Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine cares deeply about serving its community and states on its website that it is a community-based school. Florida International University College of Medicine Admissions wants to recruit students who are passionate about improving community health, and therefore, it write about how you have served your community in your FIU medical school secondary application. Read more of our FIU secondary application tips below.
Pre-Writing Guidance: The FIU secondary application essay prompts have not changed in the past 2 years, but they have changed regularly in the past. Since the FIU secondaries are not too long and tend to stay the same, we would highly recommend pre-writing these secondary essays.
Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has a strong track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to FIU College of Medicine and other Florida medical schools for the past several years. Get our help with writing FIU Medical School secondary application essays that stand out with our secondary essay editing packages.
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FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2024 – 2025
- Miami is a vibrant and multicultural, multilingual city. You will be exposed to cultures and languages different than your own while living and studying in this city. Please explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked, or were exposed to backgrounds that were different than your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Why did you choose to apply to FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine? (1,200 characters max)
- Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced. If you sought guidance, support, or resources, describe how it helped you? Focus on what you learned about yourself and how you think it will help you face new challenges. (1,200 characters max)
- What do you think will be the most rewarding and challenging part of practicing medicine in the future? (1,200 characters max)
- Use this area to explain any exception to the prerequisites at your institution. (1,000 characters max)
- Is there any additional information about your academic record that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? Please include any academic difficulties or course withdrawals. (1,000 characters max)
Tips to Answer FIU Secondaries
FIU Pre-Writing Guidance: The FIU secondary application essay prompts have not changed in the past 2 years, but they have changed regularly in the past. Since the FIU secondaries are not too long and tend to stay the same, we would highly recommend pre-writing these secondary essays.
Download our Cracking Med Secondary Essay Workbook and Examples.
FIU Secondary Application Tip #1: Answer as many questions as possible on the FIU Medical School secondary application. Specifically, you can write how you were impacted by COVID. Many students think they only need to write about extreme challenges during COVID, but you can discuss how you also helped your community throughout the pandemic.
- Read this helpful blog post with essay examples: COVID Secondary Essay Examples
FIU Secondary Application Tip #2: Florida International University College of Medicine has a strong preference for in-state students and individuals who want to serve the Florida community. It is essential to include affiliations and experiences in Florida throughout your FIU secondaries. There is an entire essay dedicated to your South Florida experiences and linkages, but you can talk about your Florida patient experiences, clinical experiences, community service work, and travel in other essays as well.
FIU Secondary Application Tip #3: Whenever you write about a challenge, you should talk about how you’ve grown from the experience and what you learned. The FIU medical school admissions committee wants to see your grit and resilience. Medical school is extremely hard, and the admissions committee wants to know if you will be able to face the tough challenges ahead. When you discuss personal or academic difficulties, you should also write what you will do differently in the future (and how the situation will not cause you to drop out of medical school).
FIU Secondary Application Tip #4: FIU Medical School is a very community oriented school. To show your commitment to your community, you can discuss: leading community health initiatives; volunteering in free clinics or community clinics; volunteering in community health fairs; and working in non-health community initiatives.. to name a few. In particular, Florida International University wants to hear how you want to serve a diverse population of patients.
FIU Secondary Application Tip #5: Get our help to edit your FIU Medical School secondary application essays. The application is not too tough, but it does change and get longer through the years. Therefore, we suggest that you work on the secondary once you get the official secondary application from FIU. We can help you personalize all your FIU secondary application and all your other Florida medical school secondary application essays through our secondary essay editing packages. Have questions about how you can stand out? Contact us below.
[Read more secondary essay tips: Florida State University (FSU), Florida Atlantic University (FAU), University of Central Florida (UCF), George Washington)
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Use this essay guide and workbook to write standout secondaries.
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2023 – 2024
- Are you a re-applicant to medical school? If yes, please explain how your application has improved since the last time you applied and/or what you have learned from the experience. (1,000 characters)
- Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please explain what you will be doing prior to your planned matriculation into medical school. (600 characters)
- If you have taken a gap year(s), please explain what you have been, or will be doing since graduating from your undergraduate institution. (600 characters)
- Use this area to explain any exception to the prerequisites at your institution. (1,000 characters)
- Is there any additional information about your academic record that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? Please include any academic difficulties or course withdrawals. (1,000 characters)
- Miami is a vibrant and multicultural, multilingual city. You will be exposed to cultures and languages different than your own while living and studying in this city. Please explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked, or were exposed to diverse backgrounds. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters)
- Why did you choose to apply to FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine? (1,200 characters)
- Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. Describe any support system you had at your disposal and how you utilized these resources. (1,200 characters)
- If you are accepted into medical school, how do you envision your lifestyle will change, and what challenges may await? Similarly, what do you think will be the most rewarding and difficult part of practicing medicine in the future? (1,200 characters)
- (Optional): Please share any disruptions and/or challenges you have experienced this application year as a direct result of COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider in conjunction with your application. The following are some examples of topics for consideration, but are not limited to: academic preparations; extracurricular activities and/or experiences; personal and/or professional opportunities; or lessons and insights gained as a result of COVID-19. (1,000 characters)
- If you are NOT a Florida resident, please describe any connection to FIU, FIU HWCOM, or South Florida. (600 characters)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2022 – 2023
FIU Secondaries Essay prompts changed from last cycle
- Are you a re-applicant to medical school? If yes, please explain how your application has improved since the last time you applied and/or what you have learned from the experience. (1,000 characters)
- Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please explain what you will be doing prior to your planned matriculation into medical school. (600 characters)
- If you have taken a gap year(s), please explain what you have been, or will be doing since graduating from your undergraduate institution. (600 characters)
