University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2025-2026 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

   Please share why you want to pursue your medical education at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine; describe any connections to Northern Nevada communities; and how you are prepared to contribute to UNR Med's vision of a Healthy Nevada.

   300 words
2. 02

   Describe a time when you were part of a team that was struggling to meet objectives. How did you react? What would you do differently? What did you take away from this experience that will influence your approach to working on a team in the future?

   300 words
3. 03

   Reflect on and describe an experience where you provided care or service to individuals from populations that commonly experience health care disparities. Discuss what you learned about the socio-cultural or economic factors that affect underserved populations and describe how your interactions with these individuals motivated or prepared you for a future in medicine.

   300 words
4. 04

   Describe a time when you faced a significant life crisis or an academic, personal, or professional failure. How did you respond, what did you learn, and how did the experience influence your future actions?

   300 words
5. 05

   Please share an example of how you have used critical thinking and communication skills to develop a creative or innovative solution to a challenging problem.

   300 words
6. 06

   You are invited to provide a brief statement regarding anything not previously addressed or disclosed in your application that you would like considered during the review of your application. If you are a re-applicant to UNR Med, we encourage you to outline any significant changes or new experiences from your previous application.

   500 words

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 Duet, so build that into your timeline alongside the essays.

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