- Joined
- Jun 6, 2018
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- 42
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- 35
Second-time applicant here with a number of improvements since last cycle (primarily a lot of clinical exposure through shadowing and volunteering compared to my previous total of 0 hours of work in medicine and a 510 -> 517 MCAT). I'd always considered those two areas to be my biggest weaknesses in my application and the reason I didn't get any interviews, but reading here has made me question my previous secondary essays and I was wondering what people's thoughts are on the topics (at least for the generic big 3 and especially for my diversity essay).
Adversity:
I'm least concerned about this. I have an amazing and very accurate story about how in I used to be a serious shut-in introvert before getting my first job in sales after high school graduation. I went through training and was literally sick to my stomach at the thought of having to work in this sort of job where I'd need to talk to people so much, so I tried to quit before I started. The manager convinced me to try it anyways and I agreed. I failed miserably for the first few days and was going to quit again before I decided to re-commit myself. I ended up being extremely successful and became an assistant manager the following summer.
Why us:
While I hate writing these, I don't think there's anything too complicated about them. I did a little research on most of my schools before selecting them this time (was a mistake last time), so I don't have any trouble identifying with most of them. I usually read over their mission statement and discuss why I think it's important and why my values align with it. I then identify several unique aspects of the curriculum (early clinical exposure, unique courses, or uniquely small class size) or extracurricular activities in which I would likely participate and discuss why they interest me and why I'm a good candidate for them.
Diversity:
This is the one I'm most concerned about. Last cycle I spent this essay talking about my unique combination of experiences: in leadership roles, advanced cell/molecular biology research, and personal life experiences with my father's struggles with cancer. I also mentioned what value each experience would allow me to bring to the table. The essay is honestly all over the place. Unfortunately I already submitted one along similar lines to Georgetown this cycle, but now I'm really starting to question the quality of this essay. The problem is: I'm not entirely sure what to write about. I'm a white male, so nothing there. I identify as LGBTQ (bisexual), but I'm still only out to my immediate family (who are very accepting) and I'm pretty opaque with my orientation so I've never faced any noteworthy challenges because of it. I didn't even plan on mentioning it on the apps that don't explicitly ask. I love music and sang in an a cappella group in college, but I already made my a cappella into a "most meaningful" essay on my primary app and I feel like discussing it for the diversity essay would be too repetitive. I'm kind of at a loss on this one. Is there any chance the way I originally wrote it is actually better than I think? I can share it if people think that would be appropriate.
Adversity:
I'm least concerned about this. I have an amazing and very accurate story about how in I used to be a serious shut-in introvert before getting my first job in sales after high school graduation. I went through training and was literally sick to my stomach at the thought of having to work in this sort of job where I'd need to talk to people so much, so I tried to quit before I started. The manager convinced me to try it anyways and I agreed. I failed miserably for the first few days and was going to quit again before I decided to re-commit myself. I ended up being extremely successful and became an assistant manager the following summer.
Why us:
While I hate writing these, I don't think there's anything too complicated about them. I did a little research on most of my schools before selecting them this time (was a mistake last time), so I don't have any trouble identifying with most of them. I usually read over their mission statement and discuss why I think it's important and why my values align with it. I then identify several unique aspects of the curriculum (early clinical exposure, unique courses, or uniquely small class size) or extracurricular activities in which I would likely participate and discuss why they interest me and why I'm a good candidate for them.
Diversity:
This is the one I'm most concerned about. Last cycle I spent this essay talking about my unique combination of experiences: in leadership roles, advanced cell/molecular biology research, and personal life experiences with my father's struggles with cancer. I also mentioned what value each experience would allow me to bring to the table. The essay is honestly all over the place. Unfortunately I already submitted one along similar lines to Georgetown this cycle, but now I'm really starting to question the quality of this essay. The problem is: I'm not entirely sure what to write about. I'm a white male, so nothing there. I identify as LGBTQ (bisexual), but I'm still only out to my immediate family (who are very accepting) and I'm pretty opaque with my orientation so I've never faced any noteworthy challenges because of it. I didn't even plan on mentioning it on the apps that don't explicitly ask. I love music and sang in an a cappella group in college, but I already made my a cappella into a "most meaningful" essay on my primary app and I feel like discussing it for the diversity essay would be too repetitive. I'm kind of at a loss on this one. Is there any chance the way I originally wrote it is actually better than I think? I can share it if people think that would be appropriate.
