University of California, Riverside School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts
Avg GPA
3.77
Avg MCAT
510
Class size
90
SJT required
None
University of California, Riverside School of Medicine is a public school, so CA residents have a meaningful admissions advantage here.
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.
- 01
The mission of the UCR School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of California and, especially, to serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians and by developing innovative research and health care delivery programs that will improve the health of the medically underserved in the region and become models to be emulated throughout the state and nation. What experiences, skills, and abilities will you bring to the class to fulfill this mission?
250 words - 02
The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of the values and tell us how you have displayed it in a clinical setting.
250 words - 03
In what type of healthcare setting do you see yourself practicing medicine?
250 words - 04
Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it. [Please do not write about studying for or taking the MCAT.]
250 words - 05
If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us.
250 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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