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The Adversity Essay for Medical School

Our team of editors have put together a step by step process on how to approach the most common secondary essays . Follow the below 6 step writing process for the adversity essay medical school secondary. 

What is the Medical School Adversity Essay?

Writing the Adversity Essay

Adversity Essay Example Prompts 

Medical School Adversity Essay Examples

Introduction 

Adversity feels like an intense word, and in some ways, it is. Do a quick thesaurus search and you’re likely to find way more negative synonyms than positive ones. Bad luck, hardship, distress…and you have to write a secondary essay for your medical school application about it?

The adversity essay, sometimes known to applicants as the ‘challenge essay,’ is a common prompt on medical school secondaries . But contrary to the name, its purpose isn’t to make you rehash something terrible you’ve experienced, or list all the obstacles that have ever come onto your path. The adversity essay is actually a chance to infuse some positivity into your secondary application.

The key to demystifying and stunning your admissions committees with this essay is responding in a way that shows how you rose to meet a challenge…and why you’re better for it!

If you’re struggling to understand how to go about responding to an adversity essay prompt, don’t worry…we’ve got your back. With a clearer understanding of this secondary, as well as some tips and tricks to guide you, you’ll soon be well on your way to crafting an effective adversity essay; one that shows admissions committees how effectively you turn lemons into lemonade.

Why is the Adversity Essay a Secondary Prompt?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret…med school is tough. But you knew that! After all, your premed journey hasn’t always been easy. You’ve worked exceptionally hard to get to this place; the place where you’re writing a secondary essay for your dream medical school. But because medical education is a marathon , and because becoming a physician is a serious undertaking, medical schools want to know that you’re up to the task. They ask adversity questions to get a sense of how you react when faced with a challenge or obstacle. They want to know that when the going gets tough, you have a toolbox and a means to respond.

What the Adversity Essay is…and is not

Importantly, the adversity essay is a place to show how an experience you faced brought you to be the person you are today. It is not a place to complain about something that happened to you, nor is it a place to process emotional events. The adversity essay is an opportunity to show how you can evolve and change . It’s an essay that should be mature, thoughtful, and introspective. It’s not a place to bemoan past events, express grievances, or unpack situations that you haven’t fully processed for yourself.

Writing the Adversity Essay: Begin with the End in Mind

Just like our other secondaries we need to start this one with a solid outline. In fact, for the adversity essay, I argue that the end is even more important than the beginning. Because this essay is intended to build a narrative, show growth, and change, we need to be mindful of our structure. Like any good story, the adversity essay for medical school must have a beginning, middle, and an end. This sounds overly simplistic, but it can be exceptionally hard to do. We don’t often think about the things that happen to us as having a narrative arc…but when we write about them for admissions essays, this is what we must work hard to accomplish. Let’s explore my approach to the 6 steps of this process and see if we can make this act of storytelling a bit clearer.

Step 1: Choosing Your Situation

Some students feel they haven’t faced enough hardship to successfully tackle this essay. They wonder how to choose a scenario when nothing ‘that bad’ has really happened to them.

This is a misunderstanding about the adversity essay, most likely born of its unfortunate name. When choosing what to write about, remember; you’re thinking about a challenge, or a struggle…not necessarily a terrible memory or a life event that caused you pain.

To be honest, I was intentional about NOT writing about the worst things that had ever happened to me. That was a lot of pressure for a small essay and it was much harder to articulate the skills and attributes I used to meet challenges when writing about topics like trauma or grief. That isn’t to say that you can’t or shouldn’t write about these topics if you are comfortable doing so.

Vulnerability in your application is a very personal choice. You must be mindful though, that whatever you chose to write about has to be reflective, and demonstrate growth. It is also fair game to be asked about on the interview trail; if you can’t talk comfortably about the experience and its impact on you, you shouldn’t write about it in your essay.

When considering what to write for this essay, reflect on a difficult situation or experience ; maybe this was a class in school, or a tricky research problem. Maybe you had a problem to solve at work or a difficult family dynamic to address. Ask yourself:

• What made this experience a challenge?
• What happened?
• Why was it meaningful?

As we start this essay, we begin by providing some context on the situation. I like to start with a little bit of background and storytelling. I will first introduce my setting and my characters before I move on to the next step: identifying the obstacle or explaining the problem.

Step 2: Identifying the Obstacle 

Once we’ve picked a situation, the next step in writing this essay is identifying the obstacle for readers. In order to build this narrative, I have to explain what the problem was ; this is the key element that we will ‘overcome’ if you will, in our response. Think back to what you identified as being challenging in the experience you chose. Once you’ve named the problem that you needed to solve, for your readers, you’re ready to move on to the next step of the process.

Step 3: the “Uh-Oh” Moment

This is the part of the essay, after we’ve laid out the background and the problem, where we, as central actors in the story, realize we’ve got a problem. I like to think of the “uh-oh,” moment in the adversity essay as the place where the protagonist (that’s you!) recognized there was a challenge to surmount . Maybe there were some feelings of hopelessness, worry , or fear. Maybe you didn’t know what to do and panicked. This is when you recognized the setback that ultimately set you up for the comeback. Be honest about your emotions, and the reactions you experienced as well as the emotions and reactions of other people in the story

Step 4: The Turning Point

The turning point is where we explain how things changed . For example:

• You were fearful, but you took a deep breath and kept going.
• It was mile 22 of the marathon and you gave yourself a pep talk; it wasn’t easy but you kept putting one foot in front of the other.

This is the part of the essay where you indicate a change occurred . Tell readers how you made the pivot, and how you became more in that moment than you thought you could be. If we think about this in relation to our narrative arc, this is the climax of the story. All the action is building to this point; our hero (that’s you!) has finally realized how to solve their problem. Nothing can stop you now!

Step 5: Establishing Growth

As we wind down our essay, we want to consider;

• What did the turning point teach you?
• What lessons did you take away from the turning point?
• How did overcoming this challenge make you feel?

Show us how far you’ve come in this essay; remind us where you started, and show the impact of this story on your life today.

Step 6: Reflecting and Looking Forward

As we bring this story to its conclusion, we want to end by reflecting on those big lessons learned by you, our protagonist, over the course of this story. We also want to look ahead and comment on how you will apply these skills to your future work as a member of the academic community to which you are applying, and even later on, as a physician.

Important Points to Remember

When finishing up this essay, you’ll want to make sure of a couple things.

• Need help with this? Click here .
• Another thing to check is that you’re centering yourself as the main focus of the action. This is, I’ll reiterate, not an essay about something hard you went through. This is an essay about how you responded, how you grew, and how this event shaped who you are today. This difference is distinct and important. Make sure your emotions, responses, and reactions are center stage, but in a way that shows you in control of the narrative. This is not a place to express victimhood or complain; it’s an essay of strength and positivity.
• Finally, make sure that you’re connecting this essay to the skills that will be necessary in your medical career. What did this experience teach you about resilience? About persistence? How will your ability to transcend this obstacle serve you well in the future?

So while this might be an ‘intense,’ essay, it certainly does not have to be filled with hardship. You’re ready to write a strong, powerful essay about your ability to overcome…and get into a great medical school .

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Adversity Essay Medical School Example Prompts

Example 1: “What has been your biggest challenge in pursuing medicine? What have you learned as a result? (250 words maximum) “ (California Northstate University College of Medicine)

Example 2: “The admissions committee is interested in gaining more insight into you as a person. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience and what you learned about yourself as a result. Please limit your response to 1 page (about 3,500 characters), and leave a blank line between paragraphs. ” (Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine)

Example 3: “Please discuss challenges in your journey thus far to medical school. (150 words) ” (Rosalind Franklin University – Chicago Medical School Secondary)

Example 4: “Describe how you have dealt with a personal challenge or major obstacle that you have overcome. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. (2000 characters ” (Creighton University School of Medicine)

Example 5: “We seek students who are self-aware, resilient and adaptable. Discuss a personal or professional challenge you’ve experienced and how you resolved it. Please include insight on what you learned about yourself as a result. ” (Rutgers New Jersey Medical School)

Example 6: “Describe a time when you suffered a setback. How did you respond to this challenge? (Persistence/Grit) ” (University of Massachusetts Medical School)

Example 7: “Describe a situation in which working with a colleague, family member or friend has been challenging. How did you resolve, if at all, the situation as a team and what did you gain from the experience that will benefit you as a future health care provider? ” (New York University School of Medicine )

Example 8: “Other than work-life balance, what will be your greatest challenge in becoming a physician? (1550 characters) ” (Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine)

Adversity Essay Examples

This specific prompt asked me to consider a time when I had failed at something. I used variations of this adversity essay for multiple medical school secondary applications, always making sure to make adjustments to be specific for what the prompt was asking.

My first task, at my new job on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Community Health team, was to create a database for Community Health Workers (CHWs) to enter Protected Health Information (PHI) secure data. I had a background in monitoring & evaluation & I knew all about data collection from my years in sociology. The problem?

I had zero background programming. I struggle to program the microwave to bake a sweet potato.

I was going to need help.

I started first by meeting with the CHWs— to create a system that met their needs, we needed to understand what they needed. They told me stories about their patients. We identified our collection goals. I met scholars in Dartmouth academia, asking for their advice. I read forums, watched videos, & created the first draft.

It did not work.

When our CHWs tried to enter data, it felt clunky. We had to start again.

Thomas Edison once said that he learned many ways not to make a lightbulb. We did the same; for databases. I sought out my boss & her boss. I enlisted programmers & web experts to join our team. The CHWs & I met again & again. Five months later, we succeeded. Our system has been rolled out to three separate population health programs; CHWs report an improved ability to care for patients through reduced burden of data collection.

Over those months, we became great at making bad databases. We did not give up, in part, because I pushed forward.  “Failure” is often a misnomer. Experience is not the sum of its parts. The same is true of people; in shared effort we create something far greater than we ever might have on our own. As a physician, I’ll apply this same spirit of collaboration to my team based care. If given the privilege of a ______Medical School education, I will bring this same problem solving ability to all my clinical and interpersonal endeavors.

View more Medical School Adversity Essay Examples Here.

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Medical School Adversity Essay

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The medical school adversity essay also called the "challenge essay" by applicants, is a typical question on medical school secondaries. However, it is not meant to make you relive a terrible moment in your past or compile a list of all the challenges you have faced. 

The medical school adversity essay is an opportunity to add optimism to your secondary application.

The secret to impressing your admissions committees with your medical school adversity essay is to react in a way that demonstrates how you met a challenge head-on and why it helped you become a better person. 

This article focuses on a medical school adversity essay. You will soon be well on your way to writing a successful adversity essay demonstrating to admissions committees that you are worthy of entry. 

What is a Medical School Adversity Essay? 

You will need to write an adversity essay when completing your secondary applications , in addition to a diversity essay . 

The medical school adversity essay is one of the most popular samples of secondary essays. Usually, the essay question will ask you to talk about a difficult time you have gone through and how you overcame it.

The question regarding your prior struggles is one that the admissions committees for medical school use to assess your ability to handle and handle adversity. In essence, they examine how you approach problems and move toward resolving conflicts in your life. 

The admissions committee will evaluate your level of communication, resilience, and maturity based on how you handle moral and ethical quandaries.

The adversity prompt depends on whether you should write about a personal or professional experience. The prompt might, however, leave it up to your judgment. 

Since your main application already delves into the specifics of your academic experiences, the adversity essay is a fantastic chance for you to share fresh and pertinent experiences. 

Medical school adversity essays highlight your capacity to surmount challenges and cope with the pressure outside of the classroom.

5 Tips for Answering Medical School Adversity Essays

The purpose of asking about adversity is to help admissions committees for medical schools understand how you handle challenging circumstances. They want to know that you are resilient, responsible, and capable of improvement so that you may succeed in medical school.

In other words, medical schools are not attempting to establish a contest to see whose students have faced the most hardship. Instead, they would like to know who you are. 

Here are the most effective tips on how to write a solid medical school adversity essay:

Read the Prompt Thoroughly

To start with, make sure you read the prompt carefully and comprehend what it is asking. 

For example, the admissions committee may ask you to talk about a professional obstacle in some situations while they may be searching for a personal challenge. 

If a certain kind of example is required for the med school adversity question, it will be noted in the prompt. Check the word or character limit next, and structure your response accordingly. 

Start by thinking back on your past experiences when responding to various prompts, as you probably did when you prepared your personal statement for medical school . 

Consider a period when you had to deal with a challenging circumstance. 

Frequently, you will not have a lot of words or characters to respond to the question, so you must be sure that your response is concise and direct.

Start with the End in Mind

Like our other secondary assignments, you must begin this secondary with a strong framework. In fact, the conclusion of the adversity essay is much more significant than the start. 

The medical school adversity essay aims to develop a story, demonstrate progress, and demonstrate change.

Adversity essays for medical school need a beginning, middle, and end, just like any excellent story. Although it may seem overly straightforward, doing this can be incredibly difficult.

You do not frequently consider the events in your life as having a narrative arc. 

Still, when you write about them for admissions essays, you must make a concerted effort to achieve this. 

Start your essay with a succinct description of the circumstance or experience. The least significant aspect of this essay is the description of what occurred and all the specifics surrounding the incident.

Avoid getting lost in the story, or you will not have enough words to express the crucial details in the body paragraph. This includes your feelings, how things affected you, and what you discovered. 

The admissions committee will better grasp how you think when faced with difficulty and how you handle these circumstances if you talk about how you feel.

Focus on How and What You Learned 

Describe your approach to the specific difficulty. 

For instance, did you seek scholarships or land a job if you were writing about your struggles to make ends meet? 

On the other hand, if you are writing about academic difficulties, have you improved your study techniques or humbly sought assistance from your peers or professor?

To get through your struggle, concentrate on your justifications and cognitive processes. 

Whenever you think it is appropriate, express your emotions to the reader and let them enter your mental space. It is crucial to explain your thought process since admissions committees want to know how you approach conflict resolution. 

Be Honest and Objective 

Explain the circumstance that challenged you at the outset of your essay. Make sure to state facts when describing your challenge. This will demonstrate your ability to be objective to the reader.

However, if you describe your difficulty subjectively, it might sound like you are looking for pity. 

As an illustration, the statement " My teacher talked to me about my poor performance in class " is objective, and " My teacher rolled her eyes and berated my performance in class " is subjective.

In a similar spirit, only include background material that advances the plot. For example, for some types of hardship stories, details like the precise date or the city you lived in might not be pertinent.

Medical School Adversity Essay Sample Prompts 

A medical school adversity essay can be challenging to write. However, you must be humble while still making an impression on the admissions committee. Therefore, it would be beneficial if you gave creating a fantastic essay much thought. 

Here are a few samples of medical school adversity essay prompts that you might see when applying to medical schools to get you started:

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School

We are looking for students who are resilient, adaptive, and self-aware. Talk about a problem you've faced personally or professionally and how you handled it. Please elaborate on the lessons you took away from the experience regarding yourself.

