Vanderbilt University 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

   Please reflect on the upbringing, background, and experiences in your life that have shaped who you are as a person and will help define the person you want to be in the future. In other words, what makes you who you are?

   800 words
2. 02

   Tell us about a time when you interacted with someone who is different than you. What did you learn? Would you do anything differently and if so, what?

   600 words
3. 03

   It is important to understand that everyone needs help at various times in their lives. Reflecting on the last five years, describe a time you asked for help and what you gained from that experience that has influenced your approach to asking for help.

   600 words
4. 04

   Please briefly summarize your activities since graduating from college. If you are still enrolled in undergraduate studies, please comment on any new projects, roles or initiatives undertaken since submitting your AMCAS application

   200 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 TN