University of Georgia School of Medicine 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

   What draws you to the University of Georgia School of Medicine, and in what ways have your experiences prepared you to contribute to and serve communities across Georgia?

   300 words
2. 02

   Imagine you've reached the end of a fulfilling and impactful career. A trusted colleague or mentee is delivering a speech in your honor at a celebration of your professional life. What would you want them to say about the kind of work you did, the values you embodied, the relationships you built, and the legacy you left behind? Take this opportunity to reflect on the career you aspire to build and how you want it to be remembered.

   300 words
3. 03

   Tell us about the decisions and experiences that have defined your academic journey. This space is for you to provide context for any element of your academic history that you believe would help us better understand your path, persistence, and personal growth. For example, you may want to discuss the reasoning behind a significant change in major or a shift in academic interest, provide context for any course withdrawals or changes in your academic performance, or explain a unique academic timeline like attending multiple institutions or taking a gap year. You can also use this opportunity to describe your approach to improving a standardized test score after an initial attempt.

   300 words
4. 04

   What are the core values that guide you? Describe a time when those values were challenged, either by circumstances or by encountering someone whose perspectives differed from your own. How did you respond, and what did you learn about yourself in the process? In what ways does this experience reflect how you will contribute to the UGA School of Medicine and the profession of medicine?

   300 words
5. 05

   If you are a reapplicant, use this space to highlight aspects of your application that have changed since your last application.

   300 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.

More schools in GA