New York University School of Medicine

Give an example of when working with a friend, family member, or coworker was difficult. What lessons did you learn from the event that will help you in your future work as a healthcare provider? How did you address the matter as a team, if at all?

University of Massachusetts Medical School

Tell us about a time when you faced a setback. What response did you have to this challenge?

California North State University College of Medicine

What has been your toughest obstacle in pursuing a career in medicine? What have you learned as a result?

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

The admissions committee is eager to learn more about you personally. Please give an example of a significant personal difficulty you have overcome that you believe has molded you. Examples could include a moral or ethical problem, a circumstance involving personal adversity, or a challenge you overcame. Please mention how you overcame the situation and what you discovered about yourself.

Sample Medical School Adversity Essays 

Without a solid medical school adversity essay, your application to medical school will fall short of the mark. Remember that you are competing with a large number of other applications. Put forth your best effort. 

Here are a few medical school adversity essay examples for you to reference.

Medical School Adversity Essay Sample 1:

At my new position on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Community Health team, my first assignment was to build a database where Community Health Workers (CHWs) could enter secure PHI data. I have experience in monitoring and assessment and was well-versed in data collecting because of my time studying sociology. The issue?

I did not run any background programs. I have trouble getting the microwave set up to roast sweet potatoes. I would require assistance...

I began by meeting with the CHWs since we wanted to learn what they needed to design a system that satisfied those demands. They shared tales with me involving their patients. We determined what we wanted to collect. I sought the opinions of academics I met at Dartmouth. I wrote the first draft after watching videos and reading forums.

It was ineffective and felt awkward for our CHWs to enter data. It was time to start over.

As Thomas Edison famously remarked, he discovered numerous methods not to create a lightbulb. The same was done for our databases. After five months, we were successful. Our technology has been implemented in three different community health initiatives. CHWs indicate that the decreased workload associated with data gathering has enhanced their capacity to provide patient care.

In those months, we mastered the art of creating useless databases. I kept moving forward, which is partly why we didn't give up. "Failure" is frequently a misnomer. The total experience is not what it is. The same is true of humans; we do far more than we could have done separately through teamwork. As a doctor, I'll use this collaborative attitude to provide team-based patient care. If granted the opportunity to attend ______ Medical School, I will use the same problem-solving skills in my clinical and interpersonal pursuits.

Medical School Adversity Essay Sample 2:

I had trouble adjusting when I was diagnosed with vitiligo in my last year of college studies. I initially paid little attention to the first dim light spot near my eyes. That spot eventually turned whiter, and I saw two more small areas forming nearby and another one around my lips. At that moment, I started to worry about my health.

Peers started noticing the white blotches on my face at this point. People were looking at me strangely and making whispered remarks about what was on my face. I dismissed what was going on with my face as some skin rash. I was unsure of how to explain it to them. As I thought about my future and how my condition would affect my objectives of finding a partner and a job without being judged or discriminated against, my mind filled with self-doubt.

My primary care physician finally saw me and merely informed me that I had vitiligo without thoroughly inspecting my face or performing any extra tests to confirm the diagnosis. Hearing this verdict devastated me, and I was upset with myself for allowing this condition to become so bad in the first place. After my quick consultation with the primary care doctor and a little booklet explaining my problem and how to apply the cream, I was prescribed a steroid cream to treat my spots. I chose to get a second opinion from a dermatologist, Dr. Maggie, who meticulously examined my skin under a wood light because this made me doubt my diagnosis.

Once more, learning that I have vitiligo broke my heart. I was afraid that the disease would spread to other regions of my body or my entire face because the booklet I had initially gotten was not very informative. After receiving this diagnosis, my heart started to race with fear and panic as I thought about what my life would be like. I was worried that because of social shame and societal isolation, this issue would only worsen and may limit my chances. Dr. Maggie, on the other hand, thoroughly and carefully described my problem to me, unlike the first doctor I visited.

He added blood testing and numerous allergy tests to my treatment. He comforted me by saying there was a good chance my skin's pigmentation would come back naturally. He added that laser light therapy would be an option in the worst-case situation. He patiently answered all of my inquiries and assisted in developing a food strategy that would strengthen my immune system.

Following this reassuring consultation, I decided to continue being the same person I have always been, regardless of what other people thought of my vitiligo. With Dr. Maggie's assistance, I concluded that vitiligo does not impact me inside. Eventually, my condition shouldn't stand in the way of achieving my goals of starting a family and becoming a doctor.

After a few months, I saw that my face's pigmentation had improved, and the vitiligo had not migrated to other parts of my body. I could arm myself with the knowledge and awareness of my condition under Dr. Maggie's direction. She changed my life perspective and fortified my will to treat my vitiligo.

This first-hand experience demonstrated a doctor's beneficial impact on a patient's life when given the proper care and consideration. To soothe their concerns and assist them, I aim to one day comfort my patients in the same way and with the same level of care Dr. Maggie has shown me.

Medical School Adversity Essay Sample 3:

One of the biggest life lessons I've learned so far is how to live with a sister who has been diagnosed with autism. When my sister was just a few months old, her diagnosis was initially made public. I was just five years older than her, so I never thought her individuality was terrible. Not until I entered my teenage years.

We all tend to pay greater attention to other people's viewpoints as teenagers. That is what happened to me. I became increasingly ashamed to be around my sister when I started observing adverse reactions from the public and hearing disparaging remarks. Our relationship started deteriorating. Until I happened to read a book entitled Following Ezra. This turned out to be a mind- and heart-altering event; it persisted throughout my high school and college years.

After finishing the book, I continue to come to know and understand my sister, which makes me a stronger, more compassionate, and more self-assured person overall. And although if it still presents challenges occasionally, for me, it serves as a daily opportunity for learning and improvement.

Additional FAQs - Medical School Adversity Essay

Which essay should i work on first, how long are medical school adversity essays, you're no longer alone on your journey to becoming a physician.

Adversity Essay Medical School Ultimate Guide Plus Example Topics

Jul 30, 2021

The medical school adversity essay is almost a guaranteed essay prompt on your medical school secondary applications. In this essay, schools will ask you to write about an experience that challenged you. Prompts may resemble the following:

• During your career as a physician, you will potentially encounter many obstacles and be required to overcome many challenges. Resilience is a prerequisite for success in medical school and beyond. Describe your experience with a situation that had an unfavorable outcome. How did you react, and how might you have responded differently? What did you learn about yourself? ( Kaiser Permanente Medical School ).
• Please describe to the Admissions Committee a challenge or disappointment you have overcome and what you learned about yourself from that experience. ( Irvine School of Medicine )

In this guide, we will teach you how to approach the adversity secondary essay on your medical school secondary applications.

But first, why do medical schools ask about hardship?

Medical school admissions committees ask you about your past hardships to gage how you operate through and respond to adversity. Essentially, they are analyzing your thought process during challenges and how you take steps towards resolving conflict in your life. Admissions committees will determine your level of maturity, communication, and resilience based on how you respond to moral and ethical dilemmas.

The adversity prompt will often be specific about whether you should write about a personal or professional experience. However, the prompt may also leave it open to your discretion. Since your primary application already dives into details of your academic experiences, the adversity essay is an excellent opportunity for you to share new and relevant experiences that demonstrate your ability to overcome obstacles and manage stressful situations outside the classroom.

Misconceptions about adversity essays for medical school

The belief that it’s a competition..

Medical schools are not fishing for tragic stories, nor looking for the students who have endured the direst situations. Adversity and hardship are not a competition. The essence of your essay will be how you overcame challenges that you had little to no control over. In the process of telling your story, describe how you regained control of the situation and took steps to conquer obstacles. Admissions committees want to gain insight into your thought process, resilience, and perseverance.

The belief that you have to explain poor grades or poor test scores.

Many students believe if they have poor grades on their transcript or they failed their first MCAT, they must explain the low score in their adversity essay. This is a misconception. Medical schools understand that undergraduate science classes are hard. They also understand the MCAT is hard. Therefore, no one is expecting you to have perfect grades and perfect scores across the board. If you have a dip in your grades or a poor MCAT score, you are not always expected to explain this. You definitely do not want to make up a hardship to explain poor scores either.

However, if you were experiencing a hardship that contributed to the low scores, the adversity essay is a good place to explain that hardship and how it impacted your academic performance.

The belief that you have nothing to write about.

Another common misconception students have is that they don’t have any significant hardships. As mentioned above, the adversity essay is not a competition. Therefore, it is perfectly fine not to have any extreme challenges.

If you have been through an extreme hardship, you will have an obvious topic to discuss. However, a significant difficult alone will not make your essay great. Your thoughtfulness and the way you handled your challenges will set you apart.

Example topics for your medical school admissions adversity essay

A hardship is any significant event that impacted your life or an event you had little to no control over. A couple of examples include:

• Academic challenges in your transition from high school to college
• A family crisis or loss
• Financial hardship
• Illness or injury
• Military deployment
• Natural disasters
• Job transfers

When brainstorming your adversity essay topics, remember that not all hardships immediately hinder your growth – some hardships are endured for years.

Above all, your hardship should be relatable.

How to outline your adversity essay

1. briefly introduce your challenge objectively..

Begin your essay by explaining the situation that posed a challenge to you. While describing your challenge, make sure you are stating facts. This will show the reader you know how to be objective. Describing your challenge subjectively, however, could be misinterpreted as you seeking sympathy. For example: “My teacher gave me a talk about my poor performance in class” is objective, while “My teacher rolled her eyes and berated my performance in class” is subjective.

In the same vein, only use background information that contributes to the story. For example, the exact date or the city you lived in might not be relevant information for certain types of hardship stories.

2. Explain how you responded to the adversity.

Describe how you responded to the particular challenge. For instance, if you are writing about financial hardships, did you apply for scholarships or get a job? On the other hand, if you are writing about academic hardships, did you improve your study habits and/or humbly ask your classmates or professor for help?

Focus on your rationale and thought process while overcoming your hardship. Where you deem it appropriate, describe your feelings and allow the reader to be in your headspace. Illustrating your thought process is important because admissions committees want to know how you take steps toward resolving conflict. Therefore, the main purpose of your body paragraph(s) should be to give readers insight into your thought process and feelings while you navigated adversity.

Questions to consider:

• How did you feel?
• How did this event hinder your plans or alter the course of your life?
• What were your priorities?
• What was unfamiliar to you, and how did you seek out help?
• Who were the mentors that helped you through the process?
• If you are writing about a mistake you made, how did you respond to it?
• Did you experience any cognitive dissonance?
• How did you manage to surpass it?

3. Summarize the results of the outcome and the lessons you learned.

Share the details of how your specific hardship changed your perspective on a particular topic. During conflict-resolution, a person’s priorities often change. Did yours? If they did, explain to the readers how hindsight of the situation helped you move on to achieve a positive outcome. What did you learn about yourself and others? Demonstrating that you overcame hardship is the core of your essay. Make sure you take time to reflect.

End your story by telling your readers how you grew from the situation. Throughout your entire medical career, you will encounter moral and ethical dilemmas surrounding your professional and personal life. Be honest about any hard truths you had to face and whether or not you are still improving or growing. It’s okay if you are still managing a hurdle, managing grief, or sorting out a difficult situation as long as you explain what you are learning in the process.

What to avoid in your adversity essay.

1. being dishonest..

Lying is the biggest mistake you can make. Remember that an essay about hardship is not a competition. You want to show that you are capable of managing pressure and tension when it’s least expected. There are many examples of hardship that will suffice for your medical school applications and there is no need to exaggerate or make something up. Remember that you still have interviews! Admissions committees will have the opportunity to ask you anything in person and will be able to determine your level of authenticity. Do not get caught in a lie.

If you are having trouble thinking of something to write, try to answer the following questions:

• Have I ever been caught off guard by a change of plans?
• What was one situation out of my control that I managed well or that I learned from?
• Was there a first-time experience that was particularly difficult for me? How did I overcome it?
• Have I ever made a mistake that turned into a valuable lesson for me?

2. Victimizing yourself.

Victimizing yourself will not make admissions committees favor you in any way. On the contrary, it may play against you. This does not mean that you must minimize your troubles at all. Instead, be thoughtful about the language you use and be mindful of the reader’s point of view when they are reading your essay. 

3. Not ending on a good note.

Not all conflicts are resolved easily and not all challenges are conquered. It’s okay if things didn’t work out in your favor or if you are still dealing with hardship. If your life took an unexpected turn, refrain from complaining about it. In your conclusion, express yourself with maturity, gratitude, and with a positive perspective about how this hardship will shape you to be a dedicated and compassionate physician. 

Further reading:

Medical School Secondary Applications: The Ultimate Guide 2023

Secondaries Fees List | Medical School Applications 2023

Med School Letters of Recommendation (LORs) | The Ultimate Guide 2023

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Adversity Essay Medical School: What Medical Schools Actually Want to Know About You

May 1, 2024 · In: Applying to Medical School

As you work on your medical school application secondaries , the infamous adversity essay may be looming over you. I remember feeling the pressure to share my story in a positive light, all the while wondering if I had faced enough adversity to actually make an impression on the admissions committees. 

If you’re feeling lost on how to approach this essay prompt (like you’re feeling adversity to writing about your adversity—LOL), I’ll walk you through it! I’m sharing all the insights I gained from successfully writing my adversity essay. Plus, you can take a look at what I wrote so you gain some inspo!  By the end of this guide, you’ll be equipped with the tools and strategies to craft a compelling adversity essay that demonstrates your ability to turn setbacks into triumphs. Get ready to ace the adversity essay on your medical school application !

This post is all about adversity essay medical school.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure  here .

All About Adversity Essay Medical School

What’s the Adversity Essay?

Once you’ve finished your personal statement and handed in your primary application, you still have secondary essays to look forward to writing. It’s highly likely that one of them will include a prompt for the adversity essay. Usually, medical schools will ask you to talk about a tough situation you went through and how you managed to push through it.

What’s the purpose of the adversity essay?

Basically, this essay is your opportunity to show medical schools your skills at managing obstacles in your path and, well, your ability to overcome adversity .  It’s a way for you to paint a more holistic picture of who you are as a person and as a future medical professional. 

Medical schools understand that the road to becoming a physician is a challenging one. They want to see if you’ve got what it takes to handle the inevitable hurdles that come with a career in medicine. When they pose questions about adversity, they’re not trying to trip you up. They’re trying to gauge how you face challenges – do you crumble at the first sign of difficulty, or do you have the grit and resilience to push through?

What Medical Schools Want (and Don’t Want) You to Share on Your Adversity Essay 

Medical schools aren’t just looking for straight-A students. They want resilient people who can handle the pressures of the medical field. The adversity essay, often called the “challenge essay,” is your opportunity to showcase your ability to conquer hurdles and come out stronger on the other side.

