How would you decide if you were disadvantaged ?

[UMP]

Would you say it's mostly an economic question ? My parents fled communist Poland in the mid 80s and we lived in an asylum camp in West Germany for a couple years before moving over to Canada and then the US. I think I've been to about 6 different schools throughout my grade school years. Generally whereever my parents went immigrants were not looked upon kindly and I suffered quite a bit of abuse for it. All that moving around definitely affected me, since I now struggle with intense social anxiety which I'm fighting now but had periods in college where I stayed locked up in my room for weeks to months at a time. The social anxiety was definitely a disadvantage since my college career was greatly affected by it. I don't know how ADCOM's would look at this. And I don't know if it would actually hurt more than help, making them think I'm emotionally or psychologically unstable. (Which I'm not, if you are talking about mood, I'm just painfully shy at this point (quite a step up, I think)) I'm trying to overcome these things now in several ways and am getting out there and am volunteering and tutoring which helps me overcome my own fears through exposure-therapy more or less, but my transcript suffered for it, and so did my EC's. So what do you all think ?

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[UMP]

and to add, I'm not economically disadvantaged...

 

[p00psicleSTICK]

I really don't think making excuses is a good idea unless they're valid. Everybody faces a tough situation sometime during his/her life. It'd be better if you talk about your immigrant experience and how that made you a better/different person in your interview, not as an excuse to cover something up.

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Disadvantaged status, for application purposes, is an economic status.

I'm sure your story will make a good personal statement though. And while I wouldn't really talk too much about how shy you are, it might make an interesting story to write about how you overcome these issues.

 

[UMP]

that's what I was thinking... alright thanks

 

[psipsina]

I think you could definitely count as disadvantaged but you have to be sure that you are really really comfortable talking about this with complete strangers and that you can convince them that this will not impeded your ability to become a great physician. I applied as disadvantaged mainly because of my mothers mental illness and its profound effect on me but I have been asked about it at virtually every interview to see if it is still something I am struggling with and might effect my performance in med school as it did my first two years in undergrad. I'm really comfortable talking about it, thou I did almost tear up once, so I included it. But since shyness itself is the issue you have to make sure you would be able to discuss it and convince them that it won't be a problem in the future.

 

[Rafa]

Definitely practice interviewing with people, or at least meeting as many new people as you can between now and when you interview, in order to lessen the shyness as much as possible. And remember - a smile and eye contact can go a *long* way toward convincing people (and yourself) that you're not a closeted individual. I went through the moving thing too myself, and it truly sucks. It definitely can make it hard to not turn in on oneself and become a lone wolf, but you seem to be working through it, and that's good. Just remember - eye contact, smile, deep breath. It's something I could do well to remember as well. But if you can master it, you'll be as composed as anyone around you. You don't need to be Mr. Popular to become a doctor. But you don't want to appear as a church-mouse in front of an interviewer. It's all about balance, practice, and a good outlook.

 

[psipsina]

Disadvantaged status, for application purposes, is an economic status.

I'm sure your story will make a good personal statement though. And while I wouldn't really talk too much about how shy you are, it might make an interesting story to write about how you overcome these issues.

According to the AMCAS instructions disadvantaged status refers to social, economic or educational factors. I think the OP's background could definitely count as social disadvantage.