Medical School Secondary Essay Prompts (2026-2027)

How secondaries work

Schools differ on who gets a secondary. Some send one to every applicant. North Dakota says “We do not pre-screen for secondary invitations.” (UND) Others screen first. Vanderbilt says “After the initial screening, the most competitive applicants (approximately two-thirds of applicants) are offered an opportunity to submit a Vanderbilt-specific secondary application to be considered for a virtual interview.” (Vanderbilt)

Most schools waive the fee for applicants approved for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program. Virginia Tech Carilion is an exception: it applies a discounted rate instead (VTC).

“Not stated” means the school’s prompt page doesn’t give it; check your invitation email.

2026-27 prompts by school

Each list is the school’s main MD program. Reapplicant and dual-degree prompts are left out unless noted. Limits are the school’s own.

Case Western Reserve University

For the 2026-2027 cycle (University Program, required):

• “Personal Challenge: The Admissions Committee is interested in gaining more insight into you as a person. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced that helped 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)”
• “Context of Care: Describe an experience (or experiences) that changed how you understand the relationship between a person’s health and the conditions of their life. (1,500 character limit)”

Optional prompts cover research or a scholarly project (four 600-character questions), gap years (1,000 characters), and additional information (2,000 characters). Case also asks applicants to write their own essays: “Applicants are expected to submit original writing that reflects their unique ideas and experiences.” (Case Western)

University of Cincinnati

For 2026-2027, with “a total of 2000 characters”:

• “Mission Fit: Describe your interest in the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Which opportunities or resources would you pursue as a student, and why are they important to your goals?”
• “Personal Growth: 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.). You may answer N/A if there are no concerns you would like to discuss.”

A third question asks re-applicants how their application has changed (Cincinnati).

Belmont University (Frist College of Medicine)

For 2026-2027, each essay up to 2,000 characters (Belmont):

• “At FCoM, our mission, vision, and values shape our purpose, set our aspirations, and inform our decisions. Please select which value you find most energizing and why. Discuss how this value has impacted your life.” The values are We love learning, Lead by serving, Live with integrity, Heal together in humility, and Welcome difference.
• “Our curriculum centers around a whole-person approach to healing in a community of service learning, inspired by the love and grace of Christ. Discuss how your spiritual experiences, faith, or personal beliefs have influenced your life and your decision to pursue medicine as a career.”
• “As a newer medical school, our students will help shape a new culture and build lasting community. Reflect on a time when you embraced ambiguity, sharing specific examples where you contributed to creating a culture of growth, collaboration, and adaptability.”

Vanderbilt University

For the 2026-2027 cycle (Vanderbilt):

• “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 maximum)”
• “Tell us about a time when you interacted with someone who is different than you. What did you learn? Would you do anything differently and if so, what? (600 words maximum)”
• “It is important to understand that everyone needs help at various times in their lives. Reflecting on the last five years, 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 maximum)”
• Optional, 200 words: a summary of your activities since graduating, or new projects since you submitted AMCAS.

Of those invited to submit a secondary, “approximately 600 will be invited to a virtual interview via Zoom.”

Medical College of Wisconsin

For the 2027 cycle, required of all applicants. “Character counts include spaces.” (MCW)

• “At MCW, we are guided by the values of acting in caring ways, engaging in collaborative efforts, approaching our world with curiosity, advancing inclusive practices, demonstrating integrity in all that we do, and treating everyone with respect. Describe how your unique experiences, interests, and talents have embodied one or more of these values, and how they will shape the way you plan to contribute to the MCW learning community. (1,000 characters)”
• “How will MCW uniquely prepare you for your future goals? (1,000 characters)”
• “Recount a time when you made a decision you regret. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience? (2,000 characters)”
• “MCW is committed to its missions of community engagement and improving health for all. MCW medical students play an important role in advancing these missions by working with and within various communities throughout Wisconsin which requires adaptability and a willingness to learn from new experiences. Describe a time where you entered a new environment or situation, how you adapted, what you learned, and how that experience helped you grow in your ability to serve others and contribute to MCW’s missions during your education. (2,000 characters)”

Applicants to the Central Wisconsin or Green Bay campuses answer two more prompts about primary care and the community where they plan to practice. MCW allows AI tools for brainstorming, proofreading, or editing, but “your final submission must be a true reflection of your own work and represent your experiences.”

Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine

Each response “limited to 500 words or less” (Mayo):

• “At Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, we seek students whose values align with our mission to put the needs of the patient first. Please share why you would like to study medicine at our school, including specifically why at the top campus track you selected.”
• “Reflect on how your professional and lived experiences have shaped your identity. Tell us how these experiences will help you contribute to a collaborative learning environment, support your patients and colleagues, and advance Mayo Clinic’s commitment to excellence.”
• “Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. strategy integrates digital innovation with a deeply humanistic approach to transform healthcare. What role do you see yourself playing in shaping this future? Describe the skills, experiences, or aspirations in artificial intelligence and innovation that prepare you to contribute meaningfully to this transformation.”

Virginia Tech Carilion

“The 2026-2027 secondary prompts:” (VTC)

• “Reflect on a trait or characteristic you are proud of that you feel is most vulnerable to being lost on your journey to becoming a physician. How do you plan to protect it?”
• “Describe a time when doing the ‘right’ thing conflicted with rules, authority, or expectations. How did you handle it?”
• “Beyond the rise of AI, what do you consider the greatest challenge facing your generation, and how do you plan to address it?”

University of Georgia

For the 2027 matriculants’ cycle, 300 words each (UGA):

• “What draws you to the University of Georgia School of Medicine, and in what ways have your experiences prepared you to contribute to and serve communities across Georgia?”
• “Career Celebration (300 words): Imagine you’ve reached the end of a fulfilling and impactful career. A trusted colleague or mentee is delivering a speech in your honor at a celebration of your professional life. What would you want them to say about the kind of work you did, the values you embodied, the relationships you built, and the legacy you left behind? Take this opportunity to reflect on the career you aspire to build and how you want it to be remembered.”
• “Academic Journey (300 words): Tell us about the decisions and experiences that have defined your academic journey. This space is for you to provide context for any element of your academic history that you believe would help us better understand your path, persistence, and personal growth.” The prompt goes on to suggest a change in major, course withdrawals, a unique academic timeline, or how you improved a test score.
• “Reflection (300 words): What are the core values that guide you? Describe a time when those values were challenged, either by circumstances or by encountering someone whose perspectives differed from your own. How did you respond, and what did you learn about yourself in the process? In what ways does this experience reflect how you will contribute to the UGA School of Medicine and the profession of medicine?”

University of North Dakota

UND’s secondary has many short questions, including residency and yes-or-no items. The essay questions include (UND):

• “Describe an ethical dilemma that presented itself to you. Identify your choices, potential consequences and your resolution of the dilemma. In hindsight, what did you learn about yourself? (1,200 characters)”
• “Describe and reflect on a specific experience you have had with people of a different socioeconomic, ethnic, racial, cultural or religious/spiritual background than yourself. What preconceived notions did you have prior to the experience? How did the experience challenge your preconceived notions? (1,200 characters)”
• “Reflect on your personal experience with the process of scientific discovery. What aspect was most frustrating? Most rewarding? How might these lessons be transferable to the practice of medicine? (1,200 characters)”
• “Reflect on an experience in which you demonstrated creativity and innovation, where you generated an idea and implemented it to achieve an outcome.” (1,200 characters)
• “Reflect on a specific health care disparity affecting rural and/or Native American populations that you may have engaged with or studied and how you, as a future physician, might help to alleviate that disparity. (1,200 characters)”
• “Reflect on your role in a particularly impactful leadership or team experience in which your efforts resulted in a meaningful outcome. (1200 characters)”
• “What are your career plans if you do not ever get admitted to medical school? (600 characters)”

Western Michigan (WMed)

Two required prompts, 2,000 characters each. “This section of the supplemental application is not timed.” (WMed)

• “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.”
• “What unique values, skills, talents, and/or life experiences will you bring to WMed and the practice of medicine?”
• Optional: your connection to Southwest Michigan, and any additional information.

