- Joined
- Oct 19, 2016
- Messages
- 148
- Reaction score
- 17
They want special circumstances in 2,000 characters or less and I dont know what to leave out and what to keep in... in bullet points this is my basic background up until now:
* my mother was the only of 18 children to graduate high school and my dad the only of 3, both from abusive homes
* we were low income when I was growing up and they had little knowledge of higher education or how to fund it
* I took a year off from school to save money for college but fell pregnant at 19 in an abusive relationship...ended up homeless and then I was left on Thanksgiving two days before giving birth and he didnt come back for 3 months...
* I went to college finally when she was a year old
* I was book smart but naive and took my abusive ev back because of Christian values I had been taught from a young age and we had a second child a year and a half later who was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism
* I started having symptoms of chronic illness after the birth of my second child at age 22 but I continued my education with good grades until 2013 when I finally left the abusive marriage for good; failed a semester (FFCD) because I had no childcare at that point
* At the end of 2013 I was working 60 hrs per week, in school full time and also began a new relationship while being a single mom of two but I fell pregnant (on birth control); retook the "failed" semester and got grades BBBC this time
* second son was also diagnosed with autism; now they are 6 and 4 and nonverbal so I am raising them and their 8 year old sister while I go to school full-time
* Stayed in school until 2015 when FAFSA cut off funding because I had too many credits for a 2 year institution (but I did get my Associate in Science)
* broke my ankle in 3 places in 2016 and could not walk for 6 months (was in a wheelchair and bedridden)
* went back to school, this time at UIC, once I had started to walk again and began studying the programs needed to complete Pharmacy pre-requisites
* UIC was good but I wanted to complete Organic Chemistry I and II by the fall so I switched back to city colleges and paid out of pocket to apply for 2019
*during this entire time I am dealing with chronic illness and what doctors believe is an immune disorder, possibly lupus
Help!!! What do I use as special circumstances? I have two prompts for that and also do not want to be 100% repetitive:
1. Please describe any special life circumstances.
These include but are not limited to overcoming adversity
and cultural background.
2.
Describe any personal events or life circumstances that have impacted your academic performance in such a way that your record may not adequately reflect your potential for success in the program.
First is 2000 characters and second is 4000...
there is other more personal stuff as well like sexual abuse but I dont think it's fit to include that.
* my mother was the only of 18 children to graduate high school and my dad the only of 3, both from abusive homes
* we were low income when I was growing up and they had little knowledge of higher education or how to fund it
* I took a year off from school to save money for college but fell pregnant at 19 in an abusive relationship...ended up homeless and then I was left on Thanksgiving two days before giving birth and he didnt come back for 3 months...
* I went to college finally when she was a year old
* I was book smart but naive and took my abusive ev back because of Christian values I had been taught from a young age and we had a second child a year and a half later who was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism
* I started having symptoms of chronic illness after the birth of my second child at age 22 but I continued my education with good grades until 2013 when I finally left the abusive marriage for good; failed a semester (FFCD) because I had no childcare at that point
* At the end of 2013 I was working 60 hrs per week, in school full time and also began a new relationship while being a single mom of two but I fell pregnant (on birth control); retook the "failed" semester and got grades BBBC this time
* second son was also diagnosed with autism; now they are 6 and 4 and nonverbal so I am raising them and their 8 year old sister while I go to school full-time
* Stayed in school until 2015 when FAFSA cut off funding because I had too many credits for a 2 year institution (but I did get my Associate in Science)
* broke my ankle in 3 places in 2016 and could not walk for 6 months (was in a wheelchair and bedridden)
* went back to school, this time at UIC, once I had started to walk again and began studying the programs needed to complete Pharmacy pre-requisites
* UIC was good but I wanted to complete Organic Chemistry I and II by the fall so I switched back to city colleges and paid out of pocket to apply for 2019
*during this entire time I am dealing with chronic illness and what doctors believe is an immune disorder, possibly lupus
Help!!! What do I use as special circumstances? I have two prompts for that and also do not want to be 100% repetitive:
1. Please describe any special life circumstances.
These include but are not limited to overcoming adversity
and cultural background.
2.
Describe any personal events or life circumstances that have impacted your academic performance in such a way that your record may not adequately reflect your potential for success in the program.
First is 2000 characters and second is 4000...
there is other more personal stuff as well like sexual abuse but I dont think it's fit to include that.
I have 7 essays to write total. Im trying so so hard not to be redundant. I chose Pharmacy after originally having an interest in Nutrition. I decided I wanted something similar that would allow me more opportunities close to my home and seemed like a more stable/lucrative career due to my boys' special needs. I wanted to work in a health field anyway because I know how difficult struggling with chronic illness can be and also dealing with the special needs of children....simple thing like picking a cough medicine for me are exhausting, for a small example, because one of my son's hates anything sweet. I'd actually prefer retail or a small community Pharmacy so I can help people one-on-one, more personally, since I know how stressful medical decisions can be. I also enjoy working in a retail environment a lot. When I was working 60hrs a week I was actually working at Toys R Us. I did overnights, I would fulfill all of the web orders, often all by myself, and I had little experience before that but I was willing to do extra tasks so they threw them at me. I hate register, but I really like helping customers and I tend to have a lot of patience compared to other people when it comes to the crazies so lol I would actually go to medical school, but I'd rather not have all the physical contact physicians often have with their patients... I'm very conservative in that way. So Pharmacy is a nice middle ground.
