Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine 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

   As you consider Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, please tell us what resonates with you regarding our mission as a Jesuit, Catholic medical school? Consider also what you may be curious about regarding our institutional mission and identity.

   500 words
2. 02

   Considering all that you could do with your life, how have you discerned your decision to become a physician? What is particular to the practice of medicine and the vocation of a physician that draws you to apply to medical school versus another helping/caring profession? What experiences, conversations, and encounters have informed your decision to apply?

   500 words
3. 03

   Social justice, in the Jesuit tradition, justice due to each person's inherent human dignity, is an essential dimension of education at SSOM. Describe an impactful experience working with and for under-resourced communities. Explain what you have learned about yourself through this service and/or what has hindered your efforts to serve others in these environments.

   500 words
4. 04

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

   500 words
5. 05

   Medical education is characterized by long hours of study, a steady cadence of course exams, subjective and objective assessment of performance, licensing exams, and sometimes demanding and stressful educational contexts in the clinical environment. How has your chosen undergraduate course of study prepared you for the rigor and demands of the medical school curriculum? What additional skills have you learned as a pre-med student to help you balance your educational and personal responsibilities, including managing your time and relieving stress?

   500 words
6. 06

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

   Yes/No
7. 07

   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.

   No stated limitOptional
8. 08

   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.

   1500 charactersOptional
9. 09

   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.

   No stated limitOptional
10. 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.

    No stated limitOptional
11. 11

    Are you currently, or have you been, enrolled in any of the following programs? LUC - Applicant Boot Camp or Health Equity and Advocacy Leaders (ASPIRE): LUC - Early Assurance Program (EAP): LUC - 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): LUC - Medical Minority Applicant Registry (MED-MAR):

    Not applicableOptional
12. 12

    Please provide a statement about the program:

    No stated limitOptional
13. 13

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

    No stated limitOptional
14. 14

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

    No stated limitOptional
15. 15

    Using the voice tool linked here, please clearly speak your first and last name into your microphone.

    Not applicableOptional
16. 16

    Please also phonetically spell your name here. Use the following resources to determine the standard phonetic spelling for your first and last name: http://www.photransedit.com/.

    Not applicableOptional

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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