burrito_32
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- Aug 17, 2020
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Hi friends!
Disclaimer: I've changed up what lies below because it used to be (mildly) personally identifying information. In conjunction with the rest of my posts it could've been used to figure out who I am, so I've censored it.
I'm going through secondaries from a set of schools that ask "What unique quality/experience do you bring to the ___ Community?" as a diversity question and I'm hoping I can hear your thoughts on the options that I may choose write about. I was part of an org that made a product for people in need, and I think that's a pretty unique experience, but I also don't want to use it as a crutch in a situation where I might have room for a more compelling essay.
1) Being interdisciplinary: I'm a double major in X & Y, and having this background put me in a position to direct the collaboration between our organization's two wings to design a product. My "thesis" would be that this background might let me facilitate something similar during medical school. I've already written one of these (answering "What educational benefits might you bring to our student body?") with the thesis that my experience in X might let me sit between the X side and my classmates, but I'm quite worried that this answer may come off as arrogant. On the flipside, I don't really have a specific idea for what that "something similar" might be if not X.
2) Hobbies & Interests: One of the people we worked with wanted to know if we could make a product that they could fish with. To find out whether this was possible, I went fishing, it became a hobby, and I found myself connecting to people because of it. My "thesis" for this option would be that I'd like to bring my fishing hobby and my interest in rehabilitating fish to the school I attend. Fishing could (and in my experience, does) foster a collaborative, social atmosphere among students, and I would also be bringing some of my experience in aquatic animal CPR to the school. I'm not sure how compelling either of these qualities are relative to the other options I have.
3) Personal Experience: I witnessed someone I knew suffer from secondary injuries after an accident. They needed a product, and I have a very distinct memory of watching someone make said product. This experience made me join the organization in college (from 1, 2), where I realized that there's actually a lot of opportunities to intervene before secondary injuries happen. I think that the strengths of this approach include some more background about my experiences and an answer to the question "how did this experience change your outlook on medicine?", but I also lose a specific answer/thesis to the "qualities" aspect of "what qualities/experiences will you bring to our school/the class?". I'm not sure if this trade-off is worth it (or at least better than the other options), and I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Less developed ideas that I'd really appreciate thoughts on:
4) Vision for Medicine: I grew up in Z with a strong interest in A. I've also gained an appreciation for rigor from studying B that counters the C attitude of B. "Thesis": I'd like to bring B to medicine, and the balance of rigor/B means that I'd like to do it in a way that ensures accessibility and equity for all. I think I would struggle to answer "what specific qualities/how would you contribute to our class?" because find it hard to pinpoint the aspect of the different perspective I bring (as a Y) that would contribute to my classmates and the school. I understand that having the perspective itself may count as diversity, but I'm afraid that without a specific answer to this question, this might not make as compelling an essay. Is this fear well-founded?
5) Jack of All Trades: I'm not sold at all on this one, but someone I trust tells me it'll be good, so I think I should do due diligence. Basically, the thesis is that this combination of X/Y/D/fishing/running is the diverse thing about me. To my understanding, despite the inclusion of the word "diversity" in the prompts, schools are actually looking for something unique about me. That combination of interests might be it, but I don't know if it's a) better than the other options or b) deep enough to really give an adcom as valuable insight as focusing on one or two specific things.
Thank you guys so much for reading this post! Any feedback will be helpful!
Disclaimer: I've changed up what lies below because it used to be (mildly) personally identifying information. In conjunction with the rest of my posts it could've been used to figure out who I am, so I've censored it.
I'm going through secondaries from a set of schools that ask "What unique quality/experience do you bring to the ___ Community?" as a diversity question and I'm hoping I can hear your thoughts on the options that I may choose write about. I was part of an org that made a product for people in need, and I think that's a pretty unique experience, but I also don't want to use it as a crutch in a situation where I might have room for a more compelling essay.
1) Being interdisciplinary: I'm a double major in X & Y, and having this background put me in a position to direct the collaboration between our organization's two wings to design a product. My "thesis" would be that this background might let me facilitate something similar during medical school. I've already written one of these (answering "What educational benefits might you bring to our student body?") with the thesis that my experience in X might let me sit between the X side and my classmates, but I'm quite worried that this answer may come off as arrogant. On the flipside, I don't really have a specific idea for what that "something similar" might be if not X.
2) Hobbies & Interests: One of the people we worked with wanted to know if we could make a product that they could fish with. To find out whether this was possible, I went fishing, it became a hobby, and I found myself connecting to people because of it. My "thesis" for this option would be that I'd like to bring my fishing hobby and my interest in rehabilitating fish to the school I attend. Fishing could (and in my experience, does) foster a collaborative, social atmosphere among students, and I would also be bringing some of my experience in aquatic animal CPR to the school. I'm not sure how compelling either of these qualities are relative to the other options I have.
3) Personal Experience: I witnessed someone I knew suffer from secondary injuries after an accident. They needed a product, and I have a very distinct memory of watching someone make said product. This experience made me join the organization in college (from 1, 2), where I realized that there's actually a lot of opportunities to intervene before secondary injuries happen. I think that the strengths of this approach include some more background about my experiences and an answer to the question "how did this experience change your outlook on medicine?", but I also lose a specific answer/thesis to the "qualities" aspect of "what qualities/experiences will you bring to our school/the class?". I'm not sure if this trade-off is worth it (or at least better than the other options), and I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Less developed ideas that I'd really appreciate thoughts on:
4) Vision for Medicine: I grew up in Z with a strong interest in A. I've also gained an appreciation for rigor from studying B that counters the C attitude of B. "Thesis": I'd like to bring B to medicine, and the balance of rigor/B means that I'd like to do it in a way that ensures accessibility and equity for all. I think I would struggle to answer "what specific qualities/how would you contribute to our class?" because find it hard to pinpoint the aspect of the different perspective I bring (as a Y) that would contribute to my classmates and the school. I understand that having the perspective itself may count as diversity, but I'm afraid that without a specific answer to this question, this might not make as compelling an essay. Is this fear well-founded?
5) Jack of All Trades: I'm not sold at all on this one, but someone I trust tells me it'll be good, so I think I should do due diligence. Basically, the thesis is that this combination of X/Y/D/fishing/running is the diverse thing about me. To my understanding, despite the inclusion of the word "diversity" in the prompts, schools are actually looking for something unique about me. That combination of interests might be it, but I don't know if it's a) better than the other options or b) deep enough to really give an adcom as valuable insight as focusing on one or two specific things.
Thank you guys so much for reading this post! Any feedback will be helpful!
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