So what exactly resonates with admissions committees? 

Your essay should be reflective and show what you’ve learned from your struggles. It’s about demonstrating your emotional maturity, problem-solving skills, and ability to persevere in the face of push-back. Think of it as an opportunity to demonstrate your strength in being able to navigate challenges.

Here are some specific qualities and attributes that medical schools are looking for in applicants through the adversity essay.

• Resilience —Medical schools want to know that you can bounce back from difficult situations. They want to see how you’ve overcome obstacles and setbacks. How have you used those experiences to become a stronger, more determined individual?
• Perseverance – Adversity essays are a way for you to demonstrate your commitment to your goals. Medical schools want to see that you have the drive and determination to keep pushing forward, even in the face of challenges.
• Self-awareness —Medical schools want to see that you have reflected on your experiences, learned from them, and clearly understood how they have shaped you as a person.
• Empathy and Compassion – This essay is your chance to show that you have a deep understanding of the struggles others face and how you can use your own experiences to connect with and support your future patients.
• Growth Mindset —Are you open to learning from your experiences and constantly striving to improve yourself? Show them that you embrace challenges as opportunities for growth.

What to Avoid in Your Adversity Essay

Your essay shouldn’t come with a trigger warning! Avoid these mistakes that will turn off admission committees and may limit your chances of getting into the medical school of your dreams.

The adversity essay is NOT :  

• About impressing the admissions committee with a perfect life story
• A long list of every single bad thing that’s ever happened to you
• A place to play the blame game or vent about your misfortunes 
• A space to wallow in self-pity
• The time to air your grievances
• Where you share situations that you’re still grappling to make sense of
• A dumping ground to unload emotional baggage

What if I don’t feel like I’ve faced adversity in my life worth writing about?

So, you’re sitting down to write your adversity essay, and you’re thinking, “Wait… have I even faced any significant adversity in my life?” 

It’s a common concern, but, actually, adversity can come in all shapes and sizes. Just because your challenges may not seem as dramatic as others, it doesn’t mean they are any less valid or impactful.

Here are a few tips to help you identify and reflect on personal challenges that can be used in your essay:

• Broaden Your Definition of Adversity – Adversity doesn’t always have to be a major life trauma or hardship. It can be any situation or experience that has tested your resilience, character, or beliefs. Think about times when you felt overwhelmed, out of your comfort zone, or faced with difficult decisions.
• Consider Personal Growth – Reflect on moments of personal growth or self-discovery. Maybe you overcame a fear, learned a valuable lesson from a mistake, or navigated a challenging interpersonal relationship. These experiences can also be examples of adversity.
• Think Beyond the Obvious – Adversity can manifest in various aspects of your life, such as academic setbacks, family dynamics, health challenges, or cultural experiences. Don’t overlook the everyday struggles and obstacles you’ve faced, as they can provide valuable insights into your resilience and adaptability.

Seek Feedback from Others – Sometimes, it’s hard to recognize our own strengths and challenges. Consider talking to friends, family, or mentors who know you well. They may offer a different perspective on the adversities you’ve encountered and how you’ve handled them.

Tips on How to Best Approach the Adversity Essay

At this point, you may have a few topics in mind and are getting ready to start writing about a significant challenge you faced and how it shaped you positively. So, how do you get started? How do you go about telling your story? Follow these steps to write a strong essay about overcoming adversity for medical school.

Nail Down the Details of the Prompt

Before you start brainstorming and writing, make sure you understand the prompt . Take note of exactly what it’s asking so you can tailor your response accurately and effectively. Some prompts may specify the type of example they want, either a personal or professional challenge.

Also, double-check the word count and any instructions about the structure of your answer. You want it to fit within the specified constraints so you don’t raise red flags with the admissions committee.

Reflect on Past Experiences and Decide on the Situation You’ll Write About

Before you start writing, take some time to reflect on the adversity you’ve faced. What challenging situations have you encountered in the past? Consider what happened, the steps you took to overcome the obstacle, and the lessons you learned from the experience. Think about how it has shaped you as a person and what you have learned from the experience. This reflection helps you prepare a focused and concise response.

Outline and Structure Your Essay

Before you start writing, take some time to outline your essay. Having a clear outline will help you stay focused and keep your essay flowing smoothly.

First, list the key points you want to include, such as the challenges you faced. Take note how you navigated through them, and the lessons you learned. Then, organize these details into a narrative structure to tell your story. Starting with an engaging introduction that sets the scene, a body containing the challenges you faced. Then finishing with how you overcame them and the lessons you learned.

Write a Succinct Introduction That Identifies Your Situation

Present a brief overview of your adversity experience. You can start by setting the scene and providing some context for the challenges you will be discussing. Try to grab the reader’s attention and set the tone for the rest of your essay. But avoid getting caught up in unnecessary details, as the main focus should be on drawing the reader in.

Describe the Challenges

Once you have set the stage, dive into the challenges you faced. Be honest and reflective in discussing the obstacles you encountered. Whether it was a personal struggle, a difficult academic situation, or a setback in your journey to medical school, be open about the difficulties you faced.

Describe how the adversity made you feel and how it impacted you personally. Be honest and vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to open up about difficult experiences you’ve faced. Share your emotions, thoughts, and reflections genuinely. This emotional aspect provides valuable insights into your coping mechanisms and thought processes during difficult times.

Discuss How You Overcame Them

After sharing the facts and emotions created by your challenges, now shift the focus to how you overcame them. Describe in detail how you demonstrated resilience and the specific actions you took to rise up against the adversity you faced. Highlight the strategies you used , whether it was seeking support, developing new skills, or changing your mindset. Use this section to showcase your problem-solving skills and determination. 

Share the Outcome and Reflect on Your Personal Growth 

What happened as a result of the actions you took? And, in what ways has the experience changed you? Write about whether you have emerged stronger, more compassionate, or gained a deeper understanding of complex issues. 

Admissions committees want to see how you have grown from this adversity . So also tie in how the experience has shaped your perspective, values, and goals. Give examples of how you were resilient and had the strength to overcome this particular challenge.

Use the Conclusion to Connect This Experience to Your Goals in Medicine

Finally, wrap up your essay by reflecting on the lessons you learned from overcoming these challenges. Discuss how these experiences have shaped you as a person and as a future medical professional. Tie your experience of adversity back to your motivation for pursuing a career in medicine. How has this experience influenced your desire to help others or your approach to patient care?

Never want to sit in front of a blank page again with no idea how to tackle your secondary essays?

Then you need The Ultimate Guide to Secondary Applications . It’s basically a start-to-finish course on secondaries for medical school applicants who want to share unique and compelling essays (within just a 2 week turnaround time). Inside, you’ll learn all the steps to make your essays stand out while staying fully organized in the jungle of to-dos. 

This includes video lessons, writing frameworks, my own productivity tips and an extensive essay library with 70+ examples. Plus, you’ll learn the easily overlooked aspects of secondaries you don’t want to miss!

7 Example Prompts for the Adversity Essay

Secondary essay prompts on adversity often ask about difficult situations you’ve faced, obstacles you’ve had to overcome, or hurdles you’ve pushed past in order to succeed. Here are seven examples of the type of adversity prompts that you might come across when applying to medical school.

• Can you share a major problem or adversity you have faced in life and explain how you navigated through it, as well as how it impacted your personal growth?
• Reflect on a challenge you have successfully overcome and detail the insights about yourself that you gained during that experience.
• In your journey towards medical school, what obstacles have you encountered, and how did you confront a personal challenge or significant barrier? What did you learn about yourself in the process, and how will this learning aid you in facing challenges as a future medical student?
• Have you handled a personal or professional challenge that showcases your self-awareness, resilience, and adaptability? If so, can you describe the challenge and the lessons you learned from it?
• Share a setback you’ve experienced and elaborate on how you responded to this setback. 
• Describe a situation where you faced challenges while collaborating with a colleague, family member, or friend. How did you manage to resolve the situation as a team, and what did you gain from the experience that you believe will benefit you as a healthcare provider in the future?
• Aside from achieving work-life balance, what do you anticipate will be your biggest challenge in the pursuit of becoming a physician?

To give you a better picture of what exactly medical schools want to know about your experiences with adversity, I’m sharing the exact secondary essay that helped me secure ten acceptances to medical school. 

My Own Adversity Essay Example for Medical School 

Before moving to Seattle, I had various nanny jobs where all of the families had kids who were accustomed to nannies. When I moved to Seattle and became a nanny for three boys (3, 5, and7) the situation was very different. The boys were used to being picked up from school by their parents, not someone they viewed as a stranger. Ben and Jamie, the oldest and youngest respectively, adapted to the new situation relatively well. Marcus, the five year old, was more sensitive to the change though. Additionally, I started at the beginning of the school year and he had just switched from preschool to a new school for kindergarten.

My first week was filled with more tantrums and tears than I had experienced in all of my other nanny jobs put together. Marcus had a completely new schedule, one that did not include naps like he was used to in preschool. He was so tired after school he would almost immediately fall asleep in my car during the drive home. When we got to their house, Marcus would wake up and start crying and yelling because he did not want to go inside. He would yell at me to leave him alone in the car and that he wished his mom were there because he hated having a nanny. I was not accustomed to a kid who did not like having a nanny, but I did not take it personally. I could completely relate to Marcus because my “nanny” growing up was my Aunt Holly. If my mom hired a nanny, I am sure I would have acted just like Marcus. Also, I realized that if I were as tired as he was at the end of the day, I would not be in my best mood either. For these reasons, I was resilient and chose not to dwell on the day prior. Every day I picked up Ben and Marcus from school with a smile on my face and was happy to see them. 

The next few weeks, I adapted to Marcus’ needs to help him cope with the new changes he was facing. The first strategy that helped was keeping him awake during the car ride home. Marcus was more likely to have tantrums after falling asleep, so Ben and I made a point to keep him engaged in conversation until we got home. This worked well, but the second event that caused daily tantrums was when we had to pick up Jamie from preschool. My next strategy was to tell Marcus well in advance about our daily plan. As soon as we walked in the door I would remind him, “Marcus, don’t forget we will leave in an hour to pick up Jamie!” Then fifteen minutes before we had to leave, I encouraged him to find a toy or something to entertain him for the drive.There was no way to completely avoid bad days, but each week we made progress and had more good days. After an especially good day, Marcus ran up to me before I left, hugged me and said, “I had so much fun with you today!” 

This was a challenging experience that further strengthened my ability to handle stressful situations and setbacks. Between working as a nanny and my many experiences as an equestrian, I have developed into a person comfortable with adaptability and resilience. I am confident that when I am faced with challenges during medical school, I will have the tools necessary to stay motivated, keep things in perspective,and continue working towards my goals.

Final Takeaways About the Adversity Essay on the Medical Application

What’s important in your adversity essay is not how huge the challenge was that you faced but rather how you’ve approached it,. Also what you’ve learned from it, and how it’s shaped your journey toward becoming a future physician. 

The admissions committee wants to know more about you as an individual, focusing on qualities like self-awareness, resilience, and adaptability. So, impress the medical schools you’re applying to with your ability to reflect on your experiences . Describe your personal growth, and articulate how adversity has influenced your motivations and aspirations. 

Remember, the adversity essay isn’t about showcasing a single traumatic event. But rather about demonstrating your ability to overcome challenges and grow from them. So, take some time to introspect, identify those moments of resilience and growth. Share your authentic story in your essay.  Everyone faces challenges in life. But what sets you apart is how you’ve navigated those challenges and grown from them. So, embrace the opportunity to share your unique story in the adversity essay and let your authentic self shine through. Good luck!

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Medical School Secondary Essay Examples from Accepted Applicants!

Plus tips for answering the 5 most common med school secondary essay prompts.

Before we jump into medical school secondary essay examples, you need to know that the main purpose of the secondary medical school application is to determine whether you are a good “fit” with the mission and values of the school you are applying to. Medical schools send out secondary essays to further assess the unique characteristics of each applicant that have not been addressed in the  AMCAS Work and Activities  section or your medical school personal statement . This post will go over medical school secondary essay examples from students who were accepted, and tips for writing strong essays that application committees will love. 

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Medical school secondary essays: "why our school" prompt.

The most important component of answering this prompt is doing your research. Do you have a thorough understanding of the school's mission statement and values? What population or populations are they most interested in serving? How do they describe their student body? What curriculum-enriching activities are available to their students? Do they have a strong research program? Is their curriculum a good fit for your learning style? Are all of these things in line with your own values, career goals, and learning needs?

Being informed will demonstrate an interest in the program, allowing you to write a response showing that you will be a genuinely good fit for the school.

“Questions like these are an opportunity for you to shine and show the faculty what sets you apart from the other candidates … In your response, it is important to highlight things that are relevant to the institution’s mission and values while also explaining qualities that would make you a great asset to the program … it is important to always tailor your response to the school and program you are applying to, including for this question.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD

Would you like us to help you with your medical school secondary essays ","buttontext":"free strategy call","buttoncolor":"#ffffff","addtrustpilot":"false","bannerundertext":" ","belowbuttontext1":null,"belowbuttontext2":null,"trustpilot":false}" :url=""https:\/\/bemoacademicconsulting.com\/contact-schedule-free-strategy-call"" code="banner1" background-color="#000066" button-color="#ffffff" banner-image> to answer this prompt, it can be useful to think about how to choose a medical school and what you’re looking for. “my main priority [in choosing a med school] was location. since i knew i was going to spend four years there, i wanted it to be in a location that i could see myself having support and enjoying. beyond that i looked at opportunities for research support, patient population diversity, and locations where students matched. i also thought about where rotations occur during third year as i wanted to focus on hospitals where rotations were not scattered and centralized to a main hospital center.” – dr. monica taneja, md, university of maryland school of medicine..

What are you most excited about when you think of attending this school? Research? Global health? Community outreach? "}]" code="timeline1">

Medical School Secondary Essay Example: Why Our School?

Write a critical analysis of your personal and scholastic qualifications for the study of medicine, the realization of your professional ambitions, and why you are choosing to apply to our school.

When I was in kindergarten, I was playing tag with my friends when I noticed a kid sitting on the bench. He seemed visibly anxious and left out of the fun so I felt compelled to invite him to play with us. This sense of compassion lay the foundation for my desire to study medicine. As I grew older, I became more inquisitive about the natural world and wanted to know how everything worked and fit together. I started to become passionate about chemistry, mathematics and biology, finding that those subjects gave me the tools to understand my surroundings. I felt empowered with every new concept I would learn; however I never quite felt as though I knew enough. It was only when my friend asked for help with her mental illness that I realized just how much I did not know and how unequipped I was to help someone in this situation. The clash between my sense of compassion and my lack of knowledge and ability to help drove me to want to study medicine.

