Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Secondary Essay Prompts

These are the secondary application essay prompts for Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page.

about Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Secondary Deadline: December 1, 2024
Secondary Fee: $80
FAP Waiver: Yes
CASPer Required: Yes
Screens Applications: Yes
Accepts Application Updates: Yes

Mission

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is dedicated to transforming health care for New Jersey and the nation through innovation and excellence in education, research, patient- and family-centered care and addressing the health of our diverse community.

Vision

Robert Wood Johnson Medical School will become the academic engine driving a new healthcare paradigm in New Jersey; the state’s first and largest academic high-value health care system.

2024-2025

Please complete the below essay questions. Please note that it is possible some questions may not apply to you. When this is the case, please indicate as such with NA.

2. RWJMS strives to matriculate a student body that supports and enriches each other and the learning environment. Please share a life experience, personal attribute, and/or perspective that will help contribute to this learning environment. (250 words or less)

3. Discuss a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. Be sure to include the skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (Please keep this under 250 words)

4. Are you interested in applying for PACCE? (Yes/Maybe/No). If yes/maybe (No limits)

What are the factors that drive your interest in primary care?
Provide examples, experiences, or critical incidents that informed you about either the family medicine or pediatric specialty.

5. Please feel free to comment on any course grades, GPA trends, or MCAT scores and what you have learned about yourself. (No limit)

6. Please use this space if you would like to provide additional information to the admissions committee. (No limit)

2023-2024

1. RWJMS has identified the core values below as critical to our mission and vision. We strive to matriculate learners who embody these values.

R — Respect, dignity and humanism for the diverse population we serve
W — Wellness and resilience
J — Joining learners hand in hand with care delivery
M — Making patients first with safe, compassionate, high-quality care
S — Science to advance human health

Please select a RWJMS core value that resonates the most with you. In two paragraphs or less, reflect on one of your experiences to discuss how you have built a foundation for this value and how it will contribute to our community of learners. (No Word Limit)

2. Discuss a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. Be sure to include the skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (250 words)

3. Please feel free to comment on any course grades, GPA trends, or MCAT scores and what you have learned about yourself. (No Word Limit)

4. Please use this space if you would like to provide additional information to the admissions committee. (No Word Limit)

2022-2023

1. Please use this space if you would like to provide additional information to the admissions committee. You may choose to elaborate on or clarify details you have previously provided. (1250 characters)

2. Are you interested in participating in PACCE? (Yes/No) If yes, please provide a short paragraph explaining how you know a primary care focused specialty is your preference. (1250 characters)

3. Please feel free to comment on any course grades, GPA trends, or MCAT scores and what you have learned about yourself. (1250 characters)

4. If you are applying with a state of legal residence that is not NJ, please indicate your connection to NJ (mark all that apply) and explain this connection. (1250 characters)

2021-2022

1. More than a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, what do you believe are major needs in health care and how have your expectations for your role as a doctor changed? (250 words)

2. Discuss a time you tried to right a perceived wrong, felt moved to speak up for someone, or took a stand against a situation you felt was unjust. (250 words)

3. Were you, or are you, employed during the school year? If so please let us know the type of work, hours worked, etc.(No word limit)

4. If you have taken time off during your undergraduate training or if you have already graduated, please provide information to explain this time by providing a bulleted list of activities or explanation delineated by month/year to month/year.

5. If you would like, feel free to explain any impact that COVID-19 may have had on your educational/research/volunteering or employment plans.

6. If applicable, please comment on any science grade(s) listed on your application for which you received grades lower than a B. If applicable, please comment if there is a downward trend in your science and/or total grade point average (GPA).

7. Please let us know how you prepared for your most recent MCAT. If you have taken the MCAT more than once let us know if you prepared differently for prior tests.

2020-2021

1. How has COVID 19 impacted your expectations for your medical education experience and your future work as a doctor?(No word limit)

2. Were you, or are you, employed during the school year? If so please let us know the type of work, hours worked, etc.

3. If you have taken time off during your undergraduate training or if you have already graduated, please provide information to explain this time by providing a bulleted list of activities or explanation delineated by month/year to month/year.

