Howard University College of Medicine prides itself in recruiting diverse medical students, including individuals international students. As a top-tier historically black university in Washington, DC, Howard University College of Medicine is an incredibly competitive school for prospective students to gain admission. Your previous experiences and future desires to served underserved communities needs to be elucidated in your Howard University secondary application questions. Read our Howard secondary application tips below.
Howard does not change its secondaries too often, except for adding a question last year. We strongly encourage students to pre-write the Howard University secondary application questions and turn them in early.
Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has a track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to Howard University College of Medicine and other medical schools in urban communities. Additionally, many of our students are committed to helping underserved communities, and we help them highlight this passion in their medical school application essays. Make sure to ask us any questions you have about what to emphasize on your Howard secondary application. We can also help you personalize your secondary through our secondary essay editing packages.
- Personally Tailored Essays
- Edits by Stanford & Harvard-trained Doctors
- We study your application strengths to see what unique attributes we’ll bring to the medical school
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2023 – 2024
- Have you lived in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.) (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Did COVID-19 impact you preparing your AMCAS application for fall 2024? (i.e. volunteer/work experience, financially, course registration, MCAT testing, etc.) (Please respond Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less, indicate N/A if not applicable)
- Why Howard University College of Medicine? (2500 character limit) This is a new question
Tips to Answer Howard Medical School Secondary Application Essays
Albert Secondary Application Pre-Writing Guidance: This is a great secondary to start pre-writing and submit early! There are not too many required essays on this supplemental application and the Howard University secondary application questions don’t change frequently.
- Download our Cracking Med Secondary Essay Workbook and Examples.
Howard Medical School Secondary Application Tip #1: As you can imply from the Howard University Medical School secondary application essay prompts, Howard University has a mission to serve underserved areas around the world. Therefore, it is important to understand healthcare disparities. Throughout your Howard secondary essays, you should incorporate an example from your own life about how you have already contributed in combating systemic discrimination or how you’ve already tackled healthcare disparity issues.
Additionally, read about current events in healthcare, including healthcare disparities. Remember that health disparities is a broad and complex issue, and you can reflect on how you might want to decrease the gap in health disparities (access to healthcare, access to health insurance, health literacy, health outcomes, etc.)
- Read our blog post Top 10 Current Events You Need To Know For Your Medical School Interview
Howard Medical School Secondary Application Tip #2: For the Howard University College of Medicine secondary application essay question about “anything else you want to add,” topics students have written about include
- Reasons for low MCAT score
- Reasons for poor grades
- Leave of absences from school
- Gap year activities and experiences
- COVID-19 experiences
- Additional information about working with underserved populations
If you have any questions about what you should write, contact us below.
Howard Medical School Secondary Application Tip #3: Write about “Why Howard University College of Medicine” throughout your Howard secondary essays. Specifically, talk about why the mission resonates with you and what projects you want to do during your time at Howard University. You can discuss how you want to improve healthcare disparities, especially among African Americans. Or, you may want to improve access to healthcare among underserved populations.
- Read our blog post why this medical school to gain insights on how to incorporate a strong “Why Howard College of Medicine.” You can discuss specific aspects of the Howard Medical School medical education curriculum, academic program, community service activities, and extracurricular activities you want to be involved with as a Howard medical student.
Howard Medical School Secondary Application Tip #4: Get our help to edit your Howard University secondary application questions. Our team has been successful in helping students get into Howard Medical School the past few years!
We can help you through our secondary essay packages. Have questions about how you can tailor your essay towards Howard Medicine’s mission? Contact us below.
Howard Medical School Secondary Application Tip #4: For the optional essay, “After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community?” we think the answer should be “yes” in almost all applications. And if it’s not, maybe you should rethink about applying to Howard University College of Medicine. To answer this question well, we think an applicant should paint a picture of his or her career in medicine. You can also include opportunities you will pursue at Howard University College of Medicine and Washington, DC available to medical students.
[Read more secondary essay tips: New York Medical College, University of Arizona College of Medicine, LSU Shreveport (Louisiana State University), University of Alabama ]
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Use this essay guide and workbook to write standout secondaries.
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2022 – 2023
- Have you lived in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.) (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Did COVID-19 impact you preparing your AMCAS application for fall 2023? (i.e. volunteer/work experience, financially, course registration, MCAT testing, etc.) (Please respond Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less, indicate N/A if not applicable)
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2021 – 2022
- Have you lived in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community? (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.) (Please indicate, Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less)
- Did COVID-19 impact you preparing your AMCAS application for fall 2022? (i.e. volunteer/work experience, financially, course registration, MCAT testing, etc.) (Please respond Yes or No and then explain/describe briefly in 250 words or less, indicate N/A if not applicable)
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2020 - 2021
- Have you lived (for three years or more) in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged?\
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community?
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations?
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.)
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2019 – 2020
- Have you lived (for three years or more) in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged?\
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community?
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations?
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.)
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2018 – 2019
- Have you lived (for three years or more) in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged? (250 words max)
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community? (250 words max)
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations? (250 words max)
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.) (No character limit)
There’s also a section to explain any discrepancies with your pre-requisite coursework
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2017 – 2018
- Have you lived (for three years or more) in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged? (250 words max)
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community? (250 words max)
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations? (250 words max)
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged, etc.) (No character limit)
There’s also a section to explain any discrepancies with your pre-requisite coursework
Howard University Secondary Application Questions: 2016 – 2017
- Have you lived (for three years or more) in communities which are medically underserved, or where the majority of the population is economically and/or educationally disadvantaged? (250 words max)
- After residency, do you plan to practice medicine in an underserved or disadvantaged community? (250 words max)
- Have you worked (volunteer or paid employment) with medically underserved, economically disadvantaged and/or educationally disadvantaged populations? (250 words max)
- Please provide below any additional information you believe is important in evaluating your application (e.g. additional coursework, problems with academic record; disadvantaged; degree program, etc.) (No character limit)
There’s also a section to explain any discrepancies with your pre-requisite coursework