What are considered bad topics for the diversity essay?

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What are considered bad topics for the diversity essay? I was wondering if anyone had general topics that I should avoid when thinking about what to write my diversity essay on?
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One of the all time worst I've seen on SDN is:
"I have lots of black friends"

Others include
I like cooking
I'm an expert on X (crayons/pets/yarn you name it)
I have lots of research experience
I took care of my sick parents/siblings
I have a (very common hobby)
I'm (common ethnicity here)...the prompt is NOT about ethnicity
and anything else that shows a massive lack of introspection
 
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Anything that focuses on ascribed status but does have any EC's behind it (having a disability but not being involved with disability support/advocate organizations). Anything that talks about your life circumstances but doesn't talk about how you plan to help others like you (being a foster child but not having or showing any desire to help other foster children).

The diversity essay is supposed to talk about something unique (or rare) you can bring to the table that gives you an insight others in your cohort aren't likely to have that can help them become better physicians when you share that insight with them. The kind of insight I'm referring to can only be gained by being involved with an organization whose goals are similar to your own and allows you to learn more about a specific issue you wish to address. Because of this, I would argue the diversity essay should (in most cases) be something very closely related to your theme/narrative or the goals you state you wish to accomplish in your personal statement. I would also argue the diversity essay also challenges you to have something unique about that goal rather than have some cookie cutter goal like "I want to help the underserved community".
Goro said:
One of the all time worst I've seen on SDN is:
"I have lots of black friends"
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I'm willing to bet you had a lot of essays talk about attending BLM protests and committee meetings with city council members.
 
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Would having a parent involved in healthcare administration be an appropriate source of diversity, understanding how healthcare operates from an organizational standpoint and challenges associated with delivering healthcare to various populations? I know there is sometimes contention between healthcare and administration and I wouldn't want to rub anyone the wrong way...
 
ndcpjf said:
Would having a parent involved in healthcare administration be an appropriate source of diversity, understanding how healthcare operates from an organizational standpoint and challenges associated with delivering healthcare to various populations? I know there is sometimes contention between healthcare and administration and I wouldn't want to rub anyone the wrong way...
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Uniqueness alone does not make for a good diversity essay. Put yourself in the shoes of adcom members and ask yourself how would it seem to you if an applicant used their parent's job to justify their diversity.
 

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ndcpjf said:
Would having a parent involved in healthcare administration be an appropriate source of diversity, understanding how healthcare operates from an organizational standpoint and challenges associated with delivering healthcare to various populations? I know there is sometimes contention between healthcare and administration and I wouldn't want to rub anyone the wrong way...
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Nope, because the prompt is about you, not your parents.
 
Goro said:
Nope, none at all. Political activism is really, really rare in applications
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I thought this cycle would be an exception given BLM has gained much traction and support. My bad!
 
Goro said:
One of the all time worst I've seen on SDN is:
"I have lots of black friends"
Click to expand...

Wow. Isn’t something that naive usually the kiss of death to an application?
 
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How strong is a diversity essay if it is simply along the lines of “I inherently contribute to the diversity of the class based on my ethnicity/race/religion/creed/sexual orientation/gender identification because it is not a part of the majority. These are my lives experiences to support the claim.”

Like does someone *need* to have involvement with ‘their community’ in order to bring diversity? Like, can they contribute to the diversity of the class (and strongly convey it) without defining their life based around that identity?
 
Goro said:
One of the all time worst I've seen on SDN is:
"I have lots of black friends"
Click to expand...
Would talking about living in another country be viewed similarly to this? It seems like a lot of the ideas are the same in the sense that someone who lived in another country is trying to argue that they bring diversity because they experienced another culture and made many relationships with people from this other culture.
 
apismnfla1003 said:
Would talking about living in another country be viewed similarly to this? It seems like a lot of the ideas are the same in the sense that someone who lived in another country is trying to argue that they bring diversity because they experienced another culture and made many relationships with people from this other culture.
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I think that @LizzyM has commented favorably on this, but I'm not positive.
 
2021-2022-NonTrad said:
How strong is a diversity essay if it is simply along the lines of “I inherently contribute to the diversity of the class based on my ethnicity/race/religion/creed/sexual orientation/gender identification because it is not a part of the majority. These are my lives experiences to support the claim.”

Like does someone *need* to have involvement with ‘their community’ in order to bring diversity? Like, can they contribute to the diversity of the class (and strongly convey it) without defining their life based around that identity?
Click to expand...
Put yourself in the shoes of an adcom member and ask yourself are you more likely to believe an applicant whose is passionate about their diversity when they have never been involved with their specific in-group or one who has been and has gained insight from being involved with that group? If I was an adcom, I would be very suspicious of someone who uses their ascribed status alone but has 0 involvement with that group.

If you are part of a religious group or creed, you are technically involved because you attend religious meetings.
 
Goro said:
I think that @LizzyM has commented favorably on this, but I'm not positive.
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If you have spent a considerable time in another country (6 months or more), and, in particular, if you are a third culture individual (raised in a culture other than your parents' or the culture of your country of nationality, and also live in a different environment during a significant part of your child development years.) then that's a natural for a diversity essay.

In response to an earlier mention of being in the foster care system. I think that merely living in that system as a child could be a legitimate topic for the diversity essay without any need to have served children in the system after reaching adulthood. The circumstances of your childhood carry no obligation and by themselves provide insights that others do not have. Having any specific characteristic that is under-represented in medicine is, in my opinion, a legitimate topic for the diversity essay.
 
sarcasmrules said:
Put yourself in the shoes of an adcom member and ask yourself are you more likely to believe an applicant whose is passionate about their diversity when they have never been involved with their specific in-group or one who has been and has gained insight from being involved with that group? If I was an adcom, I would be very suspicious of someone who uses their ascribed status alone but has 0 involvement with that group.

