Stanford University 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

   What do you see as the most likely practice scenario for your future medical career? Choose the single answer that best describes your career goals and clinical practice setting: Academic Medicine (Clinical), Academic Medicine (Physician Scientist), Health Policy, Primary Care, Public Health/Community Health, Global Health. Please describe your motivation for this practice scenario. Why do you feel you are particularly suited for this practice scenario? What knowledge, skills and attitudes have you developed that have prepared you for this career path?

   1000 characters including spaces
2. 02

   How will you take advantage of the Stanford Medicine Discovery Curriculum and scholarly concentration requirement to achieve your personal career goals?

   1000 characters including spaces
3. 03

   Describe in a short paragraph your educational and family background. E.g., I grew up in New York City, as the 3rd child of a supermarket cashier and a high school principal. I attended Mann High School where my major interests were boxing and drama.

   600 characters including spaces
4. 04

   How have your life experiences shaped your perspective on medicine, health, or patient care, and how do you anticipate bringing that perspective into our learning community?

   2000 characters including spaces
5. 05

   Please describe a significant contribution you've made to a community that matters to you. What role did you play, how did you influence others, and how did your actions create positive change?

   1000 characters including spaces
6. 06

   What do you see as your greatest area for growth, and how will you address it?

   1000 characters including spaces
7. 07

   Please describe a time you felt unfairly treated or judged and how you responded.

   1000 characters including spaces
8. 08

   Please include anything else that will help us understand better how you may uniquely contribute to Stanford Medicine?

   1000 characters including spacesOptional

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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