California Northstate University College of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2025-2026 prompts

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Collected from public applicant reports. Prompts occasionally change mid cycle, so confirm against your own secondary portal before you submit.

1. 01

   Why have you chosen to apply to CNUCOM?

   1785 characters
2. 02

   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 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?

   1785 characters
3. 03

   In which direction would you like to see healthcare progress over the next decade?

   1785 characters
4. 04

   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
5. 05

   If you have previously applied to medical school, what have you accomplished since that time that would warrant your admission now?

   1785 characters
6. 06

   Is there anything you would like the Admissions Committee to know that is not reflected elsewhere in your application?

   1785 characters
7. 07

   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?

   1000 charactersOptional

How to write these well

• Turn secondaries around within 7 to 14 days of receiving them. Schools read speed as interest, and slow essays land in a bigger pile.
• Pre-write the universal question types (diversity, challenge, why us) once, then adapt per school. Adapting is rewriting the school specific half, not swapping the name.
• Name real programs. A why us answer that cites a specific clinic, track, or community partnership reads ten times stronger than praise for reputation or location.
• Stay under the limit without padding to reach it. Readers are working through thousands of these; a tight answer is a kindness they remember.

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