Medical School Secondary Essays: All MD & DO Prompts in

Allopathic Schools

University of Alabama Heersink School of Medicine (Allopathic)

State of Residence Section:

1. Non-Alabama Resident with Ties to Alabama: Describe any ties or meaningful experiences you have had related to the state of Alabama or UAB Medical Center (1500 characters)

2. All Applicants: if the area you spent most of your life before college differs from where you currently consider your permanent address, please explain (1500 characters)

Essay Section:

3. Where do you see yourself in your medical career fifteen to twenty years from now? (750 characters)

4. Learning from others is enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. Please describe your personal characteristics or experiences that would add to the learning environment for your classmates. (750 characters)

5. Describe a patient interaction with the healthcare system. This could be a direct patient observation (in person or virtual) during a shadowing/clinical experience or a personal experience within the healthcare system. What did you learn from this experience? (750 characters)

6. Describe a fulfilling or challenging community service experience and how you grew personally from the experience. (750 characters)

7. UAB Medicine provides quality health care and compassionate service to every patient, every time, regardless of their individual differences or circumstances. Our academic medical center attracts patients from across the world who represent many cultures, religions, lifestyles, and economic backgrounds. Why are you specifically interested in beginning your medical education in this environment, and how do you feel that your previous experiences will prepare you for this unique learning environment? (750 characters)

8. (OPTIONAL): Describe your identity and how it has impacted the development of your values and attitudes toward individuals different from yourself and how this will impact your interactions with future colleagues and patients. (750 characters)

9. (OPTIONAL): Please share any information you want us to know about you that is not included in your AMCAS application or in this secondary application. (750 characters)

Additional Experiences Section:

10. You have a separate page to add any experiences that you did not have listed on your AMCAS application

University of South Alabama College of Medicine

In-State Applicants:

1. Although interests may change, what areas of medicine are you primarily interested in at the current time? (200 characters)

Out-of-State Applicants:

2. Although our primary obligation is to residents of the State of Alabama, we do consider competitive applicants from neighboring states and applicants with strong ties to the State of Alabama.

Please write a brief essay explaining your ties to the State of Alabama. (2000 characters)

Optional Essay

3. The learning community at the University of South Alabama Whiddon College of Medicine benefits from the inclusion of students with broad life experiences, as well as students from diverse backgrounds. The Admissions Committee encourages you to share life experiences that you may have had and/or important factors in your background that illustrate your readiness for practicing medicine in a multicultural society. (3500 characters)

Osteopathic Schools

Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Describe how specific attributes of ACOM’s mission and core values align with your professional goals and personal attributes?

2. The Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine promotes values and equity from various cultural, social, and economic backgrounds. Discuss the role that diversity played in your decision to become an osteopathic medical school applicant.

3. What are your personal attributes that demonstrate the osteopathic philosophy? (500 words or less) 

Allopathic Schools

 University of Alaska Anchorage/University of Washington WWAMI Program

Alaska residents can participate in the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) program organized by the University of Washington School of Medicine and offered through the University of Alaska Anchorage.

1. How have societal inequities in the U.S. affected you or people you have worked with? (250 words)

2. The UWSOM aims to build a diverse class of students to enrich the field of medicine. What perspectives, identities, and/or qualities would you bring? (250 words)

3. What obstacles have you experienced and how have you overcome them? (250 words)

4. Describe your competency by explaining how you have explored and come to understand issues in the social sciences and humanities as they relate to the practice of medicine. (250 words)

5. For re-applicants: From your most recent application until now, how have you strengthened your application? (250 words)

6. For Wyoming applicants: Describe your experiences in Wyoming that have influenced and/or informed your decision to pursue a medical career? (250 words)

Allopathic Schools

University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson

1. Please share a meaningful experience you have had working or volunteering in the health professional field or a time in your past in which you were responsible for the care and well-being of someone else. What did you learn from this as it relates to becoming a physician? (Limit: 350 words)

2. Discuss a time in your life in which you have failed at something other than an academic experience. How did you confront the failure and what did you learn from it? Please describe how you typically approach challenges that you face in your life. (Limit: 350 words)

3. "The mission of the University of Arizona College of Medicine of Admissions is to select a diverse cohort of students who will become the future leaders in advancing healthcare to the distinct communities that comprise Arizona and the United States. Consistent with the mission of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, selection of individuals with a demonstrated commitment to serve as care providers, physician scientists, clinical leaders and/or public health experts, including advocates for rural and urban underserved populations, is highly valued. Applicants seeking admission should exhibit qualities of altruism, academic excellence, leadership and dedication to becoming lifelong learners through research endeavors and academic development." Please describe the role(s) you can play in helping the College of Medicine to achieve its mission. (Limit: 350 words)

4. Describe the effect that your experiences with engaging diversity have had on your own growth and development. Provide an example and describe how it will impact your career in the medical profession. (Limit: 350 words)

5. Share any disruptions in your academic/volunteer/work/personal life related to COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. (no limit)

University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix

1. I previously applied to any medical school yes/no (select yes if you submitted a primary or secondary application). If yes, please provide specific examples that illustrate how you are a stronger applicant this cycle. (1000 characters)

2. What achievement are you most proud of in your life? What aspect(s) of this achievement will you bring to our medical school? (1000 characters)

3. The UA College of Medicine - Phoenix practices Inclusive Excellence, which celebrates the differences, talents, and unique qualities of all individuals. Please describe how you will pursue Inclusive Excellence in your studies while contributing to the collaborative environment at the College of Medicine - Phoenix. (1000 characters)

4. Servant Leadership is a Core Value and Attribute we deem essential for our students to possess. To us, it is service to others where one possesses personal humility along with a strong professional will. Describe a time where you have practiced this skill or have seen this in another. What traits were exemplified, and how will you apply these traits to your career in medicine? (1000 characters)

5. Throughout your application you have given us a sense of how you intend to contribute to the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. We would now like to know about how you anticipate the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix will contribute to your goals and passion for medicine. What aspects of our program and community appeals most to you, and how do you plan to make use of specific resources and opportunities here? (1000 characters)

6. Please reflect on your entire application, is there anything you would like to further share with the Admissions Committee? Items to consider: connection(s) to Phoenix and/or our medical community, your plan during this application season, gap(s) in your education, personal, academic, or COVID-related challenges. Do not repeat any information already mentioned in the primary or secondary applications. (1000 characters)

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine - Arizona

Maximum 500 words

1. Why are you specifically interested in pursuing your medical education at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine? Please tell us in a few sentences why you are interested in the top choice track you indicated.

2. Each of us relates to others through characteristics that make up our individual diversity. Tell us how your diversity is reflected not only in your personal and professional activities but also in your relationships with others, particularly in diverse learning environments.

Osteopathic Schools

A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona

 1. What do you feel you can contribute to ATSU-SOMA?

2. Describe when you had to persevere in a challenge or obstacle, and what keeps you motivated to keep going towards your goals.

3. Any info you would like to share to the admissions committee?

Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. How did you become aware of Midwestern University/AZCOM? (max. 1500 words)

2. Why do you believe AZCOM would provide you with the type of osteopathic medical education you are seeking? (max. 1500 words) 

Allopathic Schools

University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine

1. Non-Arkansas residents who have strong ties to Arkansas are given preference over non-residents without strong ties to the state. Therefore, if you have strong ties to Arkansas (you have lived in Arkansas, you have a parent or close relative who resides in Arkansas, you attend(ed) an Arkansas college, etc.), you must describe your ties to Arkansas in a letter to be uploaded using the Upload Documents section of this application.

Osteopathic Schools

Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. List any significant volunteer, community service and/or mission experiences you have had that is not listed on your AACOMAS application. Provide the organization name, hours/week, duration of experience, as well as a brief description of your duties.

2. Please tell us about any healthcare experiences you have had that are not listed on your AACOMAS application. Provide organization name, hours/week, duration of experience, and a brief description of your duties.

3. How do you plan to fulfill the ARCOM Mission in your practice as a physician?

4. What challenges do you expect to personally face most in the next 10 years as a healthcare professional?

5. How do you expect to overcome these challenges?

6. Describe an experience where you interacted with a person or people from a different background than you (ability, religion, gender, race, age, socioeconomic status, citizenship/ nationality, sexual orientation).

7. How did that interaction impact your mindset of the role of a physician?

8. If you are in a difficult basic science class and feel you are not fully grasping the information given in lecture, how would you alter your study habits or techniques to better understand the material and complete the course successfully?

9. What is a recent book you read that impacted the way you think about today's world?

10. Please explain how this book impacted the way you think about today's world.

11. How did you hear about ARCOM? (No limit)

Allopathic Schools

University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine

1. If you wish to update or expand upon your activities, you may provide additional information below. (500 words)

2. If you are 2023 or earlier college graduate, please use the space below to tell us what you have done since completing your undergraduate degree. (350 words)

3. Do you identify as being part of a marginalized group socioeconomically or in terms of access to quality education or healthcare? Please describe how this inequity has impacted you and your community. (350 words)

Stanford Medical School

1. Are there any current or pending disputes concerning your academic status?

If yes, please explain. (300-character limit)

2. Was your enrollment status ever interrupted during your undergraduate or graduate program, not including summer term (e.g. medical, personal, or academic reasons, military service, other)?

If yes, please explain. (150-character limit)

3. PRACTICE SETTING

What do you see as the most likely practice scenario for your future medical career?

Choose the single answer that best describes your career goals and clinical practice setting:

• Academic Medicine (Clinical)
• Academic Medicine (Physician Scientist)
• Non-Academic Clinical Practice
• Health Policy
• Health Administration
• Primary Care
• Public Health/Community Health
• Global Health

Please describe your motivation for this practice scenario. Why do you feel you are particularly suited for this practice scenario? What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that have prepared you for this career path? (1,000-character limit)

4. CURRICULAR INTERESTS

How will you take advantage of the Stanford Medicine Discovery Curriculum and scholarly concentration requirement to achieve your personal career goals? (1,000-character limit)

5. BACKGROUND

Describe in a short paragraph your educational and family background.

(for example) I grew up in New York City, as the 3rd child of a supermarket cashier and a high school principal. I attended Mann High School where my major interests were boxing and drama. (600-character limit)

6. CONTRIBUTION TO LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Please describe which aspects of your life experiences, interests, and character would help you to make a distinctive contribution to Stanford Medicine. (2,000-character limit)

Please describe how you have uniquely contributed to a community with which you identify. (1,000-character limit)

8. ADVOCACY

Please describe an experience/ situation when you advocated for someone else. (1,000-character limit)

9. ANYTHING ELSE? (OPTIONAL) Please include anything else that will help us understand better how you may uniquely contribute to Stanford Medicine? (OPTIONAL) (1,000-character limit)

Stanford also includes a fifteen question Health Attitude Survey where you give your opinion on several healthcare-delivery issues by choosing from six responses (Strongly Disagree/Moderately Disagree/Mildly Disagree/Mildly Agree/Moderately Agree/Strongly Agree)

 Check out some Stanford medical school secondary essay examples!

UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine

You only have 15 days to submit your secondary essays; all late applications will not be accepted.

1. At the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, students are provided with curriculum and experiences enabling them to become an "Outstanding Physician, AND...," dedicating themselves to important societal missions. What missions do you want to embrace? What have you done toward your missions? (800 characters)

2. Respond to the following and indicate how these areas of experience have impacted your progress toward your future career goals in relation to becoming an "Outstanding Physician, AND...".

A-Describe your most unique leadership, entrepreneurial, or creative activity. (800 characters)

B-Describe your most important volunteer work and why it was meaningful. (800 characters)

C-Describe your most scholarly project (thesis, research or field of study in basic or clinical science or in the humanities) and provide the total number of hours, dates and advisor. (800 characters)

3. Describe how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your pathway to medical school. Include any academic, personal, financial or professional barriers, as well as other relevant information. (800 characters)

4. Did you experience or are you anticipating time between graduating from college and matriculating into medical school?

(If yes) Describe the activities in which you participated or are planning to participate. Examples include additional schooling, employment, or caring for a loved one.

5. Do you identify as being part of a group that has been marginalized (examples include, but are not limited to, LGBTQIA, disabilities, federally recognized tribe) in terms of access to education or healthcare?

(If yes) Describe how this inequity has impacted you or your community and how educational disparity, health disparity and/or marginalization has impacted you and your community. (800 characters)

Essay Prompts for PRIME-LA (2000 characters)

1. What is the most important social issue confronting the health of marginalized and under-resourced communities? Describe the first steps you would take to address this issue.

2. In what way will graduating from PRIME-LA and obtaining a master's degree enhance your career in health care or health services for marginalized and under-resourced communities? (If you are considering a specific master’s degree (e.g., MPP, MPH, MBA, etc.), please incorporate your graduate degree plans or aspirations into your answer)

3. Describe how your experiences demonstrate your understanding of, and commitment to, marginalized and under-resourced communities.

4. What are your greatest strengths and your greatest challenges as you approach medical school?

5. Describe your most memorable experience as it relates to working with marginalized and under-resourced populations.

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

1. This should be a true autobiographical statement. Topics to be included are family, childhood, primary and secondary school years, undergraduate years, and, if applicable, what you’ve done since completing your bachelor’s degree. You should also discuss the motivational factors which led you to a career in medicine including any disadvantages or obstacles which might put your accomplishments into context. A repeat of your AMCAS statement will not be acceptable. Please note: if you are applying to the MD/PhD program, please include why you are specifically interested in seeking MD/PhD training at UCSD. (6000 characters)

2. (OPTIONAL) Please describe how educational disparity, health disparity and/or marginalization has impacted you and your community? (4800 characters)

3. On your AMCAS Application, you were asked to identify your three “most meaningful” experiences. These activities have been auto-filled in your secondary application. In addition to the information, you provided on the AMCAS application, we would like to know if there are any additional activities you would consider among your most meaningful. This may include activities that you’ve already completed but couldn’t include as you were limited to three selections on the AMCAS application, or it may include a new activity that began after your initial AMCAS application was submitted. Use the “Add” button below to enter a new activity. We would also like to know if a letter of recommendation has been submitted on your behalf by somebody you worked with through this experience. If you do not have a letter from this experience, simply type N/A. This information allows Admissions Committee members reviewing your application to more readily match your letters to your experiences and thus facilitates the review of your application. DO NOT LIST ANY ACTIVITY MORE THAN ONCE. (100-character description for each activity you add)

4. Some medical school applicants are already focused on pursuing a particular career pathway in medicine. While many students will change from this pathway during medical school, knowing of your potential interests does help us to assign interviewers. Your choice below does not influence how the Admissions Committee selects students to interview. Please select from one of career pathways listed below. In addition to this selection, please provide a brief description of your future career goals: (400 characters) 

• Academic Medicine (Working as a faculty member at a School of Medicine either as a clinician, a clinician-educator, or a clinician investigator. This could be in any field of medicine)
• Primary Care and/or work in underserved communities (Working as a general internist, a pediatrician, or a family medicine physician and/or spending the majority of your time working in a community currently underserved by the medical profession)
• Public Health, administrative leadership in medicine (Pursuing an MPH and/or working for a public health department or organization; working in health care policy; working as a hospital administrator)
• Specialist in private practice (Working in a private practice or managed care setting as a subspecialist. Examples include cardiologist, infectious disease specialist, obstetrician, orthopedic surgeon, general surgeon, anesthesiologist, radiologist)
• Other/undecided

University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine

1. What is the most fun you’ve had lately? (65-word limit)

2. If you had to give yourself a nickname, what would it be? (65-word limit)

3. What are three things you don't care about at all? (65-word limit)

4. Describe a situation in which you didn’t get something you felt you deserved. (65-word limit)

5. Are you a member of a group that is under-represented in medicine? (If yes) Which Group? How does under-representation affect your community? (200-word limit)

6. Have you previously applied to medical school (M.D., D.O., international)? (If yes) Upon reflection, what do you think went wrong? (200-word limit)

7. (Optional): Is there anything else you would like us to know? If yes, please answer the question in 200 words or less.

University of California, Davis School of Medicine

1. Optional: Discuss any elements of your application that you feel might be concerning to the Admissions Committee (This could include explanation of metric trends, institutional actions, legal violations, etc.) Please enter N/A if no concerns to report. (500 characters)

2. Optional: Do you have a connection to Northern or Central California? (500 characters)

3. Activities: Please list the activities you would like to be considered in your application to UC Davis. The secondary activities may be used to highlight your experiences specifically relevant for UC Davis. You may use your most meaningful experiences listed in your initial AMCAS application or select/add others that may be relevant to UC Davis. Please only list three. The admissions committee will review all AMCAS application activities as well; this an opportunity to highlight your most meaningful and/or relevant to UC Davis School of Medicine.

Prompt for activities: Briefly describe this activity and its significance. How did it prepare you for a medical career? Include any supporting information (e.g. your contribution to the project or accomplishment as well as links to any publication, etc) (500 characters each activity)

University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

MD (1500 characters each)

1. What personal accomplishment are you most proud of and why?

2. Please describe to the Admissions Committee a challenge or disappointment you have overcome and what you learned about yourself from that experience.

3. (Optional) Do you identify as being part of a marginalized group socioeconomically or in terms of access to quality education or healthcare? If so, please describe how this inequity has impacted you and your community.

4. (if already have an undergrad degree) Please clarify for the Admissions Committee your activities (school, work, and/or volunteer, travel, etc.) since receiving your undergraduate degree. You may list them in chronological order or you may incorporate them into an essay, stating why you chose particular activities. If you have just received or will receive your undergraduate degree this year, please discuss your plans for current year.

MD/PhD Prompts (1500 characters each)

1. What research accomplishment are you most proud of and why?

2. Please describe to the Admissions Committee a research challenge you have overcome and what you learned from that experience.

3. What does it mean, to you, to be an MD/PhD?

4. Please list all posters, manuscripts (published or planned) you would like the Admissions Committee to consider.

University of California, Riverside School of Medicine

1. The mission of the UCR School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of California and, especially, to serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians and by developing innovative research and health care delivery programs that will improve the health of the medically underserved in the region and become models to be emulated throughout the state and nation. What experiences, skills, and abilities will you bring to the class to fulfill this mission 

2. The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of the values and tell us how you have personally experienced it or have seen it emulated in a clinical setting.

3. In what type of healthcare setting do you see yourself practicing medicine?

4. Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it. (Please do not write about studying for or taking the MCAT)

5. (Optional) If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us.

6. (only if you are non-California resident) If you answered Yes, please explain your connection to Inland Southern California and the mission of the UC Riverside School of Medicine

California Northstate University College of Medicine

1. Why have you chosen to apply to CNUCOM? (250 words maximum)

2. In the medical profession, you will be exposed to students, faculty, colleagues, and patients of various cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. How has your involvement with diverse populations prepared you for potentially four years in Elk Grove, the greater Sacramento area, and the rest of the Central Valley? (250 words maximum)

3. Did you have a Pre-Health Advisor at your undergraduate institution? If so, please tell us about your experience. How did it help you in your journey to to apply to medical school? If not, please let us know how you worked independently to find out more about applying to medical school and the path of your journey to apply?

4. In which direction would you like to see healthcare progress over the next decade? (250 words maximum)

5. If your education has not been continuous since high school, please explain why. Examples of discontinuities include time taken off while obtaining your undergraduate degree, in addition to gap years. (250 words maximum)

6. If you have previously applied to medical school, what have you accomplished since that time that would warrant your admission now? (250 words maximum)

7. Is there anything you would like the Admissions Committee to know that is not reflected elsewhere in your application? (250 words maximum)

8. How do you feel about standardized tests? How did you prepare for the MCAT? What tools or preparatory courses/material did you use and how did you study? Do you feel like your score reflects how you will perform in medical school? From what you have learned, do you think it will help you in the way you will study or prepare for USMLE exams?

California University of Science and Medicine

1. Describe a time when you were faced with problems or stresses that tested your coping skills. What did you do? 1500 characters

2. Provide us with a specific example of something you did which helped build enthusiasm in others. 1500 characters

3. How would you describe yourself in terms of your ability to work as a member of a team? 1500 characters

4. Describe the last time you were criticized by a peer or supervisor. How did you handle it? 1500 characters

5. What does it mean to be emotionally intelligent? How have you effectively used your skills in emotional intelligence in the past? 1500 characters

6. Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. Why was this person difficult? How did you handle that person? 1500 characters

7. What would be the best example that shows you are a person of integrity? 1500 characters

8. If given the opportunity to attend medical school, where would you see yourself in ten years? 1500 characters

9. Diversity comes in many forms. How do you think you might contribute to the diversity of the class? 1500 characters

10. If you were enrolled in fewer than 12 units/credits for more than 1 semester/2 quarters during your undergraduate education, please provide a brief explanation below. Optional (500 characters)

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

1. The university’s vision statement is “Excellent health and wellness for all in a world without health disparities”. Describe how you envision yourself contributing to the CDU vision statement. (1200 characters)

2. Describe your commitment to transforming the health of diverse and underserved communities. (800 characters)

3. Detail the key motivational factors in your decision to apply to the CDU MD Program. (1200 characters)

4. Please describe a personal experience in which you have encountered discrimination. (800 characters)

5. How will you utilize your medical knowledge and skills to contribute positively to your community after completing medical school? (800 characters)

Kaiser Permanente Tyson School of Medicine

1. During your career as a physician, you will potentially encounter obstacles, and be required to overcome challenges. Please describe your experience with a situation that had an unfavorable outcome, including your reaction, how you might have responded differently, and what you learned about yourself. (250 words)

2. Kaiser Permanente is committed to advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity for all. How will you contribute to the diversity of the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine? (250 words)

3. Lifelong learning is an essential process for continued professional development. This includes reflection and being open and responsive to constructive feedback. Please tell us about an area of intellectual exploration you’re passionate about, and your approach to exploring this area. (250 words)

4. (Optional) Please describe how you have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (no limit)

Loma Linda University School of Medicine

1. What makes LLUSM particularly attractive to you? (275-word limit)

2. Our medical curriculum integrates spiritual, ethical, and relational issues from the Christian perspective into the practice of medicine. Religion courses and weekly chapel services are part of this program. Please respond to the preceding statements as they relate to your personal educational and career goals. (275-word limit)

3. What personal attributes make you a desirable candidate for admission to LLUSM? (275-word limit)

4. Identify experiences in your life that illustrate your service to others. (275-word limit)

5. Discuss how your spiritual origins, development, and experiences have influenced and been integrated into your daily life. (275-word limit)

6. Please describe your current involvement (or reason for not being involved) with a church or religious group. (275-word limit)

7. If you have already graduated, briefly describe your activities since graduation and your planned activities prior to matriculation into medical school. (275-word limit)

8. Behavioral Expectations. LLU has expectations which include respect for all persons and high standards of personal and professional conduct. This includes abstinence from alcohol, nicotine, cannabinoids, and illicit drugs/substances in all forms. Please describe any use of the above substances within the past year. (No word limit)

Osteopathic Schools

Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Are you a TUCOM re-applicant who has previously interviewed? If yes, what was the result of that interview and what changes, if any, have you made which should effect a different outcome?