As I ventured into college, my knowledge-seeking tendencies manifested in an interest in biomedical engineering. I chose this degree for its ability to teach me about the design and manufacturing of groundbreaking medical technologies such as skin-grafts, medical imaging devices, and prostheses. I dreamt of pushing clinical innovations and finding the next technology to revolutionize patient care. Aside from educating myself in medical technology, my college years gave me a lasting perspective and understanding of the Hispanic community’s struggles. I once accompanied my friends to volunteer in a mobile clinic. It was early in the morning when a nurse told me to put up a sign that read: “We do not check IDs.” At first, I was confused, but after careful consideration, I realized that it was to not deter illegal immigrants from seeking medical aid. As the day went on and patients came in, I noticed that most did not have the means to afford regular health and dental care. Most of them prayed that their illnesses would go away on their own because they did not have the means to get professional help. This experience really opened my eyes to the plight of underserved communities and reinforced my decision to pursue medicine so that I could help serve those who were unable to help themselves.

I applied to X University for its opportunities to allow me to work with underserved communities and develop the technical and interpersonal skills to provide patients from these communities the best care. I hope to combine my experience within medicine and engineering to push clinical technologies and advancements further to provide cheap and effective alternatives to current medications and treatments to drive down the cost of healthcare so that it can become available to more people.  

Questions surrounding cultural competency delve into your ability to interact with people whose culture, beliefs, or values are different from your own. Are you able to help people in a way that is in line with their values and belief system, even if these values and beliefs are not in line with your own? It is also important to realize the vital role that effective communication plays in bridging cultural differences.

Similar to the TMDSAS personal characteristics essay, your essay should focus on the barriers you encountered, the communication strategies you employed to overcome these barriers, how you helped the person in a way that respected their beliefs, and how you will apply this lesson in the future.

Great ideas for narratives that could address the diversity secondary essay prompt include:

• A time when you used your problem-solving skills to help someone from a socio-cultural background different from your own.
• A time you advocated for someone from a different socio-cultural background from your own.
• How you used your communication skills to overcome a language barrier and help someone.
• A reflection on what you learned from working with people with a different background from your own.
• A reflection on communicating with people with a different background from your own.
• A reflection on learning about and accepting the difference in beliefs of people with a different background from your own.
• A reflection on an interaction with an individual whose values were different from your own.

Medical School Secondary Essay Example: Diversity Essays

A. Describe how you relate to someone who is very different from you. Examples of differences may be cultural, racial, religious, economic, gender/sexual orientation, lifestyle.

The world is so diverse and it can be easy to resign to only care for and be informed of one’s own personal interests. To connect with someone else is to choose to forgo ignorance and aim to understand other people and their backgrounds. This is a choice that is made every day when we decide how to interact in society.

In my first year of university, I roomed with a person who immigrated from Colombia. I saw how difficult it was for her to transition to a new country and to overcome cultural barriers. Instead of accepting the fact that our cultures rendered us incompatible, I decided to educate myself on her culture. I started to read of the political unrest in Colombia, I found Latin music we could listen to, and I utilized my basic Spanish to try to make her feel at home. Five years later, we still live together and are the best of friends. It's clear that a little effort trying to understand the life and journey of someone else can go a long way to building connections and trust.

Would you rather watch a video? Here are the most common medical school secondary essay prompts:

B. Please discuss the diversity that you would bring to our school of medicine and the profession of medicine.

The challenges I faced as a first-generation immigrant has taught me several valuable lessons, which have influenced my pursuit of medicine. Here in the States, I am granted liberties that are otherwise unattainable in Vietnam- specifically access to quality healthcare and opportunities for growth and enrichment. My first exposure to medicine did not transpire in a hospital but instead took place in a small tent affiliated with a roaming clinic.

The significant gap in healthcare accessibility, advancement, and quality between the States and the developing countries were increasingly apparent when I returned to Vietnam to visit my family. In time, I also realized that these similar circumstances and situations exist in my local community as well. This has inspired me to advocate for the underserved population because I, myself, can identify with their struggles. During our financial crisis, my family received overwhelming support and generosity from several neighborhood communities. I wish to return the kindness. Now more than ever, in a time where immigrants are restricted access, I must fight to give them a voice.

I also bring with me the traditions and culture of a Vietnamese American. I have developed my own understanding of the diverse facets of the Asian American identity and the ripple effect it has on the community. Through lion dancing and partnering with the Vietnamese and Chinese communities, I grasped the important role that communities play in providing resources. To become one of the few Vietnamese doctors in the area would allow me to address the needs of the community and give me a platform to collaborate with other communities of color. One of my goals is to break down the language barriers and stigmas surrounding the older Asian community and help them achieve their health goals.

I bring a steadfast mindset of advocating for the underserved in my community and as an immigrant Vietnamese American, I aim to use my position to influence decisions that will benefit the entire community.

Medical School Secondary Essays: "Overcoming Challenges" Prompt

This prompt is looking at what medical schools typically refer to as “resilience”. The reality is that you will be faced with a wide variety of challenges during your medical training. Medical schools are looking for candidates who are equipped with mature coping strategies, enabling them to proficiently navigate whatever life, or medical school, decides to throw at them.

You can use any example from your own life to address this prompt. Ideas include:

• A time when things did not go according to plan.
• Overcoming a setback.
• Overcoming an illness or injury.
• Dealing with the illness of a loved one.

The important thing to remember with this prompt is to keep it positive. Focus on the strategies you used to overcome the hurdle that presented itself to you, and what you learned from the situation. Review some adversity essays for medical school for inspiration.

“It is not only important to highlight the situation in detail but to also reflect on your actions. Drawing upon lessons from this experience and how you used what you learned to make changes the next time around is key to demonstrating a growth mindset.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD.

Describe a challenging situation you faced and what you did to address it.

My sister was diagnosed with epilepsy at 3 months old, and it has been a continual learning experience. She never qualified for an autism diagnosis, but her behaviors resembled an autistic or neurodivergent individual. As an 8-year-old, I did not notice public reactions to my sister’s behaviors.

But, as we both grew older, I became embarrassed when people would stare at her, or notice her behavioral differences. Behavioral incidents continued to occur throughout my time in high school and college. However, I have grown into a more empathetic person who better understands the difficulties my sister faces. I won’t deny that sometimes it is still embarrassing, but I remind myself that she struggles to control her behaviors and it is not her fault.

The best way I can help her as a sister is to be there for her and try to help her through the emotions she may not be able to express all the time. Understanding my sister has made me into a stronger, more confident and empathetic woman.

Medical School Secondary Essays: "Future Goals" Prompt

It’s okay not to know exactly what kind of doctor you want to be or what medical specialty you want to pursue. For this prompt, reflect on the experiences that cemented your decision to pursue medicine.

• What was it specifically about these experiences that made you want to become a doctor?
• What fascinated you the most? Why?
• What patient population did you enjoy working with the most? Why?

You can then go on to say what kind of doctor you would like to be, or, if you haven't decided, suggest more generally which direction you would like to see your career take (i.e. mention a patient population you think you would like to work with). Many students change their minds once having been in medical school a couple of years, so it’s reasonable to say that you will keep your eyes open and continue to explore every opportunity!

Medical School Secondary Essay Example: Your Future Goals

Professionalism and the ability to gain respect in the community in which you live is of utmost importance as you embark upon a career as a physician. What three professional qualities do you feel a Student Doctor must be able to demonstrate as he/or she makes the transition into the study and practice of medicine? How will you demonstrate those qualities as a medical student at RowanSOM?

There are many valuable attributes a student doctor must possess, but the three of which I consider the most valuable are self-discipline/reflection, open-mindedness/sensitivity, and teamwork skills.

Possessing self-discipline and self-reflection skills are key for any student doctor planning on tackling the arduous medical courses that will come their way. Through my undergraduate career, I have constantly improved upon my academic study strategies to adapt to the rigors of upper-level biological courses. I realize that when one way does not work it is crucial to consult peers, advisors, and professors to improve my approach. Such changes included recording my lectures, attending more office hours, and even seeking resources outside of my lecture material to supplement my knowledge. I use this principle in my personal health goals as well. For example, my favorite hobby that I use to keep me grounded is going to the gym, where I attempt to break my fitness plateaus by researching and consulting peers. It is this drive to constantly improve myself that will allow me to overcome the many obstacles that will come my way during my medical pursuit.

In addition, it is important for student doctors to be open-minded and sensitive when understanding patients from diverse backgrounds. My research experience at the Center for Addiction, Personality, and Emotion Research enriched my understanding of the socioeconomic and environmental factors that are involved in developing addiction disorders. Learning about the neurobehavioral and psychological processes that underlie addictive behavior reinforced my awareness of the health disparities that arise from environmental and social systems in my local community. It is imperative to understand the patient outside of their symptoms in order to realize the other factors involved in their diagnosis. I aim to one day use this knowledge to inform my future patients of preventative measures and how to overcome their environmental strains.

Lastly, it is crucial for student doctors to develop teamwork skills when entering the field of medicine. Physicians have to be prepared to engage and work within different teamwork structures or environments with other specialists to provide high-quality care for their patients. My experiences as an EMT taught me firsthand how critical it is to build long-lasting relationships based on trust with your team. I have spent countless hours getting to know my EMS crew to ensure that we built a sense of camaraderie that would allow us to work well together during calls. I remember one occasion when my partner was flustered during a stressful call and could not remember the next step in delivering a treatment protocol to a patient. I noticed he was frustrated and subtly reminded him of the next step. Based on our relationship and trust, he acted on my advice and later thanked me for the assistance. Knowing that we always had each other’s back gave us the reassurance and confidence we needed to handle the many unpredictable calls that came our way. I hope to strengthen this same sense of teamwork as a future physician.

If you have an academic lapse or took a break that you wish to explain to the admissions committee, you may want to prepare this prompt in advance. The most important things to focus on are:

• Clearly, yet briefly, explain the situation that led to the break or lapse.
• Outlining how you moved past the situation.
• Outlining what you learned from the situation, and how you will manage similar situations going forward.

“The best way to address red flags is to be open and honest … and provide open reflection on how you grew from the experience.” – Dr. Monica Taneja, MD.

“what i would do in these situations is talk about the red flag/gap in an open and honest way without sounding closed off or confrontational about it … essentially, you are taking something that would normally be considered a negative and spinning into a positive.” – dr. jaime cazes, md, university of toronto temerty faculty of medicine., medical school secondary essay example: academic lapses or breaks.

If you have taken a gap year(s), please explain what you have been, or will be, doing since graduating from your undergrad institution. 

I threw myself into the medical school application process during my final year of my undergrad degree. Realizing that my application was lacking, I have spent the time since graduation gaining volunteer and leadership experience, improving my MCAT score, and taking science prerequisite courses.

Taking post-baccalaureate classes proved advantageous. I was thrilled when my MCAT score improved significantly, going from 505 to 517. My score was a testament to the hard work and dedication I put into my organic chemistry and molecular biology courses, and to the time management, accountability, and work ethic I refined in studying for the MCAT.

While pursuing post-baccalaureate science courses improved my academics, volunteering at a seniors’ care center has opened my eyes to the issues facing seniors and those who care for them. Once, upon entering the facility, I heard a patient calling for help; he had fallen and could not get back into his wheelchair. Per volunteer protocol, I cannot physically assist the residents into their chairs. However, after determining that he was not physically hurt, I calmly reassured him that I was getting help and informed the nurses of his situation. This incident and other experiences at the center allowed me to develop and practice skills such as enforcing appropriate boundaries, working with others, and handling unexpected and stressful circumstances with poise.

From my various experiences, I have developed and refined my belief system and skill set. I've developed a greater sensitivity to those facing physical or mental limitations, and a dedication to serving my community in overcoming such challenges. I’ve learned the value of being empathetic and showing compassion in the process. I've developed the critical traits and values that I am certain this school would be proud of, whether as a student or as a physician.

Pre-writing your secondaries for med school is key! Here's how:

Medical School Secondary Essays: Tips from Our Experts and Students

1. submit your essays as soon as you can.

Submitting your essays early means you can take advantage of medical schools’ rolling admissions process. As soon as medical school secondary essays are received, decisions about interview invites are made. Submitting early means a better chance of securing an interview, and therefore an acceptance letter. Being delayed with your secondaries can cost you both! One of our students, Rishi, had to reapply after submitting his secondaries too late and receiving zero interview invites.

“[One of] the things that really I think prevented me from getting in the first time around is I was just very delayed with my secondaries … I didn't even get any interviews that first cycle because I was so late on my secondaries.” – Rishi, former BeMo student.

Planning your secondaries well ahead of time also ensures you’re not rushing to write, proof, rewrite and finalize your essays.

“It is advisable to start preparing for secondaries as early as possible so that you have enough time to revise and go through multiple iterations of edits prior to submitting. Also, getting a fresh pair of eyes to have a look is never a bad idea.” – Dr. Neel Mistry, MD.

2. pre-write your med school secondary essays.

Some of you may be realizing at this point that you’ve applied to 10-20 schools and that each will likely send somewhere between 2-10 prompts. That’s a lot of essay writing! To get on top of this, we recommend pre-writing your secondary essays.

“Secondaries were a lot of work especially after completing all of the primary application materials. I tried to pre-write secondaries starting in mid-June as there aren’t many changes year to year in prompts, which are easily found online. For each school I read their mission statement and tailored my answers to their priorities. Since many essays also overlap between schools, I was able to morph different essays based on length to reduce overall writing. Pre-writing allowed me to have [less than] 1 week turn around on all of my secondary application returns.” – Dr. Monica Taneja, MD.

If you check out our comprehensive list of medical school secondary essay prompts , you can pull out common themes for the schools you are most interested in applying to. You should then create an essay outline or rough essay that addresses each of these themes.

“A lot of these prompts, they might be worded a little bit different … but there's some broad [question] types. If you compare a couple of schools, there will be some overlap and that's helpful because you can write what are these common skeletons that will allow you to be more efficient.” – Rishi, BeMo student.

Though schools may change their prompts from year to year, pre-planning at least some of your essays will make you much more efficient with your writing, allowing you to create consistently well-thought-out essays. 

Just like with your medical school personal statement, your personal stories will help your secondary essays stand out and be more memorable to the admissions committee.

“These application readers are reading a large volume of essays and sometimes they're not spending as much time as you might think. They are kind of glancing over every word so you have to think like what they are going to remember from this when they read it.” – Rishi, BeMo student.

As part of your pre-writing plan, start brainstorming personal experiences or influences you can talk about in your secondaries to make your points and keep your readers’ attention.

Medical school secondary essays are meant to provide medical school with more specific information about your candidacy and fit for their programs. The questions are geared towards the missions, requirements, and goals of each program. They are usually sent out once primary applications have been submitted.

Some schools will list a deadline (UCLA secondary essays are due after fifteen days). If the school does not specify a deadline, you should aim to submit your secondaries no later than 2 weeks after receiving the invites to complete them.

