What is the limit of appropriate topics for failure essays

[pleasehelpme12]

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Hi all,

I am working on secondary's at the moment and I am having some doubts about the topic I have chosen as the default for my failure/challenge essay.

Senior year I was awarded a scholarship to complete al research project in my undergrad lab over the summer. I had a series of family emergencies late into the term which caused me to fall behind. I ended up floundering near the end and delivered what my PI thought was a sub-par presentation. I would have been able to catch up had I been willing to ask for help earlier, but I had a chip on my shoulder from a poor start to college my freshman year. I come from a low income background and felt like I had to prove I could do everything alone.

I have been writing about how this moment taught me the necessity of accountability in collaborative environments and to be more comfortable asking for help.

My worry is that this is too much of a red flag for ADCOMS, as it is a clear demonstration of failure in an essential area of competence.

I should say, that I stayed in the lab after this and worked very hard to rebuild my credibility with the PI. He is one of my rec letter writers and I know his letter is very strong.

Also, it has been over two years since this incident. I hope that the distance from this failure and the positive PI letter are enough to overcome is me disclosing a potential red flag, but I would appreciate everyone's feedback.

Thanks : )

 

[Med Ed]

So you messed up, reflected on the situation, recognized how things could have gone better and why they didn't, and then worked to improve yourself and repair a relationship, which culminated in a strong LOR.

This doesn't make you look bad.

 

[LunaOri]

It’s good!

 

[Goro]

You're good!

 

[LizzyM]

What happened to you in undergrad is a big worry for those of us responsible for med students. That you've already stumbled, gotten up and learned from the difficulty makes you a stronger candidate. You are going to ask for help earlier next time and that is a huge plus in my opinion.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Because you have another spot to disclose your answer, what did you write for Other Impactful Experiences?

 

[pleasehelpme12]

Because you have another spot to disclose your answer, what did you write for Other Impactful Experiences?

I wrote about family background with a little more specificity to give context to my rocky start in Freshman year. I grew up in a family of 7 as the oldest of 5 kids. We did not have much money, so I was sharing rooms with one or more siblings till the age of 17. Our houses were chaotic and messy. My mom was big on education, but our environment made it hard to develop any real study skills during high school. It would be reasonable to say I arrived in academia completely unprepared.

I wasn't expecting to even attend college, but I felt like I had a fleeting opportunity to lead by example for my siblings. I flubbed my freshman year hard and finished with a 3.0 GPA. Got it up to a 3.7 by senior year since I got mostly A's after taking the summer to recalibrate.