Should I submit this Diversity Statement? As a white guy who travels Forum

[adrianparlow]

Hey guys, hoping for some advice here. I'm white, upper middle class, no hardships to speak of. I have done a ton of traveling though, and tried to spin a kind of short "global mindset" type diversity essay. I'm trying to decide whether to submit this to schools or not. Looking at most of T14 but especially at Mich-UVA-NU-Duke that have optional essays (don't have anything to say for the "why x" essay). Any advice is appreciated.




My parents like to joke that I learned to travel before learning how to walk. When I was young my mother worked for United Airlines, and my father and I would fly to meet her in a new city nearly every weekend. The older I got, the further we ventured from home, until at the age of eight my parents pulled my brother and I out of school to spend four months backpacking through China and Thailand. Their philosophy was always one of immersion; we were travelling not only to observe and experience, but to understand the perspective and way of life of the people. Growing up, I took for granted the worldview bestowed upon me by these experiences, not recognizing the appreciation I had developed for nuanced cultural differences in attitude, outlook, and custom.

After my freshman year of college I decided to throw myself headfirst into a foreign culture, leaving for Southeast Asia for three months, on my own and with zero plans. In these months, meeting the locals and other travelers, I began to understand the world traveler’s point of view and to realize my place in the world. As I sipped tea with tribesmen in the jungle of Laos, I marveled at how these people appreciated what little they had, celebrating the shared experiences that make us human. After a few smaller trips in the following years, I left Canada once again this October to expand my intellectual horizons, this time in India. I am currently interning with Operation Eyesight, where I have had the chance to interact with people from all tiers of Indian society, from wealthy doctors and businessmen to the humblest village people. At work, I am learning the NGO sector’s approach to India’s staggering social health problems. Meanwhile, I am discovering the quirks of Indian social customs, learning to eat with my hands, and taking classes in Hindi.

It took me many years to fully realize the effects of my global upbringing. I have long felt a sense of cultural competence – that I felt comfortable interacting with people from the far reaches of the globe. What I later realized is that travelling has and will continue to dramatically affect my outlook on life. It has made me perpetually curious, and has taught me that understanding a new idea is a reward in itself. It has shown me the common elements that foster unity among people – smiling, helping, sharing. Learning the challenges of Indian healthcare is giving me a holistic outlook on problem solving, allowing me to understand how each small part contributes to the whole. Moreover, it is teaching me to approach challenges with flexibility, and from a logical, unbiased perspective. Every new trip abroad has expanded my horizons, and the breadth of my intellectual ability reflects the diversity of my cultural experiences. The resulting global mindset will be my contribution to the diversity of the student body at [insert school].

[BigZuck]

I'd say no

[sas10]

I submitted a non-traditional diversity statement to most of the schools you are seriously considering- if you think it tells something about you not covered in your PS, I would submit it.

[WheatThins]

Doesn't matter. Won't help, won't hurt.

[R. Jeeves]

.

[malleus discentium]

"Not only am a I white guy, but I am a white guy who is rich enough to travel the world. TALK about diversity!"

[adrianparlow]

"Not only am a I white guy, but I am a white guy who is rich enough to travel the world. TALK about diversity!"

Well to be fair, I've traveled exclusively on money I've made while working summer and part time jobs. But I understand the message it might send to the school. Anyways thanks for the input, guess i'll scrap it

[ChildWithADove]

I would. diversity is not just about racial or economic status. diversity is about, among other things, adding unique perspectives to the law school discussion. when looking at diversity, schools can take into account things like considerable travel. if all you were talking about was a cruise through alaska one summer with your family, i would dissuade you from writing this. however, it sounds like you have some meaningful stories and experiences.

