How far to stretch diversity secondary prompt?

[fdgjfg]

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[Goro]

No, no, no, no! You are making the classic pre-med mistake with this. The prompt is not asking for ethnicity stuff. It's asking about what do you bring to the Class? What's cool about you?

And 2e would get you rejected in my book.

What's 2f????????????

Introspection is a required trait for a doctor.

 

[MCATISEZ]

No, no, no, no! You are making the classic pre-med mistake with this. The prompt is not asking for ethnicity stuff. It's asking about what do you bring to the Class? What's cool about you?

And 2e would get you rejected in my book.

What's 2f????????????

Introspection is a required trait for a doctor.

Why is 2e that bad? I agree that it is not a particularly good answer. But I cannot imagine why one answer that is not very strong on a secondary would immediately disqualify an applicant.

 

[Goro]

Why is 2e that bad? I agree that it is not a particularly good answer. But I cannot imagine why one answer that is not very strong on a secondary would immediately disqualify an applicant.

Everybody has family members who are different. This is like trying to get credit for eating. It's almost clueless.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

d). Moving 5 times by the time I was in middle school; having to adjust to new places.

No, no, no, no! You are making the classic pre-med mistake with this. The prompt is not asking for ethnicity stuff. It's asking about what do you bring to the Class? What's cool about you?

And 2e would get you rejected in my book.

What's 2f????????????

Introspection is a required trait for a doctor.

Something you could do would be to describe how this has made it easy for you to develop relationships with new people, adjust to new environments, etc. That's still a bit of a stretch, but it seems like one of your better options.

 

[Goro]

Something you could do would be to describe how this has made it easy for you to develop relationships with new people, adjust to new environments, etc. That's still a bit of a stretch, but it seems like one of your better options.

I disagree. You develop new relationships with new people by dealing with...wait for it...new people.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

I disagree. You develop new relationships with new people by dealing with...wait for it...new people.

Would he/she not meet new people at 5 different schools? Middle schoolers are jerks. I'm not saying it's an A+ answer at all, but it's something.

 

[Goro]

Would he/she not meet new people at 5 different schools? Middle schoolers are jerks. I'm not saying it's an A+ answer at all, but it's something.

But OP was mentioning family members who were different. You're thinking of 2d

I'm not a fan of experiences from childhood, either.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

But OP was mentioning family members who were different. You're thinking of 2d

I'm not a fan of experiences from childhood, either.

Agree on that. I was more or less going off what was provided. I think we're all in agreement that maybe some more reflection/brainstorming is required for OP

 

[fdgjfg]

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[Ayahuasca]

No, no, no, no! You are making the classic pre-med mistake with this. The prompt is not asking for ethnicity stuff. It's asking about what do you bring to the Class? What's cool about you?

Piggybacking of this thread to ask a quick question.

Currently, my diversity prompt does talk about ethnicity and culture. However, I then jump into how that shaped some of my other interests and highlight some unique activities. Is that still in line with the classic pre-med mistake or is an approach like this more acceptable?

 

[Goro]

Piggybacking of this thread to ask a quick question.

Currently, my diversity prompt does talk about ethnicity and culture. However, I then jump into how that shaped some of my other interests and highlight some unique activities. Is that still in line with the classic pre-med mistake or is an approach like this more acceptable?

Is your ethnicity/culture an uncommon one?

 

[CyrilFiggis]

I think I may have been too brief in describing the topics - obviously I wouldn't say I'm unique because I have different family members who are different and leave it at that. I would probably use it as a starting off point to describe being raised with two divergent intellectual cultures and how that's carried into broader interests in art and science, and unique ways of problem solving or approaching the world as an adult. It's still probably not the best topic because I don't really have tangible achievements in the arts (like double majoring, etc.) so it would probably fall flat. For moving, it would be about having to adapt to different kinds of environment (urban vs. rural), culture, and people (north vs. south) and how that's helped me in volunteering/working with people who come from different cultural traditions, understanding what it's like to be the outsider, etc.

If I was thinking about what others would say is the most interesting thing about me or thing I do, it would probably be the sport related one - after watching the olympics a few years ago I became really interested in the sport of weightlifting (i.e. snatch and clean & jerk). I've managed to slowly and painfully teach myself the lifts (which are probably based more on technique than strength) and have gone from snatching the bar to snatching bodyweight, and through the process learned a lot about the science behind strength and conditioning (reading old soviet training manuals, other books/ideas about developing flexibility or fixing injuries). Still haven't competed yet, but I'm hoping to this year. I could probably develop that into something similar to any athletic related essay - developing discipline and the ability to critique yourself, knowing when to be patient and when to not overthink it, etc.

The problem I'm having, and I guess why I'm making this post, is because essays based on what makes you "cool" seem mundane, and ones that are more diversity related seem boring. I can see how someone who played a sport for their whole life at a very high level (like a former D1 player) could say that this experience is what they bring to the class, but can I really make the same argument for something that I've only done for a few years, and am very much an amateur at? Especially since I imagine that athletics and music are probably some of the most common topics, I wonder if mine would seem weak in comparison due to lack of distinct honors or achievements in the activity.