- Use this area to explain any exception to the prerequisites at your institution. (1,000 characters)
- Is there any additional information about your academic record that you would like the Admissions Committee to know? Please include any academic difficulties or course withdrawals. (1,000 characters)
- Miami is a vibrant and multicultural, multilingual city. You will be exposed to cultures and languages different than your own while living and studying in this city. Please explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked, or were exposed to diverse backgrounds. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters)
- Why did you choose to apply to FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine? (1,200 characters)
- Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. Describe any support system you had at your disposal and how you utilized these resources. (1,200 characters)
- If you are accepted into medical school, how do you envision your lifestyle will change, and what challenges may await? Similarly, what do you think will be the most rewarding and difficult part of practicing medicine in the future? (1,200 characters)
- (Optional): Please share any disruptions and/or challenges you have experienced this application year as a direct result of COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider in conjunction with your application. The following are some examples of topics for consideration, but are not limited to: academic preparations; extracurricular activities and/or experiences; personal and/or professional opportunities; or lessons and insights gained as a result of COVID-19. (1,000 characters)
- If you are NOT a Florida resident, please describe any connection to FIU, FIU HWCOM, or South Florida. (600 characters)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2021 – 2022
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert College of Medicine, how do you know we will be a mission fit for you? (1,200 characters max)
- Describe how you have dealt with a personal or academic challenge. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you will face in medical school. (1,200 characters max)
- Your patient has a rare disease and would be a great candidate for an experimental new treatment. You are the principal investigator for the research project and you and your Chair would like to pursue this experiment with the patient. The parents of your patient are adamant against the treatment. How would you handle this situation? (1,200 characters max)
- You are the principal investigator for the research project and you and your chair would like to pursue this experiment with the patient. The parents of your patient are adamant against the treatment. How would you handle this situation?
- (Optional) Please share any disruptions and/or challenges you have experienced this application year as a direct result of COVID-19 that you would like the Admissions Committee to consider in conjunction with your application. The following are some examples of topics for consideration, but are not limited to: academic preparations; extracurricular activities and/or experiences; personal and/or professional opportunities; or lessons and insights gained as a result of COVID-19. (1,000 characters max)
- (Optional) Academic difficulties essay. (1,000 characters max)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2020 - 2021
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, how do you know we will be a mission fit for you? (1,200 characters max)
- Describe how you have dealt with a personal or academic challenge. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. (1,200 characters max)
- Your patient has a rare disease and would be a great candidate for an experimental new treatment. You are the principal investigator for the research project and you and your Chair would like to pursue this experiment with the patient. The parents of your patient are adamant against the treatment. How would you handle this situation? (1,200 characters max)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2019 – 2020
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, how do you know we will be a mission fit for you? (1,200 characters max)
- Describe how you have dealt with a personal or academic challenge. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. (1,200 characters max)
- Your patient has a rare disease and would be a great candidate for an experimental new treatment. You are the principal investigator for the research project and you and your Chair would like to pursue this experiment with the patient. The parents of your patient are adamant against the treatment. How would you handle this situation? (1,200 characters max)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2018 – 2019
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, how do you know we will be a mission fit for you? (1,200 characters max)
- Your patient has a rare disease and would be a great candidate for an experimental new treatment. You are the principal investigator for the research project and you and your Chair would like to pursue this experiment with the patient. The parents of your patient are adamant against the treatment. How would you handle this situation? (1,200 characters max)
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Describe how you have dealt with a personal or academic challenge. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you during the challenges you might face in medical school. (1,200 characters max)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2017 – 2018
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, how do you know we will be a mission fit for you? (1,200 characters max)
- What attributes do you believe are essential to be successful within the medical profession? Of these attributes, which do you possess and how have you demonstrated these in the past? (1,200 characters max)
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Explain a situation in which you have received criticism. What was the criticism and how did you respond to it? (1,200 characters max)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2016 – 2017
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, please describe how your personal characteristics and values make you a suitable candidate for medicine. How will you contribute to the student body? (1,200 characters max)
- Describe how you have handled a personal or academic challenge. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you face possible challenges in medical school. (1,200 characters max)
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Were you ever surprised by criticism you received? If so, what was the criticism and how did you respond to it? (1,200 characters max)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2015 – 2016
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, please describe how your personal characteristics and values make you a suitable candidate for medicine. How will you contribute to the student body? (1,200 characters max)
- Describe how you have handled a personal or academic challenge. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you face possible challenges in medical school. (1,200 characters max)
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Were you ever surprised by criticism you received? If so, what was the criticism and how did you respond to it? (1,200 characters max)
FIU Secondary Application Questions: 2014 – 2015
- Whether or not you will be a full-time student, please provide details of your activities for the application year. (600 characters max)
- Given the unique mission of the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, please describe how your personal characteristics and values make you a suitable candidate for medicine. How will you contribute to the student body? (1,200 characters max)
- Describe how you have handled a personal or academic challenge. Focus on what you learned about yourself and how it will help you face possible challenges in medical school. (1,200 characters max)
- Explain in detail an experience in which you collaborated, worked or were exposed to diverse backgrounds different from your own. Please describe the impact the experience had on you. (1,200 characters max)
- Give an example when you were part of a team. What was your role in the team? How did you contribute to this task group? How often did you interact with other team members? (1,200 characters max)