ok to talk about parent divorce in "challenge" secondary?

[dkpremed]

Sorry to be the annoying one to ask another variation of the same question...but here it goes.

For the "greatest challenge" secondary would it be appropriate to talk about my parent's divorce when I was a freshman in college. I know divorce is a common things these days (sadly) but it truly was my greatest challenge. And to get even more personal it was because my father was having an affair with a family friend and I cut all contact with him for about a year. So thats a challenge and personal but I don't know if it's exactly a little too much. Opinions?

and I'm also not sure what direction to take it. It was the hardest adjustment of my life (I've lived a pretty good life im lucky) but my grades didn't drop (it was actually one of the only times i got straight As) because I put all my focus into school so I wouldn't think about family issues. How could I word this well though?

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[AlteredScale]

That's really a tough one as the directive with the challenge has to deal with you overcoming. And even though it isn't really tie into why you wanted to become a doctor, perhaps there is some chance you could morph it into how it established stronger study habits.

But,

I don't know how AdComs would feel about the root of motivation per se as being fit for the persona of a physician. Did the divorce open your character to empathy, compassion, altruism, or humanism? Or was it more of a "in spite" type of reaction? This i would think about carefully.

 

[dkpremed]

That's really a tough one as the directive with the challenge has to deal with you overcoming. And even though it isn't really tie into why you wanted to become a doctor, perhaps there is some chance you could morph it into how it established stronger study habits.

But,

I don't know how AdComs would feel about the root of motivation per se as being fit for the persona of a physician. Did the divorce open your character to empathy, compassion, altruism, or humanism? Or was it more of a "in spite" type of reaction? This i would think about carefully.

Thanks for the advice I was/am worried about this, but maybe I can word it right to explain how it changed me as a person...etc..etc...which will make me a better phyician

 

[Greedo]

That's really a tough one as the directive with the challenge has to deal with you overcoming. And even though it isn't really tie into why you wanted to become a doctor, perhaps there is some chance you could morph it into how it established stronger study habits.

But,

I don't know how AdComs would feel about the root of motivation per se as being fit for the persona of a physician. Did the divorce open your character to empathy, compassion, altruism, or humanism? Or was it more of a "in spite" type of reaction? This i would think about carefully.

You say that the challenge/diversity secondary essay should somehow tie in why you want to become a doctor, but I thought that these types of essay were purely to increase the diversity of the incoming class. The PS is for talking about why you want to become a doctor, but the secondary essays are just for learning more about the applicant, or so I thought.
Can someone clarify this? Should you tie your challenge/diversity secondaries to why you want to become a doctor? Or just how your experiences would make you a better doctor?

 

[alerk323]

You say that the challenge/diversity secondary essay should somehow tie in why you want to become a doctor, but I thought that these types of essay were purely to increase the diversity of the incoming class. The PS is for talking about why you want to become a doctor, but the secondary essays are just for learning more about the applicant, or so I thought.
Can someone clarify this? Should you tie your challenge/diversity secondaries to why you want to become a doctor? Or just how your experiences would make you a better doctor?

Some youmshould tie in, some you don't need too. It depends on the question. Usually it will be pretty specific in the wording of the question.

To the OP: absolutely fair game, your grades are not an indication of how much you suffered and there's no need for your "greatest challenge" to have hurt you academically for people to take you seriously. People tend to want to think that poor performance can be turned into a good thing, and while the damage can be mitigated, it's more impressive that you did well in spite of your hardship.

You could go a couple different directions with it. As previously mentioned, you can talk about how moving through these struggles helped build your character. You can also talk about how you were able to maintain your focus during this turmoil, a more impressive accomplishment then bombing your classes and then "doing better later" like most people.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

My understanding of the challenge/adversity essays is that what they really want you to do is to talk about how you dealt with the challenging situation. The whole point is to see how you deal with life problems. The adversity itself is relatively unimportant as it's just the vessel you use to talk about your coping skills, strategies, and support network (obviously it can't be a trivial challenge, however, nor should it be academic in nature).

I wouldn't worry about trying to find a unique challenge. You should be focused on finding something that shows off how you respond when life throws **** at you. The responses you showcase should also be positive ways to deal with the situation. I don't think the one you've written about is a good choice since you said your primary response was to withdraw yourself from the situation.

 

[alerk323]

My understanding of the challenge/adversity essays is that what they really want you to do is to talk about how you dealt with the challenging situation. The whole point is to see how you deal with life problems. The adversity itself is relatively unimportant as it's just the vessel you use to talk about your coping skills, strategies, and support network (obviously it can't be a trivial challenge, however, nor should it be academic in nature).

I wouldn't worry about trying to find a unique challenge. You should be focused on finding something that shows off how you respond when life throws **** at you. The responses you showcase should also be positive ways to deal with the situation. I don't think the one you've written about is a good choice since you said your primary response was to withdraw yourself from the situation.

Should he have stressed and worried and let is academic life go down the toilet instead? No, OP you dealt with the situation well based on the little you told us, it's a good thing to use. Using work and other aspects of life as a distraction is specifically the advice given by therapists. In your case, when life throws **** at you you're able to section off that part of your mind and get what you need to done. This is an important skill, especially as a physician when your patients are relying on you whether or not you're sad.