Personal History/Diversity Statement -- Question of Appropriateness

[Cambienta]

I'm working on my personal history/diversity statement and am trying to figure out what's appropriate to say.

I have written a paragraph on my experiences as someone with ASD, and my desire to eventually volunteer with students in similar situations. Is it inappropriate to mention having ASD? I feel it is the most significant thing about me worth mentioning in such a statement (more significant to me, personally, than my being Cuban), as my experiences with learning to deal with ASD and being in special education, etc., were significantly formative.

I'm applying to MS programs in computer science. Any feedback would be appreciated!

Edited December 12, 2014 by Cambienta

[eragon]

Personal/Diversity statement as I understand can be used to explain to admission committee how you can contribute to your university through your skills and it can also be used to explain the adversities you faced in your life and how you overcame it. I think its perfectly fine to talk about it.   

[Cambienta]

For anyone who might later wonder what I did, I decided to go ahead and include the detail about ASD. Thanks for the feedback!

[arevasaurus]

Hijacking this thread as I also have a question about the appropriateness of including something in a diversity essay. I have to write a 300 word diversity note in one university's central scholarship application, and I'm considering whether it is a good idea to mention that I am a non-binary/gender variant person (which basically means I don't identify in the traditional male/female binary but somewhere in-between, or with no gender at all). This is obviously something that has had a massive impact on my life, has given me very particular experiences, and makes me different from other people. But even though I should technically be protected by equal opportunity policies etc I'm still worried about possible prejudice or unease amongst scholarship committees... Would love any thoughts or advice!

[drownsoda]

Hijacking this thread as I also have a question about the appropriateness of including something in a diversity essay. I have to write a 300 word diversity note in one university's central scholarship application, and I'm considering whether it is a good idea to mention that I am a non-binary/gender variant person (which basically means I don't identify in the traditional male/female binary but somewhere in-between, or with no gender at all). This is obviously something that has had a massive impact on my life, has given me very particular experiences, and makes me different from other people. But even though I should technically be protected by equal opportunity policies etc I'm still worried about possible prejudice or unease amongst scholarship committees... Would love any thoughts or advice!

 

For a diversity essay, I'd say a big fat "yes" on this. As far as prejudice from the committee goes, I feel like that most likely wouldn't be an issue just judging by the fact that they asked you to write a diversity essay in the first place. 

 

I never had the option of writing anything like that, but I did have to figure out how to acknowledge a year-long gap in my transcript that was the result of a cancer diagnosis— it's tricky trying to figure out how to approach personal stuff in an application like this. Some of my applications provided "additional information" forms, and on those I acknowledged the transcript gap, but just said it was due to an "extended and serious illness that required surgery and other treatments." End. In other applications, I had to figure out a way to work it into my SOP because they didn't provide any forms like that. 

 

I think in a diversity essay though, it's mostly free game. If there's a place to bring up anything personal that sets you apart from the pack, that's it.

Edited January 4, 2015 by drownsoda

[birchleaf]

I just really want to add something - I was worried about a similar topic for a diversity essay, and I decided against it. Yes, it's a big part of who I am, but as I was not active in any related communities and it does not show through in my work, I was strongly advised against including that as my diversity essay.

 

This is due expressly to the fact that if I didn't contribute to the diversity of my undergraduate school already in regards to this characteristic of mine, then how could I demonstrate that I would contribute to the diversity of a future university?

 

That being said, it's totally up to you! There's really no risk in including it I suppose.

[missmend]

Hijacking the hijacked post - I'm struggling with something similar in approaching mine. I took time off between undergrad and graduate applications primarily due to mental illness - while my undergrad grades are good and I graduated with honors, I struggled in the last two years with managing coursework and health, and I didn't want the same to happen in graduate school. I'm significantly better now, and could theoretically have a strong point of "overcoming adversity" in an SoP, I'm concerned that bringing up the topic would make adcoms question my ability to perform. Advice from non-academics has been to not mention it (ie "You wouldn't bring it up in a job interview, why would you bring it here"), while academics said I would need to because I had to explain some Ws on my transcript. 

[ashiepoo72]

Maybe you could mention having overcome an illness, but not be explicit that it was mental illness. It's better to be vague about that stuff anyway, otherwise it can be viewed as an excuse (that's not my opinion...the fact that you're so thoughtfully considering how to--and if you even should--broach this shows you aren't attempting to excuse anything).

[Crucial BBQ]

I am not sure internationally, but in terms of U.S. universities the "diversity statement" is a way for them to legally ask a question that is otherwise illegal for them to do so (are you LGBT, married, have children, Catholic, Muslim, poor, left-handed, etc.).  It is illegal for them to ask, but not illegal for them to accept voluntarily-reported answers.  

 

I do not want to suggest they are collecting information for nefarious reasons, most likely the opposite, but just something to think about.   If it truly is a part of who you are then speak loud and proud.  

 

@missmend:

If your grades were "still good", you graduated with honors, and it is now under control, why mention it?  Can you say that you began to work full time, and that caused the Ws?  

[MermaidturnedMSW]

I took a year off during my undergrad due to a mental illness and I did not mention it anywhere in my SOPs. None of my apps required me to explain any gaps and I didn't offer any explanation. If they did ask, I probably would have said something along the lines of "needing to take off of school due to health concerns that required serious attention" or something. 

[drownsoda]

Maybe I'm in a minority for mentioning my transcript gap then? My whole thing was that I wanted to address it without really drawing attention to it; my assumption was that a committee may see a year long gap on my records and fill in the blank as to what happened and why I wasn't in school-- briefly acknowledging it was my way of not letting them do that, I guess. Hopefully doing so wasn't injurious to my applications :/