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- Mar 19, 2012
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Hi all,
I spent hours searching past threads and read countless posts about appropriate failure/challenge secondary questions, but I'm still conflicted if my essay will show me in the best light.
the prompt is: Please describe a personal situation of failure, significant challenge or a major obstacle that you have overcome. Include a description of your coping skills and lessons you learned about yourself from that situation.
I drafted a response about how last year after working, studying, taking the mcat, and preparing for the application cycle, I got sick and ended up in the hospital. I present it as a challenge that I had to overcome the illness, but also the difficult decision to delay a year when I'm a non-trad and I've already waited so long. It was also a failure in that I didn't heed my body's warnings and kept striving to achieve my ambitions without prioritizing my health. The lessons include taking care of myself like I want to do for others, patience, and also that I had the fortitude to succeed as I accomplished a lot while being quite ill. I address coping by relying on family and support network, focusing more on volunteer work to take my mind off myself, and learning as much as I could about preventing future health issues.
My concern is that 1) schools will worry my health will affect my ability to handle med school, even though I state the issue has been resolved and 2) that since I don't emphasize the actual health challenges, the challenge and disappointment of waiting an extra year may seem shallow/immature.
Is it a bad idea to bring up a personal illness? And if I do, would I have to be specific about what the actual illness was or can I refer to it in vague terms like "health issue"?
As far as alternative topics go, I considered writing about a failure involving taking my dad to the hospital, waiting in the ER for hours, and not being more proactive when he started showing signs of a stroke. The lessons there are fairly clear and the coping mechanisms would be the same, but 1) I don't if this would be seen as too dramatic and blaming myself and 2) it's a topic that's harder for me to talk about so I'd have to work on coming across calmly and professionally. I would greatly appreciate any advice or input offered.
Thank you
I spent hours searching past threads and read countless posts about appropriate failure/challenge secondary questions, but I'm still conflicted if my essay will show me in the best light.
the prompt is: Please describe a personal situation of failure, significant challenge or a major obstacle that you have overcome. Include a description of your coping skills and lessons you learned about yourself from that situation.
I drafted a response about how last year after working, studying, taking the mcat, and preparing for the application cycle, I got sick and ended up in the hospital. I present it as a challenge that I had to overcome the illness, but also the difficult decision to delay a year when I'm a non-trad and I've already waited so long. It was also a failure in that I didn't heed my body's warnings and kept striving to achieve my ambitions without prioritizing my health. The lessons include taking care of myself like I want to do for others, patience, and also that I had the fortitude to succeed as I accomplished a lot while being quite ill. I address coping by relying on family and support network, focusing more on volunteer work to take my mind off myself, and learning as much as I could about preventing future health issues.
My concern is that 1) schools will worry my health will affect my ability to handle med school, even though I state the issue has been resolved and 2) that since I don't emphasize the actual health challenges, the challenge and disappointment of waiting an extra year may seem shallow/immature.
Is it a bad idea to bring up a personal illness? And if I do, would I have to be specific about what the actual illness was or can I refer to it in vague terms like "health issue"?
As far as alternative topics go, I considered writing about a failure involving taking my dad to the hospital, waiting in the ER for hours, and not being more proactive when he started showing signs of a stroke. The lessons there are fairly clear and the coping mechanisms would be the same, but 1) I don't if this would be seen as too dramatic and blaming myself and 2) it's a topic that's harder for me to talk about so I'd have to work on coming across calmly and professionally. I would greatly appreciate any advice or input offered.
Thank you
