University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2023-2024 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

   The School of Medicine & Health Sciences is a community-based medical school, and because of the unique circumstances of our regional location, we place special emphasis on the unique skills needed to provide care for patients and populations in rural and Native American communities across all competencies. The primary purpose of the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences is to educate physicians and other health professionals for subsequent service in North Dakota and to enhance the quality of life of its people. Other purposes include the discovery of knowledge that benefits the people of this state and enhances the quality of their lives. Please explain the steps you have taken towards, and how you will fulfill different aspects of the school's mission.

   1200 words
2. 02

   Reflect on personal experiences of resilience and emotional intelligence throughout your life and how this has prepared you in your pursuit of a career in medicine.

   1200 characters
3. 03

   Describe your experiences with diverse populations. Examples include a summary of a volunteer experience, study abroad, employment, self-taught endeavor or a formal course on diversity that includes direct interaction with individuals or groups from socio-economic disadvantaged, diverse cultures, rural, or other backgrounds.

   1200 characters
4. 04

   Describe your research activity. Examples include the outcome of a formal research experience, course-dependent undergraduate research, thesis, or capstone project.

   600 characters
5. 05

   Describe your creative activity. Examples include the on-going production of art forms, artistic performance, or other creative efforts, such as photography, painting, musical talents, needlework, cooking, wood-working, building cars, yoga instructor, dancing, theatre performance, writing, gaming etc.

   600 characters
6. 06

   Expand and reflect on medical and/or clinical experience as it relates to the mission of the School of Medicine & Health Sciences. This may include a summary of physician shadowing, clinical observation, community service, volunteer work, and/or employment. Examples include, but are not limited to, work in a clinic, hospital, as a first responder, clinical lab, public health, home health visits, assisted living, nursing home care, youth camps, or relevant military duty.

   1200 characters
7. 07

   Expand and reflect on leadership and team experience. This may include a summary of leadership roles or teamwork in employed positions, extracurricular activities, organizations, volunteer services, or any other leadership or team experiences.

   1200 characters
8. 08

   What are your career plans if you do not ever get admitted to medical school?

   600 characters
9. 09

   If needed, update the information in your AMCAS application (i.e., grades in recent courses, alterations in your proposed coursework or graduation, additions to extracurricular activities, unreported legal and institutional infractions, etc.).

   600 charactersOptional
10. 10

    Are you currently enrolled in a grant-funded and/or degree-granting post-baccalaureate program and/or advanced degree? If so, what is your timeline for completion?

    600 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.