As for the specific schools - i don't know enough about the particular programs to say whether they take into account travel. that said, at last circa 1992, Mich was taking into account considerable travel. plus, Mich cannot, per its state constitution, take into account racial diversity anymore. so at least for Mich, i would consider sending it in. here is a quote from the 2003 case where the supreme court upheld Mich's affirmative action program:

"The Law School does not, however, limit in any way the broad range of qualities and experiences that may be considered valuable contributions to student body diversity. To the contrary, the 1992 policy makes clear “[t]here are many possible bases for diversity admissions,” and provides examples of admittees who have lived or traveled widely abroad, are fluent in several languages, have overcome personal adversity and family hardship, have exceptional records of extensive community service, and have had successful careers in other fields. Id., at 118–119. The Law School seriously considers each “applicant's promise of making a notable contribution to the class by way of a particular strength, attainment, or characteristic—e.g., an unusual intellectual achievement, employment experience, nonacademic performance, or personal background.” Id., at 83–84."

Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 338 (2003) (emphasis added).

[ChildWithADove]

also, here is a quote straight from michigan's faq on the essays (personal statement and optional essays):

"What should I write about in my personal statement/optional essays?
The personal statement is your chance to give a brief monologue to the file readers, so the best judgment about a topic is necessarily yours—only you can know what is most relevant about your background for purposes of admission to law school. To quote our application, "There is no formula for a successful personal statement, and different individuals will find different topics to be well-suited to them." Spend some time thinking about what it is that you would tell an admissions officer if you had ten minutes of undivided attention—perhaps about what led you to law school, about unusual challenges you've overcome, about your religious, political, cultural, or sexual identity, about unusual experiences or travel, or simply why you'd be an interesting person to have in the class. Whatever topic you choose, your statement will be evaluated on both content and construction, so your goal should be to write about something interesting and write about it well. We also offer eight different optional essay topics, from which you can choose to write up to two additional essays, in order that our decision will be based on as much information about you as possible. These essays are truly optional, and many people are admitted without submitting additional essays beyond the personal statement; at the same time, we often find that they add extremely helpful depth and perspective."

https://www.law.umich.edu/prospectivest ... s/faq.aspx

so it looks like they are still taking travel into account (assuming it is a unique, considerable, unusual experience). what counts as unusual is clearly subjective. but if you feel like your broad travel has positively impacted your perspective on life, it, at the very least, would not hurt your application and may in fact help it.

[seashell.economy]

"Not only am a I white guy, but I am a white guy who is rich enough to travel the world. TALK about diversity!"

^ For real

[seashell.economy]

The thing that bugs me about all of these posts where white guys are asking if they should write a diversity statement is because they have benefited from their gender and race in this society that we live in for their whole lives -- and now, at one of the very few moments where their gender and race do not serve them -- they want to benefit from that diversity statement, too. It is really quite appalling.

[carmensandiego]

I mean, probably no. Especially the essay that you put worth; while it is nicely written, it sounds a little too flashy/showy. If you want to somehow throw a bit about how your extensive traveling lent itself to you being an independent person in your PS, then sure.

[lymenheimer]

The thing that bugs me about all of these posts where white guys are asking if they should write a diversity statement is because they have benefited from their gender and race in this society that we live in for their whole lives -- and now, at one of the very few moments where their gender and race do not serve them -- they want to benefit from that diversity statement, too. It is really quite appalling.

Wow. That's pretty discriminatory and borderline racist.

[sd1111]

"Not only am a I white guy, but I am a white guy who is rich enough to travel the world. TALK about diversity!"

Well to be fair, I've traveled exclusively on money I've made while working summer and part time jobs. But I understand the message it might send to the school. Anyways thanks for the input, guess i'll scrap it

I admire that

[carmensandiego]

I think overall, if you chose to do a diversity statement on this topic, you'd better fair if you narrowed in on a specific event or series of events that commingled; especially if these event/events spoke highly of some sort of strong subset of qualities that you display that admissions staff would find admirable.

For example: I was in the Peace Corps with someone who was Chinese and adopted into an american family at a young age. She and I lived in villages nearby to each other. Not only did she have to deal with the same struggles of immersing yourself into a culture that had it's own perceived views of white people, but she had to do it as a chinese woman. What I mean by that is in the country/village we were in, they had very limited knowledge of asians; they honestly didn't know if she was white or something else. When she walked around in her village, they "hee-hawed" at her thinking that they were speaking some sort of asian language to her. She took great offense to it and honestly, it really messed with her emotions at the time. Me and her other cluster-mates helped her edit her diversity essay for a master's program (not LS) and she talked a lot about how she had perceived notions of Chinese culture from a western adopted family, how she grew up being hypersensitive to it in american culture, and how the Peace Corps and her village really helped her stand up for her identity; and she did. She perfected french to be able to 'tell off' these 'hee-haw' people in a respectful manner - it was really empowering to her and it showed that she was not afraid to stand up to people in a situation where she is an outsider.

