Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2026-2027 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

   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. 02

   Although your interests may change, how do you currently envision your specialty interests and future career in medicine and why?

   200 words
3. 03

   Tell us about some of your experiences that you believe will help you to take better care of patients.

   200 words
4. 04

   As a medical student and future physician, you are faced with many uncertain situations. Please describe a situation when you were asked to do something that you felt unprepared for. How did you handle it?

   400 words
5. 05

   At Netter SOM, we value service to each other and others in the community. Please share how you have made efforts to work with people from a different background than you. What did you learn from these efforts?

   400 words
6. 06

   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

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.
• Heads up: this school also requires CASPer, so build that into your timeline alongside the essays.

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