Supplemental application questions

[quaymat321234]

Hello guys,

I am having a very hard time answering all of the supplemental questions.  Especially the following two questions:

 

1. If accepted, what would be your greatest contribution to the class?

I want to be unique but whenever I begin to answer this question my answers just seen so generic.  

 

2. Any question about diversity.  I am a Caucasian female 24  and haven't experienced any cultural diversity.  Could I discuss diverse life experiences? Growing up I dealt with the struggles of my mother being an addict.  Should I address this as diversity or is this more adversity? I don't want it to seem like im throwing myself a pity party....

 

Any comments or suggestions will help! Thank you! 

[YooperPA]

For the diversity question I don't think schools are just looking for cultural diversity. You could talk about any kind of diversity that you've personally experienced (i.e. pce/hce that is unique, the area in which you grew up or have lived for a while (is it medically underserved, is it rural, urban?), Or any kind of life experience that varies from the norm). Or you could possibly talk about experiences where you have interacted with diverse people? If you're mother being an addict created some kind of diverse life events or changed how you lived then I think you could make that work.

 

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[MT2PA]

Sorry champ.  Schools want to hear your answers, not our ideas of what you should write about.  Buckle down and make your best decision and give your best answer.  

[mich.harris109]

Greatest contribution to the class - think about why you would be a good PA and anything you have done that many of your classmates may not have. Everyone has something unique, just take a few days to reflect on this. For example, I have never worked in a hospice center or nursing home, so someone who has can help me understand the needs and life stories of elderly patients. I've been working in the lab for the past 2 years, most people have no idea what labs even are, so I can help them understand how their labs are done and what the values say/mean. Talk about helping your classmates in a constructive way. I think it would work to include your mom's history here. You are probably more sensitive to the plight of those who struggle with addiction and especially with what their families go through. I think your experience is a really good thing to include here. That said, if you want to include it in both of these essay questions, just make sure they're not both ONLY about that. If one is wholly about your experience with addiction, just tie it loosely into the other one, because as big of a deal as that experience is, I also think they want to hear about other life experiences as well. 

 

Diversity - I ran into your same problem... Very little experience with diversity, not necessarily because of anything I did or didn't do. Little experience won't disqualify you. 2 big things... you need to A) think of something, ANYTHING, you've done with a population of people who weren't like you in some way. Here I said that I work in a lab with people of varying nationalities, religions, ages and backgrounds. Then 2) you need to explain why diversity enhanced your experience and how your experience better equipped you to work with a diverse set of patients.

 

You can do this! The main thing is, for the next 2 days or so, while you're in the shower, driving, doing the dishes, you need to be thinking about everything you've done for the last 20 something years and think about what experiences fit the criteria for these. There's something... also, remember to focus more on what you got out of it. If you're gonna talk about summer camp in 3rd grade, that's OK, but since its a weak example you need to have strong thoughts about what lasting impact it had on you and how it will help you in your career.