Your opinion please...

[laurenem]

So, I am writing my dartmouth secondary question which asks us to provide them with information that is not in my primary already. My topic is basically about my high school which was VERY unique. It was founded on religious beliefs, but most of the students did not follow this religion. Despite that fact, a lot of the uniqueness of the school is in its religion.. its an eastern religion (kinda like sikh). I'd like to include some of this in my essay because I feel it makes me stand out more (and that's what Ivy's are looking for), but on the other hand some people get offended at the mention of the word "religion." Sorry if this was kinda confusing but it's hard to explain the school and I didn't want to go into details. What do you think? Should I include the religious aspect of the school in the essay?

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[nager105]

Personally, I would stay away from writing about high school. Isn't there something from college that you could talk about instead?

 

[laurenem]

I didn't put any high school things on my amcas because I know they don't really want to see that. And I wrote about college in my ps etc. Since they want something that hasn't been mentioned in the app, and I know that I've had this particularly unique schooling, and ivy leagues are looking for unique things about people... that's why I chose to write about my high school.

There are things other than the religious aspect that I talk about in the essay, but just not sure how much religion I should bring in...I'm not even religious myself so it's not like I'm trying to sell it.

 

[Vizious]

Actually, I was planning to include something similar in sec. essays asking about uniqueness/diversity. While personally in between agnostic and atheist, I was raised by a very religious Hindu Brahmin family. However, I also attended Protestant schools from 1st-12th grade. I was planning to focus on how being highly exposed to two seemingly different religious philosophies enhanced my understanding of belief in general and how important it is for individuals (ie. some patients). But I'm planning to focus more on its impact on me rather than the religions or my own beliefs themselves.

 

[BuckerPark]

I don't think religion is as taboo as you might suspect. As long as you are honest and respectful about your views on any religion, I don't think your answer will come off.

I was a bio/religion major in college and wanted to tie that into how that's shaped me. I don't remember exactly how it was worded. I said that the close ties between religion and culture exposed me to groups of individuals I had otherwise met and that my excitement for meeting new people stems from those academic pursuits. Of course, that's only one way to approach it.

I get the concern people have about listing things from high school. I'm not so sure it's a huge deal. As long as you can tie that experience into something you've learned which still applies to you today, I think you'd be alright.

Humble musings....

I didn't put any high school things on my amcas because I know they don't really want to see that. And I wrote about college in my ps etc. Since they want something that hasn't been mentioned in the app, and I know that I've had this particularly unique schooling, and ivy leagues are looking for unique things about people... that's why I chose to write about my high school.

There are things other than the religious aspect that I talk about in the essay, but just not sure how much religion I should bring in...I'm not even religious myself so it's not like I'm trying to sell it.

 

[confused48]

Sorry to be a little off topic, but are Dartmouth's questions posted somewhere?

 

[laurenem]

Sorry to be a little off topic, but are Dartmouth's questions posted somewhere?

yup they're in the "secondary's received" thread

Vizious: I was writing mine the same way. Good luck to you

BuckerPark: Good advice about tying it in with more recent things... thanks

 

[notdeadyet]

Personally, I would stay away from writing about high school. Isn't there something from college that you could talk about instead?

Ab-so-lutely. Regardless of topic or how cool the experience may have been, writing about high school on your secondary just seems sad.