Some of the most common med school secondary prompts include "Why our school?", "Cultural Competency", "Overcoming Challenges", and "Future Goals". Pay attention to the wording of the prompts, as they may not include this direct terminology, but you should approach them with specific strategies to answer them.

Each medical school will have its own secondaries requirements. Some may ask for 1 or 2 essays, while others may require 10. Check the requirements of your schools of choice to make sure.

Yes, there are some medical schools without secondary essays , but these are rare. Check with the programs of your choice to make sure.

Many med schools recycle their secondary prompts from year to year. Plus, there are some common themes that all secondaries explore. Check out the old prompts from your schools of choice to start planning general outlines for your essays.

Most likely, you will be eliminated from the applicant selection pool right away. Med schools will want to see your dedicated and commitment to their school, which secondaries demonstrate. If you are late or do not submit them at all, you will no longer be considered for a position in their medical school.

If you applied to many med schools, there is a chance you will have trouble completing all the secondaries on time. If this is your position, you should certainly try to complete all of them on time and of good quality. Focus on the schools you want to attend and where you have the highest chance of acceptance and complete their secondaries first.

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Have a question ask our admissions experts below and we'll answer your questions.

Wynne Milhouse

Hello! Would it be okay to write about how not getting into medical school the first time was a time of adversity, even if it was on a secondary for a school I didn't apply to last time (or if it was)? I feel as if this prompt may show up for schools that I did and did not apply to two years ago, but not getting into medical school the first time WAS a big hurdle, and I have made significant changes to combat this. Is it okay to talk about that, or will that reflect poorly on me? Thanks! Best, Wynne Milhouse

BeMo Academic Consulting

Hello Wynne! Thank you very much for your question. Absolutely, you should write about not getting into med school the first time even if you are writing secondaries for a school you did not apply to last time. You can even mention that you are now applying to this school because you improved your research and found that this would be a more suitable choice for you. Let us know if you have any other questions!

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How to make your secondary essays stand out, (even if you think you don't have extraordinary experiences).

How to write about your biggest challenge or adversity

Your adversity statement, often called “the challenge essay,” has the potential to be a major contributor to your medical school application. The goal of the essay is not just to explain the adversities you faced or the challenges you experienced, but rather to demonstrate your ability to overcome them and grow from them. The specific challenge or adversity itself is often times the least important part of the essay! Instead, the majority of your limited word count will be dedicated to demonstrating your preparedness for the many challenges and adversities that you will face in medical school and beyond. Looking at the prompt from this angle may help it seem a bit less intimidating. Now, let’s tackle this essay in three simple steps: 

Step One : Reread the prompt, and select the experience you want to talk about 

Before you even begin brainstorming, reread the prompt! In your excitement (or nervousness) to get started, you may have missed a helpful detail that will narrow the scope of your essay. Depending on the school, you may be asked to discuss a professional challenge, a personal challenge, or even an academic one. Make sure that you understand which of these, if any, is being asked for. Once you have a sense of what type of experience is being requested, start to brainstorm the adversities you have faced, no matter how big or small. As you make a list, make sure each example fits the following criteria: 

• You have overcome the obstacle or have made meaningful progress towards the goal of overcoming it
• You have completed the emotional processing of the obstacle/experience and are comfortable talking about it in writing and potentially in an interview 

Once this is done, take a look at your list and see what experiences you are most confident in. Do those align with the narrative of the application you submitted in your primary application/personal statement? Is this an experience that you’ve discussed extensively in your 15 activities or personal statement already? Asking yourself these questions will help you narrow down the list further until you make a final selection that will complement your application and demonstrate your characteristics well. Examples include: losing a loved one, not succeeding in a class, navigating a health concern or diagnosis, overcoming a language barrier, navigating financial hardship, and more. 

Step Two: Map out the essay by talking through exactly how you overcame the adversity/challenge 

You have your experience selected, but before writing the essay, you need to be sure of the characteristics you wish to demonstrate. Knowing this before you write will help you frame the story in such a way that these characteristics shine through. Remember, you are only using a small amount of the essay to describe the event itself; most of the essay should focus on your journey overcoming the adversity/challenge, so you need to be direct and clear from the start! You can also use this time to get a sense of how long the essay will be. Do you find yourself taking 5 minutes or more to fully explain your story? You may need to be more succinct in order to condense that into an essay with a limited word count. 

Step Three: Write, write, write 

Dedicate a brief intro of the essay to describing the circumstances of the challenge/adversity you faced. No need to be too detailed, but give the reader enough information to understand what you were up against. Next, explain your feelings throughout the experience, how you were affected, and how you overcame. The key to this step is alluding to the qualities you are demonstrating without actually stating them. Rather than saying, “I was resilient,” simply explain the steps you took to keep pushing through despite the circumstances. Do this, and the key words and characteristics will leap off the page between the lines of your story! Once you’ve described the actions you took to overcome, close out the essay with a brief statement about how the experience changed you or gave you an opportunity to grow. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate your ability to reflect and use any experience as a learning experience. 

When you are finished, be sure to go back to the prompt one last time and make sure that your essay answers it appropriately. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments, and keep in mind that the readers of your essay are looking to recruit their future students, colleagues, and patient care providers. What qualities would you be looking for if you were in their shoes?

Olivia attended the University of Rochester, studying Neuroscience and American Sign Language. She's pursuing her MD at Harvard Medical School, where she’s exploring her interests in pediatrics and neonatology.

Related Content

How To: Master the Med School Secondary Essay (with examples) 2024

After you  submit your primary applications , medical schools will ask you to submit secondary applications (most automatically) the majority of which require you to write secondary essays of varying lengths.

The essay prompts should serve as clues to the culture of the medical school and indicate what kind of information is important for them to know about applicants. As you research each school to apply to, begin to make notes about what draws you to that school so you can use these thoughts in your secondary essays.

You can prepare for these in advance by organizing notes in these areas: my accomplishments, obstacles I have overcome, challenges I have had and how I’ve handled these, why I want to attend this school, what kind of physician I want to be, what activities I’ve been most intimately involved with and what have I learned.

Secondary Essay Basic Guidelines

• Write essays for your top choice and target schools first! You are likely to be overwhelmed by the tidal wave of secondary applications you will receive so don’t make the mistake of completing, for example, all of your reach schools first!
• Do not rush your work. Unless a medical school specifies a return date, there is no “deadline” to complete your essays. Complete all of your essays, if possible by August 1st or by Labor Day at the latest.
• Answer the essay prompts carefully. The biggest mistake students make is trying to squeeze a prewritten essay for an inappropriate prompt.
• Some prompts will force you to repeat information that is in your primary application. This is okay!
• Don’t feel that every topic you write about should be momentous. Sometimes writing about more personal details of your life can offer more insight into your values, ideals, and life decisions.

Most Common Essay Prompts

Greatest challenge/failure/adversity essay.

Essays that ask about personal challenges, failures or adversities are seeking information about your ability to manage conflict and challenge. They also want to know how you cope with conflict and that you can be objective when things don’t go your way.

Medical schools want to know that you are level headed, and that you won’t crumble when feeling vulnerable or faced with less than ideal situations. Students often immediately gravitate to academic or scholarly subjects for these essays, but, sometimes the most compelling topics are those that are personal. Why? These topics can often say much more about your character, values, ideals, and decision making. Ideally, you should also write about what you learned and how you grew or changed as a result of the challenge, failure, or adversity. 

Students also consider writing about red flags for this topic such as a class failure, poor MCAT exam or institutional action. Generally speaking, we find that these topics are usually less interesting and don’t offer enough information about who you are as a person.

Essay Example:

I saw the Microsoft Word document on the screen of my roommate’s computer. It looked familiar. I realized that this essay my roommate had written on the works and life of Jane Austen contained the exact language I had seen elsewhere. Where had I seen it? Why was this so familiar? I also asked myself, “Do I have a right to be looking at  this document?”

Then it dawned on me. When my roommate got this assignment for her literature class, we discussed it with our housemates from down the hall.  One girl offered to give my roommate a paper she had written on this topic for an AP class in high school. She printed out the paper and gave it to me to give to my roommate. Curious about the topic, since I am a Jane Austen fan, I read it before handing it to my roommate. The document on the computer in front of me contained parts of this paper that were copied, verbatim.

The issues here were complicated. First of all, I was invading my roommate’s privacy. I should not have been looking at her computer even though we often shared our computers. But now that I was aware of what she had done, I felt an obligation to confront her.

That night, when my roommate returned home from studying, I first apologized for invading her privacy and explained that I had read the document on the screen. I then told her that I realized she had plagiarized and told her I thought this was wrong. She explained that she felt under tremendous pressure since she also had a big organic chemistry mid-term that week and it just seemed so easy to copy the paper even though she recognized it was not right to do so. With my urging, since she had not yet handed the paper in, she stayed up late into the night to compose an original essay and, in the end, she thanked me for noticing and for encouraging her to do the right thing. I realized that even confronting my roommate, which was uncomfortable and awkward for me, encouraged her to make a better choice and reinforced for me the importance of acting ethically even if these easier choice would have been to look away.

Diversity Essay

Medical schools have broadened their definitions of diversity and for essays like this you can write about your unique interests, talents, or experiences. Maybe you have a distinctive background, perspective, or outlook. Think outside the box when writing about diversity. Do you have a special hobby or accomplishment that sets you apart?

Or, you can also choose to write about your own experiences with diverse or minority populations to illustrate your cultural competence which most people think of as the more “traditional” approach to questions about diversity. We find that most applicants do not currently write about these more traditional topics. Sometimes it can be more impressive to write about topics that are more distinctive to you and your background.

Another Example:

I grew up in a diverse community even though my undergraduate college was quite homogeneous. During college, I sought out experiences beyond campus to immerse myself in more diverse communities. I volunteered in a free clinic, tutored children in Africa, and traveled during my vacations, when possible. I gained insights into the challenges facing others and how their backgrounds and experiences influenced their perspectives and attitudes. On a medical mission abroad the summer after my junior year, I worked in medical clinics helping to care for Mexican families, which helped me understand that such challenges and unfair inequalities in education and health care also exist internationally.

Through my experiences, I came to realize that all patients, regardless of their background, fare better when their unique circumstances, cultures, and outlooks are considered. To improve my ability to communicate with some of these populations, I minored in Spanish and became more proficient in the language through my studies in Spain. I have learned the importance of listening and seeing situations through the eyes of those I help. Throughout such experiences, apart from realizing that I hope to work with these populations as a future physician, I was continually reminded of the pervasive societal inequalities and injustices both locally and internationally.

Why XXXXX School Essay

Example essay:.

My interest in geriatrics and emergency medicine evolved as I worked clinically in these two departments last summer. Through my coursework in health policy, I also learned of the imminent need for geriatric specialized physicians to support the aging baby boomer generation. Through your hospital’s renowned telemedicine and information technology departments, I would be offered the unique opportunity to explore this interest further. I would also take advantage of the medical school’s summer research program to participate in research projects related to geriatrics or emergency medicine.

At the clinic where I worked, I gained first hand exposure to disease complications, which often were caused by lack of access to primary care. My travels and work in India have shown me how common these issues also are internationally. Your unique medical school program would allow me to continue my active community participation during my first year, while providing care to diverse populations who lack access to care. This endeavor also could be augmented through participation in research and study in South America, so I could pursue my interest in global health while caring for other underserved communities and improving my language skills.

Of supreme importance, the urban location and suburban hospitals affiliated with the medical school as well as the Level I trauma center would offer unparalleled exposure to novel academic and clinical opportunities. Apart from the school’s location in my favorite city of Great City, it is the superior curriculum, supportive medical educational environment, opportunity for community involvement, and team-oriented culture that would make your medical school a perfect fit for me.

What are you doing next year or what have you done since graduating from college?

For the upcoming academic year, I will continue my research on breast cancer at Outstanding Oncology Center, where I have been working for one year. Our findings last year have already provided evidence for the etiology of what receptor is involved in the development of tiny cell cancer, and we hope to build on these findings to continue our work. I have already become proficient in using the literature to design experiments, and I hope that this year I will learn how to analyze our findings. My hope is that our findings will be significant enough to lead to a publication on which I would be an author.

I will also shadow several doctors throughout the year to broaden my understanding of clinical medicine. Right now I have plans to shadow an internist, a surgeon, and an ophthalmologist.

My Saturday mornings will be spent volunteering at Inner City Clinic, where I will be promoted to the level of triage. I will be responsible for taking vital signs and basic intake histories on patients.

This year will be productive and, I hope, will provide the foundation I need to be an excellent medical student.

Secondary Essay Writing Tips

For each essay prompt you receive, pay attention to the character and word limits and use them as cues for how much information a medical school is seeking. A medical school that limits your responses to only 50 words, for example, is asking you for a simple, straightforward response. On the other hand, the school that allows 1,000 words per essay wants you to elaborate and go into some detail.

Secondary prompts vary, and I find that students can often recycle essays for multiple schools. But reading secondary prompts carefully is important. The most common mistake students make is providing a response that does not really address what is being asked. Even though writing secondary essays can get laborious, don’t try to make an essay you have already written “fit” for a prompt if it just doesn’t work. Remember, good secondary essays can help you earn a  medical school interview.

Sometimes, especially if your primary application is comprehensive, responding to a secondary essay may force you to repeat information that is already in your primary application. That not only is  okay but also suggests that you are in good shape; many schools determine prompts by identifying topics that applicants frequently leave out of primary applications.

I discourage  applicants from  writing a “one size  fits all document” for various secondary essay themes. Since the character/word limit for secondary essays is so variable (50 – 3,000 words) it would be a waste of time to write an essay before knowing specific character limits for each prompt. Having an idea of what you would write about for  each of the common themes is wise, however. Some schools’ secondary essay prompts do not vary from year to year, and you can often find these essay prompts and start working on them in advance. But, be warned, schools do change secondary essay prompts on occasion.

Above all, just as you did with your personal statement, write authentically and honestly and don’t try to spin your responses to tell admissions committees what you think they want to read.

A couple of additional tips:

• Never quote others; your essays should be about you!
• Optional secondary essays are truly optional. Don’t fill a space or recycle an essay unless you have a good reason to do so.
• Unless medical schools specify a secondary essay “due date,” there are no real turn around rules. Submit your essays when they are ready and ideally within two to three weeks after receiving the secondary application.

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MedEdits’  secondary essay review and editing services  will ensure that your secondary essays address what is being asked by the prompt while ensuring you highlight what is necessary to distinguish your candidacy.