2. Have you attended any TUCOM information sessions on campus, at another location, or virtually? If yes, please list the event(s) in which you participated.

3. Please describe your understanding of osteopathic medicine including osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). Please include your personal exposure to osteopathic medicine (if any) and demonstrate your understanding of the osteopathic principles and history of the profession.

4. Please describe your hobbies (or non-academic pursuits) and how they will influence your success as an Osteopathic medical student and/or Osteopathic physician in the future.

5. Please discuss how your life experiences and personal characteristics will contribute to your future success as an outstanding osteopathic physician.

6. When considering medical schools, what criteria are important to you and how does TUCOM align with those criteria?

7. Have you graduated or do you plan to graduate from a High School or equivalent (e.g. GED, ATB, etc.) - OR - College whose primary method of instruction is English?

8. Have you ever had a criminal conviction (this includes a judge or jury verdict, guilty plea, a plea of no contest or nolo contendere, and/or juvenile offenses), or any criminal conviction that you are currently appealing?

Western University of Health Sciences - College of Osteopathic Medicine

500-word limit each

1. What experience observing a DO solidified your desire/ambition to become an osteopathic physician? (This could be a formal shadowing experience (one-on-one with a physician), scribing, observing your own physician, friend, or family member who is a DO).

2. If you have not had the opportunity to shadow/observe a DO why is it important to you to become an osteopathic physician?

3. What was your most memorable community service activity and how did your activity benefit the community?

4. How does the COMP Mission statement align with your values?

5. Why do you want to attend COMP?

6. What does diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you and why are they important?

7. Have you participated in research? (y/n)

If yes, briefly describe your role and what skills you gained from participation in the research. Please provide us with the link to the publication or abstract if possible. Did you contribute to the published work as an author/coauthor? (y/n)

8. Briefly discuss any extenuating circumstances which you feel are pertinent to your application (poor grades, course withdrawals, lapse in your education, etc.).

9. If you have not taken any coursework for over 3 years, please explain why and what you have been doing during that period of time.

10. Are you a transfer applicant? (y/n)

Allopathic Schools

University of Colorado School of Medicine

1. The pillars of our curriculum are Leadership, Curiosity, and Commitment. Tell us about how you have embodied one or more of these attributes in your path to medicine thus far. In which of these areas do you see the most opportunity for personal growth and why? Limit this response to 500 words 

2. Please describe how your background and/or your unique lived experiences contribute to our culture of inclusive excellence. Limit the response to 300 words.

3. (If reapplicant) Please explain how you and your application has changed since your previous submission. Limit this response to 1500 Characters.

4. Fort Collins Track: Please tell us why you are interested in being a part of the 4-year CUSOM at CSU (Fort Collins Branch campus)? With the background that FCB’s smaller class sizes and unique structure lead to a highly interactive curriculum, please tell us how this campus matches your learning style and personal philosophy. Limit your statement to 1500 characters, including spaces (approximately 300 words).

5. Rural Track: Describe your personal and professional goals in becoming a rural physician. In particular, describe your interest and ability to spend your clinical year in a rural community. You may also include how past experiences living and/or working in a rural area and your ties to or interest in rural Colorado communities aligns with your goals. Limit your statement to 1500 characters, including spaces (approximately 300 words).

Colorado Springs Branch:

1. Please submit a short statement regarding your interest in the Colorado Springs Branch. You may address characteristics of the Branch that would be a fit for your strengths, experiences, and/or career plans. You may also note your ties to or interest in Colorado Springs or other similar communities. Limit the essay to 1500 characters, including spaces (approximately 300 words).

2. In the Colorado Springs Branch LIC, students work in multiple health systems across Southern Colorado (e.g. Colorado Springs, Cañon City, Pueblo) to understand the interface between academic and community medicine and participate in a curriculum focused on how physician leadership in quality improvement and community engagement can impact health equity. Please describe how participation in the Colorado Springs Branch LIC would advance your career goals, and how your life experiences have led you to an interest in our program. You may also note any ties to Colorado Springs or the Southern Colorado community, if applicable. Please limit your statement to 300 words.

Osteopathic Schools

Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine - Colorado

1. “What unique characteristics, abilities, or skills will you bring to help advance the mission and vision of RVUCOM?”

Allopathic Schools

Yale Medical School

Required Essay 1 (Please limit your response to 500 words):

Yale School of Medicine values diversity in all its forms. How will your background and experiences contribute to this important focus of our institution and inform your future role as a physician?

Essay 2 (Please limit your response to 500 words):

MD applicants: Please answer either one of the following questions

MD/PhD applicants: Please answer question 2 as it pertains to your proposed PhD research.

1. While there is great emphasis on the physician-patient relationship, Yale School of Medicine also emphasizes the importance of training future physicians to care for communities and populations.
2. Describe how your experiences would contribute to this aspect of the mission of the Yale School of Medicine.
3. Research is essential to patient care, and all students at Yale School of Medicine complete a research thesis. Tell us how your research interests, skills, and experiences would contribute to scholarship at Yale School of Medicine.

Essay 3 (Please limit your response to 500 words):

This section is optional. It should be used to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee any important information (personal, academic, or professional) not discussed in other sections of your Yale Secondary Application.

 Read some Yale medical school secondary essay examples!

University of Connecticut School of Medicine

1. Highlight your experiences in the health care field. What insights have you gained about potential problems you will face as a physician?

2. How will the University of Connecticut School of Medicine best serve your needs of becoming a physician or physician scientist?

3. The University of Connecticut School of Medicine realizes that each applicant brings a unique perspective from a broad range of experiences that have been influential in leading to a career in medicine. How will your own life experiences and unique identity enhance the UConn SoM classroom and community?

Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine

1. If you will not be enrolled as a full-time student, how will you be spending/intend to spend your time during your application year? If you are a re-applicant, please address steps taken to improve your application for medical school. (200 words)

2. Why is it important to you to go into medicine and become a physician? (200 words)

3. What quality or attribute do you think is most important in being a physician? Please explain. (200 words)

4. As a medical student and future physician, you will be faced with many uncertain situations. Please describe a situation when you were asked to do something that was beyond your capabilities. How did you handle the situation? Please provide a specific example. (400 words)

5. Netter SOM is a diverse and inclusive community, and we believe that each person brings their own unique experiences and attributes. How have your experiences, personal/family background or personal identity impacted your values and attitudes in working with others who will be both similar and different from you? (400 words)

6. If applicable, please address any withdrawals, repeated courses, leaves of absence or breaks in your undergraduate education that are not explained in your application. (250 words)

Allopathic Schools

Georgetown Medical School

1. Are you/will you be enrolled in any program during the 2023-2024 academic year?

2. Have you ever completed one of the following Georgetown Programs? (check all that apply):

• The Georgetown University Academy for Research, Clinical, and Health Equity Scholarship (ARCHES)
• Pedro Arrupe S.J. Scholarship for Peace (ARRUPE)
• Gateway Exploration Program (GEP)
• Georgetown Scholars Program (GSP)
• Georgetown University School of Medicine Summer Immersion Program (GUSOM SCS)
• Cultivating Opportunity & Realizing Excellence (CORE) Leadership Program
• Graduated from Georgetown Experimental Medical Studies Program (GEMS)
• Graduated from Special Master's Program (SMP)
• None

3. The Georgetown University School of Medicine (GUSOM) strives to ensure that its students become respectful physicians, with cultural humility, who embrace all dimensions of caring for the whole person. With our Jesuit values of Cura Personalis, People for Others, and Community in Diversity, we are steadfast in our commitment to racial justice and to addressing the health inequities exacerbated by the recent pandemic. Please describe how your values, life experiences, and your identity will contribute to these GUSOM priorities. (1000 Characters)

4. Is there any further information that you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your file that you were not able to notate in another section of this or the AMCAS Application? (1000 Characters 

5. Why have you chosen to apply to the Georgetown University School of Medicine and how do you think your education at Georgetown will prepare you to become a physician for the future? (3000 Characters)

 Want to read some Georgetown medical school secondary essays?

Howard University College of Medicine

1. Have you lived in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less) (3000 char max)

2. Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less) (3000 char max)

3. After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less) (3000 char max)

4. Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.) (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)

5. Did COVID-19 impact you preparing your AMCAS application for fall 2024? (i.e. volunteer/work experience, financially, course registration, MCAT testing, etc.) [Please respond Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less, indicate N/A if not applicable]

6. Why Howard University College of Medicine? (2500 char)

George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

1. If you selected regional medical campus preferred or regional medical campus only, please explain in detail your interest in regional medical campus and how it will be a good fit for your clinical education? (1750 characters)

2. Please provide the Admissions Committee with a brief summary of your activities, academics, employment or other occupations to account for full-time activity (approx. 30-40 hours/week) from the point of application through matriculation in 2024. (750 characters)

3. The MD Program includes substantial content in Clinical Public Health (population health, health systems science, health policy, and community health) to prepare GW graduates for an expanded scope of practice required to be successful 21st century physicians. What are your specific interests and experiences related to that aspect of the MD Program? (350 characters)

4. What makes you a unique individual? What challenges have you faced? What have you learned from your experiences? (750 characters)

5. What is your specific interest in the MD Program at GW? What opportunities would you take advantage of as a student here? Why? (1750 characters)

6. Have you previously interacted directly with the MD Admissions Office through events, tours, fairs, webinars, or interviews? (Y/N) If yes, please explain (250 chars). 

Allopathic Schools

Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University

Prerequisites: (1600 char limit incl spaces)

1. Use this area to justify and/or explain any academic hardships on your transcripts (any failed and/or repeated courses due to any reason)

2. Use this area to explain exceptions to these prerequisites at your institution.

About Self:

3. Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please provide details of your activities/employment for the application year. (1200 char incl spaces)

4. Describe why you would like to attend the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at FAU. What values, skills, talents, and life experiences would you contribute to our community? (1600 char incl spaces)

Experience (1600-character limit incl. spaces):

5. Describe your most meaningful community service experience that is unrelated to direct patient care. Why did you select this particular experience? In what way did you grow and learn from this experience? What did you enjoy most?

6. What traits do you feel you have developed through your experiences thus far (such as paid or unpaid work experiences) that will help prepare you to be successful in medical school and a future physician. Experience does not need to be related to patient care.

7. Leadership can be defined in many ways. One way of defining leadership is as a set of behaviors used to help people align their collective direction, or lead a group or an organization. Tell us about a time you executed your leadership skills.

8. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped shape you as a person. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during challenges you may face during medical school and as a future physician. Describe any support system and/or resources you had available and how you utilized them.

Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

Primary Activity/Employment

1. Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please explain what you will be doing prior to your planned matriculation into medical school. (Not sure of character limit, but it is less than 1000 for sure)

 2. If you have taken a gap year(s), please explain what you have been, or will be doing since graduating from your undergrad institution. (same as above)

Supplemental Essays

1. Miami is a vibrant and multicultural, multilingual city. You will be exposed to cultures and languages different than your own while living and studying in this city. Please explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked, or were exposed to diverse backgrounds. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1200 characters)

2. Why did you choose to apply to FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine? (1200 characters)

3. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. Describe any support system you had at your disposal and how you utilized these resources. (1200 characters)

4. If you are accepted into medical school, how do you envision your lifestyle will change, and what challenges may await? Similarly, what do you think will be the most rewarding and difficult part of practicing medicine in the future? (1200 characters)

5. Use this area to explain any exception to the prerequisites at your institution. (OPTIONAL, 1000 characters)

6. Is there any additional information about your academic record that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? Please include any academic difficulties or course withdrawals. (OPTIONAL, 1000 characters)

COVID-19

1. Please share any disruptions and/or challenges you have experienced this application year as a direct result of COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider in conjunction with your application. The following are some examples of topics for consideration, but are not limited to: academic preparations; extracurricular activities and/or experiences; personal and/or professional opportunities; or lessons and insights gained as a result of COVID-19. (1000 characters)

For those who are not Florida residents, the following prompt will appear:

Please describe any connection to FIU, FIU HWCOM, or South Florida.

Florida State University College of Medicine

A. Personal Background (500 words)

1. Please provide a description of your family. (Optional)

2. Please provide a description of where you grew up (i.e. rural area, large city, etc.) (Optional)

3. Indicate what you do for fun and diversion (hobbies, special interests, etc.). (Optional)

4. What is a unique trait, experience, or interest that we would not normally learn about you? (Optional)

5. If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity, not addressed elsewhere in the application, that you are comfortable voluntarily sharing with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Many applicants will not need to answer this question. Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, identification with a minority culture, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine. (Optional)

B. Self Critical Analysis (500 words)

1. Why are you choosing to apply to the FSU College of Medicine? Please be specific describing what is particularly attractive about FSU COM.

2. What do you feel are your personal and scholastic qualifications for the study of medicine? (Optional)

3. If you have previously interviewed or applied to the College of Medicine, what steps have you taken to improve your application? (Optional)

C. Additional Questions (500 words)

1. In what field/specialty of medicine do you envision yourself working ten years from now? Please list no more than three (3) specialties.

2. Write a short statement describing how you envision using the specialty/ties you listed above to advance our mission 

3. The Admissions Committee understands that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted applicants in various ways. If you wish to inform the committee as to how these events have affected you and have not already done so elsewhere in your application, please use this space to do so. (Optional)

D. Florida Resident (200 characters)

The Florida State University College of Medicine accepts very few out-of-state applicants. Except under rare circumstances, out of state applicants are considered for admission only if their county of residence is geographically contiguous with the State of Florida, or if they can demonstrate significant ties to the State of Florida.

Is Florida currently your legal State of residence? (Yes/No)

Has it ever been your legal state of residence? (Yes/No)

If “yes,” please briefly explain: (Optional)

If you have never been a Florida resident or are not currently residing in Florida

(answered “no” to both questions above), please briefly describe any significant ties that you have to the State of Florida (Examples of significant ties include- but are not limited to- attending college within Florida; having strong family ties to Florida, owning property in Florida, etc.) (Optional)

E. Disclosures (500 characters)

1. Have you ever been charged with a violation of the law which resulted in, or is still pending could result in, probation, community service, a jail sentence, or the revocation or suspension of your driver's license (including traffic violations which resulted in a fine of $200 or more)? If "yes", please explain. (Optional)

2. Have you ever been or are you now under investigation for any academic or legal/conduct problems at any undergraduate or graduate institution? If "yes", please explain. (Optional)

University of Florida College of Medicine

1. If you are not a full-time student during this application cycle, in particular at any time between August 2023 and July 2024, please detail your current and planned activities below. (250-500 words)

2. The medical profession is frequently described as being both a science and an art. One could summarize this by saying that patients must “be well cared for” (science) but they must also “feel well cared for” (art). We work to teach our students not only the scientific principles of medicine, but also the core values of medicine, often called “professionalism”. Toward this end we keep patients at the center of our education and often reflect on their stories with our students.

The exciting advances in our understanding of the biological basis for disease have led to the emergence of a host of targeted therapies and amazing technologies improving the duration and quality of our patients’ lives. The better a physician knows his/her patient, the better decisions they will make together as they approach important healthcare related questions. This so-called shared decision-making model is one key feature of patient centered care.

Practicing the art of medicine in this way yields a physician patient relationship (PPR) that is both therapeutic and mutually enriching. However, many of these same technologies have the unintended consequence of separating us from our patients, both literally and figuratively. In addition, the industrialization of medicine and use of electronic health records have led to a decrease in the time physicians spend with their patients further eroding the strength of the PPR.

At the UFCOM, we have many strategies to equip our students to preserve their own humanity and that of their patients. One of the most important is the ability to make connections with and get to know their patients. Frequently such connections become the student’s first taste of the joy of medical practice. In fact, the UFCOM version of the Hippocratic Oath includes the following affirmation. “I will remember with gratitude and humility those whose illness or injury provided examples from which I learned, and, in their honor, I will continue the pursuit of knowledge.”

In our polarized society, the importance of such virtues as humility and gratitude have perhaps never been greater. Over the last two decades, the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California Berkeley has offered strong scientific support for the importance of such virtues as gratitude and humility in human well-being. But it should also be remembered that philosophers and theologians have cherished these virtues for centuries.

For example, when mounting a legal defense for a friend, Cicero observed, “while I wish to be adorned with every virtue, yet there is nothing which I can esteem more highly than the being and appearing grateful. For this one virtue is not only the greatest, but is also the parent of all the other virtues.” Offering a similar endorsement for the virtue of humility, Augustine of Hippo observed, “Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.”

Students at UFCOM regularly write about and discuss encounters with patients that shape their professional identity in important ways. In so doing, we all learn to become better physicians and human beings.

Here are two such reflections, by our students, one a poem and the other an essay. Read and reflect on both and then choose one and describe how the writer grew from the experience. Consider the affirmation from the Hippocratic Oath in your response. (250-500 words)

3. The profession of medicine has always had an explicit contract with society about our expertise and competence but it also includes an important affirmation. Namely, that we will subordinate self-interest to patient interest when the needs of our patients require us to do so. This does not mean we do not take care of ourselves and one another, but it does mean we willingly take on risks to ourselves that many others would not. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought this commitment to light as many medical professionals labored on the front lines caring for the sick despite the potential dangers.

When we consider medical practice and hence, medical education, one could ask what sorts of virtues or character traits equip young medical professionals for such a noble calling. Many come to mind including courage, compassion, intellectual honesty and integrity. But recently attention has been given to the ability to stay with a task or course even when one is tired, discouraged and the work is daunting and laborious. Terms such as “resilience”, “endurance”, “perseverance”, “determination” or “grit” describe this character trait. Dr. Angela Duckworth has explored this in detail in her book “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” (Angela Duckworth). Cultivating this virtue, in ourselves and one another, offers a tangible means to lean against the depersonalizing and emotionally exhausting forces at work in healthcare.

As physicians, we have the privilege of caring for people who are in the most difficult places of their lives. Being present during these times can be both a source of joy as we help our patients, but can also challenge our own emotional health and resilience. Struggling to make sense of suffering induced by disease, social forces and human agency has brought an occasion for growth among many of us who work in healthcare.

As you grow into your new identity as a physician, you will come face to face with the suffering of other human beings. In fact, we will all have to face our own losses as we go through medical training and practice. Put simply, none of us is exempt from suffering. As the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) once observed, “When suffering knocks at your door and you say there is no seat for him, he tells you not to worry because he has brought his own stool.”

Holocaust survivor and renowned psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, (1905-1997) wrote an account of his time in the concentration camp called, “Man’s Search for Meaning”. It has sold more than 10 million copies in 24 languages and offers profound insights into how finding meaning in suffering sustains us during our darkest times.

Below are several quotes from Dr. Frankl that deal with finding purpose and meaning in suffering. After reading and thinking about his insights, chose one or two and tell us about experiences where you have seen these principles at work either in your own life, or in the lives of others.

• “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
• “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete.”
• “A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any 'how.'”
• “Being human always points, and is directed, to something or someone, other than oneself - be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter.”

4. (Optional) If you think there is any additional information that would help the admissions committee in its review of your application, including any disruptions in your academic/volunteer/work/personal life related to COVID-19, please use the space below. (4000 characters max)

Additional Questions

1. *REQUIRED If you are not a legal resident of Florida according to your AMCAS application, write a statement describing your association with the State of Florida below. This statement is required even if you have no ties to the State of Florida. (no apparent word count)

2. (optional) Reflect upon your life experiences, values and/or personal background. Do any or all of these helps frame how you envision your future contributions to the health and wellbeing of others as a physician and if so, how? (500 words max)

University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine

1. Do you believe the competitiveness (i.e. course requirements, experiences, academic performance, etc.) of your application for medical school has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic? If yes, please provide specifics as to how your competitiveness was impacted. If no, type “N/A”. (1500 Characters)

2. What do you see as the most likely practice scenario for your future medical career?

(Private Practice, Academic Medicine, Public Health, Health Care Administration, Health Policy, Other)

Describe the knowledge, skills, and attributes you have developed in preparation for the career path you have chosen in the previous question. (1500 characters)

3. The USF Morsani College of Medicine’s Scholarly Concentrations program aims to support the educational development of medical students by providing opportunities for academic endeavors in areas of special interest. This program facilitates self-directed learning, enhances interactions between students and fosters relationships between students and faculty. Scholarly concentrations provide a forum where diversity of ideas and perspectives are valued. Each concentration includes elements of course work, practical application and scholarly presentation. Please review our Scholarly Concentrations website to determine which concentration would be of interest to you and answer the following question: (Scholarly Concentrations Program | USF Health) a. How would the USF Morsani College of Medicine’s Scholarly Concentrations Program help your personal career goals? (1500 characters)

4. The USF Morsani College of Medicine strives to educate a very diverse set of students who bring a variety of strengths and interests to the field of medicine. The definition of diversity is broad and includes (but is not limited to) lifestyle, race/ethnicity, geography, socioeconomic status and distance traveled through life. The definition of strength is also broad and includes (but is not limited to) humanism, scholarship, intellectual curiosity, research, and leadership. How do you feel your particular experiences, interests, and passions will add to the strength and diversity of the USF class and ultimately to the field of medicine? (2000 characters)

5. If you have experienced academic difficulties, please explain the situation and how it was resolved. (Please explain all grades less than a "B", including B-, or any "withdrawal" on your transcripts). (2000 characters)

6. If you have chosen the SELECT program or BOTH, please explain how your experiences and career goals match with the mission of the SELECT program. (MD SELECT Program | USF Health) (1500 characters)

University of Central Florida College of Medicine

1. If you are NOT a Florida resident, please describe any connection to UCF COM, UCF, or Florida. (500 characters)

2. If you do not expect to spend the academic year enrolled in an academic program, please explain how you will use this time. (500 characters)

3. In this space, provide brief details regarding academic difficulties, grades below "B minus," or course withdrawals. (500 characters)

4. What breakthrough in clinical or research medicine would you like to see occur within the span of your career in medicine? Why? (750 characters)

5. The complexity of healthcare delivery increasingly requires interdisciplinary teamwork. What lessons have you learned from sports, music, business or other experiences have prepared you to succeed in this environment? (750 characters)

6. We often hear that students want to pursue medicine to help people. Why did you choose medicine and not some other field where you can help others, such as nursing, physical therapy, pharmacology, psychology, education, or social work? (750 characters)

7. Please share with the Admissions Committee why you are specifically interested in UCF COM. (750 characters)

8. Please provide a short essay to help us understand who you are. This essay should be different from your AMCAS Personal Statement. UCF COM places great value on the broad diversity of our students within the classroom. We believe the diverse characteristics of each individual in the class are important factors in serving the educational missions of this school and of our community. Please discuss any unique, personally important and/or challenging experiences in your background that have influenced your goals and preparation for a career in medicine and service to others. These may include experiences such as the quality of your early educational environment, socioeconomic status, cultural background, or other significant events or circumstances that you feel have shaped your character and defined you as an individual. We are also interested on your thoughts about what you can contribute to your class and the medical profession in general. (Up to 4,000 characters)

University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine

1. What have you done during the recent COVID-19 pandemic that will better prepare you to be a medical student and future physician?

