Diversity vs. Adversity

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CaliforniaDreamer

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Hey everyone, I have many of these "Anything else you would like us to know?" questions to complete, and I was wondering if I should go with an explanation of what makes me a diverse applicant (lots of artistic experiences my whole life, worked on large art installation teams, etc), or discuss an adversity (a neurological syndrome that I have, I talk about how it is much less severe now, and I also mention it in my PS. I talk about its effect on me, and how it made me more open and sensitive to others as well as stimulated my interests in science). I was thinking about not talking about the school at all, ie. no "Why this school" answers, besides maybe some brief mentions.

And if one of these questions is asked elsewhere in the secondary, I would give the other in the optional response. I am wondering which one seems like the better option? I don't want to put something blatantly out of place as an answer due to my ignorance. Thanks!
 
As you know, I'm a wee premed too. But I think I'd love hearing more about the art. Makes you diverse, unique, and interesting.
 
Why is that better than talking about something that isn't explained elsewhere in my app?

Because you have enormous potential to harm your app by

1) answering a question that wasn't asked and is entirely unnecessary to answer

2) force a reader to read something they don't care about

3) bore a reader

4) end up writing something that will reflect poorly on you

If your app is otherwise solid, let it speak for itself. Don't add unsolicited information that isn't really useful. The only time I can recommend writing something here is if there is something so defining about your application that is absolutely necessary for context when evaluating the whole app that isn't given space for anywhere else. Most applicants don't have these.

Think about it from the adcom's perspective - do you think they asked this question so they can hear about how cool your art is?
 
Because you have enormous potential to harm your app by

1) answering a question that wasn't asked and is entirely unnecessary to answer

2) force a reader to read something they don't care about

3) bore a reader

4) end up writing something that will reflect poorly on you

If your app is otherwise solid, let it speak for itself. Don't add unsolicited information that isn't really useful. The only time I can recommend writing something here is if there is something so defining about your application that is absolutely necessary for context when evaluating the whole app that isn't given space for anywhere else. Most applicants don't have these.

Think about it from the adcom's perspective - do you think they asked this question so they can hear about how cool your art is?

Ok those are good points, and the reason I made this thread, I don't want to harm myself by bringing these topics up unnecessarily. Thank you. However, not all of these "Anything else that isn't mentioned elsewhere" prompts are optional, what would you say is the better option in those cases? I am thinking about Geisel...
 
Ok those are good points, and the reason I made this thread, I don't want to harm myself by bringing these topics up unnecessarily. Thank you. However, not all of these "Anything else that isn't mentioned elsewhere" prompts are optional, what would you say is the better option in those cases? I am thinking about Geisel...

Geisel's is a special case because when they are asking this, they want to read about something not necessarily application-defining, but merely interesting (as it pertains to your professional aspirations). In this case, talking about art or the condition would be appropriate (because this is what they want to know!) and you should pick whichever you can write about better. The questions are phrased differently. Geisel's is "tell us about..." while the optional ones are "if you have anything else that needs to be addressed..." Obviously these aren't the exact phrasings, but they are the sentiment being conveyed.
 
Because you have enormous potential to harm your app by

1) answering a question that wasn't asked and is entirely unnecessary to answer

2) force a reader to read something they don't care about

3) bore a reader

4) end up writing something that will reflect poorly on you

If your app is otherwise solid, let it speak for itself. Don't add unsolicited information that isn't really useful. The only time I can recommend writing something here is if there is something so defining about your application that is absolutely necessary for context when evaluating the whole app that isn't given space for anywhere else. Most applicants don't have these.

Think about it from the adcom's perspective - do you think they asked this question so they can hear about how cool your art is?

Hello @LizzyM, @Goro, @gyngyn, and @Catalystik. I was wondering if you had an answer for the initial question of this post. What WedgeDawg says sounds very reasonable, and I'm wondering if y'all are in accordance.
 
Geisel's is a special case because when they are asking this, they want to read about something not necessarily application-defining, but merely interesting (as it pertains to your professional aspirations). In this case, talking about art or the condition would be appropriate (because this is what they want to know!) and you should pick whichever you can write about better. The questions are phrased differently. Geisel's is "tell us about..." while the optional ones are "if you have anything else that needs to be addressed..." Obviously these aren't the exact phrasings, but they are the sentiment being conveyed.
Sounds good, thank you for the advice. I still feel a bit queasy leaving all that blank space, but I think you are right and that I would probably be hurting myself. Although, I was also thinking about using it to reassure the adcoms that my neurological issues wouldn't interfere with my ability to work as a medical student or doctor, dunno if I emphasized that enough in my PS :/
 
Sounds good, thank you for the advice. I still feel a bit queasy leaving all that blank space, but I think you are right and that I would probably be hurting myself. Although, I was also thinking about using it to reassure the adcoms that my neurological issues wouldn't interfere with my ability to work as a medical student or doctor, dunno if I emphasized that enough in my PS :/

I think you'll be totally fine. Don't stress too much.
 
Hello @LizzyM, @Goro, @gyngyn, and @Catalystik. I was wondering if you had an answer for the initial question of this post. What WedgeDawg says sounds very reasonable, and I'm wondering if y'all are in accordance.
Don't be repetitive. You already addressed the neurological issue in the PS. If the teamwork aspect of your Art wasn't mentioned in the Work/Activities section already, that might be reasonable to discuss. Succinctly.
 
Do you have a list of things you want to say? Stories you want to tell? Vignettes that illustrate characteristics you want to highlight?

Yes, keep 'em short, but this is the place to slide in those tidbits that didn't fit elsewhere.
 
Don't pad your app dude. Quality over quantity is the overall rule for an effective application. Every time I hear about people struggling to find a way to fill every last box and EC spot I cringe.
 
So if asked you aren't going to answer "why this school"? That seems strange to me. Interesting.

Oh I would certainly answer the question if asked in the prompt, I mean for the open ended "Tell us something else that you haven't talked about elsewhere" questions. Including both the optional and not optional ones. The consensus seems to strongly favor NOT answering the optional ones, which is actually a bit surprising to me, but makes sense. However, they are not all optional. This thread was very helpful though, thank you to everyone for the advice.
 
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