Greatest obstacle/challenge secondary essay

[gannicus89]

Hello.

I've been trying to come up with a topic for this type of essay... and I came up with three topics

1. Juggling classes, research, and taking my father to physical therapy after he got into a car accident and broke his elbow

2. My junior year with a clinically depressed, suicidal roommate.

3. Getting a tutoring club started, geared towards high school students

Or this one: I recently got into a car accident, was my brother's car, which now needs to be totaled. And I'm trying to address the need for a new car for him, whiplash pain which is not going away, classes, and research.

Which do you think would be best? I think I can expound on all three of these issues. I'm not sure which one represents the greatest obstacle per se. 1 and 2 don't seem like "obstacles" but they are also more personal than 3.

Any advice is welcome.

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[ngc 2170]

My initial impression is that #3 fits best. #1 could work, but doesn't seem too unusual or likely to show unique fortitude. #2 is not your personal challenge, but your roommate's.

My bias here is that I lean toward topics of personal work and determination, and away from challenges centering on others (e.g. #2). However, #2 could work if you took actions or were involved beyond what most people would do in the situation.

 

[gannicus89]

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[gannicus89]

My initial impression is that #3 fits best. #1 could work, but doesn't seem too unusual or likely to show unique fortitude. #2 is not your personal challenge, but your roommate's.

My bias here is that I lean toward topics of personal work and determination, and away from challenges centering on others (e.g. #2). However, #2 could work if you took actions or were involved beyond what most people would do in the situation.

I agree that #1 isn't very unique. In terms of my roommate... well, I had to stay up with him several nights, finally convinced him to go see one of the counselors on campus, made myself available for whenever he wanted to talk/vent. It felt like I was his caretaker or something. Hard to describe. I'm not sure if what I did is going beyond what someone else would have done in the situation.

 

[HawksWin]

Also wondering about this essay topic. I feel like a few of my challenges (figuring out an effective way to manage my depression, dealing with the repercussions of child abuse and an alcoholic parent) would be unprofessional to talk about in an application essay, but I do feel like these things have challenged me more than classes, research, etc. Should I write about them or would I get cast off as "high risk?"

 

[sunshine02]

I agree that #1 isn't very unique. In terms of my roommate... well, I had to stay up with him several nights, finally convinced him to go see one of the counselors on campus, made myself available for whenever he wanted to talk/vent. It felt like I was his caretaker or something. Hard to describe. I'm not sure if what I did is going beyond what someone else would have done in the situation.

I actually think #2 could be a good topic.

A question of my own though: is it ok to talk about a challenge that happened in middle school? It would involve talking about a unique activity that was done in middle school..

 

[medbunny56]

question-which would be a topic?
1. dealing with a roommate who was not so considerate of personal space/privacy
2. adjustment to 4 year university from cc

 

[GBCrzzyy]

question-which would be a topic?
1. dealing with a roommate who was not so considerate of personal space/privacy
2. adjustment to 4 year university from cc

the problem with #2 is it's a pretty common challenge for many students so it isn't very unique. Unless #1 was under extreme circumstances, I also don't find this to be a unique or extraordinary challenge. I would try to come up with some other topic ideas

 

[Chelsea FC]

Maybe I can jump on this question as well. I come from a 3rd world country and from a bad area as well. Alot of my friends were in the life of crime and did some serious stuff. I want to talk about the struggle of turning your back to that life style and how it helped cement how I viewed myself. . I am worried about this because some people would just say I don't think that's a obstacle because one is expected to not be drawn to crime or the fact that I associated myself with such people would reflect badly on me. I never did any illegal activity so that's not a worry. . What you guys think? ?

 

[GBCrzzyy]

Maybe I can jump on this question as well. I come from a 3rd world country and from a bad area as well. Alot of my friends were in the life of crime and did some serious stuff. I want to talk about the struggle of turning your back to that life style and how it helped cement how I viewed myself. . I am worried about this because some people would just say I don't think that's a obstacle because one is expected to not be drawn to crime or the fact that I associated myself with such people would reflect badly on me. I never did any illegal activity so that's not a worry. . What you guys think? ?

