How Should I Play This?

[Avanafil]

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In a sentence - should I try to show that I am disadvantaged to gain adcom's sympathy, or show that I am privileged so I look more respectable?

My life has been filled with a number of great things, and a number of bad things. Won't go into too much detail, but my uncle overdosed on drugs, my brother is in jail, I graduated from a public high school, etc. On the other hand, my dad is a doctor, my uncle is a doctor, my grandfather is worth 8 figures, i go to an Ivy League school now, etc.

So should I play up the bad things and talk about how I overcame those experiences and how that changed me, or should I talk about my experience as an Ivy Leaguer coming from a family with money? If I were an adcom member, I'd feel better about accepting a disadvantaged student, although I would be more likely to actually admit the kid from Dartmouth dressed in a 3 piece Brioni suit than a kid from Ohio State wearing a walmart suit (no offense, I am just trying to paint a literary picture).

 

[steelersfan1243]

Welcome ladies and gentleman to this night's version of, "Is OP a troll?!"

PLACE YOUR BETS NOW

 

[Stagg737]

4/10

 

[Meeehai]

In a sentence - should I try to show that I am disadvantaged to gain adcom's sympathy, or show that I am privileged so I look more respectable?

My life has been filled with a number of great things, and a number of bad things. Won't go into too much detail, but my uncle overdosed on drugs, my brother is in jail, I graduated from a public high school, etc. On the other hand, my dad is a doctor, my uncle is a doctor, my grandfather is worth 8 figures, i go to an Ivy League school now, etc.

So should I play up the bad things and talk about how I overcame those experiences and how that changed me, or should I talk about my experience as an Ivy Leaguer coming from a family with money? If I were an adcom member, I'd feel better about accepting a disadvantaged student, although I would be more likely to actually admit the kid from Dartmouth dressed in a 3 piece Brioni suit than a kid from Ohio State wearing a walmart suit (no offense, I am just trying to paint a literary picture).

🙂

 

[Avanafil]

No not trolling...serious question.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Is going to a public high school really comparable to having a family member OD or be in jail...?

 

[MSTPtastic]

Be honest. Acknowledge that you lead a fairly privileged life, but that there have been tragic events in your life that have shaped you. Don't harp on it, but if they ask you a question that allows you to naturally talk about it, then do so.

PS - you're not going to win a lot of friends by saying that graduating from a public high school makes you disadvantaged. What happened to your uncle and your brother was awful, and presumably has shaped your worldview in some meaningful way, but 99.9% of people graduate from public high schools [yes, citation needed]. Implicitly disparaging state school graduates also makes you sound extremely privileged, and a little naive.

 

[Avanafil]

Is going to a public high school really comparable to having a family member OD or be in jail...?

Are all pieces of supporting evidence assumed to be equal?

 

[WedgeDawg]

Are all pieces of supporting evidence assumed to be equal?

Based on your syntax,


ya

 

[Avanafil]

Girl: "So what do you like to do in free time?"
Guy: "Volunteer at hospital, undergraduate research, crew, and xbox"
Girl: "So xbox is the same as undergraduate research?"
Guy: --walks away--

 

[Avanafil]

I don't mean to disparage public high school. Hell, I graduated from one! But it goes to show the inequality in my education and the potential to swing my profile one way or the other.

 

[WedgeDawg]

Girl: "So what do you like to do in free time?"
Guy: "Volunteer at hospital, undergraduate research, crew, and xbox"
Girl: "So xbox is the same as undergraduate research?"
Guy: --walks away--

Ya bro, it's not the same as what you wrote, but don't worry I was just poking fun.

I don't mean to disparage public high school. Hell, I graduated from one! But it goes to show the inequality in my education and the potential to swing my profile one way or the other.

Public high school and Ivy League doesn't by itself in any way mean you have an asymmetric education lol.

 

[narvik2016]

You want adcoms to accept YOU, so I don't really see how you can look at this as a "swing my profile one way or the other" situation because both sides are part of your life and represent you in some way. It's not like if you reveal pieces of "one side" that you have to keep the other concealed.. that's silly. It will depend on what they ask you. Also, you might want to reconsider your definition of "disadvantaged."

