Michigan State University College of Osteopathic 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

   The MSUCOM curriculum stresses the importance of intrapersonal competencies, including personal responsibility and adaptability. Please tell us a time when you were faced with a challenge in these areas and how that challenge impacted your professional growth.

   300 words
2. 02

   What aspects of professionalism do you believe are most crucial for a physician, and how have you demonstrated these qualities in your preparation for medical school?

   300 words
3. 03

   You may provide additional information, not stated elsewhere, you feel may help the Admissions Committee gain a better understanding of your candidacy. This may include major life achievements or explanations of academic or non-academic discrepancies on your application. You may also include interests or work experiences. You are not required to complete this field. If you do not have additional information to share write "N/A" in the box below.

   500 wordsOptional
4. 04

   Please describe any intentional efforts you have made to learn about osteopathic medicine. This may include meaningful interactions with DOs, experiences that influenced your understanding of osteopathic philosophy or professional identity, or specific reasons for your interest in the osteopathic profession. You are not required to complete this field. If you do not have additional information to share write "N/A" in the box below.

   500 wordsOptional

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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