2. Why have you selected the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine for your medical education? Please be as specific as possible.

3. Please provide a chronological list with dates AND a brief description of your clinical experiences/shadowing.

4. Please provide a chronological list with dates of your community service/volunteering.

5. Please discuss a situation where you had to use your leadership skills.

6. Please briefly discuss your research experience.

7. Please provide a chronological list with dates of your employment.

8. What have you done to help identify, address and correct an issue of systemic discrimination?

9. Choose one of the following prompts (you can't do both)

(optional) Provide a description of any activities involving the FINE ARTS (dance, drama, music, art, photography, etc.

OR

(optional) Provide a description of any activities involving SPORTS (organized team sports, recreational activities that you play, watch or follow)

10. (optional) Describe your most meaningful involvement in STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS.

11. (optional) Provide a description of your most memorable TRAVEL experience.

12. (optional) Provide a description of your HOBBIES and what you do for fun and relaxation.

Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine

1. Please provide an example that indicates your ability to function effectively as a productive member of a team working toward a common objective. Elaborate on leadership roles you held in this capacity and how you solved problems that arose. Indicate highlights learned from this experience. (Maximum 4000 characters)

2. Please share some personal examples of problem solving in a team environment and/or leadership experience that would lead to your success in a Problem Based Learning environment. (Maximum 4000 characters)

3. At NSU M.D., we value the unique perspective that each applicant brings. Identify any traits, life experiences, or interests that a professor or advisor would not normally know about you. (Maximum 4000 characters)

4. How has your academic work beyond the “traditional” pre-medical school requirements (i.e., introductory biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and introductory physics) prepared you for medical school and for a career in medicine? Please highlight any service-learning activities that align with humanism in medicine. (Maximum 4000 characters)

5. Is there a time gap between earning your last degree (baccalaureate or other) and the expected time of your medical school matriculation? If yes, please explain. (Maximum 4000 characters)

6. Were you employed full-time (or part-time) during your undergraduate or graduate years? If yes, please explain. (Maximum 4000 characters)

7. Do you believe that you are a member of a group that is under-represented in medicine? If yes, please explain. (Maximum 4000 characters)

8. Please explain any gaps or inconsistencies in either academic or standardized test performances throughout your undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate career. (No word limit)

Osteopathic Schools

Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. How did you learn about osteopathic medicine? (1000-character limit)

2. List and briefly describe your significant health care-related volunteer activities since graduation from high school. (2000 characters)

3. If you have ever matriculated into an M.D. or a D.O. program, please explain the reason(s) for leaving. Please use the following format: date, institution, status. If non applicable, please type "none" (1000-character limit)

4. If you were employed during the regular school year (excluding summers) while in undergraduate or graduate school, please list dates of employment beginning with your current position along with title or job description, level of responsibility, and number of hours per week. (2000 character)

Allopathic Schools

Emory Medical School

(200-word limit each)

1. List your entire curriculum plan for the 2023-2024 academic year. If you are not in school, please briefly describe your plans for the coming year 

2. Briefly describe your health-related experiences. Be sure to include important experiences that are in your AMCAS application, as well as any recent experiences.

3. Briefly describe your interest in Emory and the Emory degree program you have selected.

4. Emory School of Medicine is committed to recruiting and educating medical students who will help deliver quality health care and will promote the health of our patients. In our community, this includes learning about and addressing the health care needs of our most under-served populations. Please describe any of your activities that have been in service to under-served communities.

5. If you have any updates or new information to report since you have submitted your AMCAS primary application, please briefly describe below.

Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

1. Please discuss your primary interest in attending the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. (300 words)

2. Please describe your motivation for becoming a physician. What contributions do you feel that you could make to the medical profession in the future? (300 words)

3. Please list any additional clinical experiences that are not included on your AMCAS application. Please include the physician’s name OR type of experience (i.e., Nursing, PA, EMT, E.R. Scribe, etc.) in the description column below along with the location, dates and total number of hours. If no additional experiences have occurred, please select "N/A."

4. The Admissions Committee regards the diversity of an entering class as an important factor in serving the educational mission of MCG and meeting the healthcare needs of a diverse patient population. Please describe how your own personal attributes, background, or life experiences, would contribute to the diversity of the class. (300 words)

5. The art of medicine requires resilience on the part of its practitioners. There can be perceived failure even when the medical team has done everything right. Please describe a time when you were a part of something that failed. What did you learn from this experience? (300 words)

6. Please describe the geographical area in which you would most likely practice medicine and why. Please include the country, region, state, city and/or town in your response. (300 words)

7. Please explain any inconsistencies in your academic record. This may include below average course performance, grade trends, MCAT scores, etc. Please enter N/A if not applicable. (300 words)

8. If applicable, indicate any special experiences, unusual factors, or other information you have not already addressed in your application. Please enter N/A if not applicable. (300 words)

9. Please discuss any disruptions to your medical school application as a result of COVID-19. This may include but is not limited to academic performance, clinical, volunteer, research and extracurricular activities. (300 words)

Morehouse School of Medicine

1. Briefly explain the reasons for your selections in the Perceptions of Your Medical Career Section.

2. Type a brief statement setting forth the key motivational factors in your decision to apply to Morehouse School of Medicine and any information about yourself you feel would be of interest to the Committee of Admissions in the consideration of your application.

Mercer University School of Medicine

1. Please provide below an alternate e-mail address (different from the one listed on the Primary AMCAS Application) to which we can send you correspondence related to your application. (Required)

2. Please provide a cell phone number at which you can be contacted in reference to your application. (Required)

3. Please address any institutional action, including honor code or conduct code violations, from your time as an undergraduate and graduate student. (Required)

4. If you wish to discuss your perceptions of your academic readiness for the rigors of a medical school curriculum or explain poor grades in college coursework or MCAT scores to the Admissions Committee, please do so below.

5. What is your understanding of the practice of rural medicine?

6. Do you consider yourself to have been raised or to be residing in an area that is medically underserved or in a county that consists of medically underserved populations? By medically underserved we mean populations vulnerable to poor health due to difficulties accessing adequate health care services. This may be due to factors including but not limited to: education level; poverty; being uninsured or underinsured; lack of a usual source of care other than the emergency department; belonging to a socially marginalized group with poorer health outcomes; cultural or language barriers to receiving quality medical care; distance or lack of transportation to needed medical care. Please explain.

7. The mission of Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) is to educate physicians and health professionals to meet the health care needs of medically underserved and rural areas of Georgia. Summarize your work and learning experiences that you believe reflect congruence with this mission. Based on your understanding of our mission, where and what do you envision yourself doing after completion of medical school and residency?

8. If you wish to, please briefly explain to the Admissions Committee experiences, attributes, or qualifications you believe are unique to you that will strengthen the educational environment at MUSM.

9. Please explain to the Admissions Committee factors that you could not highlight above that would help the Admissions Committee better understand your unique circumstances. If you would like to briefly highlight any substantial updates with regard to your application (example, volunteer experiences) that have occurred after you submitted the Primary AMCAS Application, please summarize them below.

10. Describe your experiences in service to others and your community and how they have helped prepare you to be a physician.

Osteopathic Schools

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Georgia Campus

No secondary application required.

University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine

1. Resilience is “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.” Consider a challenge you have experienced. How are your attitudes and actions regarding your challenge a reflection of resilience? (600-word limit)

2. Describe your most important volunteer work and why it was meaningful. (600-word limit)

3. Describe any personal connection to JABSOM and/or Hawaii and the Pacific that you may have. If you do not have a personal connection to JABSOM and/or Hawaii, please describe your interest in attending JABSOM. (600-word limit)

4. If you are a re-applicant to JABSOM, please complete the following additional essay. Describe what efforts you have made to further improve your application to the MD Program. (600-word limit)

Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM)

1. What characteristics of ICOM will help you become a successful osteopathic physician? (no character limit)

2. If this is not your first time applying to medical school, how have you improved your application? (Please type N/A if not applicable) (no character limit )

3. What does Osteopathic Principles and Practices mean to you and how will you integrate these into your future practice? (no character limit)

Allopathic Schools

Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Carle Illinois is looking for everything most other medical schools are looking for – and something more. If you are completing our secondary application, you have already passed the threshold for our competency checklist. Well done. Now we want to find out more about you.

Our secondary application is unique. We are looking for physician-innovators. Does that describe you? Our secondary application is your chance to demonstrate that you have the compassion, curiosity and creativity we believe a physician-innovator needs. We are asking you to complete a portfolio comprised of three artifacts and three very short essays (100 words each).

The portfolio provides an opportunity to SHOW US and TELL US how compassion, curiosity, and creativity have played out in your life through visual artifacts and short essays. How do you exemplify these values? How have you grown in these areas? Show us and tell us the connections between these values and your experience. The artifacts should be somewhat reflective in nature so share your thoughts and insights.

For example, if you did or are still doing work in a research lab, we are less interested in a detailed description of the science and more interested in learning what you actually did, how YOU contributed, and if you were able to be innovative. Was the activity you are presenting part of a class for credit or something you did on your own? Was this part of a team? If so, what was YOUR role? Show us and tell us who you are, and why you are a strong applicant for our program.

Each artifact should be uploaded as a PDF (one page for each value, formatted no larger than 8.5" x 11"). No hyperlinks or embedded videos are allowed. We encourage you to make your artifacts image focused. Your artifacts will be most powerful if you include multiple activities for each and clearly indicate the quality and depth of your experience, but only include that which is meaningful for the value. You may repeat experiences listed on your AMCAS application and/or include new ones.

Please do not include activities from high school or earlier unless they are of very high quality or impact (an example would be achieving Eagle Scout rank). Family interactions/relationships ("spending time with family") are unlikely to score well unless you can show how they are noteworthy or significant (an example would be full-time caregiver for a family member for a period). As you are completing your portfolio, please keep in mind that our screeners will evaluate your portfolio independently BEFORE they evaluate your AMCAS application so do not assume the screeners are aware of any of the information in your AMCAS.

Captions or other brief notes can be included on the artifact to help the screener understand your images. Don't provide an essay in place of a visual artifact unless you are an extraordinarily skilled writer! In addition to any notes included on your artifact, each artifact will be accompanied by a very brief essay (maximum 100 words) to give context to your artifact. While the content of your portfolio is of primary importance, our reviewers are also evaluating your presentation. This does not mean you have to be "artistic", but it is valuable to show an innovative approach.

1. Compassion

We believe in creating physicians who, in addition to solving healthcare's most complex problems, are also tender, kind, and warm. From day one, you will be working with patients.

Show Us - How have you changed the lives of others? What have you experienced that has fostered a deep sense of compassion? For example, have you had a moving volunteer experience? Have you learned through adversity and shared those lessons with others in need? Share with us the ways you’ve impacted a larger population and help us see how you will be the type of physician we would entrust with our most beloved community members.

Tell Us - In 100 words or less, explain how this artifact reflects Carle Illinois College of Medicine's value of Compassion.

2. Curiosity

Carle Illinois College of Medicine values lifelong learners. We want to see your passion for learning and growing!

Show Us - How have you explored new interests, cultures, or people? Have you identified a need and taken the initiative to respond to that need? For example, is there a research project or work experience you’d like to share? Has your curiosity fostered a deeper sense of vulnerability, resilience, or life-long learning? If so, how? Let us see where your curiosity has taken you.

Tell Us - In 100 words or less, explain how this artifact reflects Carle Illinois College of Medicine's value of Curiosity.

3. Creativity

The dictionary tells us that innovation is a new method, idea, or product. Often there is an outcome, a clearly defined result, or a new thing is discovered. The introduction of something new requires dynamic thinking and creative solutions. Creativity is key to innovation. Help us see your creativity!

Show Us - What are the ways you demonstrate you have an active mind? What are you really proud of? For example, have you used technology in novel or distinct ways? What innovative solutions have you employed in your work, healthcare, or hobbies? Have you taken a risk to respond to a problem, to express yourself, or to achieve your goals? Describe how you live and lead a creative life.

Tell Us - In 100 words or less, explain how your artifact reflects Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s value of Creativity.

Chicago Rosalind Franklin Medical School

(150 words each)

1. Please specifically discuss how, if admitted to our program, your admission would contribute to the diversity of the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science community.

2. Briefly share your plans for the upcoming academic year. Do you plan to work, conduct research, volunteer in a health care setting, participate in community service, attend school, travel, participate in leisure activities or other activities?

3. Have you ever had a major setback? What was the cause and how did you overcome it?

4. What areas of your life needs the most improvement, and what plans have you made to improve it?

Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

1. Explain how you know that you want to spend your life studying and practicing medicine. Describe how the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) can help you develop into the kind of person and physician you hope to become.

2. Social justice in the Jesuit tradition, justice due each person by virtue of their own inherent human dignity, is an essential dimension of education at SSOM. Describe what you have learned about yourself from your concrete social justice experiences. Explain how you plan to sustain your efforts to advocate for current social justice issues as a medical student and as a physician.

3. Serving underserved and under-resourced communities is an expression of social justice. Describe an impactful experience in working with and for under-resourced communities. Explain what you have learned about yourself through this service OR what has hindered your efforts to serve others in these environments.

4. Describe a time you received feedback about your performance and disagreed with the feedback. What did you disagree with? How did you handle it?

5. Describe a non-academic personal/professional challenge or conflict that you have experienced. Explain what skills, resources and/or strategies you employed to resolve the problem.

6. Have you or any of your relatives attended or been employed by Loyola University Chicago or the Stritch School of Medicine?

Complete Questions 7-13 If Applicable

7. Please indicate additional grades earned, amendments to your proposed coursework or graduation date, address changes, additions to your list of experiences, and anything else you feel we should know.

8. Please explain in more detail (in less than 1500 characters) anything that would help us understand any gaps or delays in your education, academic missteps, or personal challenges not listed elsewhere.

9. If you have not been enrolled in coursework for over two years, please let us know what you have been doing since your coursework ended.

10. Have you applied to SSOM prior to this application? If so, please list the years of your previous application submissions to SSOM and tell us how your application has improved since your previous submission.

11. Are you currently, or have you been, enrolled in any of the following programs?

• Applicant Boot Camp or Health Equity and Advocacy Leaders (ASPIRE)
• Early Assurance Program (EAP)
• Health Professionals Recruitment and Exposure Program (HPREP)
• Loyola University Chicago undergraduate (LUC)
• Loyola MA in Medical Sciences (LUC MAMS)
• Loyola MS in Medical Physiology (LUC MSMP)
• Loyola Masters in Infectious Disease and Immunology (INDIRI)
• Proviso United with Loyola for Educational Enrichment (PULSE)
• Medical Minority Applicant Registry (MED-MAR)

12. Have you ever been convicted of a crime other than a minor traffic or parking violation? If the answer is yes, please explain below.

13. If you did not submit an advisor or committee letter, please tell us why.

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

1. FEINBERG CURRICULUM: Describe which part (s) of Feinberg’s integrated curriculum you are most excited to engage in and best align with your learning style.

2. COPING STRATEGIES: Describe specific steps you take to manage your stress and maintain wellness while balancing personal, educational, and professional responsibilities.

3. FUTURE CAREER PLANS: Feinberg’s mission is to train future leaders in medicine who will serve their patients, communities and society. Describe one specific goal within medicine and how FSM, located in Chicago, will help you achieve this professional goal.

4. POST-UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCES (if applicable): If you have one year or more between college graduation and medical school matriculation, describe both your completed activities and future plans during the gap period

5. REAPPLICANT (if applicable): If you are reapplying to medical school, please address steps taken to improve your application.

6. FEINBERG SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RELATIONSHIP

Do you or an immediate family member have an existing relationship with Feinberg School of Medicine?

7. Personal Narrative: The Feinberg School of Medicine values the totality of our students’ experiences. As everyone has their own narrative, please provide more detail about how your unique experiences would enrich the Northwestern community.

Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center

1. Rush Medical College is located on Chicago’s west side and serves a diverse patient population. We seek to train physicians who can connect with diverse patient populations with whom they may not share a similar background. Tell us about a life experience that has broadened your own world view or enhanced your ability to understand those unlike yourself and what you learned from this experience. (1000 characters)

2. As an anchor institution, Rush is embedded in its strategies to improve the societal and structural determinants of health which improve the economic vitality of Chicago’s west side neighborhoods and help residents achieve better health. Using your own experiences, describe how you have impacted and/or changed a person or community. (1000 characters)

3. (Optional) If applicable, describe how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your application to and/or preparation for medical school. (1000 characters)

4. (Optional) Use this space to provide additional information, which is non-COVID related, you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your application. (1000 characters)

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

The mission of SIU School of Medicine is to assist the people of central and southern Illinois in meeting their health care needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community.

• Preference is given to established residents of central and southern Illinois who intend to practice medicine in the state.
•  Applicants should have a good foundation in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
• Applicants are expected to demonstrate facility in writing and speaking the English language.
• Preference is given to applicants who will have earned a baccalaureate degree by the time of matriculation.
• Preference is given to applicants who have had sufficient recent academic activity to demonstrate potential for successful completion of medical school.

Although the Admissions Committee establishes no quotas, active efforts are made to recruit qualified applicants from groups who have been under-represented in the medical profession.

1. SIU School of Medicine uses a holistic approach to identify students who best fulfill its mission: to assist the people of central and southern Illinois in meeting their health care needs through education, patient care, research and service to the community. In what ways do you believe you would contribute to SIU’s mission and what barriers have you overcome in your life’s circumstances to reach this point in applying to medical school? Please limit your response to 300 words or less.

2. Tell us about your lived experiences that will make you a better physician? Please limit your response to 300 words or less.

3. To be successful as a student at SIU School of Medicine and as a practicing physician, you must be flexible and committed to cultivating and employing critical interactive and learning skills. Describe your experiences that demonstrate: contribution in a teamwork setting; engagement in self-directed and life-long learning (taking personal initiative to identify and address your learning goals and needs); and exposure to the small group tutorial process used in a problem-based learning environment. Please limit your answer to 500 words or less.

4. If you have previously applied to SIU School of Medicine, please describe how you feel you have strengthened your credentials since that application. Please limit your answer to 300 words or less.

5. Have you ever been convicted of a felony? Have you ever been convicted with a misdemeanor other than a minor traffic offense? Have you ever been charged with a felony or a misdemeanor other than a minor traffic offense, or with misconduct on any college campus? If you answered 'YES' to any of the three preceding questions, please explain the relevant circumstances. (no character limit given)

Pritzker School of Medicine

1. Students at the Pritzker School of Medicine complete the majority of their clinical training at UChicago Medicine (UCM). UCM is one of the top ten most racially inclusive hospitals in the United States with a primary service area of 12 South Side zip codes where poverty is over double the state level. Additionally, our students lead six free clinics in diverse neighborhoods throughout the city of Chicago.

Please share with us the personal and professional experiences that have best prepared you to work in this diverse clinical environment. (450 words)

2. (MD-Only Applicants)

All MD students participate in our longitudinal Scholarship & Discovery research program, which offers protected curricular time, mentoring, and funding for students to pursue their scholarly interests.

Please describe your research interests and share how our research opportunities will help you advance your career goals. (450 words)

3. Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (450 words)

4. Optional Additional Information

Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. For example, if you are not currently completing a degree, please share your planned or current activities for this application cycle. We suggest that you limit your text to about 300 words.

University of Illinois College of Medicine

1. What characteristics, qualities, or attributes do you possess that have helped you to deal with conflict and change?

2. Which characteristics, qualities, or attributes of UICOM attracted you to apply for medical school here?

3. An important part of UICOM’s identity is the concept of “one college, three campuses.” The curriculum is identical on each campus; however, each campus has unique characteristics. Please describe what you have learned about at least two of our three campuses.

4. What are some of the causes and consequences of prejudice and injustice? What does an individual’s response to prejudice and injustice reveal about their character? What is the role of a bystander who witnesses prejudice or injustice?

5. UICOM values a wide range of perspectives. Describe an aspect of your own perspective, value system, or lived experience that is important to you and how it would contribute to the diverse and collaborative community at UICOM.

6. Have you applied for admission to medical school previously?

Yes/No

If you are reapplying this year, please describe what you have done during the past year.

7. Have you ever matriculated into and not completed a professional/graduate program?

Yes/No

Please describe the circumstances of why you did not complete the program of study.

Osteopathic Schools

Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University

1. List any relative who is an osteopathic physician:

2. Why do you believe CCOM would provide you with the type of osteopathic medical education you are seeking? (1500 Characters)

3. Why should CCOM accept you into this year's class? (1500 Characters)

4. Upload a copy of your resume or curriculum vitae, which will include, but not be limited to the following information:

• Educational History (colleges attended and degrees earned)
• Employment History
• Medically-related work and volunteer experiences
• College extracurricular activities, honors, and leadership responsibilities
• Community activities, honors, and leadership responsibilities
• Hobbies and nonacademic interests

Allopathic Schools

Indiana University School of Medicine

No secondary applications required.

Osteopathic Schools

Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Describe the experience (name & location of hospital/clinic, name & specialty physician, and amount of time spent shadowing).

2. Please share any other relevant information that you would like the MU-COM Admissions Committee to know about you. (300 words)

3. Indicate any changes or additions that have occurred since submitting your AACOMAS application. (Including, but not limited to, education, employment, extracurricular activities, research, military service, academic warnings, conduct violations, and/or convictions.)

4. Are you interested in practicing medicine in Indiana? If yes, please describe your interest and reasons why. If no, please explain why not. (300 words)

5. Describe your motivation for attending MU-COM and osteopathic medicine. Please be specific.

6. Please explain any gaps in education or employment longer than holidays and semester breaks.

7. In which area of medicine are you most interested in practicing and why (choose up to 3).

University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine

1. We understand you may be applying to multiple medical schools. Please explain your reasons for applying to the Carver College of Medicine. (1500-character limit)

2. Describe a personal characteristic, challenge, or experience that makes you unique. How will this influence your contribution to a dynamic healthcare system that advocates for all peoples? (1500-character limit)

3. Please list and briefly describe all medically related experiences (paid/volunteer) you have completed during the past 5 years. Do NOT forecast future hours. Please include experiences listed on your AMCAS and also provide any additional experiences NOT listed on your AMCAS. You may list up to 15 entries, 175 characters to describe EACH.

4. If you are a reapplicant to the Carver College of Medicine, how have you strengthened your application? (1500-character limit)

5. If you are not currently in a degree-seeking program, please indicate what you will be doing from the time you complete this secondary application to the start of medical school. (1500-character limit)

Allopathic Schools

University of Kansas School of Medicine

1. Describe your health care experiences that involved direct exposure to physicians' clinical duties and how they have shaped your desire to apply to medical school.