1) stop trying to make things relate back to medicine. It's cool that you have an interest in fitness so let that just be that.
2) "divergent intellectual cultures" sounds terrible. You make it seem like there is this great boundary between arts and science or whatever your comparative metric is. I've met some of the most talented and creative thinkers in my 30+ years on earth in my med school class and that's after completing undergrad with an arts degree.
3) This is not about being cool or checking off boxes. This is another way to tell the story of who you are more than just a set of grades and MCAT who really really wants to be an MD.

Think of the prompt as if it read.... "Many people identify themselves by their careers and for you that's becoming a doctor. But if we asked you to describe yourself without mentioning medicine or your career, who are you?"

 

[Stuck on CCL2]

Is your ethnicity/culture an uncommon one?

Sorry to add in here. I am half Palestinian-American (Father came over as a child refugee) and half Mexican-American (Grandparents immigrated from Chihuahua). My blended ethnic/cultural backgrounds actually played a lot in which extracurriculars I devoted my time to. Granted I state more of why my background has given me a lot to bring to the class, would this be uncommon enough to mention? I've used my blended background in all of my diversity essays I've submitted so far.

 

[Goro]

Sorry to add in here. I am half Palestinian-American (Father came over as a child refugee) and half Mexican-American (Grandparents immigrated from Chihuahua). My blended ethnic/cultural backgrounds actually played a lot in which extracurriculars I devoted my time to. Granted I state more of why my background has given me a lot to bring to the class, would this be uncommon enough to mention? I've used my blended background in all of my diversity essays I've submitted so far.

Go for it.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

A good friend of mine got into several med schools using a diversity essay that talked about how he was a heterosexual white 5th generation American male.

Diversity can be literally anything if phrased correctly

 

[Ayahuasca]

Is your ethnicity/culture an uncommon one?

Mexican-American.

I don't think it's too uncommon for the general population, but I was under the impression it is more uncommon for medical school admissions.

What do you think? Should I still avoid this in the prompt?

 

[xxpremed22]

Go for it.

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[Goro]

Hey, so I'm in a similar situation. Would it be inappropriate to talk about how one's sexual orientation and journey to find people that accept him/her shaped their interest in helping the disenfranchised through working/volunteering as a crisis counselor? I would add to that saying that my life experiences, in contrast with my work, has made me really think of the importance of the words I say as well as their implications.

Too commonplace nowadays

 

[Goro]

Hey, so I'm in a similar situation. Would it be inappropriate to talk about how one's sexual orientation and journey to find people that accept him/her shaped their interest in helping the disenfranchised through working/volunteering as a crisis counselor? I would add to that saying that my life experiences, in contrast with my work, has made me really think of the importance of the words I say as well as their implications.

Also, you're not paying attention. What you described above is for your PS, NOT the diversity prompt!

 

[xxpremed22]

Also, you're not paying attention. What you described above is for your PS, NOT the diversity prompt!

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[Goro]

You're still missing the point. You keep circling away from diversity, which has nothing to do with patients. I have already explained what the prompt is for.

My apologies. I had a brain fart and crossed some of my ideas. What I was trying to bring up was a prompt that asking one to describe personal attributes/experiences that will enable one to better understand patients with different culture. I considered that a "diversity prompt", and was going to talk about how my struggles with my sexuality (being mocked, targeted, stereotyped daily) made more aware of how powerful personal biases were, and how this awareness allows me to better emphasize with the unique struggles of people different from me. Nevertheless, I see how this is poor. & overused. Back to the drawing board

 

[cactusman]

Mexican-American.

I don't think it's too uncommon for the general population, but I was under the impression it is more uncommon for medical school admissions.

What do you think? Should I still avoid this in the prompt?

It is more uncommon for applicants, hence the recruitment of Mexican-American students who may eventually work with their medically underserved community. Go for it if you can write a good essay about it.

 

[lyrica08]

I think I may have been too brief in describing the topics - obviously I wouldn't say I'm unique because I have different family members who are different and leave it at that. I would probably use it as a starting off point to describe being raised with two divergent intellectual cultures and how that's carried into broader interests in art and science, and unique ways of problem solving or approaching the world as an adult. It's still probably not the best topic because I don't really have tangible achievements in the arts (like double majoring, etc.) so it would probably fall flat. For moving, it would be about having to adapt to different kinds of environment (urban vs. rural), culture, and people (north vs. south) and how that's helped me in volunteering/working with people who come from different cultural traditions, understanding what it's like to be the outsider, etc.

the moving bit is exactly what I'm writing about in the Minnesota prompt. I'm writing about how moving a lot as a kid and as an adult showed me that being treated like an outsider sucks. This has motivated me to go out of my way to be inclusive to all and has also shown me that learning how others think and view the world enriches my perspective of the world. I am now realizing this thread is focused on a general diversity prompt, but hey I get the moving bit and I think its worth including (my 2cents may be worthless)