Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University 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

   Will you be enrolled as a student this year? Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please provide details of your activities/employment for the application year.

   1200 characters
2. 02

   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 characters
3. 03

   Community service provides a powerful lens through which we can understand your values, motivations, and growth. Please describe a community service experience that was meaningful to you. What inspired you to get involved? In what ways did this experience promote your personal growth and learning? What aspects did you find most fulfilling?

   1600 characters
4. 04

   Reflect on your past experiences participating in paid or unpaid work, volunteer roles, or other community-oriented activities. What skills or personal qualities have you developed that you believe will support your success in medical school and as a future physician? These experiences do not need to be clinical.

   1600 characters
5. 05

   Leadership is not defined by titles alone - it's demonstrated through initiative, collaboration, and the ability to guide others toward a shared goal. Describe a time when you demonstrated leadership by guiding a group or organization toward a shared goal. How did you align efforts, motivate others, and contribute to the outcome?

   1600 characters
6. 06

   Discuss a significant personal challenge that helped shape who you are today. What did you learn about yourself, and how will these insights help you navigate the challenges in medical school and beyond? Please include any support systems or resources that played a role in your experience and share if you believe they will translate to medical school.

   1600 characters
7. 07

   If you are a reapplicant for medical school, please share examples of personal or professional experiences that you believe have strengthened your application, contributed to your growth, and have better prepared you for the rigors of medical school since your initial application.

   1600 characters

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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