2. Describe examples of leadership experience in which you have significantly influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.

3. Beyond academics (grades and MCATs), describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to address this challenge.

4. Give an example of what you have done to make your community a better place to live.

5. Patients come from various backgrounds. Please describe how you will engage with patients whose backgrounds may differ from yours.

6. If you are not a Kansas resident, what is your specific interest in applying to the University of Kansas School of Medicine?

7. If there are academic discrepancies in your application that have not been explained in your application, use this space to clarify. Examples may include unexplained gaps in time, multiple undergraduate institutions attended, multiple course withdrawals, inconsistent academic performance, inconsistency between academic performance and MCAT scores.

8. If you are currently enrolled, or plan to be enrolled during the next academic year in a graduate or professional degree program, please describe your status within the program and your intention to complete the program. You must also request a letter from your graduate program advisor or from the dean of your professional school. This letter must include acknowledgement of your application to medical school and a description of your status in the program. Students in the MD program are considered and expected to participate full-time in MD program requirements and accompanying activities (e.g., service, research, etc.). Our experience over multiple decades has informed the SOM that participation in outside activities (e.g., employment, other degree programs, etc.) is not conducive to successfully navigating our curriculum and overall school requirements. Failing to meet program expectations can place the student at risk for administrative action, including dismissal.

9. If you are no longer a full-time student, briefly describe your current employment, community, medical, and/or educational activities.

10. For Repeat Applicants Only: Since your last application, note any relevant academic, employment, and personal experiences that enhance your ability to be a better physician.

11. For Combined MD/PhD Program Applicants: Do you also want to be considered as an "MD-only" applicant?

Osteopathic Schools

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

Read your secondary invitation carefully, they have a definite deadline.

1. Describe a time that you experienced a personal failure. What did you learn from the experience? How did it affect your personal growth? How did you show grit after the failure?

2. What kinds of things are you not good at? Why? How could this present a challenge in medical school?

3. Describe a situation in which you believe you or someone else were not treated fairly. How did you respond? What changes did you make or could be made to prevent someone being treated in this way in the future?

Allopathic Schools

University of Kentucky College of Medicine

1. Why have you chosen to apply to the University of Kentucky College of Medicine? (1500 characters)

2. The University of Kentucky College of Medicine's (UKCOM) mission statement promotes a diverse and inclusive environment that provides excellence in education, equitable health care, and transformative research to improve the health and wellness of Kentuckians and beyond. Please describe how your past experiences or future plans contribute to enriching and enhancing the learning environment at UKCOM. (1500 characters)

3. If you are a non-Kentucky resident, you are required to elaborate on your Kentucky ties if applicable (personal, familial e.g.) (700 characters)

4. UKCOM provides MD programs at four campuses including the Lexington Campus, the Morehead Campus (Rural Physician Leadership Program), the Bowling Green Campus, and the Northern Kentucky Campus. You will apply to one of the four UK College of Medicine campuses. Please indicate your campus choice. Please elaborate on why this is your preferred campus. (700 characters)

5. What competencies and qualities do you feel a physician should possess? (1500 characters)

6. Describe a personal activity involving advocacy and/or community service that has impacted your personal values about delivering equitable patient care. (2000 characters)

7. Describe an experience or situation which made you feel grateful? (1500 characters)

8. It is impossible to have predicted the drastic impact caused by the novel coronavirus identified as COVID-19. Describe how this has impacted your social interactions, connections with peers, and perception of teamwork. (1500 characters)

9. Please share unique, personally important, and/or challenging facts in your life and/or work experiences. Please discuss how such factors have influenced your goals and preparation for a career in medicine. (2500 characters)

10. Describe a situation where you were not in the majority. (1500 characters)

University of Louisville School of Medicine

1. Why are you choosing to apply to the University of Louisville School of Medicine? (500 characters)

2. List the individuals who are providing letters of recommendation as a component of your complete secondary application (for example, Committee letter/institution name, Professor Smith/academic subject, etc.) The letter of recommendation policy can be found by copying and pasting the following URL into your browser Submit Letters of Recommendation — School of Medicine University of Louisville. (500 characters)

3. Describe your most significant personal accomplishments and/or experiences and how these may relate to your potential to contribute to the medical community. (1000 characters)

4. What has been your most significant contribution to your community, through service or volunteerism? What was its impact on the community and on you? (1000 characters)

5. Academic productivity and the ability to engage in extracurricular achievements can be impacted by a number of challenges. For example, students who come from rural areas, who held regular employment during college years, or who are the first in their families to graduate from college may not have the same access to opportunities and support as students from other environments. Adversity can shape both the person you are and what you have to offer your future classmates, colleagues and patients. Please describe any challenges that you consider significant in your lived experience. (500 characters)

6. The University of Louisville School of Medicine’s mission is to improve the health of our patients and the diverse communities we serve through excellence and leadership in education, patient care, research and community engagement. Describe how your life experiences and personal attributes prepare you to provide excellent and equitable care to diverse patient populations. (500 characters)

7. List and describe any additional experiences, interests, hobbies, or skills not included in other areas of your application or that you have completed since submitting your AMCAS application. (500 characters)

8. Discuss briefly why you have decided to pursue medicine and how your personal characteristics align with those you believe are most needed by physicians. (500 characters)

9. Practice after residency: How do you see yourself practicing medicine after residency training? (Please include choice of medical practice and location). (500 characters)

10. If you are a reapplicant, what has changed from your previous application or your approach to this year's admissions cycle? (250 characters)

11. If you are not a Kentucky resident, please explain any personal or familial ties to the Commonwealth of Kentucky. If you are a Kentucky resident type "Not Applicable" in the text box below. (500 characters)

12. Please list each place of permanent residence, beginning from birth, including the City, County, State, years in residence, and estimated population size. (1000 characters)

Osteopathic Schools

University of Pikeville - Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Have you previously applied?

2. Please describe your experience with osteopathic medicine, such as your care and treatment from a DO and your shadowing experience with a DO (including number of hours). Please describe how your experience has influenced your decision to apply to an osteopathic medical school.

Allopathic Schools

Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans

1. (Optional) Disadvantaged scholarship information letter specifying disadvantage & copy of parent’s federal income tax return.

2. (Optional) Supplemental essay - 500 to 600 words of your values.

Louisiana State University of School of Medicine in Shreveport

1. Briefly describe the key motivational factor(s) in your decision to apply to LSU Health Shreveport and any additional information about yourself you feel would be of interest to the Admissions Committee in consideration of your application. (500 characters)

2. Second prompt for reapplicants: PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION ONLY IF YOU ARE A RE-APPLICANT TO LSU HEALTH SHREVEPORT. Since your previous medical school application, what academic, employment, volunteer experiences or other progress have you made that make you a more competitive applicant? (2000 characters)

Tulane University School of Medicine

1. Tulane University School of Medicine’s mission statement states: We improve human health and foster healthy communities through discovery and translation of the best science into clinical practice and education; to deliver the highest quality patient care and prepare the next generation of distinguished clinical and scientific leaders. Briefly describe the reasons for your interest in Tulane University School of Medicine. (150 words)

2. What disparities in health do you believe are pertinent to the New Orleans patient population? How would you attempt to address them as a medical student at Tulane? You may support your answer by using past involvement working in a similar patient population to compare and/or describe your interest in any student activities offered at Tulane or in New Orleans. (150 words)

3. Who knows you best and how would they describe you? (150 words)

4. Please list any leadership positions (clubs, organizations, paid work) you may have held. (100 words)

5. Please list your hobbies and major non-academic interests. (150 words)

OPTIONAL: The following questions are optional. Declining to answer a question will not negatively impact your application in any way.

6. Tulane University School of Medicine values the diversity of its patients, faculty, staff, and students. Do you identify with a particular group that you believe is underrepresented among medical professionals? These include groups oriented around, but not limited to: ethnicity, race, sexuality, religion, disability, and economic background. (60 words)

7. In what ways did the COVID-19 pandemic alter/interrupt your medical school application? (no limit)

 Check out some Tulane medical school secondary essay examples!

Osteopathic Schools

William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Statement of Purpose:

The Mission of the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (WCUCOM) is to prepare men and women to become osteopathic physicians through an emphasis on primary care, lifelong learning, research and scholarly activities, and service, including osteopathic clinical service, and graduate medical education. Using a community-based training model, the COM will educate and train graduates who are committed to serving the healthcare needs of all individuals, with special attention directed to the medically underserved and diverse populations of the state, region, nation and across the globe.

In the space below (not to exceed 500 words), please explain how your ambitions and career plans will help WCUCOM fulfill this mission.

University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Have you previously applied to the University of New England (undergraduate, graduate, or professional)? (2000 characters)

2. Have you had any contact with UNE COM via alumni, faculty, staff or students? (2000 characters)

3. Are you related to any alumni of UNE COM? (2000 characters)

4. What is your interest in attending UNE COM? (2000 characters)

5. If you previously only applied to Allopathic medical schools, why are you now applying to Osteopathic Medical schools? Please be concise and specific. b) If this is more than your first round of application to medical schools, what have you done to enhance your preparedness? Please be concise and specific. (2000 characters)

6. UNE COM’s curriculum is built on a foundation of collaborative team-based education. Give an example of when you worked in an effective academic or professional group. Explain why a team-based approach is the right model for your medical education. (2000 characters)

Allopathic Schools

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

1. Optional: If you have already received your bachelor's degree, please describe what you have been doing since graduation, and your plans for the upcoming year. (2000 characters)

2. Optional: If you interrupted your college education for a semester or longer, please describe what you did during that time. (2000 characters)

3. Briefly describe your single, most rewarding experience. Feel free to refer to an experience previously described in your AMCAS application. (2500 characters)

4. Are there any areas of medicine that are of particular interest to you? If so, please comment. (2500 characters)

5. Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician. (2500 characters)

6. Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from the experience? (2500 characters)

7. Wonder encapsulates a feeling of rapt attention … it draws the observer in. Tell us about a time in recent years that you experienced wonder in your everyday life. Although experiences related to your clinical or research work may be the first to come to mind, we encourage you to think of an experience that is unrelated to medicine or science. What did you learn from that experience? (2500 characters)

8. Optional: The Admissions Committee values hearing about each candidate for admission, including what qualities the candidate might bring to the School of Medicine if admitted. If you feel there is information not already addressed in the application that will enable the Committee to know more about you and this has influenced your desire to be a physician, feel free to write a brief statement in the space below. You may address any subject you wish, such as being a first-generation college student, or being a part of a minority group (whether because of your sexual orientation, religion, economic status, gender identity, ethnicity) or being the child of undocumented immigrants or being undocumented yourself, etc. Please note that this question is optional and that you will not be penalized should you choose not to answer it. (2500 characters)

Read our John Hopkins medical school secondary essay examples!

University of Maryland School of Medicine

1. How would you describe your cultural background? (optional, 1000 characters)

2. Describe here the reason why you are specifically interested in attending the University of Maryland School of Medicine. (1000 characters)

3. Have you previously met or attended/seen a presentation by a University of Maryland School of Medicine Admissions

staff member at an open house, college fair, conference, school visit, etc.? If yes, please explain. (1000 characters)

4. Aside from summer and holiday breaks, have there been any pauses or delays in your education semesters between high school and college, during college, or after college? If yes, please explain (1000 characters)

5. Please describe what you will be doing during the 2023-2024 academic year. If you graduated/will graduate in 2023, what are your plans for the coming year until you matriculate to medical school? (1000 characters)

6. If you’ve experienced academic challenges while in college and/or graduate or professional school, please describe and explain below. Please be sure to include withdrawals, incompletes, poor grades, etc. (Optional, 1000 characters)

7. Briefly describe your most meaningful exposure to clinical medicine. (1500 characters)

8. Briefly describe your most satisfying experience related to community service. (1500 characters)

9. Without limiting the discussion to your own identity, please describe how you envision contributing to the values of equity and inclusivity at our School of Medicine, and in the medical profession. (1500 characters)

10. What does it mean to you to enter into a profession? (1500 characters)

MSTP Prompts

1. Please indicate the MD/PhD program you are most interested in (drop-down menu).

2. Why are you applying to the MD/PhD Program at the UMSOM? (2500 characters)

3. Please list the name(s) of your MD/PhD letter of recommendation writers who can focus on your research potential. (2500 characters)

Allopathic Schools

Harvard Medical School

1. If you have already graduated, briefly (4000 characters maximum) summarize your activities since graduation.

2. If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity not addressed elsewhere in the application that may illuminate how you could contribute to the medical school and that you would like to share with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, or other aspects of your personal or family background to place your prior academic achievements in context or provide further information about your motivation for a career in medicine or the perspectives you might bring to the medical school community. Many applicants will not need to answer this question. (4000 characters)

3. The Committee on Admissions understands that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted applicants in various ways. If you wish to inform the Committee as to how these events have affected you and have not already done so elsewhere in your application, please use this space to do so. (This is an optional essay; the Committee on Admissions will make no judgment based on your decision to provide a statement or not.) (4000 characters)

4. The interview season for the 2023-2024 cycle will be held virtually and is anticipated to run from mid-September through January 2024. Please indicate any significant (three or more weeks) restriction on your availability for interviews during this period. If none, please leave this section blank. (1000 characters)

 HST Prompt:

The HST MD program draws on the combined resources of Harvard and MIT to provide a distinct preclinical education tailored to preparing students for careers as transformative physicians who will shape the future practice of medicine. Our students come from the full spectrum of disciplines including biological, physical, engineering and social sciences. HST classes are small, commonly include graduate students and have an emphasis on quantitative and analytic approaches. The unique HST pre-clinical curriculum prepares students well for the HMS clinical education while also emphasizing disease mechanisms and preparing students to solve critical unmet needs in medicine and healthcare (ranging from novel diagnostics and therapeutics to applications of ‘big data’ and systems engineering). Please focus on how your interests, experiences and aspirations have prepared you for HST (rather than identifying specific HST faculty or research opportunities). (4000 character maximum)

Boston University School of Medicine

1. Did you go on to college directly after high school? (1400 characters)

2. Are you expecting to go on to medical school directly after completing your undergraduate degree? *

(Post bac work is NOT considered undergraduate. If attending a post bac program prior to entering medical school, the answer is NO and should be explained.) If you took gap year(s), please use this space to explain what you have been doing prior to applying to medical school. (1400 characters)

3. If you have spent more than 4 years as an undergraduate, please explain below. (You may skip this question if you have graduated within 4 years.) (1400 characters)

4. Please provide a narrative or timeline to describe any features of your educational history that you think may be of particular interest to us. For example, have you lived in another country or experienced a culture unlike your own, or worked in a field that contributed to your understanding of people unlike yourself? Or, have you experienced advanced training in any area, including the fields of art, music, or sports? This is an opportunity to describe learning experiences that may not be covered in other areas of this application or your AMCAS application. It is not necessary to write anything in this section. Also, use this section to explain any impact that COVID-19 may have had on your educational/research/volunteering or employment plans. (2000 characters)

5. Boston Medical Center is the largest safety net hospital in New England, serving primarily people who are publicly insured, people of color, immigrants, and low-income people in the Greater Boston Area. Why are you specifically interested in beginning your medical education in this environment, and how do you feel that your previous experiences will prepare you for this unique learning environment? (3000 characters)

6. Use the space below to provide additional information you feel will provide us with a comprehensive understanding of your strengths as a candidate for a career in medicine. This should include only information NOT already included in your AMCAS or other sections of the Chobanian & Avedisian SOM Supplemental Application. Most applicants leave this blank. Yes, it's really optional. (3000 characters)

7. Re-Applicant Comment - This section may be used by re-applicants who wish to highlight specific areas of their application or to outline specific changes since their last application. (3000 characters)

Tufts University School of Medicine

(1000-character limit each)

1. Do you wish to include any comments (in addition to those already provided in your AMCAS application) to the Admissions Committee at Tufts University School of Medicine?

2. Please briefly describe your plans for the coming year. Include in this explanation if you will be a student, working, conducting research, volunteering, etc.

3. Please tell us about your journey to medical school and how your background and experiences will positively impact your future as a medical student and physician. If you have experienced personal circumstances or hardships that have helped you develop qualities that you believe will allow you to better serve your future patients and the medical community as a whole, please share those experiences in your response.

4. Tufts values include a commitment to social responsibility; to serve and advocate for all people, especially underserved and vulnerable patients and populations, by addressing social determinants of health, health equity, social justice, and stewardship of social resources. Have you done substantial work or volunteer service in such communities? (yes/no) If yes, Please describe the experience and how it may shape your desire to practice with vulnerable populations in the future.

5. Do you have any withdrawals or repeated coursework listed on your transcript(s)? (yes/no)

6. Did you take any leaves of absence or significant breaks from your undergraduate education? (yes/no) (Do not include time off after graduation.)

7. Because your academics will not be shared with interviewers until after you complete your interview, we encourage you to use this space to elaborate on any academic challenges you have overcome. We understand that many applicants encounter academic hardships along the way. Please comment on any academic difficulties that you have encountered since completing high school (grades and MCAT scores). We believe that such difficulties offer an opportunity for growth and would appreciate learning how your experiences have affected your approach to academics. If you have not encountered any difficulties, you may answer 'No.'

8. Have you ever been convicted of, or pleaded guilty or no contest to, a Misdemeanor crime, excluding 1) any offense for which you were adjudicated as a juvenile 2) any convictions which have been expunged or sealed by a court, or 3) any misdemeanor convictions for which any probation has been completed and the case dismissed by the court (in states where applicable)?

University of Massachusetts Medical School

"MD applicants must answer questions 1, 2, 4 and 6 while MD/PhD applicants must also answer question 7 in addition to 1,2, 4 and 6. Questions 3 and 5 are options but should be answered if you participated in a UMass Chan Medical/Baystate sponsored program and if you are taking/took gap time respectively."

1. We would like to learn how you developed and demonstrated core professionalism competencies that are required of entering medical students. Please respond to the first prompt (#1; Diversity). Then select three of the other six prompts (#2-#7). Each response should be 150-200 words. Use the text box below for your answer. Separate each of your four responses by writing the competency above/before your response (example: Teamwork - All teams have their struggles, but they can be overcome...).

1) UMass Chan Medical School strives to be a diverse academic community mindful of the fact that diversity makes our community stronger and benefits the patients we serve. Share your definition of diversity. Describe an example where you contributed to the diversity of a group, team or class. Connect this to how you will contribute to the diversity of the UMass Chan Medical School community. (Diversity)

2) Describe a time when you have made a decision that was not popular and how you handled this. (Leadership competency)

3) Describe a time when you were on a team that was dysfunctional in some regard. How did you address the situation? (Teamwork)

4) Describe a meaningful interaction you have had with a person whom you have helped at work, school or another activity. (Empathy/Compassion)

5) Have you ever been in the middle of a situation where there was poor communication? What did you do to improve it? (Communication)

6) Describe a time when you have "thought outside the box" to solve a problem. (Inquiry)

7) Describe a time when you suffered a setback. How did you respond to this challenge? (Persistence/Grit)

2. Please discuss any part of your application that you feel requires further explanation. For example, discuss grades or MCAT scores that do not reflect your true ability, and/or a gap in time that is not explained elsewhere in your application. Discuss any impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on your academic, service, extracurricular or employment experiences. If you are reapplying to T.H. Chan SOM, highlight how you have strengthened your application. (250-word limit)

3. If you have participated in T.H. Chan SOM or UMass Memorial Health Care, or UMass Chan Medical-Baystate sponsored programs (SEP, Summer Research Program, Worcester Pipeline Collaborative, AHEC, BaccMD, HSPP, Academic Internships, BSEP, Summer Scholars) please describe how these programs helped you decide to apply to T.H. Chan SOM. (200-word limit)

4. Why did you apply to T.H. Chan SOM? (200-word limit)

5. If you are currently taking a gap year, in what activities are you engaged? (200-word limit)

6. Please describe an example of your personal and/or professional experience with and understanding of systemic inequity, exclusion, or lack of representation in health care in the United States. How did you arrive at this understanding? (200-word limit)

MD Tracks and Specializations

PURCH (Population Urban and Rural Community Health) - Please describe how a focus on population health and healthcare disparities will benefit you in your training and/or career. Please limit your response to less than or equal to 500 words.

LEAD@Lahey - Based on your interests and life experiences, please describe how you might be a good fit for the LEAD@Lahey Pathway at UMass Chan Medical School. What unique experiences and perspectives might you bring to the class? Please limit your response to 250 words or less. 

Allopathic Schools

Central Michigan University College of Medicine

1. Please provide a brief summary of your affiliation with any County selected (there is a list of counties above the text box that you can select from) (250 words).

2. Describe your motivation for applying to the CMU College of Medicine and your future career in medicine. Finally, describe how your preparation and background will contribute to the mission of the CMU College of Medicine. (1000 words)

3. [REAPP ONLY]: If you have applied to any medical school in previous cycles, what have you done since your last application to prepare yourself for a career in medicine? If you have not applied to medical school previously, write “N/A” in the box. (500 words)

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

1. Imagine and reflect upon your life and medical career at the time of retirement. What do you envision being your proudest/most significant accomplishment? (500 words)

2. American society has been reckoning with a variety of systemic injustices throughout its history. Considering your life experiences up to now, share your thoughts and perspectives about this statement using the lens from which you view the world around you. (500 words)

3. Consider three or four words and/or phrases from your medical school application that you use to describe or characterize yourself. Pick one (or a completely different one) that is underdeveloped to provide additional written narrative to the committee as to why you’ve decided to pursue a career in medicine. (500 words)

4. Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and/or insights. (500 words)

5. If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew (or remembered) about you? (500 words)

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

400-words each

1. Oakland County has a diverse patient population with a health equity divide that has resulted in a vulnerable group of patients that are underserved. Given your understanding of social determinants of health, how would you go about addressing these inequities?

2. Describe how OUWB’s mission and values align with your professional goals and objectives.

3. Master adaptive learners in medicine represent a combination of both efficient problem-solvers and possess the ability to learn and innovate when faced with a novel challenge to deliver high quality healthcare. Think back to your educational journey and describe how you embodied the definition of a master adaptive learner.

4. Optional: Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your qualifications for medical school that are not already represented in your application materials? For example, if you have already graduated, briefly summarize your activities since graduation. Note: This space is provided for new information only, not to promote qualifications already highlighted in your other materials.

5. Optional: If you are a reapplicant to OUWB, please describe improvements you have made to your current application from previous cycles (please include academics, experiences, etc.).

University of Michigan Medical School

Essay 1

Comment on how you hope to impact medicine in the future. If examples are needed, feel free to refer to our seven Paths of Excellence.