[Big Dog]

Instead of the my-dad's a [pilot] Canadian, so I can fly free to see to travel the world, write about a slice of life. Focus on one of your visits and put the reader into your shoes. Write about NGO's, for example, and how they affected the people and therefor you.

Avoid the trite: People are different. By visiting other countries, I saw first hand that 3rd world countries have poor people.... Well, doh! (that's why they are third world countries, and pictures are available in national geographic and online.)

btw: the only two that might care a little are the two public schools.

[Big Dog]

The thing that bugs me about all of these posts where white guys are asking if they should write a diversity statement is because they have benefited from their gender and race in this society...

Law schools make it clear that the diversity essay can go beyond just gender and race. For example, a white guy who grew up homeless, and was shuttled from school to school by social services.

Why are your 'glasses' so limiting (and, I would assume yo would include ethnicity)?

[cbbinnyc]

Why not submit this as an "addendum" rather than specifically as a DS? For example, I wanted to submit a brief statement that mentioned some things I couldn't get into the PS, but it didn't really qualify as a DS, so I just added it as an optional statement. I can't speak to every school, but all the applications I looked at have this option. Your extensive travel does seem worth talking about and I'm sure it does give you a unique perspective. Just a thought.

No matter how you submit it, I think you need to go back and scrub it of anything cliche and anything that is even remotely in danger of making you sound self-congratulatory. Your focus on your work in India is good because, no matter how privileged your background may be, that is a commendable thing to be doing. But I would get rid of, for example, the thing about sipping tea with tribesmen and "marveling" at how they appreciated the little things in life (it comes off as a bit tone-deaf and you certainly don't need to travel across the globe to find poor people who appreciate the little they have). Also avoid using words like "humble" to describe the village people as it could potentially sound condescending. All in all, you can make this a lot more concise. It's a worthy statement, if done right, but I think this "white guy traveling" trope is something you have to approach with caution.

[BigZuck]

Suggesting or telling the OP that it is ok to submit this statement in any form is pretty terrible advice IMO

Schools don't care about things like personal statements (people now will start screaming Yale and Berkeley at me but whatever). This isn't even a personal statement. It won't make any positive difference. Could it make a negative difference because it's a diversity statement about a white guy traveling? It probably won't make any difference at all but given that there is absolutely zero upside it doesn't make sense to mess with any potential downside.

[Nekrowizard]

You would be a moron to submit this. Every single upper middle class white fucker I know backpacked through Southeast Asia and developed "cultural competence" if that's what you want to call it. The only way to make it worse is if you added a section about how you went to Europe, bought a Eurorail pass, and smoked some weed in Amstredam.

[fats provolone]

this is a great example of just because you can, doesn't mean you should

[Nebby]

You would be a moron to submit this. Every single upper middle class white fucker I know backpacked through Southeast Asia and developed "cultural competence" if that's what you want to call it. The only way to make it worse is if you added a section about how you went to Europe, bought a Eurorail pass, and smoked some weed in Amstredam.

I like you.

[PoopNpants]

Don't do this

[Hand]

Just be sure to attach a picture of yourself surrounded by a dozen or so little kids in India and you should be all set

[PoopNpants]

Suggesting or telling the OP that it is ok to submit this statement in any form is pretty terrible advice IMO

Schools don't care about things like personal statements (people now will start screaming Yale and Berkeley at me but whatever). This isn't even a personal statement. It won't make any positive difference. Could it make a negative difference because it's a diversity statement about a white guy traveling? It probably won't make any difference at all but given that there is absolutely zero upside it doesn't make sense to mess with any potential downside.

This guy gets it