Hardest challenge you overcame?

[NP545]

I'm preparing for interviews right now and I have a feeling that "What is the hardest challenge you overcame" will surely come up. I just want to know what path to choose when answering this question. Do the interviews want me to lean towards an academic/college -related challenge or a more personal challenge?

I'm not really sure which way to lean, so if you don't mind, could you post some of the answers you gave / possible answers? (I will not use your answers, I will just consider them to decide which area to focus on. And also, it will help me get an idea of what they are looking for)

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[Ismet]

They want you to "lean" towards something that is actually a challenge and how you overcame it. The "how you overcame it" part is more important than what the challenge is, so focus more on that.

Just don't say that you're a perfectionist.

 

[NickNaylor]

Whatever you say, make sure that it's an actual challenge and make sure you emphasize what you took away from the experience rather than the experience itself. This question is surprisingly a huge pitfall for many people for some reason, the primary problem being that people often talk about things that seem somewhat trite. As an example, a common thing that I see is people discuss their "poor grades" when they ended up getting, say a 3.5 in the context of something like a 3.9 overall. Those aren't "bad grades," and people are going to have a hard time taking you seriously if that's the greatest "challenge" you were able to think of.

I don't have any specific examples to give you as it's a pretty personal question. Just make sure the challenge is something meaningful.

 

[NP545]

@Ismet & @NickNaylor what do you mean by "Actual challenge". That's the thing confusing me the most about my original question. Are there any unwritten "criteria" that explain "actual challenges". I will avoid perfectionistic and neurotic grade 'challenges' for sure, but what would you say makes a meaningful challenge? (ex: family emergency which led to below average semester or "i was injured in ____ and this made it hard for me to go to class or even outside for that matter..." the first concerns academics and the second is more personal/life related)

As for describing how I overcame the challenge, should I talk about what I immediately did to combat the challenge, followed by long term steps I still continue to take to avoid that challenge from coming up again?

Finally, partially unrelated to the thread, but how long are interviews usually? I want to know approx how much time to allocate for each answer. 100% do not want to blabber nonsensically but at the same time, I don't want to speak super brief.

 

[deleted407021]

I suppose there are some people who legitimately, for better or worse, really don't have anything to talk about if this question was raised to them. I can think of a few personally, but it's conceivable that some people have never really been challenged.

 

[NickNaylor]

@Ismet & @NickNaylor what do you mean by "Actual challenge". That's the thing confusing me the most about my original question. Are there any unwritten "criteria" that explain "actual challenges". I will avoid perfectionistic and neurotic grade 'challenges' for sure, but what would you say makes a meaningful challenge? (ex: family emergency which led to below average semester or "i was injured in ____ and this made it hard for me to go to class or even outside for that matter..." the first concerns academics and the second is more personal/life related)

As for describing how I overcame the challenge, should I talk about what I immediately did to combat the challenge, followed by long term steps I still continue to take to avoid that challenge from coming up again?

Finally, partially unrelated to the thread, but how long are interviews usually? I want to know approx how much time to allocate for each answer. 100% do not want to blabber nonsensically but at the same time, I don't want to speak super brief.

A family emergency type situation can be fine, but I would focus more on the personal stuff than the impact on your grades. Other common "tropes" include discussions about difficult situations in the context of leadership positions (e.g., difficulty working with a group member, failed project/plans, etc.), personal stuff (which can be just about anything), among others. Whatever it is, just make sure that it's meaningful to you. If it is, you're more likely to talk about it a way that gives off the sense that it was an impactful experience and that you took something away from it - which is ultimately what the committee is looking for when asking this kind of question.

Lengths of interviews vary widely. Some might be 20 minutes, some 30 minutes, and more rarely some an hour. You'll get an interview itinerary on the morning of your interview, so you'll know how much time you have before going into the interview.

I suppose there are some people who legitimately, for better or worse, really don't have anything to talk about if this question was raised to them. I can think of a few personally, but it's conceivable that some people have never really been challenged.

For better or worse, these are the kind of people that typically don't too well at my institution. If someone truly isn't able to come up with any kind of challenge they've experienced from their life, then it suggests immaturity and/or lack of pushing yourself and stepping outside of your comfort zone. Not always, but generally.

 

[Doug Underhill]

How would you guys view weight loss as an answer? I was obese in my teens, but have been able to keep it under control from age 19 onward through diet and various attempts at exercise.

On one hand, it seems like a smaller problem than the ones many other have faced: on the other, I think doctors on an adcom will love the idea of a fat person losing weight.

 

[NickNaylor]

How would you guys view weight loss as an answer? I was obese in my teens, but have been able to keep it under control from age 19 onward through diet and various attempts at exercise.

On one hand, it seems like a smaller problem than the ones many other have faced: on the other, I think doctors on an adcom will love the idea of a fat person losing weight.

This is what I talked about when I faced this kind of question (lost about 60 lbs. over the course of junior year of college). I think it's worth talking about, but again, focus on the things that you learned from the experience, skills that you used to follow through with your plan, etc., ideally in a way that ties them in with being a physician.

 

[Narmerguy]

How would you guys view weight loss as an answer? I was obese in my teens, but have been able to keep it under control from age 19 onward through diet and various attempts at exercise.

On one hand, it seems like a smaller problem than the ones many other have faced: on the other, I think doctors on an adcom will love the idea of a fat person losing weight.

Just pick something that you actually felt was a challenge. Many people appreciate the challenge of losing weight, but people also appreciate a whole host of other things.