(1500 characters)

-OR -

if applying to the Medical Scientist Training Program

Describe why you are applying to the University of Michigan MSTP. If you are interested in a specific department, program, or area of research for your Ph.D., please provide a brief explanation. We recognize that your interests may change. (1500 characters)

Essay 2

Please respond to only one of the following two prompts. (2500 characters)

Describe how your identity impacts the development of your values and attitudes toward individuals different from yourself and how this will impact your interactions with future colleagues and patients.

If you recognize and/or represent a voice that is missing, underrepresented, or undervalued in medicine, please describe the missing voice(s) and how increased representation in medicine could impact the medical community.

Essay 3

How was your journey to medical school affected by the COVID pandemic? Please feel free to describe any positive or negative aspects.

(2500 characters)

Essay 4

Outside of medicine, and beyond what we can read in your application, please tell us what you’re curious about, or what you’re passionate about, or what brings you joy – and why. Some examples include listening to historical novels, exploring national parks, woodworking, baking cupcakes, podcasting, knitting, playing pickleball, filmmaking, making music, etc. (1500 characters)

 Try reading some University of Michigan medical school secondary essay examples!

Wayne State University School of Medicine

1. When reflecting on the roles and responsibilities of a physician, discuss what appeals and does not appeal to you. (1250 characters)

2. How would you address the inconsistencies between medical information and disinformation? How do these inconsistencies impact patients and society? (1250 characters)

3. List healthcare issues faced by marginalized communities and include their impact on social determinants of health. How would you address them? (1250 characters)

4. Which of your experiences or activities align with WSU SOM’s mission? Please discuss how. (1250 characters)

5. Please answer if you have had a gap (career change, re-applicant, additional education, etc.). A “gap” is defined as a period of time between the end of your undergraduate education and the start of medical school. What activities have you participated in or plan to participate in during this period? How does this relate to your future career in medicine? (1250 characters) Please mark N/A if this does not apply to you.

Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine

1. Please explain both of the following:

1) The specific reason(s) you have chosen to apply to WMed and

2) how you will utilize the unique features of WMed's mission, vision, and curriculum to achieve your career goals. (2000 characters)

2. Describe how you add to the cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the medical profession and what you bring to the practice of medicine - your values, skills, talents, and life experiences. (2000 characters)

3. WMed Re-Applicants Only: Describe the changes to your application from previous cycles - include academics, experiences, and/or personal attributes. (2000 characters)

4. Optional: Please explain any connection you have to Southwest Michigan. (2000 characters)

5. Optional: Is there any additional information not included elsewhere in your application you would like the admissions committee to know?

(2000 characters)

Osteopathic Schools 

Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. The MSUCOM curriculum stresses the importance of intrapersonal competencies, including personal responsibility and adaptability. Please tell us a time when you were faced with a challenge in these areas and how that challenge impacted your professional growth.

2. What does professionalism mean to you as a future physician?

3. You may provide additional information, not stated elsewhere, you feel may help the Admissions Committee gain a better understanding of your candidacy. This may include major life achievements or explanations of academic or non-academic discrepancies on your application. You may also include interests or work experiences.

Allopathic Schools

University of Minnesota Medical School

1. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values of the University of Minnesota Medical School. Explain how a learning environment that embodies these values is crucial to the education of tomorrow's physicians. Reflect on how you might contribute to this learning environment 

2. How have your individual experiences and identity shaped who you are and who you will be as a physician? 

3. Describe a time when you used critical thinking to solve a problem that you encountered in any realm where you asked questions, gathered information, thought through possible solutions and their alternatives, and evaluated what you did critically. Please include in your discussion what you learned from this experience.

4. (Optional) Any other pertinent information would you like to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee? This is an opportunity for you to discuss an aspect of your journey to medicine that you have not already presented in your application. You may also update us with any current experiences that were not included in your AMCAS application.

Note: The primary mission of the UMN Medical School, Duluth Campus is to educate physicians dedicated to serving rural Minnesota or Native American communities. Only complete the Rural and/or Indigenous Health questions if your application presents a strong commitment to these communities. Most candidates accepted within the context of the Duluth Campus mission will be placed on that campus.

5. (Optional) The University of Minnesota Medical School is dedicated to educating future physicians who have demonstrated an interest in serving patients and families in rural Minnesota. Reflect on what "rural Minnesota community" means to you. Describe your experience in and ties to rural Minnesota areas. What do you view as the greatest healthcare practice needs in rural Minnesota, and how will your future practice help fill these needs?

6. (Optional) The University of Minnesota Medical School is dedicated to educating future physicians who have demonstrated an interest in serving Indigenous communities. Describe your experience in and ties to Indigenous communities. What do you view as the greatest healthcare needs in Indigenous communities, and how will your future practice help fill these needs?

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine

1. Why are you specifically interested in pursuing your medical education at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine? Please tell us in a few sentences why you are interested in the top track choice you indicated.

2. Each of us relates to others through characteristics that make up our individual diversity. Tell us how your diversity is reflected not only in your personal and professional activities, but also in your relationship with others, particularly in diverse learning environments.

MSTP Applicants

In the space below, write a brief paragraph (max. 500 characters) explaining why you are specifically applying to the Mayo Clinic MD-PhD Program.

**Note**: If you opt for MD-only consideration if rejected from the MSTP, then the application adds the MD prompts that you previously did not have to do.

Allopathic Schools

University of Mississippi School of Medicine

1. Please discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic affected your academic preparation for medical school or extracurricular opportunities. Please also discuss any other impact of the pandemic that you would like the admissions committee to know. (2500 characters)

2. Please outline your motivation for pursuing the medical degree. (3000 characters)

Osteopathic Schools

William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Mississippi Campus)

Statement of Purpose:

The Mission of the William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (WCUCOM) is to prepare men and women to become osteopathic physicians through an emphasis on primary care, lifelong learning, research and scholarly activities, and service, including osteopathic clinical service, and graduate medical education. Using a community-based training model, the COM will educate and train graduates who are committed to serving the healthcare needs of all individuals, with special attention directed to the medically underserved and diverse populations of the state, region, nation and across the globe.

In the space below (not to exceed 500 words), please explain how your ambitions and career plans will help WCUCOM fulfill this mission.

Allopathic Schools

Washington University School of Medicine

1. Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed. (3000 characters)

2. Is there anything else you would like to share with the Committee on Admissions? (Optional) Some applicants use this space to describe unique experiences, obstacles, and/or challenges they faced in their journey to medical school. (3000 characters)

3. Are you still a full-time student? If no, describe in chronological order your activities during the time(s) when you were not enrolled as a full-time student. (Optional) (2000 characters)

Saint Louis University School of Medicine

1. Will you be a full-time student for the 2023-2024 academic year? If you answer NO:

Please describe your current activities... (max 1,000 characters)

2. Do you have a premedical advisor? If you answer yes: How often do you meet?

3. Do you wish to include any comments to the Saint Louis University (SLU) School of Medicine Admissions Committee (e.g. why you chose to apply to SLU, other extenuating circumstances, etc.)? Please explain (1000 characters)

4.Tell us about a time when you were the other: (1000 characters)

5. Were you ever the recipient of any action (e.g. dismissal, disqualification, suspension, etc.) by any college for unacceptable academic performance or conduct violations? If you answer yes:

Please explain fully... (max 1,000 characters)

University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine

1. Why are you interested in attending the University of Missouri School of Medicine? (1200 characters)

2. How will you add a unique perspective to the medical school and the practice of medicine? (1200 characters)

3. How will you contribute to an inclusive learning environment at the medical school and the practice of medicine? (2000 characters)

4. Is there anything that was not fully addressed in your application and/or any additional updates since submitting the AMCAS application? (2000 characters)

5. (Re-applicant essay): Since your last application attempt how has your application improved? (3000 characters)

University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine

1. How will your diversity/diverse experiences (e.g., gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, veteran status, from rural or underserved community, first generation student status) add to your career in medicine? (1000 Words)

2. Please describe how COVID-19 has impacted your pathway to becoming a Physician. The questions below will help you get started but do not limit your responses to these considerations: (2500 Words)

Academic: Did your school move to an online-only curriculum? Were you able to interact with your professors? Did you have to leave an academic program stateside or abroad? Did your school require you to move to the Pass/Fail grading system? Did your original MCAT exam get canceled or delayed? Were there other academic barriers?

Professional: Did you hold a job? Did you have to go out and seek new job opportunities? Did you lose a job? Were there other financial or professional barriers that you faced?

Personal: Did you have to move out of a house or dorm? Did you have to cancel travel plans? Did you modify your planned experiences related to healthcare or volunteer opportunities? Did you seek out volunteer opportunities that arose from the crisis?

3. If you are interested in rural healthcare or in practicing a specialty that meets the needs of underserved rural communities, please describe your interest in this aspect of healthcare.

Osteopathic Schools

Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. What are you currently doing to maintain your academic knowledge? (2500 characters)

2. Describe a time when you had a personal failure. How did you move on from that experience? (2500 characters)

3. We are often too busy to plan future activities. Describe a time when you were so busy you had to react to situations rather than plan for them. (2500 characters)

A.T. Still University of Health Sciences Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. What particular qualities do you feel you can bring to KCOM? (Please limit your response to 500 words or less. All information provided in this section must be the original work of the applicant and not from another author.)

2. What specific experience/exposure have you had with osteopathic medicine? How has this influenced your decision to become an osteopathic physician? (Please limit your response to 500 words or less. All information provided in this section must be the original work of the applicant and not from another author.)

University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Medicine

1. If you have been away from full-time academics for more than two years, please explain. (N/A if not applicable) (750 characters)

2. If you are a re-applicant to the UNMC College of Medicine, how is your application different this year? (N/A if not applicable) (750 characters)

3. If this is your first application to UNMC, but not your first application to medical school, what is your rationale for applying to UNMC this cycle? (N/A if not applicable) (750 characters)

4. What is your personal rationale for applying to the UNMC College of Medicine, especially if you are not from Nebraska? (1000 characters 

5. What are you most proud of in your life? (1500 characters)

6. Tell us about a time when you have had to overcome adversity. (1500 characters)

7. Tell us something about yourself that will enhance the UNMC College of Medicine? (1500 characters)

8. What have you learned from working with people whose background is different from yours? (1500 characters)

Creighton University School of Medicine

1. Please state your reasons for applying to Creighton University School of Medicine. (2000 characters)

2. In Creighton's Jesuit, Catholic tradition, the mission of the School of Medicine is to improve the human condition with a diverse body of students, faculty and staff who provide excellence in educating students, physicians and the public, advancing knowledge and providing comprehensive patient care to all persons. Please describe the role(s) you can play in helping the School of Medicine achieve its mission. (2000 characters)

3. Describe your experiences within multicultural settings and/or with disadvantaged or underserved populations and how they prepared you to for a future as a physician? (2000 characters)

4. Describe how you have dealt with a personal challenge or major obstacle that you have overcome. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. (2000 characters)

5. Please reflect on your entire application, is there anything you would like to further share with the Admissions Committee? Gap(s) in your education, personal and/or academic challenges, etc. (2000 characters)

6. At Creighton we are committed to the service of others through non-medical volunteer activities. Please list all your non-medical community service hours post high school. Please list any experiences, including those previously described on your AMCAS application. Include a brief description, dates and number of hours for each event. (300 characters per description)

Allopathic Schools

University of Nevada Las Vegas, School of Medicine

1. Why are you interested in the Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV and how does your background and future goals contribute to our mission?

2. Briefly discuss how you envision yourself contributing to the care of our growing and diverse population in the state of Nevada.

3. Provide a BRIEF chronological list of your time since graduating from high school up to the point of applying to medical school. Do not write in essay form here. This should be a list by years.

4. (This field is not required.) You are welcome to share with the Admissions Committee any disruptions or impact to your application components, the application process, and/or your personal life (for example during COVID-19).

5. If you have any other information, you believe is important for the Admissions Committee to consider, please include it here. Do not restate information already in your primary AMCAS application. You may also explain you ties to Nevada with more detail in this box or any information related to academic/MCAT improvement and resiliency.

University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine

1. Please share why you want to pursue your medical education at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine; describe any connections to Northern Nevada communities; and how you are prepared to contribute to UNR Med’s vision of a Healthy Nevada. (300 words)

2. Describe a time when you were part of a team that was struggling to meet objectives. How did you react? What would you do differently? What did you take away from this experience that will influence your approach to working on a team in the future? (300 words)

3. Reflect on and describe an experience where you provided care or service to individuals from populations that commonly experience health care disparities. Discuss what you learned about the socio-cultural or economic factors that affect underserved populations and describe how your interactions with these individuals motivated or prepared you for a future in medicine. (300 words)

4. Describe a time when you faced a significant life crisis or an academic, personal, or professional failure. How did you respond, what did you learn, and how did the experience influence your future actions? (300 words)

5. Please share an example of how you have used critical thinking and communication skills to develop a creative or innovative solution to a challenging problem. (300 words)

6. (Optional) You are invited to provide a brief statement regarding anything not previously addressed or disclosed in your application that you would like considered during the review of your application. If you are a re-applicant to UNR Med, we encourage you to outline any significant changes or new experiences from your previous application. (500 words)

Osteopathic Schools

Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine

1500-character limit for each

1. Why are you interested in pursuing this degree at Touro Nevada?

2. What award(s) or recognition(s) have you received within the last five years?

3. What volunteer experience have you had during the last three years?

4. What research experience have you had during the last three years?

5. Please tell us about your extracurricular activities or hobbies.

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

1. Please indicate your plans for the

2023-2024 academic year. If in school, please list your courses. If working, let us know something about the nature of your job. If your plans or courses change subsequently, please inform the Admissions Office by email at [email protected]. (no limit)

2. Please reflect on your primary application and share something not addressed elsewhere that would be helpful to the Admissions Committee as we review your file. (No limit)

3. Please tell us specifically why you are interested in Geisel: (no word count)

 4. Geisel School of Medicine values social justice and diversity in all its forms. Reflect on a situation where you were the “other” (250-word limit)

Want to read some Geisel School of Medicine secondary essay examples?

Allopathic Schools

Cooper Medical School of Rowan University

1. Please describe your anticipated educational, employment, volunteer, or other activities between completing your AMCAS application and matriculating to medical school. (1500 characters)

2. Tell us about something that makes you a unique applicant to CMSRU. How will CMSRU help you fulfill your mission? (1500 characters)

3. Medical school involves hard work and can be stressful at times. Tell us about activities that you use to help maintain a work-life balance and respond to stress. (1500 characters)

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

1500-characters each

1. We are committed to supporting our NJMS community by enhancing collaboration between students, staff, and faculty, with a dedicated focus on humanism, health equity and social justice. How do you envision yourself contributing to the NJMS community?

2. We seek students who are respectful, self-aware, humble, resilient, team-oriented, and adaptable. Discuss a personal or professional challenge you have experienced and share insight on what you learned about yourself and how the challenge was resolved.

3. If you will not be a full-time student between June 2023 and August 2024, please describe in detail your planned activities, including projected time commitment for each activity:

4. If you have chosen to pursue one or more “growth” years prior to your planned matriculation to medical school in 2024, please share insight on your decision

5. If you are a re-applicant, please share what you have done to enhance your candidacy and re-application?

6. Please elaborate on challenges not thoroughly addressed anywhere else in your application (Please feel free to address any or all of the following if applicable: Institutional Actions, Academic and/or MCAT inconsistencies, personal challenges,):

7. Please discuss any additional information you feel may help us in our review of your candidacy

Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

1. RWJMS has identified the core values below as critical to our mission and vision. We strive to matriculate learners who embody these values: 

• R -- Respect, dignity and humanism for the diverse population we serve
• W -- Wellness and resilience
• J -- Joining learners hand in hand with care delivery
• M -- Making patients first with safe, compassionate, high-quality care
• S -- Science to advance human health

Please select a RWJMS core value that resonates the most with you. In two paragraphs or less, reflect on one of your experiences to discuss how you have built a foundation for this value and how it will contribute to our community of learners. (No Word Limit)

2. Discuss a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. Be sure to include the skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (250 words)

3. Please feel free to comment on any course grades, GPA trends, or MCAT scores and what you have learned about yourself. (No Word Limit)

4. Please use this space if you would like to provide additional information to the admissions committee. (No Word Limit)

Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine

1. Why are you interested in attending the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine? (500 words)

2. Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine values social justice and diversity in all its forms. Describe a circumstance where you sought to learn about a culture, group or idea different than your own and how that impacted you. (500 words)

3. Describe your experience with the field of medicine (or a related field) that has prepared you for advanced study in this area. Specifically, how have your life experiences prepared you to pursue a degree in medicine, including: coursework, clinical work, experiences in overcoming adversity, work opportunity, volunteer activities, and/or research experiences? (500 words)

Osteopathic Schools

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Please select the checkbox(es) that most adequately describes your campus and/or curriculum preferences below. Explain why SGL (small group learning) or PBL (problem-based learning).

2. Please identify your area of professional interest below (i.e. Family Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, etc.)

3. How did you learn about osteopathic medicine and why is it a good fit for you?

4. Explain why you are interested in attending Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine

5. Optional: Please describe any significant barriers or challenges you may have overcome in the pursuit of your personal/professional goals.

Allopathic Schools

University of New Mexico School of Medicine

Background and Diversity

1. At the UNM School of Medicine we are committed to building a dynamic, productive and positive learning environment in addition to promoting cross cultural and cross racial understanding among students of diverse talents, experiences, opinions and backgrounds. Share any unique or challenging factors in your background, such as the quality of your early educational environment, socioeconomic status, culture, race, ethnicity and life and work experiences. How will your background or experiences contribute to the diversity of a medical school class? (2000 characters)

Interest and Suitability for a Career in Medicine

2. Mentorship and clinical experience are integral to developing and understanding of the challenges and rewards of being a physician? Thinking back to your own road to applying to medical school, what is a patient experience or mentorship moment that was most formative to your progression so far? Please share this experience and explain how it fits into your motivation for pursuing a career as a physician. (2000 characters)

Problem Solving

3. There is a physician shortage in New Mexico. What is your understanding of the contributors to this problem, and what ideas do you have to address it? (2000 characters)

Public Health

4. What aspects of public health do you think should be emphasized in the UNM SOM curriculum? Why? (2000 characters)

Self-Growth/Teamwork

5. Please describe a personal or professional challenge or conflict that you have experienced. How did you resolve it? What skills, resources and/or strategies did you employ? DO NOT write about the MCAT, a course, or an academic issue. (2000 characters)

COVID-19 Impact

6. Please describe how COVID-19 has affected your preparation for applying to medical school. Describe any academic, personal, financial, or professional barriers/disruptions that COVID-19 may have triggered. (2000 characters)

Reapplication:

7. Have you previously submitted an AMCAS application to the University of New Mexico School of Medicine? (Yes/No)

Osteopathic Schools 

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. If you could strengthen one area of your application, what would it be? What have you done, or what do you plan to do, to address it and improve going forward? (300 words)

2. In the space provided, please explain the reasoning behind your selection above (why you chose the New Mexico location) (300 words)

3. Describe an experience you’ve had or an activity you’ve participated in that aligns with the mission of BCOM. (300 words max).

Allopathic Schools

Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

1. Have you previously applied to Medical School? Comments: (200 characters)

2. If you took time off from your undergraduate studies, please briefly summarize your reasons for doing so. (250 words)

3. Did you work for compensation during college (either during the school year or summers)? If so, what did you do? How many hours a week did you work? (300 words)

4. If you have graduated from college, please briefly summarize what you have done in the interim. (300 words)

5. Please describe your most meaningful leadership positions. (300 words)

6. Columbia Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons values diversity in all its forms. How will your experiences contribute to this important focus of our institution and inform your future role as a physician? (300 words)

7. Is there anything else you would like us to know? (400 words)

For MSTP Applicants:

1. What academic honors have you received (e.g., prizes, scholarships, fellowships, honor societies)? (1000 words)

2. What are your major research interests? (20 words)

3. PhD Goals (1000 words)

4. Additional Information (1000 words)

5. There's also an "Experiences" section similar in format to the AMCAS Work/Activities section (no word limit)

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

1. If you are currently not a full-time student, please briefly describe the activities you are participating in this academic year. (100 words)

2. If you are committed to a particular community or if there is an important aspect of your identity not addressed elsewhere in the application, we invite you to do so here. Briefly also explain how such factors may have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine. Completing this section is optional. (150 words)

3. What is the toughest feedback you ever received? How did you handle it and what did you learn from it? (250 words)

4. Describe a situation that you have thought to be unfair or unjust, whether towards yourself or towards others. How did you address the situation, if at all? (200 words)

5. (Optional) Were there any adverse circumstances in your premedical preparatory journey including but not limited to impact from COVID-19? (100 words)

For MSTP applicants (note that question #4 above does not have to be completed)

6. (optional) If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity or a commitment to a particular community, not addressed elsewhere in the application, that you would like to share with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Aspects might include, but are not limited to significant challenges in or circumstances associated with access to education, living with a disability, socioeconomic factors, immigration status, or identification with a culture, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine. Completing this section is optional. (150 words)

7. What are your career goals? Describe which features of the MD/PhD Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai you will leverage to achieve them? (200 words)

8. Provide a one to three sentence summary of your current research interest. Limit your response to 100 words or less.

State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine

1. Will you be attending college full-time as of September 15? If no, please describe your activities for the period of September 15 to July 1. (no word count)

2. What will be your support system while in medical school? (150 words)

3. Describe what personal, urban experiences prepare you to live and study in New York City. (150 words)

4. If you had a completed application to the College of Medicine in a prior application cycle, please highlight any changes since your previous application in a list with dates. If this question does not apply to you, enter "not applicable" in the text box below. (150 words)

5. Why do believe you are a good fit for SUNY Downstate? (300 words)

6. What is your experience with diversity, health equity and social justice? (300 words)

State University of New York Upstate Medical University

500 words or less

1. If you earned your baccalaureate degree prior to this past June (2023), please provide a brief statement indicating your plans for the upcoming academic year.

2. Which medical specialty do you currently plan to pursue?

3. You might consider yourself disadvantaged if you grew up in an area that was medically or underserved or had insufficient access to educational opportunities. Do you consider yourself within this description? If you answer Yes, please explain your particular circumstances regarding why you consider yourself a disadvantaged applicant.

4. Upstate Medical University is strongly committed to providing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for the patients we serve and all who work at, study at, or visit our campus. In 500 words or less, please answer the following question:

As a potential partner in this effort, please describe your commitment to eliminating health inequities, discrimination, or other forms of social injustice.

5. If you are interested in Primary Care, are you interested in receiving more information about potential scholarship opportunities?

6. We understand that the COVID-19 crisis disrupted many aspects of our lives. Please share if you had any curricular impacts during this time, for example, change to pass/fail courses or to online coursework or if you anticipate any deficiencies in experiences as a result of COVID-19.

New York Medical College

1. If you do not have any family members with a connection to NYMC for any of the below categories you can skip this section.