4. If you would like, feel free to explain any impact that COVID-19 may have had on your educational/research/volunteering or employment plans.

5. If applicable, please comment on any science grade(s) listed on your application for which you received grades lower than a B. If applicable, please comment if there is a downward trend in your science and/or total grade point average (GPA).

6. Please let us know how you prepared for your most recent MCAT. If you have taken the MCAT more than once let us know if you prepared differently for prior tests.

7. If you are applying with a state of legal residence that is not NJ, please indicate your connection to NJ (mark all that apply) and explain this connection: (checkbox and then a box to explain further).

8. Please indicate if you and/or your parents are/were employed by RWJMS or other connections to Rutgers University.

9. Have you ever been subjected to disciplinary action by any college or university? Have you ever been charged or convicted of a criminal offense? Are there any disciplinary or criminal charges pending against you? If the answer is yes, please specify the details.

10. Is there anything you would like to share or anything you would like to clarify on your application?

2019-2020

1. If applicable, please comment on any science grade(s) listed on your application for which you received grades lower than a B. If applicable, please comment if there is a downward trend in your science and/or total grade point average (GPA). (Word count not provided)

2. Please let us know how you prepared for your most recent MCAT. If you have taken the MCAT more than once let us know if you prepared differently for prior tests. (Word count not provided)

3. Were you, or are you, employed during the school year? If so please let us know the type of work, hours worked, etc. In addition, please indicate if you and/or your parents are/were employed by RWJSM. (Word count not provided)

4. If you have taken time off during your undergraduate training, or if you have already graduated, please please provide information to explain this time by providing a line-by-line description of activities or explanation delineated by month/year to month/year. (Word count not provided)

5. If you’re applying with a state of legal residence that is not New Jersey, please indicate your connection to New Jersey and explain this connection. (Word count not provided)

2018-2019

2. Please let us know how you prepared for your most recent MCAT. If you have taken the MCAT more than once let us know if you prepared differently for prior tests. (optional) (250 char)

3. Provide a very short reflection of what you have learned about your preferred strategies for pursuing knowledge in areas of interest to yourself. (250 char)

4. If you have taken time off during your undergraduate training or if you have already graduated, please provide information to explain this time by providing a line-by-line description of activities or explanation delineated by month/year to month/year. (optional) (500 char)

5. Were you, or are you, employed during the school year? If so please let us know the type of work, hours worked, etc.(optional) (500 char)

6. Is there anything you would like to share to clarify your application? (optional) (500 char)

2017-2018

Part 1

1. If applicable, please comment on any science grade(s) listed on your application for
which you received grades lower than a B. If applicable, please comment if there is a
downward trend in your science and/or total grade point average (GPA).

2. If you have taken time off during your undergraduate training or if you have already graduated, please provide
information to explain this time by providing a line-by- line description of activities or
explanation delineated by month/year to month/year.

3. If you applied as a non-resident (i.e., your legal residency is a state other than NJ), please let us know if
you grew up in NJ, attended school in NJ, have parents who reside in NJ, work in NJ, etc.

4. Please let us know how you prepared for your most recent MCAT. If you have taken the
MCAT more than once let us know if you prepared differently for prior tests.

5. Were you, or are you, employed during the school year? If so please let us know the
type of work, hours worked, etc. In addition, please indicate if you and/or your parents
are/were employed by RWJMS.

6. Is there anything you would like to share to clarify your application?

Part 2
Take CASPer or in the next series of prompts, you will reflect upon experiences, activities or accomplishments that demonstrate each of the indicated pre-professional competencies.

Your response should be limited to one paragraph and include:

-The situation where you demonstrated the competency,
-Your actions and the resulting consequence, and
-What you learned as a result of your experience(s).
Pre-professional Competencies:
1. Integrity and Ethics
2. Reliability and
3. Dependability
4. Desire to Learn
5. Commitment to serving others/volunteering
6. Social Interpersonal and Teamwork Skills
7. Cultural Competence
8. Resilience and Adaptability

2016-2017

The secondary application essay prompts from this medical school application cycle are the same as above.

Disclaimer: The information on this page was shared by students and/or can be found on the medical school’s website. Med School Insiders does not guarantee the accuracy of the information on this page.