<p>I'm at my final application essay, and I've run into a little dilemma. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to write about, but I'm not sure if it's exactly what the prompt is asking for. Here's the prompt:<br>
Describe a setback you have encountered in your life. Explain how you handled the situation, what you learned from it, and what you would do if something similar happened in the future. </p>
<p>I would like to write about my emergency appendectomy surgery: how I unknowingly had a ruptured appendix that was 2-3 days away from being deadly, and how it influenced my desire for a doctorate in medicine.</p>
<p>Is this acceptable, or should I reconsider?
Thank you!</p>
<p>I think that topic would be an excellent about-you/personal narrative essay (I myself am writing about a disease I had until I was 11 when I had a major surgery) for an application, but I don't think it exactly answers the topic at hand. It asks how you learned from it and what you would do if it came back or something similar happened. </p>
<p>Your response is more towards why you want to go into the medicine field, not what you would do if something like that happened again. That being said, it is very conceivable that you could switch your ending to answer the question correctly and keep the experience the same.</p>
<p>Hmmmm
I was kind of going for a layout like this.
Setback - Appendicitis/rupture/surgery
What I learned - Gained a much clearer vision towards how fragile life is/gave me idea to become a doctor
What I would do if something similar happened<a href="This%20is%20going%20to%20be%20the%20hard%20part">/U</a> - Not really sure what I could say. Maybe I could tie in fragility of life again and say that I would act quickly at any sign. Not sure if this would really fit with my essay though.</p>
<p>I could also use the same topic on this prompt: Describe how your college education will allow you to achieve personal or professional goals. </p>
<p>With that, I could use the same situation with a stronger emphasis on my future, but I would also have to talk about how my college education and it's effect on this.</p>
<p>I'm not sure.
Thanks again!</p>