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Weekly Weigh-in: The Adversity Secondary Essay

Welcome to PDr’s Weekly Weigh-in! Each week, we ask medical students and physicians to weigh in on some of our most frequently asked pre-med questions. This week’s question: How did you approach “the adversity secondary essay” on your secondary applications? Edward Chang, DGSOM MS3 For the adversity question, I tried to talk about events in my life that I felt others could relate too. On most secondaries, I talked about a mistake I made as a leader of my club and how that affected the club. Basically, I forgot to re-register our club as an official group on campus, which prevented us from having general meetings. It was a minor mistake that unfortunately affected us significantly since we needed to meet every week. I focused on my thought process at the time and how it was a humbling experience that I learned from. I explained that I was embarrassed and felt incompetent as a leader, nevertheless my fellow leaders supported me and we came up with a solution together.

I think it’s important to let the readers gain insight into your thought process while you go through adversity. They want to see how you think, cope, and handle yourself in these stressful situations.

|| Read: Three Secondaries to Pre-Write ||

Brandon Brown, UCSF MS2 I interpret adversity to be a challenging or difficult situation or circumstances due to something beyond my control. While the severity may vary, everyone has experienced some form of adversity, so I don’t think it was particularly difficult for me to think of some periods of adversity in my own life. In my essays, I usually described some adversity I experienced as an adolescent (that is too personal to detail here), how I handled the situation, how I got through it, and what I learned from it. Those last 3 parts are the most important; the particular situation is the least important. The basic advice for this type of essay: don’t write a sob story, write a narrative of your resilience and maturity. || Read: Weekly Weigh-in: The Diversity Secondary Essay || Evan Laveman, DGSOM MS3 For the adversity question I focused on a situation where I was making a rescue as an ocean lifeguard on a drowning victim. A lot of it dealt with my own doubts. Ocean lifeguards are never supposed to let a situation get so far as to ever have a drowning, so during the entire rescue effort, and the period afterwards, I was left with a feeling of failure and guilt. I felt like this could have only happened because I missed something, or didn’t swim fast enough, or did something else wrong. I doubted whether this setting was right for me. I learned later that the victim was drunk and had been attempting a suicide, therefore absolving me of any real responsibility for the outcome. Despite learning that, the feelings of uncertainty and grief were still real for me in those moments. I felt like I got lucky, this one wasn’t my fault, but now I knew how it would feel if the next it was, and it was hard to handle for a 18 year old. My takeaway from this was that uncertainty and doubt will always live within me, and I have to learn to accept myself for my successes and failures. I can’t always hold myself to an unreasonable standard, and learning how to sacrifice achievement for health, balance and family has been an active and wonderful process for me. The key for these questions is to not get lost in your own narrative. It’s not about how interesting the situation is or really even how “adverse” it is, it’s your analysis of it. It’s how you matured through it, it’s how you show your ability to reflect on yourself and be aware of how you handle challenges. Don’t get sidetracked by trying to make an admissions committee feel bad for you. If you have had a blessed life, that doesn’t mean you have no good answer for this question- it can still be amazing if you show that you are grounded and self-aware. Likewise, I traumatic childhood doesn’t mean that you have this question squared away. An admissions committee cannot admit you because they feel bad for you, and you don’t want them to for those reasons either, so make sure they know the real reason you’re qualified for medicine- make sure they know they are dealing with an active thinker, a problem solver, and someone who can work their way through adversity, because there will certainly be a lot more coming. ||Read: Weekly Weigh-in: Prioritizing Secondary Applications || Emily Singer, DGSOM MS3 Why do admissions committees want to know about the “adversity” you’ve faced anyway? Well, as potential colleagues or future patients of yours, they want to know that you will be relatable, can manage stress, and can learn from tough personal situations. I took this prompt as an opportunity to explain why my grades dipped during my sophomore year. The essay I wrote was less about the period of “adversity” I was dealing with, and more about its resolution, what I learned, and how I applied what I learned to helping other people.

If you have any sort of gap in your resume or unexplained drop in grades, it is important to explain that period. This can either be done in your “adversity” essay or in your “anything else you’d like to tell us” one. My recommendation is to be really honest about adversity – if the hardest thing in your life has been disappointing your parents or having a falling out with a best friend – that’s okay. You don’t have to have overcome poverty or fled an oppressive regime to be a great candidate for medical school, and – in the same vein – adversity in itself doesn’t make you a good candidate. The important thing is that you communicate whatever hardship you have faced in a mature and thoughtful manner. What did you learn from fighting with the person closest to you? Or moving away from the people you grew up with? How did you deal with being the only “new” person in school? Try to think outside of strictly medical arenas too – “I have asthma” typically does not make for a compelling adversity essay, unless you started a running club for asthmatics and placed first in a 100-mile relay race. || Check out: PDr’s Secondary Essay Prompts Database to start pre-writing! ||

Evan Shih, DGSOM MS3

Since my own adversity essay topic is a bit personal for me to put on the internet, I’d like to reiterate my advice surrounding this popular prompt. The word “challenge” is found 38 times throughout the PDr secondary database in 2014. Indeed, a common theme that medical schools love to hear about is how their applicants have overcome a challenge, persevered through adversity, struggled with a moral dilemma, etc. However the prompt phrases it, the essay asks for three things:

• What problem did you face?
• How did you respond to the problem?
• What did you learn from it?

And those questions are ordered in in increasing importance. Medical schools are interested in learning about how a specific challenge shaped your character, and how you will integrate this experience into your medical education. Let’s face it: Medical school is hard. It will be one of the toughest endeavors of your life – the stress, the criticism, the failure, it will add up. Medical schools want to know that they are accepting students who have dealt with this type of pressure before, and know how to handle themselves.  Use this secondary to discuss the qualities that will help you persevere throughout your medical education and beyond.

Related posts:

• Weekly Weigh-in: The University Secondary Essay
• Weekly Weigh-in: The Diversity Secondary Essay
• Weekly Weigh-in: AMCAS Application Advice
• Navigating the Pre-Clinical Years in Medical School

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Medical School Secondary Essays: Popular Prompts and Tips To Answer Them

• Cracking Med School Admissions Team

After your AMCAS primary application is transmitted, you will begin to receive medical school secondary essays. While most schools send secondaries to all applicants, certain med schools will screen applicants by academic metrics like GPA and MCAT score and/or content listed on your primary application before extending secondaries. Regardless, submission of your secondary is a prerequisite for interview invitation and subsequently acceptance to medical school, so it’s important for you to stand out in your essays!

In this blog post, we’ll answer all your questions about medical school secondary essays:

• Why this medical school?

Autobiography

• Meaningful extra-curricular activity
• Other prompts
• 7 Medical School Secondary Essay Tips
• Medical school secondary essay examples and resources
• Frequently Asked Questions

OUr Students Were Accepted at These Medical Schools the Past 2 Years!

What are medical school secondary application essays?

Secondary applications will typically ask for the following information:

• Payment (~$100)
• General questions (family information, demographics, disciplinary record)
• Course information (classes taken, prerequisites, etc.)
• Extracurriculars (like work and activities, but abbreviated)
• Logistics (special programs of interest, ID photo, technical standards)
• School-specific essay prompts (the bulk of your efforts will be spent here)

  Most medical schools use the same application portal for their secondaries. Some common portals are shown below . Additionally, read popular medical school secondary essay prompts below .

Popular Med School Secondary Essay Prompts

Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has organized the medical school secondary essay prompts into various categories:

• Why our medical school?
• Extra-curricular activity

Why Our Medical School?

Example “Why our medical school” essay prompts:

• Given the distinctive educational philosophy and integrated curriculum at FSM, describe how your personal characteristics and learning style would fit the institution, and how Feinberg School of Medicine will help you achieve your professional goals. – 200 words (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine)
• Why have you chosen to apply to the Georgetown University School of Medicine and how do you think your education at Georgetown will prepare you to become a physician for the future? – 1 page, formatted at your discretion (Georgetown University School of Medicine)
• How will you take advantage of the Stanford Medicine Discovery Curriculum and scholarly concentration requirement to achieve your personal career goals? Please limit your answer to 1,000 characters including spaces. (Stanford University School of Medicine)

Tips to answer “Why Our School” medical school application secondary essays:

“Why our school” prompts will ask you to demonstrate your suitability for that specific medical school and/or an aspect of it (i.e. curriculum, mission). The best way to approach this is to research and highlight specific aspects of that school and connect it to your own background and experiences . Do you have a strong teaching background? Then maybe a peer-based learning curriculum would be suitable for you. Or maybe you have done lots of research in a certain field which is strong at that school. Be specific and name programs, physicians, and organizations which you believe would be a good fit for you . Remember: your essay should ultimately focus on who you are and why you would thrive at the school.

“Why our medical school” examples and additional tips:

• Why this Medical School? Secondary Essay Example

Example Diversity Prompts:

• The Committee on Admissions regards the diversity (broadly defined) of an entering class as an important factor in serving the educational mission of the school. The Committee on Admissions strongly encourages you to share unique, personally important, and/or challenging factors in your background, such as the quality of your early educational environment, socioeconomic status, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and life or work experiences. Please discuss how factors have influenced your goals and preparation for a career in medicine. Please limit your answer to 2,000 characters including spaces. (Stanford University School of Medicine)
• Yale School of Medicine values diversity in all its forms. How will your background and experiences contribute to this important focus of our institution and inform your future role as a physician? – 500 Words (Yale School of Medicine)

Tips to answer “Diversity” medical school secondary application essays:

As a doctor, you will need to empathize and connect with patients from a wide range of backgrounds. Therefore, students with unique backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives are highly sought after in building a diverse class. When approaching diversity essays, think broadly about what experiences and insights you have had that would positively contribute to a medical school class. Have you worked with a unique population of patients? Do you come from an underrepresented group in medicine? Have you faced any hardships or experiences that have given you a unique life perspective? Remember, diversity in not limited to racial and ethnic identity (although this can certainly be a strong focus of your diversity essay). As long as you can convincingly articulate a point of view that is specific to you and supported by relevant experiences then you will be able to craft a strong diversity essay!

“Diversity” essay examples and additional tips:

• Cracking Med School Admissions book: 50 Essays from Accepted Students

Example Autobiography Prompts:

• AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH This should be a true autobiographical statement. Topics to be included are family, childhood, primary and secondary school years, undergraduate years, and, if applicable, what you’ve done since completing your bachelor’s degree. You should also discuss the motivational factors which led you to a career in medicine including any disadvantages or obstacles which might put your accomplishments into context. A repeat of your AMCAS statement will not be acceptable. Please note: if you are applying to the MD/PhD program, please include why you are specifically interested in seeking MD/PhD training at UCSD. (UCSD School of Medicine)
• Write a brief autobiography. As completely and precisely as possible, give a picture of yourself, your family, and events you consider important to you. In doing so, identify the values that are of greatest importance to you. If you have completed your undergraduate education, please comment on what you have done or have been doing since graduation. – 1200 words (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine)

Tips to answer “Autobiography” medical school secondary application essays:

While the prospect of writing an autobiography for medical school may initially seem daunting, once you begin the process you will see that it can be one of the easier and more enjoyable types of secondaries to write (besides the length). One strategy to tackle to autobiography essay is to brainstorm relevant anecdotes from different stages of your life. For example, consider anecdotes from…

• Early childhood or your family: these may reflect your background or life experiences
• Your collegiate years: these should capture your values and beliefs
• Your clinical extracurriculars: these should reveal your skills and character traits, ultimately convincing the reader you are well suited for a medical career
• Your nonclinical extracurriculars: these demonstrate that you are compassionate, and care about serving others
• Any major life events: particularly formative events can reveal a lot about you

Afterwards, identify common themes or threads in the different anecdotes you have brainstormed and patch the pieces together. Ideally, these themes could tie into or predate the themes of your medical school application.

Finally, many autobiographical medical school secondary essays will include a section about future goals. This is a great place relate your past experiences to your future aspirations and provide a compelling argument for why you want to attend that medical school in particular. 

For more tips, read our entire blog post:  How To Write An Autobiography For Medical School

Example Challenge Prompts:

• Please describe a challenge you faced and how you addressed it. (Weill Cornell Medical College)
• Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. We suggest that you limit your essay to about 550 words. (Pritzker School of Medicine)
• Challenge: Please discuss a challenging situation or obstacle you have faced in the past. Why was it challenging? How did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? What did you learn? – 500 words (Vanderbilt)
• Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity; include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician. (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

Tips to answer “challenge” medical school secondary application essays:

Medical school is hard, so admissions committee members want to know that you are resilient and prepared to take on a challenge. Think back to your experiences in undergrad or afterwards. What situations were particularly difficult for you to overcome? When did you have to step outside of your comfort zone? Have you ever had to resolve a serious conflict or ethical dilemma? Make sure you can reflect on what you learned and how insights from the experience may benefit you in the future. Talk about why overcoming that challenge, or even failing to, has made you better having gone through the experience. Remember- medical schools do not expect you to be perfect! But they want to see that you are reflective and can grow from adversity.

One question we frequently hear from students is whether or not to write about mental health issues such as dealing with depression or anxiety in their challenge essay. Or, others write about a challenge in time management and prioritizing their tasks. It’s okay to write about these topics as long as it sounds like you will still thrive in medical school.

Meaningful Activity

Example “Activity” Prompts:

• If you wish to update or expand upon your activities, you may provide additional information below. – Word Count 500 (UCSF School of Medicine)
• Explain an activity that you have been involved in with for at least 6-12 months. What was it about that activity that kept you motivated to continue? What did you learn from that activity? – 1000 Characters (Wayne State University School of Medicine)
• Briefly describe your single, most rewarding experience. Feel free to refer to an experience previously described in your AMCAS application. (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

Tips to answer “activity” medical school secondary application essays:

Take advantage of the open-ended nature of this prompt to expand on one or more of your activities to pique an admissions committee member’s interest in meeting you. It’s important that you don’t copy and paste your “most meaningful essays” in your AMCAS application. The activity you choose for this prompt might be the same as your “most meaningful” AMCAS activity, but you should convey a different.

Medical schools can learn the following from your response to this extracurricular activity secondary essay:

• In what do you invest your time?
• What’s important to you?
• Do you show leadership and potential?
• What impact did you have in your activity?
• Are you able to execute on a goal you have?
• What are the results that you produce?

Example “Gap Year” Prompts:

• If you have taken a gap year(s), please explain what you have been, or will be, doing since graduating from your undergrad institution. – 2000 characters (Baylor College of Medicine
• If you have already graduate, briefly (4000 characters max) summarize your activities since graduation (Harvard Medical School)
• Please use the space below to tell us what you have done since completing your undergraduate degree. – 350 words (University of California, San Francisco)

Tips to answer “gap year” medical school secondary application essays:

Gap year essays are open-ended questions which ask you to describe something you have been involved with either during your gap year. While these seem straightforward, it is important to not make the mistake of approaching these essays as you would a resume description. The bulk of your content should still focus on what you learned and how those insights have prepared you for a career in medicine. For example, if you scribed, you can talk about how working closely with your attending allowed you to gain insights into clinical decision making through a more involved role. Or if you worked in a research lab, you can connect your research interests with your future academic interests as a physician. Similar to the activities essay, take advantage of the open-nature of this prompt.