•  In this activity, please indicate if you have/had a family member (Grandparent, Parent or Sibling) that attended the NYMC School of Medicine. Applicable to alumni from School of Medicine only. Does not apply to alumni from NYMC-sponsored residency programs, NYMC Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences (GSBMS) or NYMC School of Health Sciences & Practice (SHSP)
•  In this activity, please indicate if you have a family member (Grandparent, Parent or Sibling) Applicable to full-time faculty at School of Medicine only
•  In this activity, please indicate if you have a family member (Grandparent, Parent or Sibling) Applicable to full-time employees at School of Medline only.

2. Please review the NYMC social media Policy. If you select YES, we ask that you please briefly explain what has been posted.

3. Please share any disruptions in your academic, volunteer, work, and/or personal life related to COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider.

4. Please review the NYMC Technical Standards on our NYMC.EDU website for Admissions and Enrollment and attest to your understanding of them. Please scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says policies related to student admission to view the link.

State University of New York at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

1. In 500 words or fewer, please explain your reasons for applying to the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo. Please be specific.

2. In 500 words or fewer, please explain how you would respond to a fellow student who muttered a racist or homophobic statement under their breath in your presence and that of other peers?

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

UNIQUE LIFE EXPERIENCES

1. What unique life experiences, personal attributes and/or perspectives will you bring as part of the incoming class? Are there particular challenges or successes that you have encountered? If you do not wish to write anything, please write “NA.”

2. ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH US? Please use this space to tell us anything about yourself that you would like us to know. If you do not wish to write anything, please write “NA.”

For MSTP applicants, the following are additional prompts in addition to the above that you must complete:

1. In the list below and in the following question, please indicate the field(s) of your prior research experience. Check all that apply.

2. Please describe briefly the field(s) in which you plan to pursue your future research. We are looking for the big picture, Aging, Neuroscience, Cell Biology, Immunology, etc., not the specific focus. (250c)

3. Please list your previous scientific presentations and abstracts. List all authors, abstract titles, name of meeting, and date of meeting. List each meeting on a separate line. Please do not include the text of the abstract. (9999c)

4. Please list publications on which you are a co-author. List each on a separate line. Include names of all authors, title, journal, year of publication, and volume and page number(s). Please do not list papers that are “in preparation.” (9999c)

5. Please indicate which was your favorite course in college and why. (3000c)

University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

1. (Optional) Please share any challenges and/or special circumstances that impacted your application. (200 words)

2. If you previously applied to medical school, briefly describe any experiences you have been part of since your previous application. (200 words)

3. Tell us about a community you identify with and how you're involved with it? (200 words)

Stony Brook University School of Medicine

1. Tell us how your past experiences and/or challenges have defined you (500 words or less)

2. Please respond to ONE of the following two questions: (500 words or less)

(1) Please describe how you, as a future physician, plan to address the social determinants of health.

(2) What, in your opinion, is the role of a physician in addressing systemic racism and societal injustices?

3. Will your education be continuous between college and medical school matriculation?

If NO, please explain what you have done or plan to do during the gap period and why. (500 words or less)

If YES, please tell us about your proudest accomplishment to date. (500 words or less)

Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine

1. Explain why the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell is a good fit for your medical education journey? 250 words

2. “The School of Medicine, in a culture of community, scholarship and innovation, is dedicated to inspiring diverse, promising students to lead and transform medicine for the betterment of humanity.” How do you feel you would contribute to the Zucker School of Medicine’s mission and values and where do you see this taking you in the future? 250 words.

New York University Long Island

QUESTION 1

NYULISOM seeks to admit highly motivated candidates whose experiences and professional goals directly align with our primary care mission and demonstrate a commitment to a future career as a general practitioner in fields of medicine that are anchored in the principles of primary care and address the growing physician workforce shortages in specific medical disciplines.

To advance this mission, acceptance to NYULISOM is paired with the offer of a directed-pathway to residency into one of four designated residency programs at NYU Langone Hospital – Long Island.

• Internal Medicine
• Pediatrics
• Obstetrics & Gynecology
• General Surgery

Please indicate the specific residency track for which you wish to be considered and explain the reason(s) for your choice, including those experiences listed on your AMCAS application that have confirmed your decision to pursue this field of medicine in the context of primary care. If applicable, please also discuss any other factors –such as your personal journey, academic interests or activities not listed on your application— that have influenced your choice.

QUESTION 2

Please provide the response that applies to you:

If you are still in school, please tell us your planned academic, extracurricular, research, community service and/or work activities for the application cycle.

If you have graduated from college, please tell us what you have been doing since that time up until the present and your reasons for doing so. Please be sure to account for all your time since graduating.

QUESTION 3

(Optional) Please comment on any significant fluctuations in your academic record or inconsistencies in your MCAT score; if you took a leave of absence for any reason during college; or any application irregularities that you feel would be helpful for the admissions committee to consider when conducting its holistic review of your credentials.

QUESTION 4

(Optional) Please feel free to share any other information that you have not already included in your AMCAS application or secondary responses that you believe would be relevant for the admissions committee to know about.

New York University Grossman School of Medicine

MD Questions

1. If applicable, please comment on significant fluctuations in your academic record which are not explained elsewhere on your application. (no limited provided)

2. If you have taken any time off from your studies, either during or after college, please describe what you have done during this time and your reasons for doing so. (no limit provided)

3. The Admissions Committee holistically evaluates a range of student qualities and life experiences that complement demonstrated academic excellence. What unique qualities do you possess that make you uniquely suited to become a physician or physician-scientist? How have your individual lived experiences shaped your core values and desire to be a future leader in our profession? (2500 characters)

4. Answer one of the three of the following (limit 2500 characters):

1) The most meaningful achievements are often non-academic in nature. Describe the personal accomplishment that makes you most proud. Why is this important to you?

2) Conflicts arise daily from differences in perspectives, priorities, worldviews and traditions. How do you define respect? Describe a situation in which you found it challenging to remain respectful while facing differences?

3) Describe a situation in which working with a colleague, family member or friend has been challenging. How did you resolve, if at all, the situation as a team and what did you gain from the experience that will benefit you as a future health care provider?

4) NYU Grossman School of Medicine strives to provide our students with the option of accelerating their medical educational training. In order to guide our curricular efforts to provide additional opportunities for early career exploration for our students, please select up to three residency specialties that are currently of interest to you. Please note that your selection in no way impacts your admissions decision (i.e., there are no right or wrong selections), that it is not binding in any way, and that you may select “Undecided” if you are unsure of your future career path. (a drop-down list of specialties will show up for this question)

MSTP Specific Questions

1. How many months of full-time research experience have you completed? When estimating this amount, you may convert part-time research into its full-time equivalent. For example, if you conducted part-time research for 1 year for ~50% of the time, this would equal 6 months of full-time research. Please do not include lab experiences associated with a course (e.g., organic chemistry course with lab).

2. What area of research would you like to pursue in your graduate training? (200 words max)

3. Please describe your ideal career. (200 words max)

Cornell Medical School

1. Please write a brief statement giving your reasons for applying to Weill Cornell Medical College.

2. Please describe a challenge you faced and how you addressed it.

3. If applicable, please tell us about any special circumstances related to COVID-19 that could help us understand you better.

4. If you are not attending college during the upcoming (2023-2024) academic year, what are your plans?

 Want to read some Cornell medical school secondary essay samples?

Osteopathic Schools

Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine - New York

“This Personal Statement is different than the essay that had been submitted with your AACOMAS application. In no more than three paragraphs that will fit on this single page (if the essay creates a second page, it is too long), please discuss how your background, experience or academic program has prepared you for meeting Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Mission, Goals, or Objectives.”

New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine

1,000-character limit each

1. Briefly describe the reasons for your campus/site choice and comment on one or two factors that are most important to you in choosing where you wish to pursue your medical education.

2. NYITCOM values diversity, equity, and inclusion. How will your background and experiences add to our inclusive culture and how will this focus influence your future role as a physician?

3. Describe a challenge you’ve faced and the steps you took to overcome it.

4. Describe the community in which you see yourself practicing medicine.

5. Have you previously applied to NYITCOM? If yes, what specific steps have you taken to strengthen your credentials for the current application year?

6. How and where did you learn about NYITCOM?

Allopathic Schools

Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University

2500-character max.

1. When you close your eyes and imagine your professional life 20 years from now, what do you see?

2. Tell us about a time where you felt that your persisted towards a goal or outcome you wanted even when there where challenges/barriers in the way. How did to you stay motivated to achieve your goal? Describe resources you used to overcome the challenge.

3. Medical school presents numerous emotional and professional challenges. Please share an instance where you faced a difficult academic situation and explain how you managed the situation. How did you promote your wellness during this situation?

4. East Carolina University’s motto is Servire- “To Serve.” Tell us about your most meaningful community service project or experience unrelated to patient care.

University of North Carolina School of Medicine

1. Describe an experience where you attempted a task and realized during the process that you were not ready for it. How did this experience impact your approach to trying new things? (250 words)

2. How will your life experiences foster a positive educational environment and benefit your future patients? (250 words)

3. Discuss your involvement in a service activity that has impacted your understanding of healthcare and your desire to pursue a career in medicine. (250 words)

4. What motivates you to apply to the UNC School of Medicine? (200 words)

5. Reapplicant essay available if you are one.

Duke University School of Medicine

1. Tell us Who You Are: Share with us your story. This is your opportunity to allow us to know how you wish to be addressed, recognized and treated. (500 words)

2. Working with Others: Trust and rapport are essential in your day-to-day interactions with people. How do you cultivate a relationship with a person who may be very different from you? (400 words)

3. Advocacy: Describe a situation in which you chose to advocate for someone who was different from you or for a cause or idea that was different from yours. Define your view of advocacy. What risks, if any, might be associated with your choice to be an advocate? (400 words)

4. Coping with Disappointment: Not achieving a goal or one’s desire can sometimes be disheartening. What have you discovered from your setbacks and disappointments and how does this translate to your current way of thinking? (400 words)

5. Leadership: What do you value most as a leader and as a contributor? What attributes do you possess as a leader and as a team member and how do you apply them on a daily basis? (400 words)

6. Critical Thinking: Critical thinking involves a number of characteristics. Research experience enhances critical analysis skills. Describe any research experience or similar experience in which you utilized critical thinking. How will critical thinking be important in your future career? (400 words)

7. Understanding the Need for Healthcare Changes: Potential sources of health inequities exist. Duke’s Moments to Movement (M2M) is a collective stand to address these issues. Discuss your experience with disparities in health, health care and society. (400 words)

8. COVID-19 Implications: How has the COVID-19 pandemic influenced your journey to medical school? Have these events changed your outlook on medicine’s role in society? (400 words)

9. Further Information: Please let us know of any additional information that you would like us to consider while reviewing your application

 Here are some Duke medical school secondary essay examples for inspiration!

Wake Forest University School of Medicine

1. We seek to train physicians who can connect with diverse patient populations with whom they may not share a similar background. Tell us one experience that enhanced your ability to understand those unlike yourself and what you learned from it. (200 words or less)

2. Describe a non-academic challenge you have faced and explain how you overcame it. (200 words or less)

3. From your list of "most meaningful experiences" on the AMCAS application, choose one that has been the most formative in terms of your desire for a career in medicine. Why did that experience have such meaning for you in your decision-making process? (200 words or less)

4. Please share an experience that demonstrates how you have collaborated with others. (200 words or less)

5. Describe your future goal(s). Reflect on your past experiences and describe how these experiences will shape your goal(s). (200 words or less)

6. Tell us about any specific reason(s) (personal, educational, etc.) why you see yourself here at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. (150 words or less)

7. Please tell us an interesting fact about yourself that a casual acquaintance may find surprising or interesting. (50 words or less)

Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine

1. The MISSION of Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine (CUSOM) is to educate and prepare community–based osteopathic physicians in a Christian environment to care for the rural and under-served populations in North Carolina, the Southeastern United States, and the nation. Briefly describe how your career goals align with the CUSOM Mission (4,000-character limit)

2. What three qualities will you bring to CUSOM which will enhance the overall climate of our school? How do these qualities align with the CUSOM mission? (4,000-character limit)

3. Osteopathic medicine parallels allopathic medicine but has distinct principles and practices. Which of these principles and practices are of greatest interest to you and why? (4,000-character limit)

University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences

1. The School of Medicine & Health Sciences is a community-based medical school, and because of the unique circumstances of our regional location, we place special emphasis on the unique skills needed to provide care for patients and populations in rural and Native American communities across all competencies. The primary purpose of the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences is to educate physicians and other health professionals for subsequent service in North Dakota and to enhance the quality of life of its people. Other purposes include the discovery of knowledge that benefits the people of this state and enhances the quality of their lives. Please explain the steps you have taken towards, and how you will fulfill different aspects of the school’s mission. (1200 words)

2. Reflect on personal experiences of resilience and emotional intelligence throughout your life and how this has prepared you in your pursuit of a career in medicine. (1200 characters)

3. Describe your experiences with diverse populations. Examples include a summary of a volunteer experience, study abroad, employment, self-taught endeavor or a formal course on diversity that includes direct interaction with individuals or groups from socio- economic disadvantaged, diverse cultures, rural, or other backgrounds. (1200 characters)

4. Describe your research activity. Examples include the outcome of a formal research experience, course-dependent undergraduate research, thesis, or capstone project. (600 characters)

5. Describe your creative activity. Examples include the on-going production of art forms, artistic performance, or other creative efforts, such as photography, painting, musical talents, needlework, cooking, wood-working, building cars, yoga instructor, dancing, theatre performance, writing, gaming etc. (600 characters)

6. Expand and reflect on medical and/or clinical experience as it relates to the mission of the School of Medicine & Health Sciences. This may include a summary of physician shadowing, clinical observation, community service, volunteer work, and/or employment. Examples include, but are not limited to, work in a clinic, hospital, as a first responder, clinical lab, public health, home health visits, assisted living, nursing home care, youth camps, or relevant military duty. (1200 characters)

7. Expand and reflect on leadership and team experience. This may include a summary of leadership roles or teamwork in employed positions, extracurricular activities, organizations, volunteer services, or any other leadership or team experiences. (1200 characters)

8. What are your career plans if you do not ever get admitted to medical school? (600 characters)

9. If needed, update the information in your AMCAS application (i.e., grades in recent courses, alterations in your proposed coursework or graduation, additions to extracurricular activities, unreported legal and institutional infractions, etc.). (600 characters)

10. Are you currently enrolled in a grant-funded and/or degree-granting post- baccalaureate program and/or advanced degree? If so, what is your timeline for completion? (600 characters)

11. Have you participated in any of these pathway programs: Scrubs Camp, Med Prep, CLIMB, Summer Institute, Pre-Med Day, etc? Please indicate all that apply. (Radio option)

12. UND SMHS REAPPLICANTS ONLY: When was your previous application, and, subsequently, what steps have you taken to strengthen your candidacy? Note any relevant academic, employment, clinical, and personal experience and/or development. (1200 characters)

13. Have you read the UND SMHS Standards of Capacity policy (https://med.und.edu/policies/_files/docs/4.14-standards-of-capacity.pdf), and are you prepared to meet these standards with or without reasonable accommodations?

Allopathic Schools

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

1. Greatest Challenge Essay: The admissions committee is interested in gaining more insight into you as a person. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience and what you learned about yourself as a result. (2,000-character limit)

2. Based on your current maturity and wisdom, reflect upon an experience from the past few years that you would handle differently today. (1,000-character limit)

3. Gap Year(s) if applicable: If you are taking time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation, please tell us why you made this decision and what you will be doing or have done during this gap time. (1,000-character limit)

Optional Responses:

1. Research/Scholarly Work: One of the four pillars of the Western Reserve2 Curriculum is Research and Scholarship. Although research is not a prerequisite requirement for the University Program, if you have participated in research or another scholarly project, please tell us about it. Describe your experience, including the question you pursued and how you approached it, your results and interpretation of the results, and most importantly, any thoughts about what this experience meant to you. Remember that research is broad-based and can include such projects as a senior capstone or a thesis and can include both medical and non-medically-related investigations. If you have not completed research/scholarly work, you will be able to indicate this in a radio button embedded within this response. (3,500-character limit)

Note that if you are applying to both the University Program and the CCLCM, the research response will default to the CCLCM required response.

2. Additional Information Response: Is there any further information that you wish to share with the Admissions Committee that may not be captured in the rest of your application? (2,000-character limit)

Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

1. Greatest Challenge Essay: The admissions committee is interested in gaining more insight into you as a person. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience and what you learned about yourself as a result. (2,000-character limit)

2. Research Essay: Please tell us about ONE research project to which you made a significant contribution. In your essay, describe your role on the project, the hypothesis of your research and whether you contributed to hypothesis generation, why the methods were selected to answer that hypothesis, your results, and interpretation of your results with respect to future findings. In addition, please briefly share your motivation for pursuing this research project and reflect on how this experience affected your future career goals. (3,500-character limit)

4. Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Directed Learning: The most successful medical students at our school are generally those who are intrinsically motivated, self-directed learners. Think of a time when you had to pursue a goal without clear external direction. Describe your approach and any new knowledge, perspectives, or skills that you acquired. (1,000-character limit)

5. Career Essay: What does your ideal career entail fifteen years after medical school graduation? (1,000-character limit)

6. Gap Year(s) if applicable: If you are taking time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation, please tell us why you made this decision and what you will be doing or have done during this gap time. (1,000-character limit)

Optional Responses:

1. Additional Information Response: Is there any further information that you wish to share with the Admissions Committee that may not be captured in the rest of your application? (2,000-character limit)

Northeast Ohio Medical University

1) NEOMED Personal Statement Please complete a brief personal statement of 5,000 characters or fewer addressing the question below: What do you hope to achieve from your experience as a NEOMED student?

Ohio State University College of Medicine

1. The mission statement of The Ohio State University College of Medicine is to "improve people's lives" through innovation in research, medical education, and patient care. Please describe how your past experiences predict your potential to contribute in two of these three areas.

2. The OSU COM has a goal of assembling a class that is enriched with a broad range of unique experiences. Do you believe this is a desirable goal for a medical school's student composition? Please elaborate.

ADDITIONAL REQUIRED ESSAYS ONLY FOR THOSE APPLYING TO THE PRIMARY CARE TRACK:

3. Please see our website for more information about applying to our program at medicine.osu.edu/pct. How do you feel ready to choose a career in family medicine? Please provide any examples of exposure and/or experiences not already mentioned in your application.

4. "Health is Primary" is a communications campaign to advocate for the values of family medicine, demonstrate the benefits of primary care, and engage patients in our healthcare system. The aim is to build a primary care system that reflects the values of family medicine, puts patients at the center of their care, and improves the health of all Americans. How do you plan to reflect the values of Family Medicine in your future career?

5. Please see our website for more information about applying to our program at medicine.osu.edu/cmt. Please give an example of a life experience that sparked your desire to practice medicine in a smaller community and apply to the Community Medicine Track.

6. Why are you interested in training in a smaller community, and what is the impact you hope to have by training in this setting?

The University of Toledo College of Medicine

1. The Admissions Committee considers a wide variety of factors in evaluating applicants, including fit between applicants and our program’s mission, goals, and culture. In the essays below, we invite you to share information about yourself with regard to two aspects of our program. We encourage you to provide information and insights that may not be easily gleaned from other aspects of your medical school application. In responding to the essay prompts below, you should interpret the questions to the best of your ability.

One of the AAMC Core Competencies for entering medical students involves cultural competence. The competency involves several distinct domains, including:

• Demonstrating knowledge of socio-cultural factors that affect interactions and behaviors;
• Showing an appreciation and respect for multiple dimensions of diversity;
• Recognizing and acting on the obligation to inform one's own judgment;
• Engaging diverse and competing perspectives as a resource for learning, citizenship, and work;
• Recognizing and appropriately addressing bias in selves and others;
• Interacting effectively with people from diverse backgrounds.

Discuss a specific experience from your life that you feel demonstrates your level of competence in one of the above domains. (Clearly indicate which of the six domains above that you are responding to.) As part of your discussion, explain how you feel this experience will impact your future contribution to the culture of diversity and inclusion at The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences and later in your career as a physician. (600 words)

2. One of the AAMC Core Competencies for entering medical students involves resilience and adaptability. This competency involves the ability to tolerate stressful or changing environments or situations and adapt effectively to them. Additional characteristics of this competency are persistence and the ability to recover from setbacks.

Discuss a specific experience from your life that you feel demonstrates your level of competence in resilience and adaptability as described above. As part of your discussion, explain how you feel this experience will help you meet new challenges you may face in medical school. (600 words)

3. (Optional) Please use the space below for anything you might wish to discuss related to the corona virus (COVID-19) public health crisis. Possible topics might include, for example: your biggest lessons and insights from the pandemic; creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis; hardships you may have faced as a result of the virus or quarantine. (You will have an opportunity to specifically discuss impacts to your coursework/grades in a separate item.) (600 words)

4. We invite you to briefly discuss any other connections you may have to The University of Toledo, the UToledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, the city of Toledo, or the region of Northwest Ohio or to provide additional information about the affiliations you noted above. (300 words)

5. Please briefly describe what activities you are/have been engaged in during the period between undergraduate school and medical school. (300 words, pops up if you answered "yes" to if you had a gap.)

6. If you feel you have any aspects of your record that may potentially negatively influence your application to our medical school, we encourage you to use this space to discuss them in order to provide the admissions committee with further context about your application. (Examples of possible topics include MCAT scores lower than our class average, low grades, withdrawn course, institutional action/student conduct violation.) (500 words)

University of Cincinnati College of Medicine

1. The University of Cincinnati’s Next Lives Here initiative includes three platforms:

Inclusion: Intentionally engaging people and the contribution of diverse ideas.

Innovation: Challenging existing practices and paradigms and discovering the unknown.

Impact: Positively transforming our community and society in measurable ways.

The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Mission:

We work together in a spirit of collaboration, inclusion, and service: To educate and train the physicians, scientists, and health professionals of tomorrow; To advance knowledge through impactful, innovative research; To improve health and well-being through compassionate, patient-centered care.

Considering the UCCOM mission, tell us why you’re applying here and how our mission aligns with your own.

Your response is limited to 2000 characters.

2. The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Values:

We are committed to excellence, diversity, and integrity in our students, faculty, staff, and all of our activities. We provide an inclusive environment where innovation and freedom of intellectual inquiry flourish.

Please share your personal journey to a career in medicine and let us know how the UCCOM values align with your own.

Your response is limited to 2000 characters.

3. Academic Impact of COVID-19 (optional)

Please explain, if applicable, any ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic specifically and negatively impacted and/or caused significant hardship for your academic performance between the months of March 2020 and September 2022.

Your response is limited to 2000 characters.

4. Non-Academic Impact of COVID-19 (optional)

We understand that all applicants have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please use the space below to describe any personal (ie, non-academic) life-altering experiences or changes to your plans related to the pandemic between March 2020 and September 2022.

