Diversity Secondary Prompt
June 12, 2018 - Abdi
Diversity Secondary Prompt Examples:
1) “At the University of Chicago, in an atmosphere of interdisciplinary scholarship and discovery, the Pritzker School of Medicine is dedicated to inspiring diverse students of exceptional promise to become leaders and innovators in science and medicine for the betterment of humanity.”
Our mission statement above is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. In particular, it highlights the value we place on diversity since we regard the diversity of the entering class as essential for educational excellence. Please write an essay on how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and advance the Pritzker mission.
2) Tell us more about who you are. You may provide additional information that expands your self-identity where gender identification, racial and/or ethnic self description, geographic origin, socioeconomic, academic, and/or other characteristics that define who you are as you contemplate a career that will interface with people who are similar AND dissimilar to you. You will have the opportunity below to tell us how you wish to be addressed, recognized and treated. (500 words)
Medical schools are interested in cultivating a diverse class to help enrich their educational environment and present students with an opportunity to learn from their peers. Many students react to this prompt by mistakenly assuming that it is referring solely to ethnic diversity. Essentially, this prompt is asking:
“What aspect of your identity, background, or lived experiences will allow you to uniquely contribute to the incoming class?”
Some different ways that you can demonstrate what makes you unique and capable of contributing to the diversity of the incoming class are:
Socioeconomic Hardship
Non-traditional background
Personal Qualities
Unique Interests
Different educational background
Military experience
Unique career goals
Previous Career
Culture
As you can see, this list can go on and on. The important takeaway is to not narrowly define what diversity means. Try to brainstorm and be creative about what makes you unique or different. The key aspect of this prompt is to connect the way in which you’re unique to the way that uniqueness will allow you to contribute to the school and incoming class.
Remember: You need to provide evidence and not simply statements. Don’t just mention how your family having cultural values that impacted the care they received taught you about the importance of culturally competent care; show the reader.
BREAKING DOWN THE PROMPT
You can talk about socioeconomic hardship, for instance, and how that has given you a more mature understanding of the world. Many medical students come from wealthy families, so discussing your experiences with homelessness and poverty would be a great way to explain what makes you unique or diverse. Be descriptive and connect your experiences to the specific characteristics you want to demonstrate. Let’s say that the characteristics you wanted to demonstrate here are resiliency and maturity.
Now, you have to explain why the school should value your experiences. One angle you could take is to discuss how your experiences with poverty will help you better understand and work with patients from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and that you would contribute to the diversity of the incoming class by representing the voice of a patient population not typically represented in medical school. You can also speak about how the maturity you’ve developed will allow you to bring a different perspective of the world in your discussions with your peers.
Everyone has something unique about them…so don’t limit yourself to just race or ethnicity. In fact, if you are an African American student but your race is not an important part of your identity, it might be difficult to write a strong diversity statement based on race. So try to reflect on experiences or characteristics of yours that stand out and make you unique, and then tell the school why they should want that!