Optional Medical School Secondary Essays

Example “Optional” Prompts:

• Describe a time or situation where you have been unsuccessful or failed. (optional) – 3000 characters (Washington University School of Medicine)
• Do you wish to be considered for the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community? (UC Irvine School of Medicine)
• If there is an important aspect of your personal background or identity, not addressed elsewhere in the application, that you would like to share with the Committee, we invite you to do so here. Many applicants will not need to answer this question. Examples might include significant challenges in access to education, unusual socioeconomic factors, identification with a minority culture, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity. Briefly explain how such factors have influenced your motivation for a career in medicine. – 4000 character maximum (Harvard Medical School)
• Is there anything additional that you would like to address that is not already reflected in your application? – 250 words or less (University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine)

Tips to answer “Optional” medical school secondary application essays:

We recommend applicants maximize their chances for an interview by completing all secondary essays including optional ones (unless the prompt does not apply to you). Some optional prompts will be very specific, but most are very open ended. Think of these as an opportunity to showcase something you have not already talked about in your application. You do not necessarily have to write about a different activity; instead, you can approach an activity you have already written about from a different perspective. For example, if you talked about how your research experience shaped your future goals as an academic physician, you can instead highlight how research allowed you to hone your work ethic and think about research questions methodically. Ultimately, think of optional prompts as an opportunity to show medical schools another aspect of you . 

Cracking Med High Yield Tip: ALWAYS answer optional medical school secondary essays!

7 Medical School Essay Tips

Secondary essay tip #1: organize your secondaries.

It is extremely important to create an excel spreadsheet or a google sheet to stay organized! Medical school secondary essays are sent in quick succession after your primary application is received. You will literally get a floor of emails from medical schools you applied to with several essays to complete. Don’t panic! Amidst a growing number of essays to complete, it can be extremely helpful to have a system to organize secondary essays by school and date. We recommend making a spreadsheet or similar system to keep track of secondaries.

This same system can be used to keep track of interview invitations and application decisions. Ultimately, what you choose to include in this system is up to you!

A sample secondary organizer is below:

Secondary Essay Tip #2: Include your application themes

While your secondary application should not repeat elements included in your primary, it should be thematically consistent with common threads you highlighted in your work & activities and personal statement. Think of your application as a cohesive narrative—your secondary application should enrich and substantiate that narrative rather than deviating from it.

In doing so, ask yourself what you have not already covered in your primary? Are there any areas where you could expand on what you have written? Or look at an experience from a different perspective? Are there any areas where you feel additional explanation is required? For example, if your personal statement focused more on your volunteering experiences, you may choose to talk more about your research experiences in your secondaries. Your goal should be to cover new ground in a consistent manner with what you have already written.

Secondary Essay Tip #3: Be creative

With such a wide range of medical school secondary essay topics, most applicants will inevitably feel like they have run out of topics to write about. Many medical schools have several secondary essays. The first important things is to make sure you include Tip #2: the main threads and application themes conveyed in your primary application.

Then, our advice is to think creatively about each prompt and outside of the box. For example, one of our students wrote about instructor evaluations they received as a teaching assistant in response to a prompt asking about a significant honor or award. Other premeds we advise have written short stories or poems as part of their secondary essay responses. Your essay will make a positive impression if you can still answer the prompt while being more creative with your topic choice. 

Secondary Essay Tip #4: Re-purpose the same essays for multiple schools

Medical schools will commonly ask the same types of secondary essay prompts. As a result, something that most pre-meds do not realize until they apply is that you can re-purpose many your already written essays for other schools. Look out for wording that suggests you are dealing with the same “type” of secondary. For example, “diversity” essays commonly include phrasing such as “contribute to the coming class”, “unique background or life experiences”, and/or “differences”. Recognize that these all fundamentally fall within the same category of secondaries.

When re-purposing essays, we recommend going through all of your secondaries and grouping essays by type. From there, you can start with one prompt for each category that has the highest word/character limit for your first version of the essay. Then, you can shorten that first draft in order to fit the length limitations of subsequent schools.

For a full list of different types of medical school secondary essays, check out our other blog post:  Complete List: Medical School Secondary Essay Prompts 2020 – 2021

Secondary Essay Tip #5: Tailor your response to each school

Even if you re-purpose your secondary essays or use a template for a common essay, make sure you do not write generic responses for different schools! Even essays like your diversity/activity essays, which may be largely similar because your background/extracurriculars have not changed, can be specified for each school by relating elements of your response to opportunities/characteristics of that school. For example, if a school has a primary-care focus, you can tie in your background coming from a medically underserved region with your future career goal to serve your community.

Secondary Essay Tip #6: Carefully read over and edit your medical school secondary essays

While you will not have the same amount of time to work on your secondaries as your primary application, you still need to deliver a product of similar quality in writing, content, and insightfulness. As such, it is recommended that you get a few trusted readers to review your secondaries before submitting them. If you have other friends applying, it can be useful to form secondary reviewing groups so that you can share essays with one another and receive timely feedback. When having your secondaries reviewed, focus on grammar, clarity of writing, and content.

Secondary Essay Tip #7: Pre-write your medical school secondary application essays

At this point in the application cycle, with AMCAS yet to open and no secondaries sent out, the number one tip we have is for you to pre-write your secondary essays! This will give you a strong list of essays to work with once secondaries begin to come in, which can make a huge difference for the quality of your essays and their turnaround time. Secondary prompts rarely change from year to year and can be found online. Check out our blog post of secondary prompts from 2020-2021!

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Medical School Secondary Application Resources

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Additional Resources:

• How To Write An Autobiography For Medical School
• Medical School Profiles – Learn about each medical school in-depth

FAQs - Med School Secondary Applications

When you submit your AMCAS application, the application fee is $170 for one medical school and then $41 for each additional medical school. Additionally, each medical school also has a secondary application fee. On average, each medical school application is $100.

When your AMCAS application officially transmitted to medical schools, then medical schools start sending their applicants an invitation for a medical school secondary application. It’s important to note that some medical schools send all applicants a secondary application, whereas other medical schools are selective with who they send secondary applications to.

Our Cracking Med School Admissions team tell our student advisees that medical school secondary essays are extremely important . We highly recommend submitting only “A” quality secondary applications. This is the standard we hold ourselves to and the standard we hold our students to. If you would like help with your medical school secondary essays, look at our secondary essay editing services here.

Medical schools look for different things:

• Your commitment to medicine
• Experiences that make you unique
• Specific interests or passions in healthcare
• Intellectual interests
• Unique talents

Medical school secondary applications vary greatly. On one extreme, there are still a handful of schools that have 0 additional required essays. On the other extreme, there are medical schools that have 10-12 secondary essays, including optional essays.

No. Some medical schools will read your primary application first and decide whether to send you its medical school secondary application. Other medical schools screen out students based on its GPA or MCAT cut-off.

We recommend using the full character or word limit on most of your secondaries. Why not take full advantage to increase your chances of success? If you have essays pre-written, you can even reduce this time to a couple of days! Remember, medical school admissions is a rolling process, so the earlier your application is marked complete the higher your chances of interview invitation and acceptance. But remember, you have to have “A” quality secondary essays so that you stand out!

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How to Write the ‘Adversity Essay’ for Medical School

In this article, we will be showing you how to write the ‘adversity essay’ for medical school. This is quite a common secondary application essay question to come across. It’s also one of the most important in the medical school application process.

The med school adversity essay sometimes comes in different forms. You may see it as one of the following.

• What has been your biggest challenge in pursuing medicine? What have you learned as a result?
• Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice.
• The admissions committee is interested in gaining more insight into you as a person. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience and what you learned about yourself as a result.
• Please describe to the Admissions Committee a challenge you have overcome and what you learned about yourself from that experience.
• Tell us about a challenging problem you faced and how you resolved it.
• Discuss a time in your life in which you have failed at something other than an academic experience. How did you confront the failure and what did you learn from it? Please describe how you typically approach challenges that you face in your life.
• Describe a major problem you have had to deal with at some time in your life. Include how you dealt with it and how it influenced your growth.

So, why is the adversity question in the medical school secondary applications important? It can be quite self-explanatory, but let’s lay down a few reasons.

Writing the adversity essay for medical school helps admissions officers understand more of your strengths that were not already stated in the application. It shows what sort of person you are under stress, and it helps determine your fit for the medical world.

In other words, the adversity essay for medical school helps determine if you will be a good fit for medicine.

Oftentimes, you’ll also be asked how you overcame your issue. This shows the admissions officers just exactly how you come to solutions, and whether your problem-solving skills would make you a good fit for the program.

When writing the adversity essay for medical school, keep these questions in mind:

• How do I manage my mental stress during situations?
• Can I handle the unpredictable? What about when unpredictable things happen on the job?
• How do you fix problems? Do you do it with a group or alone? Are you a “maximize efficiency” sort of person?
• What did you learn from the challenge?
• How has the experience changed your character?
• Are there ways this topic can make me look bad?
• How do your experiences shape your approach to medicine?

Think about how your essay answers these questions. The admissions officers will be keeping these considerations in mind, especially when they want to sort through what makes up the best students.

With that said, let’s get right to our guide. Here’s our ultimate guide on how to write the adversity essay for medical school.

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Table of Contents

Pay attention to the details.

• Articulate your ideas well.
• I don’t know what to write about in my medical school essay!

Is my college essay topic good enough?

What does the adversity essay for medical school say about you.

Make no mistake: the adversity essay for medical school also serves as a litmus test. So, what is it testing? Well, a whole host of personality traits! However, one of them is your proclivity for attention to detail.

An essay for admissions into medical school, especially one that can only judge you on a few factors such as GPA, MCAT scores, is going to be absolutely vital to your ability to stand out.

If you are careless enough to make a few grammar or sentence structure mistakes, it shows you are not dedicated enough to perfect your essays for medical school. It also shows that people who reviewed and edited their essays care more about their career in medicine, or at least handle it with more care, than you.

So, don’t make silly mistakes in your essays. Get them edited and revised, with at least one advisor. This shows the admissions officers you at least care enough to send them something that is polished, instead of roughly puy together.

Also, be sure not to make your essay sound like it was done at the last minute –even if it was! We understand that this can be quite hard, but if you are struggling with giving the essay a good tone that doesn’t sound like the essay was rushed, you may want to speak with an expert. Contact us for a free consultation! We will get back to you within 24 hours to help you with your essay!

Articulate your ideas well .

One of the most important things about the adversity essay for medical school is your ability for articulation. This means how well you can communicate the ideas in your head. Does what you’re saying sound foggy and vague, or specific and concise? If your words are specific and concise –especially easy to understand– then you have a well-articulated essay.

You can very easily leave a bad impression if you are not articulating your ideas well. An essay that is hard to understand and unclear in its overarching implications demonstrates that you may not be as invested in medicine as you think.

I don’t know what to write about in my medical school essays!

It’s quite a big problem for students not to know what to write about in their med school essays. They usually fall under the ‘just like everyone else’ student. They studied hard, attended lectures, and probably participated in an internship. In other words, they’re plain average.

To understand how to write the adversity essay for medical school, it’s important to know this fundamental rule: you probably do have something to write about.

When students come to us for help, they often cite the same problem. They claim they have nothing to write about because they didn’t hold any important leadership positions or work experiences. What most of them discover is that adversity and struggle are everywhere. You only need to scratch a little bit under the surface of your life to discover adversity in your life.

Here are a few example topics that work well for the med school adversity essay.

• Family disagreements
• Friendship struggles
• Mental health and depression
• Health issues
• Choosing sides
• Moral choices

Before we get to this section, we want to say that there are rarely any bad topics to write about. Most if not all adversities are valid, and admissions officers recognize this. However, struggles and adversities that reach a level of absurdity beyond the norm will be a red flag.

Example: your father didn’t buy you a car, so you begged and begged until he did; this shows your struggle of perseverance. This is a bad topic because it only shows that you’re spoiled.

Another problem many of our clients come across when trying to answer the medical school adversity essay prompt is whether their topic is good enough. There are those who write about simple topics, and those who write about severe ones. Perhaps you wanted to write about having to learn to become more assertive in your life, but you know of others writing about great adversities like the death of a loved one.

Obviously, you may feel that assertiveness training can’t outcompete the death of a loved one. That may put you at a disadvantage in the medical school process.

However, remember this: the admissions officers do a lot to ensure they give a fair and just process to everyone. Not everyone has difficult issues in their lives, and they understand that. The important thing is not just the weight of your adversity, but how it defines you as a person in the admissions process.

Maybe the death of a loved one is deeper than the need for assertiveness training. However, your need for assertiveness training may also show you’ve overcome obstacles and can stand your ground better than before. This may give you the personality and temperament needed to succeed in the brutal academic world of medicine that others may not have had. Sure, it’s not as strong as hearing about someone’s grandma die.

However, the admissions officers care more about what they can infer about you –not what happened to you. This brings us to the next point.

This is one of the most important points. Show the med school admissions officers what your adversity essay says about you.

This doesn’t mean you should get specific about the details of your topic –though, you still should! It means that you need to help the admissions officers see how the topic you’re writing about shows a characteristic or personality trait about you. Then, you need to show how that connects with your place in medicine.

Does your adversity help you become a better doctor? Has your struggle taught you the beauty of empathy, and influenced your motivation for nursing? Think about your essay topic and its relationship with your place in medicine.

Here is a thought exercise you should use when trying to answer the adversity essay for medical school.

• What is my adversity?
• Why exactly was my adversity hard?
• How did I overcome it?
• Is this experience a unique med school topic to write about in my essay?
• What does this adversity and my overcoming it show about me as a person?
• How does that make me a good applicant for medical school?

If you are still struggling to understand how to write the adversity essay for medical school, consider scheduling a free phone consultation . We will help you with all aspects of the medical school adversity essay, and help you stand out amongst the rest of the applicant pool.

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Advice writing adversity essays

• Thread starter Bored_Conscious
• Start date Jun 10, 2021

Bored_Conscious

Full member.

• Jun 10, 2021

proudofmykids

Is this hardship question related to URM or Low Ses? Also, did you really incur the hardship or are you trying to spin an experience as a hardship. Also, Often applicants feel like they can check a box, but haven’t really experienced much hardship related to said box but try to spin a story so the box can stay checked. It would be better to not check the box. if this is not applicable to your post, then disregard.  

proudofmykids said: Is this hardship question related to URM or Low Ses? Also, did you really incur the hardship or are you trying to spin an experience as a hardship. Also, Often applicants feel like they can check a box, but haven’t really experienced much hardship related to said box but try to spin a story so the box can stay checked. It would be better to not check the box. if this is not applicable to your post, then disregard. Click to expand...

