Diversity

[grad2014]

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Hey guys,

I have been having a little trouble with my secondary essays. I have been stuck on what to write about for my diversity essays. I have narrowed it down to two topics, I don't know which one would be better! Here they are:

1. Growing up with an alcoholic father.
or
2. Growing up in New York City.

Which do you guys think would work better for the diversity topic?

Also a quick side question,

For accomplishment questions, how should I go about it if I really don't have anything crazy to write about?

Thanks a lot guys!

 

[RocDiva4040]

Either would be fine. If you can talk about both, that would be great. Otherwise I'd lean towards the alcoholic father topic. The most important thing is to link it to how those experiences would make you a better physician. What qualities did those experiences help develop? How could these experiences help you relate better to your patients and classmates?

 

[slopes23]

Hey guys,

I have been having a little trouble with my secondary essays. I have been stuck on what to write about for my diversity essays. I have narrowed it down to two topics, I don't know which one would be better! Here they are:

1. Growing up with an alcoholic father.
or
2. Growing up in New York City.

Which do you guys think would work better for the diversity topic?

Also a quick side question,

For accomplishment questions, how should I go about it if I really don't have anything crazy to write about?

Thanks a lot guys!

Neither to be honest. None of those really add to the diversity of the school. Diversity is culture, it's character. #1 is more of a hardship than anything, but it doesn't affect your diversity. #2 could possibly be argued for it but honestly it's a really bad example if you are a typical new yorker. You could try and talk about how you met so many people and cultures and you are kind of a blend of all of them, but let's be honest you probably didn't, and it will show in how you write about it. What if I told you I add diversity cause I am from LA or Miami? Perhaps if you have roots overseas then you can talk about that. That doesn't really do anything, and it doesn't speak to who you are as a person. Try talking about things that interest you that perhaps aren't so vanilla. If you have traveled a lot you can touch on that perhaps. Basically they are asking you, what defines you. Why are you unique. Why would our institution want these qualities. Where is your value added.

 

[slopes23]

Either would be fine. If you can talk about both, that would be great. Otherwise I'd lean towards the alcoholic father topic. The most important thing is to link it to how those experiences would make you a better physician. What qualities did those experiences help develop? How could these experiences help you relate better to your patients and classmates?

Prompt sounds like it's asking about diversity added, not hardships overcome.

 

[grad2014]

Neither to be honest. None of those really add to the diversity of the school. Diversity is culture, it's character. #1 is more of a hardship than anything, but it doesn't affect your diversity. #2 could possibly be argued for it but honestly it's a really bad example if you are a typical new yorker. You could try and talk about how you met so many people and cultures and you are kind of a blend of all of them, but let's be honest you probably didn't, and it will show in how you write about it. What if I told you I add diversity cause I am from LA or Miami? Perhaps if you have roots overseas then you can talk about that. That doesn't really do anything, and it doesn't speak to who you are as a person. Try talking about things that interest you that perhaps aren't so vanilla. If you have traveled a lot you can touch on that perhaps. Basically they are asking you, what defines you. Why are you unique. Why would our institution want these qualities. Where is your value added.

How about me being in a southeast asian dance club throughout highschool. I was never good at dancing but that was my first time doing it, but I liked it and continued. Obviously, I would make it much better than that, but I don't know if using a high school experience is ok or not.

 

[slopes23]

How about me being in a southeast asian dance club throughout high school. I was never good at dancing but that was my first time doing it, but I liked it and continued. Obviously, I would make it much better than that, but I don't know if using a high school experience is ok or not.

I don't think you should use that either since you didn't continue it. It has to be part of the diversity you will add to the school. If you didn't continue it through college, then they can't expect you to continue it in medical school, so it's as if you hadn't done it at all. Unless you lived in a different country in high school I would stray away from things that you only did before college. If you find that you don't have anything that really makes you stand out from a background or activities standpoint then perhaps try and elaborate on the diversity you can bring in your way of thinking. Talk about how you think out of the box, and elaborate by giving good examples... Overall just ask yourself what friends would say about you if they were asked what is unique about "John". In order to answer these questions you need to know who you are and what defines you. In order to know that you need to have experienced a fair amount of introspection which is the whole point.

You didn't think getting into medical school was going to be easy did you?

 

[freakingoutabit]

Prompt sounds like it's asking about diversity added, not hardships overcome.

I disagree with this. Diversity isn't limited to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, and other self-identifiers that can be checked off on a list. Schools also want diversity in experience and background, and growing up with an alcoholic father is definitely something that most people don't experience. I would just be sure to discuss how that experience has shaped your perspective. In other words, you grew up in a very difficult and unusual situation, so how did that affect the person you grew up to be?

 

[slopes23]

I disagree with this. Diversity isn't limited to race, ethnicity, religion, sexual preference, and other self-identifiers that can be checked off on a list. Schools also want diversity in experience and background, and growing up with an alcoholic father is definitely something that most people don't experience. I would just be sure to discuss how that experience has shaped your perspective. In other words, you grew up in a very difficult and unusual situation, so how did that affect the person you grew up to be?

You can try... but I still don't (personally) think that is a good way to show your diversity and how you are going to add to the school's environment. When a school talks about it's diversity they do not say yeah you know we have all different types of people here, we have people who are the children of a single parent, alcoholic fathers, and abusive mom's. Those are all things that are hardships sure, and there is certainly a place for them to be spoken about on the application but I can't imagine that using this as a way to diversify yourself is a particularly good answer. Pretty much what that is saying is that among all of the AVERAGE applicants, the only thing that separates you from them is your dad was an alcoholic?

Quoted directly from Miriam Webster Dictionary " the condition of having or being composed of differing elements : variety; especially : the inclusion of different types of people (as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization <programs intended to promote diversity in schools>"

If you want to ***** foot around the answer just so you can put something down then feel free. But I think something important to keep in mind is that when adcoms are reviewing these secondaries you don't get a voice at the table. They read it to themselves and perhaps talk about it with other members, but you don't get to sit in and plead your case about how what you put actually really does fall into diversity. Whatever you write down should be good enough so that it does not require explanation and should be clear that it is certainly diversity.

Then again, what do I know.