Michigan State University College of Human 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

   How have your most meaningful experiences shaped what you envision doing in medicine 15 years from now? Describe one specific future accomplishment that would define your career's success up to that point in time. (Please limit your response to 400 words or less.)

   400 words
2. 02

   How have your personal experiences with, or observations of, systemic inequities shaped your perspective? Moving beyond generalities, describe how this perspective will uniquely influence your approach to patient care and your role in addressing health disparities as a future physician. (Please limit your response to 400 words or less.)

   400 words
3. 03

   Each year, we review thousands of applications. Beyond what is in your primary application, what do you want the Admissions Committee to know about you as it relates to your fit for MSU CHM's community-based mission? If you are an out-of-state applicant, we encourage you to address your interest in training and potentially practicing in Michigan. (Please limit your response to 400 words or less.)

   400 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 or PREview, so build that into your timeline alongside the essays.

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