If you’re applying to medical school this cycle, you’ve been through the whole ordeal — years of college, volunteering at hospitals or research labs, hardcore study sessions for the MCAT, asking professors and professionals for letters of recommendation, and filling out the AMCAS and writing your personal statements.

You’ve made it far, so take a breath. You certainly deserve it. But don’t rest too long because medical school secondary applications are your next big step.

Secondary essay samples: Prompts and more
See what a good secondary application essay looks like. Read more.
Med school secondary application prompts you don't expect
Watch out for these unusual secondary prompts! Read more.

Secondaries are a big surprise – tons of work, and all at once, suddenly.

You might think that secondary application essays are small-fry compared to other obstacles you’ve completed to get to where you are now, but understand that your secondary applications are what will land you an interview with medical schools. Prepare yourself for one of the last crucial steps by learning more about the secondary application essays.

Sample medical school secondary essay prompts are the best way to see what you’ll be facing and how to tackle each prompt. You can get sample secondary essay prompts — read more for my solution to the problem.

With sample secondaries in front of you, look for:

• Prompts — Sample secondary application essays show you the kind of topics you’ll be facing.
• Voice — Finding the right voice can be a challenge, so you can use samples for guidance.
• Structure —  Finding persuasive ideas is one challenge, and deciding how to structure your ideas is another challenge. Use the structure of sample secondary application essays as a skeletal guide for you own essays.

Read sample medical school secondaries for ideas that are harder to pick up on, such as: 

• Thematic Development — Successful medical school secondary applications will reinforce the core themes from the original application. All good sample secondary application essays need to build upon the themes you presented in the primary application.
• Answers to the toughest prompts, like the “Why this school?” prompt — Medical schools also wants to know why you’re personal interests or qualifications are right for their program. Doing this can be tricky, but sample secondary application essays can help you see how other students came up with a convincing response.

If you find something else that’s a big challenge, write about it in the comments beneath the article and I’ll help you out.

Take a look at our guide on how to write the secondary application to see a big list of all the common secondary prompts, as well as training videos walking your through all the techniques you need to know to write compelling secondaries.