 

[Avanafil]

So...to recap...just tell the plain truth?

 

[WedgeDawg]

So...to recap...just tell the plain truth?

Sounds like a good idea to me

 

[Spector1]

I went to a public high school too. Can I claim disadvantaged status?

 

[Glazedonutlove]

In a sentence - should I try to show that I am disadvantaged to gain adcom's sympathy, or show that I am privileged so I look more respectable?

My life has been filled with a number of great things, and a number of bad things. Won't go into too much detail, but my uncle overdosed on drugs, my brother is in jail, I graduated from a public high school, etc. On the other hand, my dad is a doctor, my uncle is a doctor, my grandfather is worth 8 figures, i go to an Ivy League school now, etc.

So should I play up the bad things and talk about how I overcame those experiences and how that changed me, or should I talk about my experience as an Ivy Leaguer coming from a family with money? If I were an adcom member, I'd feel better about accepting a disadvantaged student, although I would be more likely to actually admit the kid from Dartmouth dressed in a 3 piece Brioni suit than a kid from Ohio State wearing a walmart suit (no offense, I am just trying to paint a literary picture).

lol what? Whining about public schools doesn't make you disadvantaged, but entitled

 

[Avanafil]

lol what? Whining about public schools doesn't make you disadvantaged, but entitled

My apologies.

 

[Spector1]

:troll:

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Public high school? Wtf...

 

[625233]

 

[Cookie04]

If I were an adcom member and you mentioned to me how your public high school education was a hardship, I would probably form a very negative opinion of you.

 

[maxwell_edison]

My public high school was better than the private schools in my area...

 

[IlDestriero]

Your dad is a doctor and you went to public high school? He should be shot, and you definitely need disadvantaged status. Good luck.

 

[Mad Jack]

You are in no way disadvantaged. "I graduated from a public school" lol... You poor, disadvantaged thing.

 

[AlfonsTheGuru]

No not trolling...serious question.

 

[NovMSScr]

Yeah screw those guys from Ohio State with their Walmart suits and good football team.....

 

[AlfonsTheGuru]

I went to a public high school too. Can I claim disadvantaged status?

:troll:

I don't think you followed your own advice.

 

[Dr. Death]

What a damn disappointment. This was an obvious troll post 3/10 in my opinion and like 5 posters fell for it. I feel like I've been let down by the responses here.

 

[WedgeDawg]

What a damn disappointment. This was an obvious troll post 3/10 in my opinion and like 5 posters fell for it. I feel like I've been let down by the responses here.

You missed our wonderful PM conversation.

 

[Goro]

Troll or no, it's a teaching moment. If any of you follow the wise LizzyM on the subject, the "disadvantaged" box is to indicate that you had factors affecting your ability to go to college.

Going to a PHS isn't one of them.

Having family misfortunes as the OP described isn't one of them either, it's bad family dynamics.

The "disadvantaged" box isn't to demonstrate who's life is worse. It's not a pissing contest, or "Queen for a Day" (for obscure Baby Boomer reference, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_for_a_Day)

And this is a good way to get an immediate rejection: "or show that I am privileged so I look more respectable?"

 

[Affiche]

I graduated from a public high school, etc.

SMH

 

[DokterMom]

How about going for the diversity angle: "My large, dysfunctional family occupies every rung of the SES ladder..."

 

[md-2020]

my dad is a doctor, my uncle is a doctor, my grandfather is worth 8 figures, i go to an Ivy League school now, etc.
So should I play up the bad things and talk about how I overcame those experiences and how that changed me, or should I talk about my experience as an Ivy Leaguer coming from a family with money? If I were an adcom member, I'd feel better about accepting a disadvantaged student, although I would be more likely to actually admit the kid from Dartmouth dressed in a 3 piece Brioni suit than a kid from Ohio State wearing a walmart suit (no offense, I am just trying to paint a literary picture).

