Diversity Statement: a freebie PS? Forum

[cookiejar1]

I'm having a hardtime writing my PS simply because I feel like my topic is way too broad. At first I wanted my PS to be structured around the fact that I've grown up as a Third Culture Kid: basically I've grown up in 3 drastically different cultures, lived on three different continents, and have travelled to over 40 countries in the last 10 years (my 4 steady years in college was the longest time I've ever gone without relocating).

Now... I've been having a really hard time keeping my PS under 2-pages. While I feel that my unique upbringing the most important characteristic that defines me ... I also specifically want to talk about academia, my leadership skills in college, and my various other notable achievements.

Chronicling my background information and then focusing on the last 4 years of my life is terribly difficult to package into 2 pages (and also feels horribly contrived). So I've gotten to thinking...

Could I just split my PS into two different ones? Okay, I'm no Hillary Clinton, but I feel that I could spin my third culture kid upbringing into a DS. Then I could use my PS to focus on, say, one project in my undergrad career (I took over a failing publication and in two years won the highest honor given to collegiate publications). Essentially I turned a 2-page PS into a 4-page PS/DS (obviously separate documents but you get the point).

TL;DR here are my questions in list form for the lazy:

• 1. Can I write a 2-page Diversity Statement that reads just like a PS?
  2. Will admissions counselors read my Diversity Statement and give it as much weight as my PS?
  3. Depending on the answer to 2., should I risk having a more generic PS knowing that what makes me me is really in the DS?

Cheers TLS'ers. Find me and I'll buy you a beer.

[defdef]

assuming that you think the third culture topic is more important and compelling than the publication write about that in the PS. if the publication topic is more compelling, that should be your PS. i think that 2 pages is too much for a DS. if you do the third culture topic as your PS you can still write a DS about something i'm sure.

[cookiejar1]

assuming that you think the third culture topic is more important and compelling than the publication write about that in the PS. if the publication topic is more compelling, that should be your PS. i think that 2 pages is too much for a DS. if you do the third culture topic as your PS you can still write a DS about something i'm sure.

Could I write a DS regarding my experience working on a magazine publication? That doesn't seem that diverse... at all. I do think that my third culture experience is a more compelling subject... but if I use that for my PS then I won't have an opportunity to talk about my publication/awards/etc.

[defdef]

well, if you can make your publication topic compelling i would strongly recommend making your PS about that and the diversity statement a 1 pager about your third culture experience. i'm an applicant this cycle too so my experience isn't exactly thorough, but that's the call i'd make.