Your response is limited to 2000 characters.

MD-PhD Essays

1. Research Projects: Please summarize your past research experience(s). Discuss your role and contributions to the project(s). Explain how these experience(s) have prepared you for a career as a physician-scientist. (4000 characters)

2. Qualifications for MD/PHD: Please discuss your motivation and goals for joining an MD/PhD program. Elaborate on future career plans and how the University of Cincinnati MSTP will help you achieve those goals. (2000 characters)

3. Research Interests: Please discuss your research interests and how these align with the research opportunities provided at the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children’s. Discuss potential MSTP faculty mentors whose research is of interest to you. (2000 characters)

Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine

1. If you earned a medically related certificate/license, how many hours have you worked in that role since earning your certificate/license? If not, please enter N/A. (100 characters)

2. If there has been a significant economic hardship, please explain the circumstances. If none, please enter N/A. (750 characters)

3. If your parents are graduates of Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine, please list their name(s) and graduation year(s). Enter N/A if your parents are not Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine Alumni. (100 characters)

4. If you have relatives that are Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine alumni, current students, faculty or staff, please list their name(s). Enter N/A if you do not have relatives that are Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine alumni, current students, faculty or staff. (100 characters)

5. If you have applied to Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine in a previous cycle, please indicate the year(s) of your previous application(s). Enter N/A if this is your first application to Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. (100 characters)

6. What is the primary reason that you have chosen to apply to the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine? (750 characters)

7. Are there any specific patient populations that that you desire to serve as a physician? (750 characters)

8. If there has been or will be a gap in your education, please describe how you have/will use this time. If not, please enter N/A. (750 characters)

9. If you consider yourself a non-traditional candidate, please explain. If not, please enter N/A. (750 characters)

10. Briefly describe any extenuating circumstances which you believe are pertinent to your application (i.e. Poor grades, withdrawn courses, life events). If none, please enter N/A. (750 characters)

11. If you have attended any allopathic or osteopathic medical school, as a candidate for an M.D. or D.O., please list the name of the school and explain the reason for separation. Enter N/A if you have not attended any allopathic or osteopathic medical school as a candidate for an M.D. or D.O. (750 characters)

12. If you are not a current resident of the state of Ohio, please describe your connection to Ohio. If you have no connection to the state of Ohio, please enter N/A. (750 characters)

13. If you have a connection to Wright State University, please describe your that connection. If you have no connection to Wright State University, please enter N/A. (750 characters)

14. If you have a connection to the Boonshoft School of Medicine, please describe that connection. If you have no connection to the Boonshoft School of Medicine, please enter N/A. (750 characters)

Osteopathic Schools

Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. All applicants are required to answer the following question in the form of an essay. There is no specific word count, font or font size required. Please name the file using following format: "last name, first name, required essay".

"There are philosophical and tangible differences between osteopathic and allopathic medicine. Describe what being an osteopathic physician means to you, and what qualities make a good osteopathic physician. What have you done to gain knowledge and experience of osteopathic medicine?"

2. All applicants are required to answer one of the following three questions in the form of an essay. There is no specific word count, font or font size required. Make sure to include the question itself at the top of your essay. Please name the file using the following format: "last name, first name, selected essay".

1) Describe the community in which you were nurtured or spent the majority of your early development with respect to its demographics. What core values did you receive and how will these translate into the contributions you hope to make to your community as a medical student and later as a physician?

-OR-

2) There are multiple paths that lead to medical school and many obstacles along the way. Please describe the unique path that has led you to medicine as well as any obstacle or adversity that you had to overcome in achieving this goal. How will this experience affect your career as a physician?

-OR-

 3) What has been your most meaningful life experience (i.e., family situation, clinical or shadowing experience, volunteer experience, etc.) that influenced your decision to pursue medicine?

Allopathic Schools

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine

1. Why are you applying to The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine? (Max 250 words)

2. Do you have family or friends in Oklahoma? Please explain (No word/character limit)

3. Where else are you applying? (no character limit)

If you go for the SCM track: (School of Community Medicine, in Tulsa)

1. Please submit an essay that explains your interest and commitment to Community Medicine. (Max 450 words)

2. Please explain how you expect the SCM track to enhance your medical education. (Max 250 words)

3. Please enter any additional community or volunteer experience not included on your AMCAS application. (Max 250 words)

4. Please highlight any other relevant life experience that you feel might have an impact on your application to the SCM track. (Max 250 words)

University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine

1. Please submit an essay that explains your interest and commitment to Community Medicine. (450 words max)

2. Please explain how you expect the SCM track to enhance your medical education. (250 words max)

3. Please enter any additional community or volunteer experience not included on your AMCAS application. (250 words max)

4. Please highlight any other relevant life experience that you feel might have an impact on your application to the SCM track. (250 words max)

Osteopathic Schools

Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Are you currently enrolled in classes? Yes/No >> (If not), please describe your current activities (300 words)

2. Please describe something you deserved but didn’t get and how you felt about it. (300 words)

3. (Optional): Is there any additional information you would like the college to know about you? (500 words)

Allopathic Schools

Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine

1. What experience have you had that has given you insight into the patients you hope to eventually serve? (1550 characters)

2. Tell us about a time you went into a situation completely unprepared. (1550 characters)

3. Discuss a time in your life that demonstrated your resilience and ability to overcome adversity. (1550 characters)

4. In 1990, Salovey and Mayer defined emotional intelligence (EI) as “the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions”. The components of EI include self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Briefly describe one example of a time you harnessed your EI to resolve a difficult situation, AND one example of a time your failure to use your EI compounded a difficult situation. What did you learn about yourself in each of these situations? (1550 characters)

5. Give an example of personal feedback in the last few years that was difficult to receive. How did you respond? (1550 characters)

6. Please discuss the roles Dignity, Respect and Deference play in how medical teams optimize patient care. (changed from last year) (1550 characters)

Optional:

7. Are there any additional ties to the state of Oregon you wish to share? If yes, use the space below. If no, leave blank. Please note that this does not factor toward your consideration as an Oregon resident or Oregon Heritage. (1550 characters)

8. We know that many of our applicants in the OHSU UME Program may have familial relationships with individuals who are OHSU faculty, residents, staff, or current students who serve as evaluators in our admissions process. We have added this question in hopes to prevent perceived or actual conflicts of interest that can occur when an applicant has a family member (or someone with a similar close personal relationship) they may encounter through the admissions process. If you have any such connections, please list those individuals’ names and departments below. If no, leave blank. (2050 characters)

Supplemental Information section with additional prompts:

9. Based on your own experiences or the experiences of family and friends, do you believe that the area in which you grew up was adequately served by the available health care professionals? Were there enough physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, and other health care service providers and how did that affect your experience and relationship with health care? Please explain. (4000 characters)

10. "While you were growing up, did you experience any of the following types of adversity?" with options to select the severity of the following adversities: economic, educational, ethnic/cultural, family] Please describe the nature of the adversity and how social, economic, academic, or other circumstances affected you and your opportunities. (4000 characters)

11. We acknowledge that our application is not fully comprehensive. If there is anything additional you would like to let us know about you, please briefly state it here. (550 characters)

Osteopathic Schools

Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific

500-words max.

1. What experience observing a DO solidified your desire/ambition to become an osteopathic physician? (This could be a formal shadowing experience (one-on-one with a physician), scribing, observing your own physician, friend, or family member who is a DO).

2. If you have not had the opportunity to shadow/observe a DO why is it important to you to become an osteopathic physician?

3. What was your most memorable community service activity and how did your activity benefit the community?

4. How does the COMP Northwest Mission statement align with your values?

5. Why do you want to attend COMP Northwest in Lebanon, Oregon?

6. What does diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to you and why are they important?

7. Have you participated in research? (y/n)

8. Briefly discuss any extenuating circumstances which you feel are pertinent to your application (poor grades, course withdrawals, lapse in your education, etc.).

9. If you have not taken any coursework for over 3 years, please explain why and what you have been doing during that period of time.

Allopathic Schools

University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

1. If you were offered an option to continue courses with a standard grading system or switch to Pass/Fail, and you elected Pass/Fail, please describe the reason(s) for your decision here (500 characters).

2. The Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM) is deeply committed to recruiting a class inclusive of diverse perspectives and experiences; this enriches the instruction we provide, enhances team-based learning, and ensures our students’ preparation to address the health needs of a pluralistic society. How would your life experiences contribute to the student body and how would you contribute to an inclusive atmosphere at PSOM? Please explain and limit your response to 1,000 characters.

3. We are all navigating through challenging times, and physicians and physician-scientists must contend with many instances of uncertainty. Describe a time when you faced a situation that was ambiguous, confusing, or uncertain, and how you navigated making a decision without complete information (3000 characters).

4. Please explain your reasons for applying to the Perelman School of Medicine and limit your response to 1,000 characters

Read some UPenn medical school secondary essay samples!

Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

1. If not currently enrolled in a full-time academic program, please summate your activities from the time of graduation from your baccalaureate program through the time of this application, as well as your plans between now and your matriculation to medical school. (Maximum 75 words)

2. Is there a unique aspect of your application that should be considered by the admissions committee? (Maximum 75 words)

3. Explain why you decided to apply to the Penn State College of Medicine. (Maximum 75 words)

4. Write a short paragraph describing a significant experience you have had working in a team setting. (Maximum 250 words)

5. Write a short statement describing how you envision using your medical education to advance care for under-represented or marginalized populations. (Maximum 250 words)

Drexel University College of Medicine

1. Please discuss all of your current and recent activities and engagements that have prepared you for medical school. Please be sure to include any traditional and/or non-traditional clinical exposures and volunteering experiences that you have done that are not already included in your application. (2000 characters)

2. Why are you interested in Drexel? Please also explain how you meet various elements of our mission - compassionate care, diversity, spirited inquiry, collaboration, and opportunity. (1500 characters)

3. (optional) Please describe any extenuating circumstances that may have affected your medical or non-medical service experiences, including any circumstances that impacted your engagement in activities, academics, and MCAT that would have helped to prepare you for medical school. (1500 characters)

Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

1. Sidney Kimmel Medical College defines diversity as the richness in human differences. How will your own experiences allow you to contribute to the diversity of the student body and to provide equitable and inclusive care to your future patients? (2500 characters)

2. Do you have additional information that you would like to provide at this time? (4000 characters)

Temple University Lewis Katz School of Medicine

1. What is the nature of your interest in the Lewis Katz School of Medicine?

2. The Admissions Committee would like to know more about you. LKSOM seeks an engaged student body with a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and interests to enhance the medical school experience for everyone. Please use the space below to describe what makes you unique as an applicant, an obstacle that you had to overcome, or how you will contribute to the LKSOM community.

3. Tell us about your special interest in the campus you selected.

4. What are your plans for the current year - June 2023 until June 2024?

5. The Coronavirus pandemic has affected all of us.

Please use this space to describe to us how you were impacted academically, personally or professionally by COVID-19. Note: 2,000-character limit per essay question, including spaces.

6. Have you completed a pathway/pipeline program offered through LKSOM or another medical school? These types of pathway/pipeline programs include Diversity Scholars, STEP-UP, Summer Health Professions Education Program (SHPEP) or other similar programs sponsored by a medical school. (Y/N)

Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine

1500-characater limit

If you are applying to the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program, please share with the Admissions Committee what primary care and/or psychiatry means to you, and why you believe you are a good fit for the Abigail Geisinger Scholars Program. (Still answer questions 2-4 below though. Only question 1 is substituted by this prompt)

If not:

1. Given Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine’s unique mission and values, please tell us why you believe you are a good fit for our institution.

2. List the five most important attributes you believe a physician should possess. Please choose one that you believe you embody and describe a personal experience that demonstrates this trait?

3. Geisinger Commonwealth values diversity, health equity, inclusion, and social justice. Tell us how you will share in this mission.

4. If you have previously applied to medical school, please describe your significant experiences between this year’s application and your previous application. If you are not a previous applicant, please type, “N/A” in the response area.

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

1. Tell us about a challenging problem you faced and how you resolved it. Include how the experience contributed to the person you are today. (250 words or less.

2. At UPSOM, diversity and inclusion are measures of distinction, integral to achieving institutional excellence, and essential to the development of future physicians who become leaders in medicine. Describe how you have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and inclusion in the past, and how you hope to grow that commitment in medical school. (250 words or less.)

3. Tell the Admissions Committee why you are applying to Pitt Med and why you think this school would be a good fit for you? (250 words or less.)

Osteopathic Schools

Duquesne University College of Osteopathic Medicine

ESSAY QUESTION 1:

Why do you want to become a physician, and how are you a good fit for DUQCOM's mission?

PLEASE ANSWER ONE OF THE FOLLOWING FROM QUESTIONS 2 - 4.

(maximum 400 words for each question)

ESSAY QUESTION 2 - Describe a situation in which you had to utilize your beliefs and values to interact with people from different backgrounds. How did those beliefs and values impact the relationship?

ESSAY QUESTION 3 - While there is great emphasis on the physician-patient relationship, DUQCOM also emphasizes the importance of training future physicians to care for diverse communities and populations. Describe how your experiences would contribute to caring for patients in under-resourced communities as they relate to addressing health disparities, which is a key component of the mission of the College of Medicine.

ESSAY QUESTION 4 - Comment upon how you intend to utilize your medical training to impact the healthcare profession. Please include two of the following topics in your answer: application of knowledge in ethics, regional and global health disparities, health policies and economics, innovation and entrepreneurship, medical humanities, patient safety, quality improvement, and scientific discovery.

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

No secondary application.

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

No secondary application. 

Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

1. Summarize your activities during the 2023-2024 academic year. Describe how your activities are preparing you for a medical career. (2000 characters)

2. How will your unique attributes, life experiences, and interests add to the Alpert Medical School community? (2000 characters)

3. Reflect on a situation when you had to change course, and how you did so. (3000 characters)

Allopathic Schools

Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine

1. Please discuss your primary interest in attending the Medical University of South Carolina. (2000 characters)

2. We desire to train students and physicians to work with the diverse patients of our state and nation. Please share any important aspects of your background, identity, and/or experiences that have impacted your ability to relate to and work with diverse communities and patient populations. (3000 characters)

3. For re-applicants- If you are a re-applicant, please describe what you have done since last applying (i.e. your activities, involvement, preparedness, etc.) to strengthen your candidacy for medical school. (2000 characters)

4. For out-of-state applicants- If you are not a legal resident of South Carolina, please describe in detail your strong Close Ties to South Carolina. Close Ties are defined as: (1) Having lived in SC for multiple years, (2) Parents who currently live full-time in SC, (3) Completed the majority of your education in SC (i.e. enrolled in or graduate of an undergraduate and/or graduate degree from a South Carolina institution), (4) and/or currently living in and/or working in South Carolina. (3000 characters)

University of South Carolina School of Medicine

No word limits.

1. (if applicable) What additional qualifications have you acquired since your last application?

2. (if applicable) Do you have any other ties to South Carolina that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider?

3. What are your medical practice goals?

4. Describe your employment status since you completed your bachelor's degree (part-time, full-time, and dates) (only if you have graduated)

5. In what region of the country do you want to practice medicine? Why?

6. What areas of medicine are you interested in at this time, or what areas do you plan to pursue?

7. Do you have any accomplishments or experiences that make you a unique applicant?

8. Explain any impact that COVID-19 may have had on your educational, research, volunteering or employment plans.

9. Working as part of a team is an important aspect of your medical education at our School of Medicine and as a practitioner in the future. Please share at least one experience where you worked as part of a team to accomplish a goal/objective. What was your role as a part of the team and what did you learn from working with others? How did you deal with conflict on the team and/or working with a team member who you disagreed with?

University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

Question 1: Please consider sharing experiences, challenges, family or personal circumstances, interests, etc. that you believe would bring added value and unique lived experience to the learning community at USC School of Medicine Greenville. (5000 characters)

Question 2: If you are not a South Carolina resident, what relationships, bonds, or other interests or connections do you have to the state? (If not applicable, please write N/A) (5000 characters)

Question 3: Is there any additional information you would like the Admissions Committee to consider that has not been previously addressed? (If not applicable, please write N/A) (5000 characters)

Question 4: Why have you chosen to apply to USC School of Medicine Greenville and how do you think your education at USCSOM Greenville will prepare you to become a physician in the future? (5000 characters)

***Essay Question 1*** At USCSOM Greenville we are committed to Transforming Medicine One Doctor at a Time. Share how, as a physician, you will seek to transform medicine. (5000 characters)

***Essay Question 2*** Please describe a personal work, social or educational experience which felt inclusive and welcoming. (5000 characters)

University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine

1. Given the mission statement of the school, please explain how your experiences and long-term goals would help meet the mission. (1500 characters)

2. Given the diversity statement of the school, explain how your background and experiences with diversity will bring value to the school. (1500 characters)

3. Describe how your experiences in health care or social care activities will help you become a good physician. (1500 characters)

4. Briefly describe a crisis or significant challenge in your life, how you have worked through the crisis or challenge, and what you have learned from this experience. (1500 characters)

5. What are your career plans in the event that you are not admitted to a medical school this year or after several applications? (1500 characters)

6. Please use this space to update the information contained on your AMCAS application (i.e. grades in recent courses; alterations in your proposed coursework or graduation; additions to your extracurricular activities) or anything else you want the committee to know. (1500 characters)

7. For repeat applicants only. Since your last application, what steps have you taken to strengthen your candidacy? Please note any relevant academic, employment, clinical and personal experience. (1500 characters)

8. For non-South Dakota residents applying to the regular MD program – please describe your ties to South Dakota. (1500 characters)

9. Please share and explain any disruptions/hardships in your academic, volunteer, work, and/or personal life related to COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. (5000 characters)

10. Please use the space below for anything you might wish to discuss related to the corona virus (COVID-19) public health crisis. Possible topics might include, for example: your biggest lessons and insights from the pandemic; creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis; how the pandemic has affected your outlook on the role of medicine. (5000 characters)

11. Knowledge and skill are crucial, but why should a physician be kind? (5000 characters)

Allopathic Schools

East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine

(All max 1500-character counts)

1. What makes you interested in Quillen? Discuss your perceptions on how attending Quillen would align with your future goals and your hopes for how it will shape you into the physician you want to become.

2. Social justice, systemic racism, and equity for all have been at the forefront of national conversations. Quillen College of Medicine recognizes that many barriers still exist for persons of color and those from historically underrepresented communities. As a physician you will have opportunities to foster an environment of change for your patients and community. Please share with us your reflections on how your life experiences have impacted the development of your values and attitudes toward others, particularly those with backgrounds or values different from your own.

3. Applicant choice. Please select only one of the following questions to answer. Be sure to indicate your choice by starting with the number associated with the question:

•  There is no doubt that the level of stress brought on by medical schools can impact a student's mental health and emotional well-being. Discuss the ways you plan to manage your own health and well-being during medical school.
•  Describe an experience you have had during your life that has given you a unique understanding of human suffering and what did you learn from this experience?
•  Use this space to tell the committee anything else about yourself that you have not had the opportunity to present elsewhere in your application.

Meharry Medical College

No word limits.

1. Why do you wish to attend Meharry Medical College, School of Medicine?

2. Please describe a personal situation of failure, significant challenge or a major obstacle that you have overcome. Include a description of your coping skills and lessons you learned about yourself from that situation.

University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine

1. List all courses you are currently taking or plan to take within the current academic year (e.g., Fall 2023 and/or Spring 2024). List course(s), title, and credit hours. (1000 characters) (I think it's only "optional" if you're not currently a student!)

2. (optional) Any additional information not previously provided in the personal comments of your AMCAS primary application? (500 characters)

3. (optional) Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to provide our applicants with an optional essay prompt for the year's UTHSC College of Medicine secondary application. Please use the text field below to share with us how you may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including academic, financial, medical disruptions, etc. It would also be helpful for us to know if any of your planned experiences in shadowing, volunteering, research, employment, or other activities have been suspended due to the pandemic. (2500 characters)

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

1. Please reflect on the upbringing, background, and experiences in your life that have shaped who you are as a person and will help define the person you want to be in the future. In other words, what makes you who you are? (800 words)

2. Tell us about a time when you interacted with someone who is different than you. What did you learn? What would you do differently? (600 words)

3. Everyone needs help at various times in their lives. Describe a time you asked for help and what you gained from that experience that has influenced your approach to asking for help. (600 words)

4. (Optional): If you have completed your undergraduate education, please comment on what you have done or have been doing since graduation. (200 words)

5. (Optional): If applicable, please describe how the COVID-19 outbreak affected your pathway to medical school. You may discuss any academic, personal, financial, or professional alterations to your plans. NOTE: Disclosing certain hardships or obstacles that have been faced during this time will not negatively affect an application. (200 words)

6. (Optional): How did you first become interested in Vanderbilt University School of Medicine? (200 words)"

Osteopathic Schools

Baptist Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine

250 words each

1. BUCOM shares the values of our larger learning community at Baptist Health Sciences University such as integrity, professionalism, continuous improvement, and service as an expression of our Christian values. We foster a Christian environment where servant leadership is modeled in all aspects of learning, teaching, service, and business. Describe what it means to be a servant leader and how it connects to your decision to become an osteopathic physician.

2. Why did you decide to apply to BUCOM, and what personal values will you bring that will enhance our campus community during your time here?

3. After residency, describe the community setting, job role, and type of practice in where you see yourself.

Lincoln Memorial University DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine

Required

Please write and ATTACH the short essay addressing ONE of the following questions:

Medical school requires a huge commitment in time and energy. How have you prepared for this commitment?

OR

If you are a re-applicant, please tell us what you have done to strengthen your application.

Optional

1. Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know that you haven’t explained on your AACOMAS application?

Allopathic Schools

University of Texas Southwestern Medical School

1. Describe a group project or activity that you are most proud of. Consider the following in your response: What aspect makes you most proud? How was it accomplished? How did you deal with disagreement or conflict in the group? How did you get fellow group members to embrace a position or view your perspective? (2500 characters)

2. Describe a time that you have witnessed someone acting unethically or dishonestly, or an experienced behavior of harassment or discrimination. What did you do? Describe your reaction, is there anything you might do differently now in retrospect. (2500 characters)

3. Describe an interaction or experience that has made you more sensitive or appreciative of cultural differences, and/or how you have committed yourself to understanding and aiding in the pursuit of equity and inclusion in your academic, professional or personal life. (2500 characters)

4. (Optional) Have you engaged in any public service activities for a duration of one year or greater in length (examples: Military, Peace Corps, Teach for America, etc.). Yes or No? If so, please describe the experience and impact on your personal and professional development. (2500 characters)

5. (Optional) Please explain any academic discrepancies or extenuating circumstances that you feel the Admissions Committee should know.

Baylor College of Medicine

1. In addition to training as a competent physician, please select up to two additional areas of interest from the items below that you may want to pursue during your medical studies. Your responses will have no bearing on applications to joint degrees or special programs to which you might also apply.