So in other words you're pissed that you go to Ohio State

Which Walmart do you work at?

 

[Affiche]

although I would be more likely to actually admit the kid from Dartmouth dressed in a 3 piece Brioni suit than a kid from Ohio State wearing a walmart suit

I call troll. I refuse to believe that people like this actually exist.

 

[Avanafil]

So in other words you're pissed that you go to Ohio State

Which Walmart do you work at?

Holy **** you got a 527 MCAT?!? How?

 

[bearintraining]

Holy **** you got a 527 MCAT?!? How?

Rumor has it that for every 20 you slip the proctor above the absolute max of 510, you get an extra point. 😉

 

[gyngyn]

I call troll. I refuse to believe that people like this actually exist.

I get a lot of the disadvantaged 2%.

 

[efle]

Holy **** you got a 527 MCAT?!? How?

SDN is such a biased sample that 99.9th percentile scores abound! I think narmerguy actually has him beat in percentile by his 43, and a ton of the frequent posters hit 100th percentile (off the top of my head I think GTLO, mimelim, mehc, Capone, sure I'm missing several). If you're actually interested in study methods you'll see lots of people like this have shared how they prepped in the mcat subforum

 

[Avanafil]

I get a lot of the disadvantaged 2%.

Honestly I'm offended. I'd argue that the top 5-25% is disadvantaged. Not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that they are excluding from many things such as enrichment programs, scholarships, and financial aid.

 

[md-2020]

SDN is such a biased sample that 99.9th percentile scores abound! I think narmerguy actually has him beat in percentile by his 43, and a ton of the frequent posters hit 100th percentile (off the top of my head I think GTLO, mimelim, mehc, Capone, sure I'm missing several).

You.

No?

 

[Avanafil]

SDN is such a biased sample that 99.9th percentile scores abound! I think narmerguy actually has him beat in percentile by his 43, and a ton of the frequent posters hit 100th percentile (off the top of my head I think GTLO, mimelim, mehc, Capone, sure I'm missing several). If you're actually interested in study methods you'll see lots of people like this have shared how they prepped in the mcat subforum

By 100th percentile, as opposed to 99.99th, do you mean a perfect score? I thought there were no such thing as MCAT perfects.

 

[efle]

You.

No?

ya

 

[efle]

By 100th percentile, as opposed to 99.99th, do you mean a perfect score? I thought there were no such thing as MCAT perfects.

I mean 99.5th+. They changed the score reporting recently to round off to 100 instead of showing tenths place and capping at 99.9.

 

[Affiche]

Honestly I'm offended. I'd argue that the top 5-25% is disadvantaged. Not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that they are excluding from many things such as enrichment programs, scholarships, and financial aid.

You are so ignorant. It's truly astounding.

 

[gyngyn]

Honestly I'm offended. I'd argue that the top 5-25% is disadvantaged. Not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that they are excluding from many things such as enrichment programs, scholarships, and financial aid.

Are you offended that I get them, that I reported it, that they exist, that they identify themselves as such...?

 

[ChrisMack390]

Honestly I'm offended. I'd argue that the top 5-25% is disadvantaged. Not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that they are excluding from many things such as enrichment programs, scholarships, and financial aid.

Officially calling troll on this one.

 

[efle]

Is "something making going to college difficult" really the way to define disadvantaged? Many more people than worst-off 2% have their college ability entirely dictated by whether they can get covered through grants and taking loans.

 

[NotYou20]

No not trolling...serious question.

If this is true you should seriously reevaluate your life

 

[Lawpy]

SDN is such a biased sample that 99.9th percentile scores abound! I think narmerguy actually has him beat in percentile by his 43, and a ton of the frequent posters hit 100th percentile (off the top of my head I think GTLO, mimelim, mehc, Capone, sure I'm missing several). If you're actually interested in study methods you'll see lots of people like this have shared how they prepped in the mcat subforum

It's true for any forum dedicated to provide information regarding test prep, applications etc. Everyone wants to be HYPSM/Top 20 or bust, and massive self-selection reinforces that.