If you are part of a religious group or creed, you are technically involved because you attend religious meetings.
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I personally would not have any difference in view. A black American has inherently lived the black experience. A foster child has inherently lived the foster child life. A veteran has served in the military. A refugee has been a refugee. An atheist that was raised Muslim has still been Muslim.

You seem to be implying that these people are exploiting an ascribed status for personal gain while ignoring that these ascribed statuses come with their own issues, quandaries, and inherent lived experiences and gained perspectives.

Is someone who doesn’t volunteer with inner city schools not black enough for you? A veteran who doesn’t advocate with the VA not ‘service member’ enough? A foster child who hasn’t done teach for America having their parents still around?

IDK That attitude just really irks me, who are we to question the personal value of the lived experiences of others?
 
2021-2022-NonTrad said:
I personally would not have any difference in view. A black American has inherently lived the black experience. A foster child has inherently lived the foster child life. A veteran has served in the military. A refugee has been a refugee. An atheist that was raised Muslim has still been Muslim.

You seem to be implying that these people are exploiting an ascribed status for personal gain while ignoring that these ascribed statuses come with their own issues, quandaries, and inherent lived experiences and gained perspectives.

Is someone who doesn’t volunteer with inner city schools not black enough for you? A veteran who doesn’t advocate with the VA not ‘service member’ enough? A foster child who hasn’t done teach for America having their parents still around?

IDK That attitude just really irks me, who are we to question the personal value of the lived experiences of others?
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You have a good point. I guess I was too.............. suspicious (for lack of a better word) and need to give more benefit of the doubt. I retract my statement.
 
Goro said:
One of the all time worst I've seen on SDN is:
"I have lots of black friends"

Others include
I like cooking
I'm an expert on X (crayons/pets/yarn you name it)
I have lots of research experience
I took care of my sick parents/siblings
I have a (very common hobby)
I'm (common ethnicity here)...the prompt is NOT about ethnicity
and anything else that shows a massive lack of introspection
Click to expand...
What do people say for I like cooking? My diversity is related to this but I connected it to my childhood experiences and how they have impacted my future volunteering activities. Ultimately I try to make the connection between cooking to helping/cultivating a community through education about recipes and exploration of healthier life choices.
 
TravelingMedicine said:
What do people say for I like cooking? My diversity is related to this but I connected it to my childhood experiences and how they have impacted my future volunteering activities. Ultimately I try to make the connection between cooking to helping/cultivating a community through education about recipes and exploration of healthier life choices.
Click to expand...
Because they don't stop to think if it is a common hobby? I cook but I wouldn't market that on my diversity essay. Maybe a hobby essay? But especially on dating websites/apps!
 
sarcasmrules said:
Because they don't stop to think if it is a common hobby? I cook but I wouldn't market that on my diversity essay. Maybe a hobby essay? But especially on dating websites/apps!
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“My love of the outdoors and wild-child spirit contributes to the diversity of the class”
*the school is in Omaha nebraska*
 
TravelingMedicine said:
What do people say for I like cooking? My diversity is related to this but I connected it to my childhood experiences and how they have impacted my future volunteering activities. Ultimately I try to make the connection between cooking to helping/cultivating a community through education about recipes and exploration of healthier life choices.
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This doesn't do anything for me.

Oh, this reminds me of another bad one:

"I am interested in being healthy and/or eating healthy."
 
2021-2022-NonTrad said:
I personally would not have any difference in view. A black American has inherently lived the black experience. A foster child has inherently lived the foster child life. A veteran has served in the military. A refugee has been a refugee. An atheist that was raised Muslim has still been Muslim.

You seem to be implying that these people are exploiting an ascribed status for personal gain while ignoring that these ascribed statuses come with their own issues, quandaries, and inherent lived experiences and gained perspectives.

Is someone who doesn’t volunteer with inner city schools not black enough for you? A veteran who doesn’t advocate with the VA not ‘service member’ enough? A foster child who hasn’t done teach for America having their parents still around?

IDK That attitude just really irks me, who are we to question the personal value of the lived experiences of others?
Click to expand...
Just stopped by to say that this point is wonderfully articulated. Thank you!

People who live in identities that are underserved/stigmatized by society should not have to "prove" their status to adcoms by having the respective "check-the-box" activity on their application. This type of assertion is borderline offensive IMHO.
 
For one of the two schools I interviewed at this past cycle, I said in my diversity essay that Im such a die hard fan of Gwen Stefani that I can recite almost all her songs out of thin air.

When the school reviewed my app with me I asked them about that essay and they said “Well it was certainly original.”
 
Stride said:
I helped review committee letter applications at my university this year, and I lost count how many times the diversity prompt was answered by describing the supposed diversity of the applicant's friend group :laugh:
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I may have been guilty of this last cycle lol. Definitely not repeating that mistake this time
 
I like to help out with reading essays for friends or postbacc peers and one that stuck out to me as not a great diversity/personal hardship essay (some secondaries group them together as a question) was a story about the applicant dropping a friend because their depression was "dragging them down" and this person felt it important to have friends of equal aspirations to himself. I have taken many a creative writing class during undergrad, but ultimately I had to tell him I didn't think it was a good idea because I couldn't really find a way to spin it as a positive.
 
The OP is no longer a user and plenty of examples of what not to write were mentioned when the thread was last active over 1.5 years ago. Closing thread.
 
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