- Joined
- Jan 15, 2019
- Messages
- 631
- Reaction score
- 558
I was browsing some advising sites and saw a lot of them have sample responses to the prompts that are supposed to be "ideal". But reading them, they just seem pretty vague and bland. Are these essays like these really the type of content adcoms are looking for?
This examples are straight from shemassian consulting. Please tell us about a situation in which working collaboratively on a team was challenging. What did you do? What did you learn? 200 w.
The summer after my sophomore year of college, I worked as a middle school science camp counselor. Three other counselors and myself were tasked with planning a series of activities exploring the skeletal system. I enthusiastically came up with ideas and started making plans.
But after a few meetings, my teammates stopped following through on their tasks. I felt frustrated, so I took some time to analyze the situation and determine what I could do. I realized I hadn’t given enough space for my team members to contribute to the brainstorming process. They lacked motivation because they were pursuing my vision, not a collaboration of our ideas.
I apologized to the group and asked each member to share their suggestions. Once we incorporated everyone’s input, motivation increased and we worked effectively as a team. The resulting activities were far greater than what I had originally imagined.
This just seems like a super general thing that any applicant could write.
Or in this diversity prompt:
There are many things a girl could be self-conscious about growing up, such as facial hair, body odor, or weight gain. Growing up with a few extra pounds than my peers, I was usually chosen last for team sports and struggled to run a 10-minute mile during P.E. classes. As I started to despise school athletics, I turned towards other hobbies, such as cooking and Armenian dance, which helped me start anew with a healthier lifestyle. Since then, I have channeled my passions for nutrition and exercise into my volunteering activities, such as leading culinary workshops for low-income residents of Los Angeles, organizing community farmer’s markets, or conducting dance sessions with elderly patients. I appreciate not only being able to bring together a range of people, varying in age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity, but also helping instill a sense of confidence and excitement that comes with making better lifestyle decisions. I have enjoyed encouraging kids in the inner city to combat similar issues of weight gain and low self-esteem through after-school gardening and physical activity lessons. Now, I hope to share my love for culinary nutrition and fitness with fellow medical students at UCLA. As students, we can become better physicians by passing on health and nutrition information to future patients, improving quality of life for ourselves and others.
Again, is this the kind of content that adcoms want? This doesn't seem like a story, but rather just a repeat of activities. Is there any prevailing opinion on the suggestions/samples that these kinds of sites give?
This examples are straight from shemassian consulting. Please tell us about a situation in which working collaboratively on a team was challenging. What did you do? What did you learn? 200 w.
The summer after my sophomore year of college, I worked as a middle school science camp counselor. Three other counselors and myself were tasked with planning a series of activities exploring the skeletal system. I enthusiastically came up with ideas and started making plans.
But after a few meetings, my teammates stopped following through on their tasks. I felt frustrated, so I took some time to analyze the situation and determine what I could do. I realized I hadn’t given enough space for my team members to contribute to the brainstorming process. They lacked motivation because they were pursuing my vision, not a collaboration of our ideas.
I apologized to the group and asked each member to share their suggestions. Once we incorporated everyone’s input, motivation increased and we worked effectively as a team. The resulting activities were far greater than what I had originally imagined.
This just seems like a super general thing that any applicant could write.
Or in this diversity prompt:
There are many things a girl could be self-conscious about growing up, such as facial hair, body odor, or weight gain. Growing up with a few extra pounds than my peers, I was usually chosen last for team sports and struggled to run a 10-minute mile during P.E. classes. As I started to despise school athletics, I turned towards other hobbies, such as cooking and Armenian dance, which helped me start anew with a healthier lifestyle. Since then, I have channeled my passions for nutrition and exercise into my volunteering activities, such as leading culinary workshops for low-income residents of Los Angeles, organizing community farmer’s markets, or conducting dance sessions with elderly patients. I appreciate not only being able to bring together a range of people, varying in age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity, but also helping instill a sense of confidence and excitement that comes with making better lifestyle decisions. I have enjoyed encouraging kids in the inner city to combat similar issues of weight gain and low self-esteem through after-school gardening and physical activity lessons. Now, I hope to share my love for culinary nutrition and fitness with fellow medical students at UCLA. As students, we can become better physicians by passing on health and nutrition information to future patients, improving quality of life for ourselves and others.
Again, is this the kind of content that adcoms want? This doesn't seem like a story, but rather just a repeat of activities. Is there any prevailing opinion on the suggestions/samples that these kinds of sites give?