TCU Burnett School of Medicine

“The word count for both essays is a minimum 250 and a maximum of 300 words per essay.” (TCU)

• “Essay Prompt #1: The Burnett School of Medicine defines empathic scholars with these eight traits: Compassion, Teachability, Altruism, Insight, Humility, Collaboration, Integrity, & Respect. Which trait do you think you embody most and how will that be valuable to patient care? Which trait might you need to improve upon? How will you improve in this area and how will this be of value in your role as a physician?”
• “Essay Prompt #2: Characteristics of an aspiring MD. Describe any personal qualities and/or lived experiences that add context to your application that shape who you are as an individual and aspiring healthcare leader.”

The prompt types you’ll see everywhere

Across these eleven schools, the same few questions come back in different words. Draft one strong essay for each type, then cut and adapt it to each school’s wording and limit.

• Why us. Cincinnati, Mayo, UGA, WMed, and MCW all ask it. Name specific programs, tracks, or communities, and tie each to something you have already done.
• Challenge or adversity. Case Western’s personal challenge, MCW’s regret, and UGA’s academic journey. Spend more words on what you did and learned than on the problem.
• Difference and community. Vanderbilt, UND, and Case Western’s context of care. Show a specific person and what changed in your thinking.
• Ethics and values. UND’s ethical dilemma, VTC’s “right” thing, UGA’s core values. Show the choice, the cost, and what you would do again.
• Asking for help or growth. Vanderbilt’s asking for help and VTC’s trait you might lose. These reward honesty over polish.
• The future. Mayo’s AI prompt and VTC’s generational challenge are new for this cycle. Have a clear, modest view on technology in medicine.
• Red flags. Cincinnati asks directly about anything concerning in your application. Explain it in plain terms and show what changed.

How to get ahead

1. Write before invitations arrive. Case Western publishes early so applicants have “more time for essay writing”. Use it.
2. Return each secondary promptly. Your file isn’t complete, and can’t move to review, until the secondary is in.
3. Watch the units. Some limits are characters with spaces, some are words, and Cincinnati’s 2,000 characters is a total.
4. Don’t recycle your personal statement. Secondaries want new stories or new angles on old ones.
5. Write it yourself. Case Western and MCW both address AI use directly. Readers can tell when an essay has no person in it.

Still working on your primary essay? See our medical school personal statement examples. When interview invitations arrive, see our medical school interview guide and MMI guide. My wife, Julie Cunningham, MA, CCC-SLP, runs mock interviews on Zoom for medical school applicants: book a mock interview with Julie.

Frequently asked questions

What is a medical school secondary application?

A school-specific application sent after you submit AMCAS, usually with essays and a fee. Some schools send one to every applicant, and others screen first.

Does every applicant get a secondary?

Not everywhere. North Dakota says it does not pre-screen for secondary invitations. Vanderbilt invites about two-thirds of applicants after an initial screening, and Case Western requires a verified AMCAS application and an MCAT of 502 or higher.

How much do secondary applications cost?

It varies. Vanderbilt charges $95, Mayo $120, Western Michigan $110, North Dakota and Georgia $75, and Virginia Tech Carilion $70. Most waive the fee for AAMC Fee Assistance Program applicants; VTC gives a discount instead.

Can I write secondary essays before I get the invitation?

Yes, at schools that publish their prompts early, like the eleven on this page. Case Western says it publishes early to allow more time for essay writing.

Can I use AI to write secondary essays?

Case Western expects original writing that reflects your own ideas and experiences. MCW allows AI tools for brainstorming, proofreading, or editing, but says your final submission must be a true reflection of your own work.

After interviews, see medical school letters of intent and update letters for what schools accept from waitlisted applicants.

Interview guides for medical school: Medical school, MMI, Casper, and AAMC PREview. See all interview guides by program.

Every prompt, fee, deadline, and limit on this page comes from the school’s own admissions page, linked where it appears. Prompts change each cycle; check the school’s page before you write. Last checked October 28, 2026.