This can be a good topic depending on if you use it correctly. Remember this is about YOUR personal challenge so make sure you discuss how these people influenced you and what you did to move past it and why it was difficult for you. You don't want it to be focused around them, what they did, or how bad the whole situation was. You want to show how you grew as a person from it all.

 

[DrChef94]

I agree that #1 isn't very unique. In terms of my roommate... well, I had to stay up with him several nights, finally convinced him to go see one of the counselors on campus, made myself available for whenever he wanted to talk/vent. It felt like I was his caretaker or something. Hard to describe. I'm not sure if what I did is going beyond what someone else would have done in the situation.

I also lived with two roommates, one who had an eating disorder and the other generalized anxiety disorder, and became their caretakers for the 18 months I lived with them. I made sure they ate, exercised, stayed healthy, kept up with their schoolwork, saw their counsellor, etc. While it was a challenge in general to keep up with my own life at the same time I was making sure they were in a relatively good place, I personally don't feel like it was an adversity that I had to overcome and one that contributed to my own personal strengths. Unless you can figure out a way to write about that, and how that experience made you a better person/will enable you to be a better physician (rather than it sounding like you're writing about someone else's greatest obstacle), I would go with #3.

 

[ready2go2]

the problem with #2 is it's a pretty common challenge for many students so it isn't very unique. Unless #1 was under extreme circumstances, I also don't find this to be a unique or extraordinary challenge. I would try to come up with some other topic ideas

You should stop telling people their obstacle/challenge needs to be "unique/extraordinary." I mean its super nice if they have one, but your average applicant probably lived a very average life with not many difficult/captivating obstacles.

I believe that ADCOMS are asking this question not because they are seeking out applicant's unique and extraordinary challenges, but rather they want to know how you handle said challenge/obstacle.

And of course you don't have to listen to me (I'm just an applicant) but to quote LizzyM from a 2010 thread :

Schools may vary but I suspect that many are more interested in how did you overcome whatever it is. The whatever is not the important part of the essay. It is how you did what you did: trying again, asking for help or advice, analyzing what went wrong and working on that, meditationor prayer, finding a distraction, getting involved in a group, helping or comforting others.

 

[Crayola227]

I also lived with two roommates, one who had an eating disorder and the other generalized anxiety disorder, and became their caretakers for the 18 months I lived with them. I made sure they ate, exercised, stayed healthy, kept up with their schoolwork, saw their counsellor, etc. While it was a challenge in general to keep up with my own life at the same time I was making sure they were in a relatively good place, I personally don't feel like it was an adversity that I had to overcome and one that contributed to my own personal strengths. Unless you can figure out a way to write about that, and how that experience made you a better person/will enable you to be a better physician (rather than it sounding like you're writing about someone else's greatest obstacle), I would go with #3.

Were you paid to be their caretaker? I would just be sorta careful about coming off like co-dependent or something.

 

[GBCrzzyy]

You should stop telling people their obstacle/challenge needs to be "unique/extraordinary." I mean its super nice if they have one, but your average applicant probably lived a very average life with not many difficult/captivating obstacles.

I believe that ADCOMS are asking this question not because they are seeking out applicant's unique and extraordinary challenges, but rather they want to know how you handle said challenge/obstacle.

And of course you don't have to listen to me (I'm just an applicant) but to quote LizzyM from a 2010 thread :

You're absolutely correct, unique is not the only way to go. I have been unfortunate (fortunate?) enough to experience many 'unique' obstacles but anyone can make a 'common' challenge unique by showing how much they grow from it. I find it hard to give advice to others about this type of essay question purely because the answer is so self defined. I didn't mean to imply that you HAVE to be unique with your challenge, I guess meaningful is a much better word to use.