would find putting this in the disadvantage section to be very off putting, particularly if your family income when you were growing up was into six figures. Of course, you should account for the time (weeks/months/years?) that you were a full-time caregiver in the experience section. Tag it as "other" and, perhaps, list it as one of the three most important so that you have a little more space to describe it.

 

[Funny_Current]

The key phrase that argues against "disadvantage" is "father had a private practice". So, until your last year of college, your father had a private practice and, I presume, he was financially successful and, as mentioned, your family owned a home.

Adcoms will crucify you if they think you are throwing a pity party despite being financially well off from from 0-18. I have seen it happen to a URM student whose family owned a small neighborhood store.

If your parents' woes were some of the inspiration to enter medicine or if they give you a perspective as a family member that you believe will be helpful when you interact with families then you might make it part of your personal statement but I would find putting this in the disadvantage section to be very off putting, particularly if your family income when you were growing up was into six figures. Of course, you should account for the time (weeks/months/years?) that you were a full-time caregiver in the experience section. Tag it as "other" and, perhaps, list it as one of the three most important so that you have a little more space to describe it.

Thanks for responding and I'm grateful for your insight. I feel that aamc isn't clear enough about this issue, and so I have tried to understand claiming disadvantaged applicant status the best I could. I am not trying to throw a pity party by any means, I am just trying to provide insight into a situation with my immediate family that has affected my academic pursuits - something I thought was a criteria. Are you saying that you have to grow up at or below the poverty line to be disadvantaged? Trust me, I have listed these experiences in my work activities section and my PS is heavily based on this. However it lacks what I feel is a necessary context.

I've seen how helpful you have been to other people so thanks again for giving me your advice.

 

[gyngyn]

There will be ample space in the primary and in the secondaries to add this layer of context to your journey.
There are a number of reviewers who have seen the children of economic privilege indicate that they are "disadvantaged." This inevitably causes cognitive dissonance.

 

[LizzyM]

I encouraged someone I knew IRL to apply disadvantaged and then listened while my fellow adcom members took the applicant apart for not being poor enough.

Were you behind your peers as a college freshman or did you delay college due to economic hardship? If not, the disadvantage section isn't for you. It is not meant as a way of explaining a bad college performance.

 

[Funny_Current]

There will be ample space in the primary and in the secondaries to add this layer of context to your journey.
There are a number of reviewers who have seen the children of economic privilege indicate that they are "disadvantaged." This inevitably causes cognitive dissonance.

Thanks for your input! I do not doubt that that is the case a lot the times. I am just trying to find out if there is truth behind the claim that serious problems involving immediate family that affect your academic pursuits is considered disadvantaged. I was not poor. But trust me, these kinds of issues are not specific to financially struggling families. It doesn't seem fair to have the opportunity to self designate yourself and then have something so personal yet willing to disclose be met with a cognitive dissonance. Are you also saying you have to grow up poor and experience these issues?

 

[gyngyn]

Thanks for your input! I do not doubt that that is the case a lot the times. I am just trying to find out if there is truth behind the claim that serious problems involving immediate family that affect your academic pursuits is considered disadvantaged. I was not poor. But trust me, these kinds of issues are not specific to financially struggling families. It doesn't seem fair to have the opportunity to self designate yourself and then have something so personal yet willing to disclose be met with a cognitive dissonance. Are you also saying you have to grow up poor and experience these issues?

We know this.

 

[Funny_Current]

I encouraged someone I knew IRL to apply disadvantaged and then listened while my fellow adcom members took the applicant apart for not being poor enough.

Were you behind your peers as a college freshman or did you delay college due to economic hardship? If not, the disadvantage section isn't for you. It is not meant as a way of explaining a bad college performance.

Yes, actually. I tried to indicate that my life in high school was affected by the toxicity of mothers illnesses. The constant abuse and fighting between my parents and their ultimate separation did not foster a creative, productive environment. I graduate high school with a 1.7, and spent almost 2 years taking classes to catch up. A 3.4 is not a bad college performance given the continued challenges and circumstances I faced with my parents, and I am not looking for an excuse for that! I don't need to explain this any further or try different angles if you are basically telling me I have to be poor to not be stigmatized by adcoms. This is confusing because of the opportunity to self-designate, and one of the criteria (although very vague) is immediate family. Thanks again for you input.

 

[Funny_Current]

We know this.

I'm not sure that I understand what you are telling me. If "[you] know this" then why did you tell me about cognitive dissonance of adcoms? If you are basically telling me that people who designate as disadvantaged are stigmatized if their family income is above the poverty line, then fine I can accept and appreciate that. I'm on here posting about this because the aamc is not specific enough. I'm just looking for a consensus.

 

[LizzyM]

Let's look at the instructions:
You are required to answer questions regarding your childhood. To help you answer these questions, we have defined several of the important terms below.
Immediate Family: The Federal Government broadly defines "immediate family" as "spouse, parent, child, sibling, mother- or father-in-law, son- or daughter-in-law, or sisteror brother-in-law, including step and adoptive relationships."
Underserved: Based on your own experiences or the experiences of immediate family and friends, you may believe that the area in which you grew up was “underserved” if there was an inadequate number of available health care providers; this may include physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare services.
State and Federal Assistance Programs: These programs are specifically defined as "Means-Tested Programs" under which the individual, family, or household income and assets must be below specified thresholds. The sponsoring agencies then provide cash and non-cash assistance to eligible individuals, families, or households. Such programs include welfare benefit programs (federal, state, and local); Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC or ADC); unemployment compensation; General Assistance (GA); food stamps; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Medicaid; housing assistance; or other federal, state, or local financial assistance programs.
Pell Grant: A Pell Grant is money the U.S. federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. To determine whether you were ever a recipient, you may wish to review your past financial award letters.
Disadvantaged Status: You will then be asked if you wish to be considered a disadvantaged applicant by your designated medical schools. You might consider yourself disadvantaged if you grew up in an area that was medically underserved or had insufficient access to State and Federal Assistance programs. Click Yes to be considered a disadvantaged applicant. You will be given an additional 1,325 characters to explain why you believe you should be considered a disadvantaged applicant.

The point of asking about immediate family is to say that if you think that you were in an underserved area because of the experiences of your parents, siblings, (or your spouse's parents or siblings), then you can answer yes to having had the experience of being in an underserved area.

This is not about your parents' marriage or the chaotic environment of your household unless you want to say that there was an inadquate number of physicians and health care services to assist your parents in their medical and psychiatric illnesses based on their experiences. Not that they went and were untreatable or inadquately treated, but rather that they couldn't even get in to see anyone.

 

[gyngyn]

I'm not sure that I understand what you are telling me. If "[you] know this" then why did you tell me about cognitive dissonance of adcoms? If you are basically telling me that people who designate as disadvantaged are stigmatized if their family income is above the poverty line, then fine I can accept and appreciate that. I'm on here posting about this because the aamc is not specific enough. I'm just looking for a consensus.

Jimmies get rustled when the chidren of physicians claim economic or service disadvantage.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

Jimmies get rustled when the chidren of physicians claim economic or service disadvantage.

So in summary, the disadvantaged box is not meant to cover all crappy circumstances. However, if the box isn't checked, applicants have other chances to explain any hardships which have impacted their academic performance.

 

[Funny_Current]

Thanks everybody! This has been really helpful (and a decent a change for once on sdn)