Bored_Conscious said: In regard to writing adversity essays...even if they do not ask for lessons learned or how it would help you as a physician, is it a good idea to include it? Click to expand...

the evil queen of numbers

Is this a mandatory essay?  

LizzyM said: Is this a mandatory essay? Click to expand...

Goro said: If the prompt is not asking you for something, why should you give it? You need to show that you can follow simple instructions. Click to expand...

You never need to use all the characters alloted. Do use at least 30% but don't feel you need to use the entire space. If they haven't asked for lessons learned or how it relates to being a physician, they aren't interested in that information in that slot. In this case, it looks like they want to know about situations that might mitigate an otherwise borderline application. There are many circumstances including natural disasters, chronic illness in a parent or sibling, a job loss, that didn't fit with the personal statement narrative but that help explain a particularly rough patch in college or after. You don't necessarily have to tell us what you learned from having your parents divorce and your dad lose his job and your mother be treated for cancer and we don't expect that those experiences will make you a better doctor than someone who had different life experiences but it may explain why your GPA in your second semester sophomore year was a 2.8.  

LizzyM said: You never need to use all the characters alloted. Do use at least 30% but don't feel you need to use the entire space. If they haven't asked for lessons learned or how it relates to being a physician, they aren't interested in that information in that slot. In this case, it looks like they want to know about situations that might mitigate an otherwise borderline application. There are many circumstances including natural disasters, chronic illness in a parent or sibling, a job loss, that didn't fit with the personal statement narrative but that help explain a particularly rough patch in college or after. You don't necessarily have to tell us what you learned from having your parents divorce and your dad lose his job and your mother be treated for cancer and we don't expect that those experiences will make you a better doctor than someone who had different life experiences but it may explain why your GPA in your second semester sophomore year was a 2.8. Click to expand...

• I wrote about how my diagnosis with a chronic illness has drained me of my passion for fitness (I discussed my passion for fitness and how it ties into my desire to do medicine for my personal statement). Then I discussed how I pushed through it, overcame some of the more challenging hardships associated with it, and how overcoming that hardship/my experience as a patient will make me a better physician.
• During the summer I was studying for my MCAT, my chronic illness started to flare-up. By the time I was taking my full-lengths and took the actual exam I was experiencing a full-on flare. I ended up scoring a 510. A little lower than I wanted (FL scores: 505, 508, 510, 513). To be honest, I do not know if my flare-up caused me not to be able to perform as well.

LindaAccepted

Founder, accepted admissions consultancy.

• Jun 11, 2021

Bored_Conscious said: The essay prompt in mind is: Describe any circumstances indicative of some hardship, such as, but not limited to, financial difficulties, personal or family illness, a medical condition, a death in the immediate family or educational disadvantage not mentioned in your primary application essays; OR describe any key academic, personal, or financial barriers that COVID-19 may have posed on you or your immediate family. In regard to writing adversity essays...even if they do not ask for lessons learned or how it would help you as a physician, is it a good idea to include it? I feel like this would be a generally good flow for an adversity essay...but curious to know if this is too much detail if they are simply asking you to describe a circumstance: Describing the difficulty --> How I dealt with difficulty --> What I learned from the difficulty --> How I would have dealt with it knowing what I do now --> how that will be useful for me overall or as a physician. This particular prompt gives you 3500 characters so it is more than enough...of course those with shorter character requirements can remove some of the information above. Click to expand...

LindaAccepted said: Since the connection to your MCAT score and the fact that it's lower than you wanted is not obvious or certain, and it could raise concern about whether your condition is under control, I wouldn't make that connection in your application. If the flare-up was connected to stress associated with the MCAT and stress typically triggers flare-ups, are you going into the right profession? Click to expand...

LindaAccepted said: An essay with no growth or change would be pretty boring. "This happened to me and then that happened to me." While you don't have to fit every adversity essay into "this is what I learned and will make me a better physician," since as was pointed out that's not being asked, you should try to have adversity essays show you as having overcome and being stronger at the end. What did you do to overcome the adversity? That should be the focus on your essay. Yes it can explain a dip in grades from your sophomore year. Good to know and share. However, you don't want your adversity essays to leave the reader questioning whether you'll be able to handle medical school. It should show resilience. Since the connection to your MCAT score and the fact that it's lower than you wanted is not obvious or certain, and it could raise concern about whether your condition is under control, I wouldn't make that connection in your application. If the flare-up was connected to stress associated with the MCAT and stress typically triggers flare-ups, are you going into the right profession? Click to expand...

There is a desire (and a necessity) to pre-write the secondaries but you really need to take each prompt apart and get at what the committee wants to know. What information are they trying to gleen from your essay? Is it an explanation of difficulties you had in school? A better idea of your coping style? A description of your problem solving abilities or your ability to make ethical decisions or work with a group that experienced a conflict. A secondary that is not a response to the school's specific response won't be as helpful to you as one that is spot on.  

LizzyM said: There is a desire (and a necessity) to pre-write the secondaries but you really need to take each prompt apart and get at what the committee wants to know. What information are they trying to gleen from your essay? Is it an explanation of difficulties you had in school? A better idea of your coping style? A description of your problem solving abilities or your ability to make ethical decisions or work with a group that experienced a conflict. A secondary that is not a response to the school's specific response won't be as helpful to you as one that is spot on. Click to expand...

Bored_Conscious said: Are adversity/hardship essays mostly for explanation of difficulties one has had in school? I always thought it had to do with determining our resiliency and determination to overcome difficult circumstances in or outside of school. I know my essay would show my resiliency and dedication. Not entirely related to school but it has definitely made me more willing to push through any difficult situation (school or not school related) Click to expand...

LizzyM said: This is my point. Read the prompt. Respond to the prompt. Don't plan on a "adversity" essay and plan to trot it out in all circumstances that seem remotely related to adversity. The school is trying to learn something about you. Figure out what that is and write in response to that specific interest on the part of the school. Click to expand...

• Jun 13, 2021

I complete agree with Lizzy M's response. And along those lines, I'd add that you want to view and respond to the question in context. How can your answer to this specific question for this school add to the reader's insight into you -- given what's in the rest of your primary and secondary app?  

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August 16, 2024

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay Tips [2024 – 2025]

The  Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine maintains a strong emphasis on integrating scientific innovation with patient care. In 2023, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school #1 in multiple specialties (Internal Medicine, Surgery, Rheumatology), #2 in Anesthesiology, and #3 in Psychiatry. 

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine follows a “Genes to Society” curriculum that emphasizes human adaptation, genotypes, and risk factors rather than “normal” human biology and “abnormal” disease. Johns Hopkins has a long tradition of training physician-leaders who are committed to both clinical medicine and improving health on a larger scale, whether through research, innovation, education, or health care delivery. 

In July 2024, Bloomberg Philanthropies made a transformative $1 billion gift to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, aimed at reducing the financial barriers for medical students. This donation will make medical school free for students from families with a household income of less than $300,000 per year, which includes 95% of American families. For students from families with annual incomes of less than $175,000, the gift will also cover living expenses and fees.

This initiative addresses a significant issue in the United States – the declining number of healthcare professionals due to the high cost of medical education. By easing the financial burden, Johns Hopkins hopes to attract a more diverse range of talented students, empowering them to pursue careers in medicine without the heavy burden of debt.

The gift also extends beyond the School of Medicine (SOM), increasing financial aid for students at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, Bloomberg School of Public Health, and several other graduate schools. This investment builds on previous philanthropic efforts by Michael Bloomberg (a 1964 Hopkins alumnus), including a historic $1.8 billion gift in 2018 to support undergraduate financial aid.

Johns Hopkins SOM secondary application essay questions

Think of your secondary essays as opportunities to demonstrate your in-kind character and to envision the future of medicine in keeping with the school’s vision. 

Please review the Johns Hopkins Medicine Website . Are there any areas of medicine or a particular medical specialty at Johns Hopkins that interests you and why? If so, please comment. (400 word limit)

This prompt has been revised to make sure applicants zero in on the school’s medical program and specialties. If you have your heart set on one of its specialties, go ahead and mention this. Also, it is okay to say that you are interested in multiple fields and list a few that you want to explore. To support your interest, briefly describe your exposure/experiences in each specialty and why they appeal to you. How do you hope to further medical knowledge in this area? In other words, how will you contribute to making this field better?

Briefly describe your single, most rewarding experience. Feel free to refer to an experience previously described in your AMCAS application if needed. (400 word limit) 

If something exceptional has happened since you submitted your primary (e.g., a new job, a research breakthrough) and you want to include it, here is your chance. However, be sure to tell the story , not just list a credential, award, or opportunity as you might in your resume or curriculum vitae. How you tell this story also matters; you want to appeal to your readers rather than distance yourself from them.

It’s likely that many applicants will choose one of their three most meaningful activities and give it a spin, making it into a longer story for this essay. This is your opportunity to include information that did not fit in your primary “most meaningful experience” description. To show your fit with Johns Hopkins, try to show how the experience has motivated you to contribute further in your chosen field. Explain with insight and depth what resonates meaningfully about the experience for you and then for medicine.

There is an opportunity here to take an innovative approach to this prompt that could work well. Then be certain to connect the dots to how this “outside the box” experience relates to you and also to medicine, physicians, public health, or research. 

Briefly describe a situation where you had to overcome adversity. Include lessons learned and how you think it will affect your career as a future physician. (400 word limit)

Adversity is a condition or fate that is undesirable, often bringing about feelings of distress, calamity, or misfortune. The key to answering this question is showing your true colors, demonstrating your inner strength, a resolve that rectifies the situation, makes a bad situation better, or triggers lasting change, growth, and/or resilience. Adversity could be related to marginalization, discrimination, sudden responsibility, illness, or disability, but it does not have to be that profound. You could write about a hardship that brought your family closer, or perhaps a teamwork situation that you would handle differently in the future. How have you made a bad situation better? How might you handle the situation differently next time?  

No matter what your subject, your response to this prompt needs to show insight, maturity, and successful reflection in conclusion. Lastly, explain how adversity and resilience apply to medicine.

Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from the experience? (400 word limit)

This is a “self-awareness” question, and the key is to show how you grew from the situation. You might be tempted to spend most of the essay discussing the circumstance; however, your essay will be stronger if you describe the situation briefly, then spend more time discussing what you learned about yourself as a result. Main points could involve trust, communication, diversity, empathy, or inclusion.

Wonder encapsulates a feeling of rapt attention … it draws the observer in. Tell us about a time in recent years that you experienced wonder in your everyday life. Although experiences related to your clinical or research work may be the first to come to mind, we encourage you to think of an experience that is unrelated to medicine or science. What did you learn from that experience? (500 word limit)

The keywords in this prompt are “wonder,” “everyday life,” and “learn.” Have you ever had a moment of amazement during a seemingly routine or mundane activity? Possibilities include time spent in nature; with a child, pet, or an older relative; and doing a hobby or even a chore. The prompt specifically asks you to look outside of your clinical and research activities, so do not choose something related to medicine. This is a chance to be creative and to show your ability to learn and grow, no matter where you are.

Many experiences and observations can be deeply engrossing. How does what you are writing about facilitate contemplation and awe? This is a subjective response, an exploratory and explanatory one. You’ll need to let go of being rational and empirical and move in the direction of the sublime, or musicality, perception, and poetics. Did you see the solar eclipse? Did you observe a mother respond to an emergency with the strength of ten men? 

In science, awe and wonder are spaces of ideas and understanding that can lead to innovation and discovery. That is likely why Johns Hopkins asks this question. Take the stethoscope, for instance. In the 1860s, a French doctor wanted to auscultate a female patient’s chest but felt that putting his ear to her chest would transgress boundaries. So he innovated a solution and made a cone out of paper to listen to her heart that way.

However, for this prompt, choose a story from real life to show deep observation, then state what it means and what you learned from it. 

Essay #6 

Please review the Johns Hopkins Medicine Equity Statement before answering the question below. The Johns Hopkins Medicine Equity Statement: At Johns Hopkins Medicine, we believe that everyone has a role in promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity in health care, research, and education. We must acknowledge, actively address, and work toward effectively managing our negative biases, so that we collectively make decisions that improve the lives of our patients, our colleagues, our learners, and our community. We stand against discrimination and oppression in all their forms. It is vital that we achieve equity for all, including those who are most vulnerable. The purpose of this essay is to get to know you as an individual and a potential medical student. Please describe how your personal background informs your decision to apply to Johns Hopkins Medicine and what has influenced your desire to become a physician in a Medical community that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion. You may address any subject you wish, such as being a first-generation college student, or being a part of a minority group, (whether because of your gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnicity, socio-economic status, political affiliation, first-generation status, religion, etc.) or being the child of undocumented immigrants or being undocumented yourself, etc. (500 word limit)

Some medical school applicants have family stories of immigration, second languages, and health inequity that surfaced in their lives as a struggle or disparity, having created more hardship for people who might have already experienced more adversity than others. Who we are, how we succeed, and how we make sense of the world resonates for every medical school applicant, every doctor, and every patient. Therefore, noting that medical school communities had become for many a diaspora, a space of displacement rather than inclusion, has now become a call to action. One deep reason to maintain diversity as a value for medical schools is to redefine homogeneous truths that tend to the values of privileged groups. 

In turn, we can become better equipped to dismantle structural bias in medical institutions, whether those are schools of medicine, clinics, hospitals, or community programs, by instituting diversity and inclusion as actions that in some way help rectify the disparity in access to medicine for less-advantaged groups, whether as future physicians or as patients. How would you describe yourself and your experience amid this cultural tapestry? How did you find a path to educational success in light of your background and identity? Tell this story.

Would you like to share any additional information with the Admissions Committee about yourself that cannot be found elsewhere in your application? This space can also address any extenuating circumstances (e.g., unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, areas of weakness, etc.) that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider. (300 word limit)

The key to answering an “extenuating circumstances” prompt is to take responsibility for whatever happened and show what you did to turn a less than ideal situation around. Sometimes, these are growth and maturity stories (e.g., the freshman “flunk”), sometimes they are related to family circumstances, and other times they can be about adjusting to higher education, finding out one has a disability (e.g., like ADHD), and what you did to turn the situation around. Keep in mind that a bump in the road is likely more common than not among high-achieving students. So there is no room for chagrin, embarrassment, or blame, only growth, insight, and success.

Dr. Mary Mahoney, PhD, is the medical humanities director at Elmira College and has more than 20 years of experience as an advisor and essay reviewer for med school applicants. She is a tenured English professor with an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a PhD in literature and writing from the University of Houston. For the past 20 years, Mary has served as a grad school advisor and essay reviewer for med school applicants. Want Mary to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Related Resources:

• Admissions Straight Talk Podcast for Med School Applicants  
• Do’s and Don’ts of Medical School Recommendation Letters
• When to Send Letters of Interest to Med Schools

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