Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2026-2027 prompts

Want these drafted from your own story? Start with MedCoach

Collected from public applicant reports. Prompts occasionally change mid cycle, so confirm against your own secondary portal before you submit.

1. 01

   RWJMS has identified the core values below as critical to our mission and vision. We strive to matriculate learners who embody these values. R -- Respect, dignity and humanism for the diverse population we serve W -- Wellness and resilience J -- Joining learners hand in hand with care delivery M -- Making patients first with safe, compassionate, high-quality care S -- Science to advance human health In two paragraphs or less, identify which value you selected and reflect on one of your experiences to discuss how you have built a foundation for this value.

   Two paragraphs or less
2. 02

   RWJMS strives to matriculate a student body that supports and enriches each other and the learning environment. Please share a life experience, personal attribute, and/or perspective that will help contribute to this learning environment.

   250 words
3. 03

   Medical training can be stressful. What strategies have you developed to manage stress and maintain your well-being? How have these strategies evolved over time?

   250 words
4. 04

   Discuss a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. What did you learn from this situation?

   250 words
5. 05

   Describe a time when you received feedback that you did not agree with. How did you handle this situation? What did you learn from this experience?

   250 words
6. 06

   Please feel free to comment on any course grades, GPA trends, or MCAT scores and what you have learned about yourself.

   No stated limitOptional
7. 07

   Please use this space if you would like to provide additional information to the admissions committee.

   No stated limitOptional

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.

More schools in NJ