• Clinical Research
• Healthcare/disparities/medical undeserved communities
• Academic Medicine
• Community Health
• Simulation in medical education
• Health systems science
• Telehealth
• Advocacy

What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that have prepared you for this career path? (1,000-character limit)

2. Are you planning to matriculate into medical school immediately after completing your undergraduate education? If not, please explain what activities and/or careers you have pursued in the time between your college education and your application. (no limit)

3. Indicate any special experiences, unusual factors or other information you feel would be helpful in evaluating you, including, but not limited to, education, employment, extracurricular activities, prevailing over adversity. You may expand upon but not repeat TMDSAS or AMCAS application information. This section is mandatory. Please make sure you submit an essay or your application will not be reviewed by the committee. (2000-character limit).

MD/PhD Applicants Additional Prompts:

1. Please describe your primary research Interests for PhD training. [Limit of 1000 characters]

2. Why do you think Baylor College of Medicine MD/PhD Program would be a good place for you to train to be a physician scientist? Please provide names of potential Baylor College of Medicine and/or Rice University faculty with whom you would like to work. (Will not limit final research project or mentor selection) [Limit of 1500 characters]

3. Tell us about a characteristic(s) that may enable you to interact with people from a wide range of ages, experiences, viewpoints, and backgrounds. [Limit of 1000 characters]

4. Published articles, please provide full citations:

5. Plans for the 2023-2024 academic year description [Limit of 1000 characters]

University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine

1. Describe a time when you advocated for someone whose social identity (e.g., race, gender, sex, religion, socioeconomic status, ability status, etc.) differed from yours. Explain the situation and why advocacy was necessary.

2. Describe a time you were wrong. Why were you wrong? How did you respond?

3. How do you define curiosity? Provide an example in which curiosity helped solve or expand your knowledge and experience outside of the academic environment.

4. What attributes do you look for in your physician(s)? Which of these attributes do you need to develop? How will you develop them?

5. John Sealy School of Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch serves patients throughout Texas, focusing on Galveston County and Gulf Coast Region. Are there particular characteristics of our school and/or the Galveston area in terms of location, history, or other attributes which make you especially interested in matriculating here?

B. There will also be an asynchronous Video you need to complete via SparkHire, follow the instructions given. Here is the SparkHire site with FAQS and info for candidates: SparkHire FAQS for candidates

University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine

No secondary essays.

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston McGovern Medical School

1. Please discuss one of the following:

a) A challenging situation or obstacle you have faced in the past

b) Any academic road bumps in your academic career (low academic performance, failing course, dropping/retaking of courses)

Why was it challenging? How did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? What did you learn?

(2500 characters)

2. Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed. What did you learn from this experience and how have you applied this learning to your work and/or life? (2500 characters)

3. What would you like to contribute and be remembered for in medicine? (2500 characters)

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine

Four Required Essays:

1. Which potential barriers and facilitators exist for medicine of the future? How will you make a difference in this regard? (350 words or less)

2. Describe how you decide if a person or source is trustworthy. (350 words or less)

3. Describe a time when the awareness of your own limitations resulted in a favorable outcome for you or someone close to you. (350 words or less)

4. In the event that you are accepted by two or more medical schools, what factors would you consider most important when choosing a school to attend. (100-word max; bullet points are acceptable)

Three Optional Essays: (truly optional)

1. [Optional] If you feel that the Admissions Committee should be aware of any academic discrepancies or extenuating circumstances, please explain them. (350 words or less)

2. [Optional] Describe any major hardships you have overcome to reach this point in your life. (350 words or less)

3. [Optional] How have volunteer work, hobbies, and/or extracurricular activities informed your beliefs about health care and a career in medicine? (350 words or less)

Required Video Response:

Submit a 2-minute video that answers one of the two questions below.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine prepares future physicians in accordance with the following values: patient advocacy, community focus, cultural awareness, collaborative leadership style, and lifelong problem solving. Select TWO (2) of these values and discuss what you have done in the past that resonates with them. How will you support and strengthen these two values when you practice medicine?

University of Texas Medical School at Houston

Section 1a

I have prior experience in primary care setting (general internal medicine physician, a general pediatrician, or a family medicine physician).

Yes/No

I have prior experience in a medical practice or social service for an underserved area:

Yes/No

I have prior experience in community or public health:

Yes/No

Describe the setting (urban/inner city; suburban; rural); your role and responsibilities; and approximate date range for any of the experiences you indicated in the previous section. If you answered (N) to the category, enter “N/A” or leave the box blank for that category.

Primary Care: (300-character limit)

Medical or Social service for underserved area: (300-character limit)

Community or Public Health: (300-character limit)

Section 1b

Describe any employment, family or other obligations that impacted your education that are NOT already indicated in your TMDSAS application. (750 characters) (optional)

Describe up to 3 of your activities/life experiences that align with our mission. Explain how they might demonstrate a commitment to underserved communities. The examples you select must be included in TMDSAS primary application. (1500-character limit)

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center Paul L. Foster School of Medicine

1. The mission of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso Paul L. Foster School of Medicine is to provide an outstanding education and development opportunities for a diverse group of students, residents, faculty, and staff; advance knowledge through innovation and research; and serve the needs of our socially and culturally diverse communities and region.” Recognizing the components of this mission and that PLFSOM is located on the US/Mexico border, please describe why you are interested in applying to our school. (300 words or less)

2. The Foster SOM student honor code states “In my capacity as a Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso School of Medicine medical student, I will uphold the dignity of the medical profession. I will, to the best of my ability, avoid actions which might result in harm to my patients. I will protect the dignity of my patients and the deceased, and will protect their confidential information in accordance with the prevailing standards of medical practice. I will not lie, cheat, or steal. I will enter into professional relationships with my colleagues, teachers, and other health care professionals in a manner that is respectful and reflective of the high standards and expectations of my profession. I will not tolerate violations of this Code by others and will report such violations to the appropriate authorities.” Please describe past experiences or personal attributes that reflect your affinity with this honor code. (300 words or less)

3. Please describe any unique personal experiences or disadvantage (educational, financial or otherwise) and their significance to you in your pursuit of a medical degree. (300 words or less)

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine

1. Please indicate the area(s) of medicine you are interested in and briefly describe your significant activities for each respective interest in the available text box (100 words).

• Practicing in an underserved area
• Rural Health
• Medical Research
• Medical Academics
• Primary Care
• Border Health
• Public Health
• Other (Please describe below)

2. Have you experienced any road bumps in your academic career? (Low academic performance, dropping, retaking, or failing courses, etc.). If so, please explain (250 words or less)

3. Please share any lessons learned during your academic journey. For example, a time a goal of yours was deterred and maybe even halted, how did you handle that situation? (250 words or less)

4. If you are applying to a dual degree program, please rank them in order of preference.

5. Are you applying to our MD & E program?

6. Are you applying to FMAT?

7. Have you experienced any hardship or adversity, personally or professionally? If yes, please share your experience with us. (200 words or less)

8. Please tell us about your favorite recreational/leisure activities (100 words or less)

9. Please share with us your ideal practice. For example: Where would you practice? Who would your patients be? What would your specialty be? (100-word limit)

10. Do you consider yourself from West Texas or as having West Texas ties? If yes, what town or county did you reside in, or what other factors would you cite? (100 words or less)

11. Do you consider yourself to be first generation? If yes, please explain your reasoning (Examples of Definition: both of your parents are born outside of the USA, both of your parents have education or a degree outside of the USA, both of your parents do not have an education higher than high school). If yes, then explain? (100 words or less)

12. Have you ever participated in any TTUHSC special programs?

• Middle School to Medical School (M2M)
• Early Dedication to Medical Education (EDME)
• Future Healthcare Professional’s Experience (FHPE)
• Summer Enrichment Program (SEP)
• Premedical Enrichment Program (PEP)
• Graduate Medical Education Sciences (GMES)

University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School

No secondary essays.

Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine

1. As a physician, you never know what type of patient you will serve. From your past experiences, please describe or highlight factors or situations that demonstrate your ability to work with individuals from multicultural communities. (3500 chars max)

2. The Texas A&M School of Medicine embraces the Aggie Core Values of Respect, Excellence, Leadership, Loyalty, Integrity and Selfless Service. Please elaborate on personal characteristics, values, accomplishments and/or any experiences that you feel will help to demonstrate your potential to contribute to the school and to the profession of medicine. (3500 chars max)

3. Describe any circumstances indicative of some hardship, such as, but not limited to, financial difficulties, personal or family illness, a medical condition, a death in the immediate family or educational disadvantage not mentioned in your primary application essays. What strategies have you used to address these circumstances? (3500 chars max)

4. OPTIONAL QUESTION: List the area (or areas) of medicine that appeals to you and briefly explain. (Limit your explanation to 50 words or 250 characters total) Do not leave blank. If not applicable, please so indicate.

EnMed - Specific Prompts: All are 250 words.

1. How did you hear about the EnMed program?

2. How will the Engineering Medicine program meet your career goals and aspirations in ways that a traditional MD program would not?

3. List the knowledge and skills you have participated in outside the classroom, then describe how these have prepared you to create innovative medical technologies.

4. List the knowledge and skills you have acquired inside the classroom, then describe how these have prepared you to create innovative medical technologies.

5. At the end of your career, what do you want to have accomplished in order to consider yourself successful?

TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine

No secondary application.

Osteopathic Schools

Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

1. What do you like or dislike most about the area you are from (your hometown or where you graduated high school)? [800-character limit]

2. Describe a moment when you failed to accomplish a task or let yourself down. How did you grow from this experience? [800-character limit]

3. What do you consider the role of physicians in medically underserved Texas communities? [800-character limit]

4. Sam Houston State University's Motto is "The Measure of a Life is its Service." What is the most significant service contribution that you have made? [800-character limit]

5. As a DO physician, how would you plan to incorporate the tenets of osteopathic medicine into your future practice? [800-character limit]

6. Are you a Texas resident? [Yes or No]

7. Please share anything you would like to mention to the SHSU-COM Admissions Committee about yourself to strengthen your application. [500-character limit]

University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine

OSTEOPATHIC KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCES, AND/OR RELATIONSHIPS

Please address each topic in a separate paragraph:

1. What experiences and/or relationships have motivated you toward a career in osteopathic medicine? (2,000-character limit including spaces)

ACADEMIC HISTORY

1. If you attended more than two colleges/universities, explain why. Community colleges are not needed. (1,000-character limit including spaces)

2. If applicable, please update the information contained on your TMDSAS application. Indicate any additional grades earned, alterations in your proposed coursework or graduation date, additions to your extracurricular activities, name change, or anything else you feel the Admissions Committee should know. (1,000-character limit including spaces)

ADDITIONAL EVALUATIONS (Optional)

An additional evaluation letter may be submitted directly to UNTHSC Office of Admissions by the evaluator. A letter from an osteopathic physician is highly recommended. Please indicate the name of the evaluator and whether or not they are a D.O.

SUPPLEMENTAL DATA

1. Did you live in a single parent household?

If yes, number of years/months:

Number of Years:

Number of Months:

2. Do you consider yourself financially disadvantaged?

If yes, please explain. (1,000-character limit including spaces)

3. Do you consider yourself educationally disadvantaged?

If yes, please explain. (1,000-character limit including spaces)

OPTIONAL ESSAY

One of the values of the University of North Texas System is Courageous Integrity which means one should model exceptional standards and act in the best interest of our community. These behaviors include:

• Build trust through consistent actions that are honest, transparent, and authentic
• Provide, accept, and support open and constructive feedback
• Hold yourself and others accountable for decisions, behaviors, actions, and results

Please select a specific instance where you have demonstrated Courageous Integrity and describe how this is indicative of your character (2,000-character limit)

University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Explain your understanding of osteopathic medicine and your interest in pursuing this pathway to becoming a physician.

2. UIWSOM is the first faith-based school of osteopathic medicine in Texas and mission driven. How will you contribute to the UIWSOM by fulfilling this mission?

3. Please describe your preparation for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). Include any tools you may have used to prepare, length of study time, practice exams, etc.

4. If applicable, please answer the following:

If you are reapplying to UIWSOM, what have you done to strengthen your application since you last applied?

Are you a current or former student of the University of the Incarnate Word who falls in one of the categories below?

a) Current MBS student

b) Previous UIWSOM MBS student

c) Current UIW undergraduate student in Direct Admit program

Allopathic Schools

University of Utah School of Medicine

1. Tell us why you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. How does our program align with your personal and professional goals? What can you contribute to our exceptional learning experience? (300 words)

2. Describe how health disparities have impacted you, your community, and/or the communities you have served? What lessons have you learned and how do you plan to use this knowledge to address health equity as a medical student at our program and as a future physician? (300 words)

3. (for reapplicants) "Upon reflection and self-assessment, please share with us your areas of demonstrated growth since your previous application. Please highlight examples of your continued commitment to medicine." (300 words)

Osteopathic Schools 

Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine - Southern Utah Campus

1. What unique characteristics, abilities or skills will you bring to help advance the mission and vision of RVUCOM? There is no text limit.

Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine

Record a short video (maximum 8 minutes) that answers the following questions:

• Who are you?
• What is your passion?
• What does service mean to you?
• Tell us about a physician you admire/want to emulate?
• Why Noorda-COM?

University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine

1. The Larner College of Medicine curriculum emphasizes active in-person participation and peer co-learning which translates into strong clinical practice. This relies on individual students preparing for, and being actively involved in, participatory class sessions. Please share your thoughts on the suitability of active learning for you. You may use any of the points below to guide your response. (Maximum 400 words)

• Navigating a group learning process.
• Personal contributions to such a learning environment and areas of growth.
• The value of balancing your learning with the teaching of your classmates.
• Any potential challenges to this approach to learning.

2. The Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont recognizes that diversity extends beyond chosen and unchosen identities and encompasses an individual’s entire experiences. Diverse environments can promote growth and provide an opportunity for reflection. Reflect on a time you learned something from someone or a group of people who are unlike yourself and how that challenged your preconceptions or biases. How will this experience influence your behavior in the future? (Maximum 400 words)

3. The Larner College of Medicine has core values that are reflected in our professionalism statement. How has your understanding of what professionalism means evolved over time? Reflect on a personal experience that contributed to your understanding of your own core values. (Maximum 300 words)

4. What unique opportunities at Larner College of Medicine would be meaningful to you in your education and how do these align with your larger goal of becoming a physician? (Maximum 250 words)

5. (Optional) Use this space to share any information, not presented elsewhere, that will clarify any aspect of your application. If you are a reapplicant, you may choose to share what you have done since your previous application. (Maximum 250 words) 

Allopathic Schools

University of Virginia School of Medicine

Please briefly describe how the pandemic impacted your ability to pursue experiences like clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service.

Please list any and all future activities in clinical work, shadowing, research, or community service that you plan to pursue in the upcoming year.

Essay 1

Why are you interested in attending the University of Virginia School of Medicine? What factors will be most important to you in choosing a medical school? Please answer the question in 350 words or less.

Essay 2

How will you contribute to the diversity of your medical school class and the University of Virginia School of Medicine? Please answer the question in 350 words or less.

Essay 3

Tell us about a challenge or obstacle you experienced. How did you manage it? Please answer the question in 350 words or less.

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine

1. You are approached by a neighbor whom you are friendly with and who knows you are headed to medical school. The neighbor wants your opinion on whether she should have her healthy 3-year-old child vaccinated against COVID. The neighbor is well-researched and thoughtful, bringing up data that suggests limited long-term benefits of vaccination, while pointing to concerning, documented side effects. How would you respond to this dilemma? (Comments are limited to 2000 characters. Research on the topic is encouraged)

2. How do you define “grit”, and how have you demonstrated this in the past? (2000-character limit)

3. Please briefly explain any lapses in your undergraduate education that are not explained in your application.

4. Please briefly explain any low GPAs or poor grades.

5. If not addressed in your application, what are you currently doing now?

Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine

1. Explain why integrity is more important than intelligence and perseverance using an example from your life (600 words).

2. Explain how your concept of diversity is both the same and different from the mainstream view (600 words).

3. Choose one aspect about yourself, not already reflected in your application, that you are most proud of. Explain your choice below (600 words).

4. Please describe something you deserved but didn’t get and how you felt about it (600 words).

Eastern Virginia Medical School

1. Briefly describe your exposure to medicine. (2000 characters)

2. What do you think you will like best about being a physician? (2000 characters)

3. What do you think you will like least about being a physician? (2000 characters)

4. Describe yourself and your medical career as you see it ten years from now. (2000 characters)

5. Please indicate your reasons for applying to EVMS. (2000 characters)

6. (Optional) EVMS is dedicated to inclusivity and supporting patients and students from diverse backgrounds. Feel free to share your personal experience or ties to communities from diverse backgrounds. Please explain in detail if you wish to respond. Some examples include but are not limited to race/ethnicity, culture, LGBTQ+, differently-abled/disabled, etc. (2000 characters)

7. (Optional) If you would like to discuss how race has personally affected your life, through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise, feel free to share your experiences, obstacles overcome, and how this impacted your education and road to applying to medical school. (3000 characters)

Allopathic Schools

University of Washington School of Medicine

1. How have societal inequities in the U.S. affected you or people you have worked with? (250 words)

2. The UWSOM aims to build a diverse class of students to enrich the field of medicine. What perspectives, identities, and/or qualities would you bring? (250 words)

3. What obstacles have you experienced and how have you overcome them? (250 words)

4. Describe your competency by explaining how you have explored and come to understand issues in the social sciences and humanities as they relate to the practice of medicine. (250 words)

5. For re-applicants: From your most recent application until now, how have you strengthened your application? (250 words)

6. For Wyoming applicants: Describe your experiences in Wyoming that have influenced and/or informed your decision to pursue a medical career? (250 words)

Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine

1. How will you contribute to the mission and vision of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine? Support your response with your experiences and/or attributes.

2. What experiences have you had with rural and/or underserved communities/populations? What have you learned from these experiences?

3. Describe your connections to Washington communities and your interests in practicing medicine in Washington.

4. How have you built your resilience?

5. Learning from others is enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe your personal characteristics or experiences that would add to the learning environment for your classmates.

6. If you are a re-applicant to WSU College of Medicine, describe what you have done since last applying to strengthen your candidacy for our medical school. If you are not a re-applicant to the College of Medicine, please leave blank.

Osteopathic Schools

Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine

(One Page): Describe personal experiences that have shaped your desire to attend an osteopathic medical school that focuses on addressing rural and/or medically underserved populations and diversity, equity, and inclusion in health care.

Allopathic Schools

West Virginia University School of Medicine

1. Why do you want to attend WVU SoM? How did you first hear about WVU SoM, and why do you feel you would be a good fit?

2. Describe a time when you worked closely and successfully with another person who had a background different from your own.

3. How do you see yourself serving the state of West Virginia if accepted?

4. Which one of the AAMC Interpersonal or Intrapersonal Core Competencies is your strongest, and why? How will this competency enhance your ability to be an outstanding physician?

5. What is your life motto, and why?

Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine

1. Why did you decide to apply to Marshall? (5000 characters)

2. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Where do you want to serve or practice medicine? (5000 characters)

3. If you are not presently attending school indicate your employment or other plans for the time prior to your planned enrollment in medical school. If still in school, enter N/A. (2000 characters)

Osteopathic Schools

West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

1. Why do you want to be an osteopathic physician? (500 characters)

2. What advantage do you see in attending WVSOM over other medical schools? (500 characters)

3. Describe an ethically challenging situation you have been in, and how you responded. (500 characters)

4. What do you feel it will take for you to succeed in medical school? (500 characters)

5. Provide a brief comment about your study habits. (500 characters)

6. Describe a situation in work, volunteer activities, or organizations where you demonstrated your ability to work well with others. (500 characters)

7. What experiences (living, working or visiting) have you had in rural areas? (500 characters)

8. Briefly comment on how your volunteer experience benefited you. (500 characters) 

Allopathic Schools

University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

1. The Admissions Committee is committed to holistic, mission-aligned evaluation of all applicants. Review our institution’s mission. Using specific examples, discuss how and why you believe you are a good fit for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. (500 words max.)

2. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values of UWSMPH and crucial to the education of tomorrow’s physicians. Reflect on how you would embody these values in your education or practice. (250 words max.)

3. Integrity, accountability, and compassion are UWSMPH core values. Pick one of these and reflect on your lived experience with it. (250 words max.)

4. Many inequities exist at the intersection between health outcomes and historical, societal, economic, or other systemic factors. Choose a broader issue or policy that impacts health outcomes where you believe change is needed to advance health equity. Discuss the role you hope to play as a physician in addressing this issue. (250 words max.)

5. (OPTIONAL) If germane to your overall application, please share in a brief paragraph how COVID-19 impacted your application in any of the following domains:

• Academic
• Volunteer
• Research
• Work
• Personal Life

Topics to address might include the public health lessons and health care insights learned from the pandemic, creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis, or any hardships (economic, health, or other) you faced due to the virus or its mitigation efforts (e.g. social distancing, quarantine). (250 words max.)

Medical College of Wisconsin

1. Explain how your unique background, identity, interests, or talents will contribute to the MCW learning community. (1000 characters)

2. How will MCW uniquely prepare you for your future goals? (1000 characters)

3. Recount a time when you made a decision you regret. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (2000 characters)

4. The Medical College of Wisconsin is committed to educating health professionals who are dedicated to improving health equity across the diverse populations we serve. Share with us what you have learned or how you have grown through working with or serving people from cultural backgrounds or groups different than your own. How do you believe you can contribute to improving health equity or reducing health disparities as a physician? (2000 characters)

There are also additional demographic checkboxes:

• I identify as part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual (LGBTQIA) community.
• I am the first person in my immediate family to attend college (excluding siblings).
• I was born or grew up in a rural community.
• I am a military veteran (including active duty and those transitioning to civilian life).
• I come from an economically disadvantaged background.
• I attended an underperforming elementary, middle, or high school.
• My primary language is NOT English.
• I have overcome a significant hardship.

If you choose one or multiple, you have 2000 characters to elaborate.

 5. We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic may have disrupted academic, extracurricular, and personal activities that could affect your application and/or your application preparation. Do you have additional information you'd like to provide? (y/n) (2000 characters)

Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine

No secondary essay required.

Ponce School of Medicine

No secondary essay required. 

San Juan Bautista School of Medicine

No secondary essay required.

University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

No secondary essays required. 

As this information changes frequently, we encourage you to verify these details with the program(s) to which you are considering applying. If you see an error here, please notify us with the updated information, and we’ll send you a FREE copy of a BeMo book of your choosing! You can receive our Ultimate Guide to Med School Admissions, our Ultimate Guide to MMI Prep, or our Ultimate Guide to CASPer Prep! Please email our Student Support Team with any corrections, and we’ll arrange to send you your free book upon confirming the information: info [at] bemoacademicconsulting.com