Wake Forest University School of Medicine Secondary Essay Prompts

1. The Committee on Admissions values diversity as an important factor in the educational mission of the Wake Forest School of Medicine. How will you contribute to the diversity of your medical school class and to the medical community in general? (400 words)

Start by brainstorming what is unique about your background. Is it your place of birth, your family, your culture, or your path to medicine. Also consider prior adversity you have had to overcome and how that has shaped your values. Consider 1-2 of these experiences and weave a story about them which show your unique characteristics. Specifically answer how this can contribute to your medical school class; consider the effect you might have on your peers, professors and patients.

2. What obstacles or challenges have you experienced and how have you dealt with them? (400 words)

Think back to scenarios when you had a personal struggle which you overcame. What were times in your life that you almost quit but did not? Which accomplishments required particular perseverance? Once you have chosen the experiences, make sure there is a lesson you learned that you can explain. Most important to the prompt, how did you grow as a person? Consider focusing on the following traits for growth: dedication, perseverance, discipline, interpersonal skills, leadership.

3. How has creativity helped you in your studies, work, activities, volunteering, or life in general? (400 words)

Brainstorm what your most creative pursuits have been, and don’t be afraid to be unique in your answer if you have interesting hobbies. Make sure that you can tie this to the prompt and how it has augmented one of the above categories. Consider even using a mundane example to illustrate a point about your ingenuity, such as devising a new study approach and schedule to augment test score and long-term retention of material.

4. Briefly summarize your journey from the time you became interested in a medical career to filling out this secondary application. Do not focus on why you wish to pursue a medical career, but how you got to where you are now. (400 words)

This is a unique prompt and hard to answer in such few words. The key here is to not repeat the personal statement or primary application. The admissions committee already has all that info, so now you need to bring something new. Treat this as an actual more of an autobiography, detailing the major parts of your life which lead to where you stand now. Start with an outline; this is key. Do not focus on medical events and experiences, as these were likely not as important until recent years of your life. Make it creative and true to yourself. Let your voice come out in the writing. In the end, if you can tie things together to create a theme as to why you are a good fit to become a doctor, that would be a great outcome. Do this subtly and do not make it the whole focus of the answer.

5. Please tell us an interesting fact about yourself that a casual acquaintance may find surprising or interesting. (50 words)

With very few words, you will have to be succinct here. Choose a point which is interesting and appropriate but intriguing and unique. What will catch the reader’s eye? Ideally make it something that demonstrates one of your virtues or strengths.

OPTIONAL ESSAYS

1. If you have already received your bachelor’s degree, please describe what you have been doing since graduation and your plans for the upcoming year (200 words)

Either an essay or a list is a reasonable approach to this question, but essays tend to be more elegant and allow you to show off your writing skills more. Lists read more like a CV. For each experience you have completed, explain how this helped you grow and become a better medical school candidate, which should be the goal of the gap year in the admissions committee’s eyes.

2. If you have previously applied to Wake Forest School of Medicine MD program, please describe if you have made any significant changes or improvements from your previous application. (200 words)

Focus on personal growth during the time since last application. Rather than avoiding the elephant in the room which is the failed application cycle, introspect on why you did not get accepted. Find something that is a weakness in your prior application which needed work, and then demonstrate how in your off year you were able to strengthen yourself in this regard. Examples include GPA (post bacc), research (additional research work or publications), clinical work (additional clinical hours).

3. Describe any connection you have to Wake Forest School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, or North Carolina. (200 words)

This will only be relevant for certain applicants. Describe as appropriate in an honest and subtle manner. Do not flaunt connections if possible. Be humble.