how much personal info to talk about in secondaries

[LauraMac]

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For my Northwestern secondary I am writing about my career aspirations for the first essay question. I'm writing about how I want to become a psychiatrist. Here are my two questions for you guys:

1) Is it too personal to mention my uncle who killed himself and say I want to help prevent that same thing from happening to anyone else's loved ones?

2) Is it too personal or does it make me look like a nutcase if I mention that I have seen a therapist and that it was super helpful for me and I want to help someone else the same way I was helped?

These are two real reasons I am leaning towards psychiatry at the moment, so I'd like to talk about this stuff, but I don't wanna sound like a psycho at all or talk about stuff that is not socially acceptable to talk about.

So what do you guys think?

 

[hamhamfan]

LOL I hope the committees are ok with it. I'm writing about stuff I can't even talk to people in real life about.

 

[LauraMac]

good, that makes me feel better. i just want to be honest, and i'm a very open person, so sharing that kind of stuff doesn't bother me or make me feel ashamed or embarassed at all... i just want to make sure they don't think i'm crazy. i mean i think i am slightly nuts, but i don't want them to think that. 😛

 

[mdsh00]

For my Northwestern secondary I am writing about my career aspirations for the first essay question. I'm writing about how I want to become a psychiatrist. Here are my two questions for you guys:

1) Is it too personal to mention my uncle who killed himself and say I want to help prevent that same thing from happening to anyone else's loved ones?

2) Is it too personal or does it make me look like a nutcase if I mention that I have seen a therapist and that it was super helpful for me and I want to help someone else the same way I was helped?

So what do you guys think?

I think your first one would be interesting if you'll be comfortable talking about it if you get an interview. As for the second one....I dunno.

 

[LauraMac]

I just want to make it personal. I hate writing the same BS everyone else does, and I feel that is all I've done so far with my secondary essays.

Alright, I'm working on incorporating the first one right now, and still thinking about whether or not to include the second.

Thanks for your opinions guys!

 

[hamhamfan]

I just want to make it personal. I hate writing the same BS everyone else does, and I feel that is all I've done so far with my secondary essays.

Alright, I'm working on incorporating the first one right now, and still thinking about whether or not to include the second.

Thanks for your opinions guys!

Yeah I would hold on the second one for a while. It kind of depends on why you went to the therapist. If it's something that stays on and still has a strong stigma, like schizophrenia, I'd kind of hide it. However, I know this girl who has been both sexually abused as a child and raped as an adult.... and I think that discussing the therapy sessions would be totally appropriate. I myself plan on talking about my experience with anorexia, but talk about how I recovered from it on my own.

 

[LauraMac]

Yeah I would hold on the second one for a while. It kind of depends on why you went to the therapist. If it's something that stays on and still has a strong stigma, like schizophrenia, I'd kind of hide it. However, I know this girl who has been both sexually abused as a child and raped as an adult.... and I think that discussing the therapy sessions would be totally appropriate. I myself plan on talking about my experience with anorexia, but talk about how I recovered from it on my own.

the stuff i went for was not serious at all, just issues i had with my parents and other fairly typical stuff people my age have, but stuff that i wanted help with because i was having a hard time "fixing" it myself. i actually just temporarily went to free counseling services we have at my school. for a few months i met with someone about to get her ph.d. in counseling psychology and was doing this as an internship type thing. meeting with her really, really helped me. i see some things in a new perspective and am making constructive progress in the areas i wanted to work on. and the last time i saw her, she told me she was really proud of me and the work i had done so far. i could tell it was really fulfilling for her to be able to directly see how what she is doing for a career is truly helping people. i would love to be able to meet with the same person over and over and watch them make progress and know that i had something to do with it.

think it's okay to talk about this?

 

[hamhamfan]

the stuff i went for was not serious at all, just issues i had with my parents and other fairly typical stuff people my age have, but stuff that i wanted help with because i was having a hard time "fixing" it myself. i actually just temporarily went to free counseling services we have at my school. for a few months i met with someone about to get her ph.d. in counseling psychology and was doing this as an internship type thing. meeting with her really, really helped me. i see some things in a new perspective and am making constructive progress in the areas i wanted to work on. and the last time i saw her, she told me she was really proud of me and the work i had done so far. i could tell it was really fulfilling for her to be able to directly see how what she is doing for a career is truly helping people. i would love to be able to meet with the same person over and over and watch them make progress and know that i had something to do with it.

think it's okay to talk about this?

that sounds pretty tame... so yeah I think it's ok

 

[ambrosia]

Yea, I agree with others that both would be completely acceptable to write about in your secondaries, but if you do decide to write about that, make sure you're comfortable talking about it too. Something like that is bound to come up at an interview.
Good luck!

 

[WalterSobchakk]

That sounds like it would make a great essay that can really make you stand out as a person instead of another file in the stack. Good luck! 👍

 

[Freakingzooming]

I think the first one is something definitely okay to write about cuz I was going to write something similar and asked my advisor if it was a little too personal cuz ive herad before that adcoms say, "wow some of the stuff I get is so personal a little too much if you know what i mean..."

the second one, as long as you keep it all relative- like keep it upbeat and describe the hardship but the improvements. good luck!

 

[principessa]

If you are truly comfortable talking about these things, as you've said, I think you should write about both. It will definitely personalize your application.

 

[LauraMac]

i'm totally comfortable talking about those things. i am a very open person and will talk about almost anything personal going on with me. so i should be fine if either issue is brought up.

i have actually finished that essay now and think it is really great, so i'm glad i decided to write about this stuff. otherwise, i would have had a boring essay just like everyone else's.

thanks guys for your help!