West Virginia University School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

The 2024-2025 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

   Why do you want to attend WVU SoM? How did you first hear about WVU SoM, and why do you feel you would be a good fit?

   150 words
2. 02

   Describe a time when you advocated for someone, other than a relative or friend, who had a different background from your own.

   150 words
3. 03

   How do you see yourself serving the state of West Virgina if accepted?

   150 words
4. 04

   Which one of the AAMC Interpersonal or Intrapersonal Core Competencies is your strongest, and why? How will this competency enhance your ability to be an outstanding physician?

   150 words
5. 05

   What would be the six-word title of your memoir? You are allowed only six words here. You may have the opportunity to explain your answer if you are invited for an interview.

   six 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.

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