Specific Optional Essay Question

[monkey10683]

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For one of my secondaries, the only essay is:

(optional) Do you have unique experiences or obstacles that you have overcome that were not covered in your application about which you would like to inform our Admissions Committee? (maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

For my personal statement, I talk quite a bit about my brother being sick for a long time and how it is the main reason for me wanting to become a doctor. However, him being sick would be the main topic if I wrote this "optional" essay.

Should I just leave it blank and not do any essays for this secondary or should I somewhat repeat what I talked about in my personal statement.

Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[LiveLoveLearn]

For one of my secondaries, the only essay is:

(optional) Do you have unique experiences or obstacles that you have overcome that were not covered in your application about which you would like to inform our Admissions Committee? (maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

For my personal statement, I talk quite a bit about my brother being sick for a long time and how it is the main reason for me wanting to become a doctor. However, him being sick would be the main topic if I wrote this "optional" essay.

Should I just leave it blank and not do any essays for this secondary or should I somewhat repeat what I talked about in my personal statement.

Any help would be really appreciated.

If you are going to write an answer to an optional questions, it should be soemthing that really helps the ADCOM to have a better idea of who you are (something of substance), and it should not be repetitive of your PS. If you can talk about aspects of your brother's illness that you didn't discuss in your PS, and that can shed a different light on you, as the applicant, then yes, include it. If it is really just discussing information that they already know, though, I would leave it out.

 

[NickMD2017]

For one of my secondaries, the only essay is:

(optional) Do you have unique experiences or obstacles that you have overcome that were not covered in your application about which you would like to inform our Admissions Committee? (maximum 3000 characters including spaces)

For my personal statement, I talk quite a bit about my brother being sick for a long time and how it is the main reason for me wanting to become a doctor. However, him being sick would be the main topic if I wrote this "optional" essay.

Should I just leave it blank and not do any essays for this secondary or should I somewhat repeat what I talked about in my personal statement.

Any help would be really appreciated.

If your brother was chronically sick while you were a child, you could talk about any financial/emotional strains that you and your family experienced.
For example, maybe your parents became depressed and you felt alienated for a large portion of your childhood causing you to suffer from issues of isolation.

Although you may feel "cheap" for sounding like you want pity, they asked on the application for a reason. Obstacles are everywhere in medicine. ADCOMS want to know how you overcome those obstacles.

 

[monkey10683]

If your brother was chronically sick while you were a child, you could talk about any financial/emotional strains that you and your family experienced.
For example, maybe your parents become depressed and you felt alienated for quite some time leaving yourself to suffer from issues of isolation.

Although you may feel "cheap" for sounding like you want pity, they asked on the application for a reason. Obstacles are everywhere in medicine. ADCOMS want to know how you overcome those obstacles.

I briefly mentioned those things in my personal statement and how they led to me wanting to become a doctor. I could expand on the information, but I feel like it would be unnecessarily repetitive.

Is it bad to just leave it blank and not have any essays for the entire secondary?

Also, another reason I may want to avoid revealing more on the subject is that I know I will be asked about it in every interview. If I say every little bit in my essay, I will have little to say in the actual interview. If I leave it as I did in my essay, i have quite a bit to explain in an interview setting that will hold the attention of the interviewer.

 

[NickMD2017]

I briefly mentioned those things in my personal statement and how they led to me wanting to become a doctor. I could expand on the information, but I feel like it would be unnecessarily repetitive.

Is it bad to just leave it blank and not have any essays for the entire secondary?

Also, another reason I may want to avoid revealing more on the subject is that I know I will be asked about it in every interview. If I say every little bit in my essay, I will have little to say in the actual interview. If I leave it as I did in my essay, i have quite a bit to explain in an interview setting that will hold the attention of the interviewer.

Each interview will be different. Some will be interested, some won't.
If you think you've described enough about the situation in your PS and don't really have anything more to say, then leave the optional essay blank.. I left the optional essay blank for Jefferson and I'll be starting there in less than 2 weeks. So it isn't a big no-no to not answer an optional essay.
Honestly, I think it's better to leave it blank than to write about something that you already mentioned or something meaningless..
This is your chance to describe hardship though, not necessarily why you were led to become a doctor. But if you didn't experience any significant hardship (poverty, parents drinking too much, neglect, etc) then leave the question blank.

 

[LiveLoveLearn]

Each interview will be different. Some will be interested, some won't.
If you think you've described enough about the situation in your PS and don't really have anything more to say, then leave the optional essay blank.. I left the optional essay blank for Jefferson and I'll be starting there in less than 2 weeks. So it isn't a big no-no to not answer an optional essay.
Honestly, I think it's better to leave it blank than to write about something that you already mentioned or something meaningless..
This is your chance to describe hardship though, not necessarily why you were led to become a doctor. But if you didn't experience any significant hardship (poverty, parents drinking too much, neglect, etc) then leave the question blank.

👍 Agreed. I left the optional essays blank at BU, and will be matriculating there in a couple weeks.

 

[xroc]

Optional questions are truly optional - this is why they are not "required." Unless it's a question you were dying to answer to begin with, don't. During my cycle, I think I only answered one of these questions, and I had interview offers at plenty of schools that had only "optional" questions which were left unanswered.