University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen 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

   At the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, students are provided with curriculum and experiences enabling them to become an "Outstanding Physician, AND...," dedicating themselves to important societal missions. What missions do you want to embrace? What have you done toward your missions?

   800 characters
2. 02

   Respond to the following and indicate how these areas of experience have impacted your progress toward your future career goals in relation to becoming an "Outstanding Physician, AND...". Describe your most unique leadership, entrepreneurial, or creative activity.

   800 characters
3. 03

   Respond to the following and indicate how these areas of experience have impacted your progress toward your future career goals in relation to becoming an "Outstanding Physician, AND...". Describe your most important volunteer work and why it was meaningful.

   800 characters
4. 04

   Respond to the following and indicate how these areas of experience have impacted your progress toward your future career goals in relation to becoming an "Outstanding Physician, AND...". Describe your most scholarly project (thesis, research or field of study in basic or clinical science or in the humanities) and provide the total number of hours, dates and advisor.

   800 characters
5. 05

   Describe how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your pathway to medical school. Include any academic, personal, financial or professional barriers, as well as other relevant information.

   800 characters
6. 06

   Did you experience or are you anticipating time between graduating from college and matriculating into medical school? If you answered "Yes" to question 4, describe the activities in which you participated or are planning to participate. Examples include additional schooling, employment, or caring for a loved one.

   800 charactersOptional
7. 07

   Do you identify as being part of a group that has been marginalized (examples include, but are not limited to, LGBTQIA, disabilities, federally recognized tribe) in terms of access to education or healthcare? If you answered "Yes" to question 5, describe how this inequity has impacted you or your community and how educational disparity, health disparity and/or marginalization has impacted you and your community.

   800 charactersOptional
8. 08

   Are you re-applying to DGSOM? If you answered "Yes" to question 9, describe what has changed since you last applied to DGSOM. Please be specific.

   800 charactersOptional

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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