First time user on CC, so I don’t know how this will end up.
I need your help!
I’m currently a student at a rural boarding school in the U.S. and planning on applying to a few BS/MD programs. My problem is this: with so many experiences and acticities that define me, which one should I write about? I TA three science classes; have gone to boarding school for 6 years; love photography; clean the school restrooms and take out the trash weekly (it’s a pretty small school); rake and sweep the school’s grounds; started a community service club; and volunteered in Southeast Asia this summer.
Should I even write about volunteer work in my personal statement, or is that too cliche? Another thing, I don’t have that many shadowing hours (because few resources in rural town). Should I somehow address that in my common app essay, or in a supplement?
Unless you go back home to SE Asia for school breaks, I don’t recommend making a big deal out of volunteering there. If you really must write about the trip, then just focus on the cultural experience. Overseas poverty tourism to do “canned” volunteering elicits eye-rolls, because it reeks of privilege and just signals that your family has money.
Why don’t you start with what you feel is the most important thing you want to tell them about yourself–I mean, a personality trait or value or goal–and then write about the experience that best illustrates or explains that?
I don’t think that would be too cliche, if you can say something unique about it. Do you have any specific stories about when you first arrived to your boarding school? How has being at a boarding school shaped you? An essay about being at a boarding school could be really good, but remember you have to say something more than “I went to boarding school.” Make it so that the 1000 other kids at your boarding school couldn’t write the same essay.