pls help me with my diversity essay :(

[absolutewasteman]

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I'm really struggling with my diversity essay 🙁 I think I as an individual am unique, but I'm having a hard time pinpointing one specific aspect of my life to focus on because all seem weak/cliche when taken out of the context of my life. Any feedback or direction y'all could provide would be SO appreciated!

idea 1: I'm a finance major + have lots of business/innovation related experiences under my belt. As far as I know, I am the only person at my institution who is premed + finance so maybe this is unique? However, it's obvious from my primary that business has been a big focus of my education so I'm not sure if adcoms will want to read about this in a secondary essay

idea 2: I was a rower (club sports, nothing special) early in college and still row as a hobby. I feel like maybe the sports thing is overdone? Plus I wasn't competing at a D1 level or anything so I don't know if this is worth dedicating a whole essay to

idea 3: I moved around a lot growing up and I feel like it really shaped my perception of the world/my childhood as a whole. Maybe I could connect this to being able connect w/ people of different backgrounds and cultures as a physician? Or use this as evidence of my ability to adapt to new situations and be flexible?

idea 4: I'm south asian (immigrated here when I was ~1 yr old) and my culture/having immigrant parents is also a huge part of why I am who I am. Lots of south asians in medicine though so idk if this qualifies as "diversity"

 

[deleted1064759]

I think a lot of ORMs go for 4. I'd do number 3

 

[Lampy]

I also think 3 is the best bet, but I think if you could talk about 1 in a significantly different way than in your primary that could be good too!! It seems like 2 and 4 are done a lot though

 

[Goro]

I'm really struggling with my diversity essay 🙁 I think I as an individual am unique, but I'm having a hard time pinpointing one specific aspect of my life to focus on because all seem weak/cliche when taken out of the context of my life. Any feedback or direction y'all could provide would be SO appreciated!

idea 1: I'm a finance major + have lots of business/innovation related experiences under my belt. As far as I know, I am the only person at my institution who is premed + finance so maybe this is unique? However, it's obvious from my primary that business has been a big focus of my education so I'm not sure if adcoms will want to read about this in a secondary essay

idea 2: I was a rower (club sports, nothing special) early in college and still row as a hobby. I feel like maybe the sports thing is overdone? Plus I'm wasn't competing at a D1 level or anything so I don't know if this is worth dedicating a whole essay too

idea 3: I moved around a lot growing up and I feel like it really shaped my perception of the world/my childhood as a whole. Maybe I could connect this to being able connect w/ people of different backgrounds and cultures as a physician? Or use this as evidence of my ability to adapt to new situations and be flexible?

idea 4: I'm south asian (immigrated here when I was ~1 yr old) and my culture/having immigrant parents is also a huge part of why I am who I am. Lots of south asians in medicine though so idk if this qualifies as "diversity"

#4 fits 1/3rd of all medical students. Thus, it's not diversity, it's the status quo.

#2 all the way.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I'm really struggling with my diversity essay 🙁 I think I as an individual am unique, but I'm having a hard time pinpointing one specific aspect of my life to focus on because all seem weak/cliche when taken out of the context of my life. Any feedback or direction y'all could provide would be SO appreciated!

idea 1: I'm a finance major + have lots of business/innovation related experiences under my belt. As far as I know, I am the only person at my institution who is premed + finance so maybe this is unique? However, it's obvious from my primary that business has been a big focus of my education so I'm not sure if adcoms will want to read about this in a secondary essay

idea 2: I was a rower (club sports, nothing special) early in college and still row as a hobby. I feel like maybe the sports thing is overdone? Plus I'm wasn't competing at a D1 level or anything so I don't know if this is worth dedicating a whole essay too

idea 3: I moved around a lot growing up and I feel like it really shaped my perception of the world/my childhood as a whole. Maybe I could connect this to being able connect w/ people of different backgrounds and cultures as a physician? Or use this as evidence of my ability to adapt to new situations and be flexible?

idea 4: I'm south asian (immigrated here when I was ~1 yr old) and my culture/having immigrant parents is also a huge part of why I am who I am. Lots of south asians in medicine though so idk if this qualifies as "diversity"

I am not an adcom, but I like #1 if you can talk about how you will use your business/innovations to improve healthcare delivery. You can also include what you gained from #2.

 

[absolutewasteman]

thank you all for the feedback, appreciate it - looks like #4 is a hard no w/ pretty mixed responses for the rest, not sure how I'll narrow it down to one but this is a great start!

 

[Shunsui]

torn between 2 and 3 tbh. I feel like you could produce quality essay for either. Personally, i don't know of many, if any, premeds around me are who are involved with sports, especially rowing. Could probably mesh both 2/3 and mention all the different types of people you've met specifically through rowing who have helped you better connect w/ people of a variety of backgrounds, ages, upbringings in other aspects of life. idk lol but i'm for 2 and 3, leaning towards 2. GL!

 

[Lampy]

thank you all for the feedback, appreciate it - looks like #4 is a hard no w/ pretty mixed responses for the rest, not sure how I'll narrow it down to one but this is a great start!

if I were you I would probably go with @Goro 's advice since (I think) he's the only adcom here