Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MSU CHM) is a great school with strong clinical training. Many students who attend medical school there learn how to treat patients who live in suburban and rural areas. In order to receive an interview invite, you need to have a strong Michigan State secondary application that shows an abundance of clinical experiences and your personal traits. Read our other Michigan State secondary application tips below.
Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has a track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to MSU year after year! We suggest you pre-write this soon after you submit your AMCAS. We can help you edit your Michigan secondary application essays with our secondary editing packages.
Pre-writing Tip: The MSU secondary has gotten longer and longer throughout the years. There is too much variation year after year, so we DO NOT RECOMMEND medical school applicants to pre-write this secondary.
Other than submitting a strong Michigan secondary, it is also important to ace the Michigan State Multiple Mini Interview.
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Michigan State Medical School Medical School Secondary Application Essays: 2024-2025
Michigan State Secondary Application Essay Prompts:
- Imagine your professional life 15 years from now and briefly detail where you envision yourself and what you hope to be doing. Describe your most meaningful career accomplishment by that time and explain why it is significant. (500 words)
- Considering your life experiences and the lens through which you view the world, share your thoughts and perspectives about how systemic injustices and inequities have 1) affected you directly, and/or 2) shaped your perspective on society. (500 words)
- If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew about you? (500 words)
LMU Program Essays
- Why are you interested in the Leadership in Medicine for the Underserved Program? Be specific. (400 words)
- How have your past experiences prepared you for the challenges of a medical practice in an underserved area?
- A central component of this program is that students achieve low-intermediate proficiency in a second language by the time they reach the third year of medical school. Explain your current second language proficiency and/or your plan for achieving low-intermediate proficiency in a second language. (400 words)
LMR Program Essays
- What motivated you to pursue a career in rural medicine? (250 words)
- How have your past experiences prepared you for the challenges of a medical practice in a rural area? (250 words)
- Are you interested in interviewing for the Rural Physician Program (RPP), the Rural Community Health Program (R-CHP), or would you like to interview for both programs? (250 words)
MD-PH Program Essays
- Why are you interested in the Medical Partners in Public Health Certificate program, and what will you plan to do in your future practice with the information and skills gained from this experience? (400 words)
- Please describe any formal training that you have had in public health. (400 words)
- Please describe any public health-related experiences that you have had. (400 words)
- Are there any other considerations that you wish to share with the committee? (400 words)
Tips to Answer Michigan State Medical School Secondary Application Essays
Michigan State Pre-writing Tip: The MSU secondary has gotten longer and longer throughout the years. And, this is a state school that sends interview invites earlier. So ideally, you should work on this earlier. However, there is much variation year after year in the essay prompts. Dr. Rizal and Dr. Mediratta only recommend answering the questions that have not changed for the past 2 application cycles.
- Read all our secondary essay tips: Secondary Essay Guide – Cracking Med School Admissions
Michigan State Medical School Secondaries Tip #1: Be familiar with and discuss how MSU’s Shared Discovery Curriculum will help you become the physician you want to be. Pick specific aspects of the curriculum that relate to your interests and activities. We STRONGLY advise students to not write statements like “I like the early clinical exposure” because almost every medical school has incorporated that into its curriculum – this is no long unique! Instead, discuss specific rotations and classes that appeal to you. Make sure you discuss why that curriculum aspect is important to you.
Michigan State Medical School Secondaries Tip #2: For the COVID-19 question, incorporate your personal experiences as well as healthcare current issues you noticed throughout the COVID pandemic. We have an entire healthcare current events blog post here, where you can read more about healthcare disparities and COVID-19.
Important resources to help you answer the Michigan State secondary application questions:
- Read about COVID-19 and other healthcare current events like healthcare disparities: Top 10 Healthcare Current Events You Need to Know
- Read all our tips on how to write COVID-19 essays + examples: COVID Essay Medical School Example & Tips To Stand Out
Michigan State Medical School Secondaries Tip #3: When you list 3 words or phrases to describe yourself, make sure the words discuss different aspects about you. For example, you should probably not write hard-working, studious, AND driven, since there is a lot of overlap among those words. If Dr. Rizal had to answer this question, she might use phrases like “Excellent Connector” and “Community Builder” and “Creative” – note that she could discuss anecdotes from her personal experiences.
Michigan State Medical School Secondaries Tip #4: The last question on the MSU secondary application is open-ended. (If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew about you? ) Treat that like a diversity secondary essay. You can talk about anything, from a challenging family background and how it shaped you to your leadership experiences. Contact us if want to brainstorm your topic for this prompt!
Michigan State Medical School Secondaries Tip #5: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine has historically given preference to in-staten applicants. Whether you are in-state or out-of-state, make it a priority to discuss your clinical experiences and community service work in Michigan as well as your desire to treat Michigan patients as a medical student.
Michigan State Medical School Secondaries Tip #6: Get our help with editing your Michigan State secondary essays! Our Cracking Med School Admissions team will make sure your essay is personalized towards your passions and MSU CHM’s values. We’re here to help you stand out! If you have additional questions about how you can stand out, contact us below.
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Michigan State Medical School Medical School Secondary Application Essays: 2023-2024
Michigan State Secondary Application Essay Prompts:
- Imagine and reflect upon your life and medical career at the time of retirement. What do you envision being your proudest/most significant accomplishment? (500 words)
- American society may be experiencing a watershed moment as it reckons with various systemic injustices. Use the space below to share your thoughts about this statement. (500 words)
- Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and insights. (500 words)
- Modified from Last Cycle – Consider three or four words and/or phrases from your medical school application that you use to describe or characterize yourself. Pick one (or a completely different one) that is underdeveloped to provide additional written narrative to the committee as to why you’ve decided to pursue a career in medicine (500 words)
- New Essay – Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and/or insights. (500 words)
- If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew about you? (500 words)
Michigan State Medical School Medical School Secondary Application Essays: 2022-2023
Michigan State Secondary Application Essay Prompts:
- Slightly reworded from last year: Imagine and reflect upon your life and medical career at the time of retirement. What do you envision being your proudest/most significant accomplishment? (500 words)
- American society may be experiencing a watershed moment as it reckons with various systemic injustices. Use the space below to share your thoughts about this statement. (500 words)
- Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and insights. (500 words)
- New Essay: In the most general sense, create a list of ten (or more) words or phrases you might use to describe or characterize yourself to someone you just met. From this list of words or phrases, are any associated with your decision to pursue medicine as a career? If yes, select up to 3 and explain. (500 words)
- If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew about you? (500 words)
Michigan State Medical School Medical School Secondary Application Essays: 2021-2022
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Secondary Application ESsay Prompts
- Describe where you envision yourself and what you’ll be doing in 10 years. What do you realistically hope will be your most significant accomplishment by that time? (500 words)
- American society may be experiencing a watershed moment as it reckons with various systemic injustices. Use the space below to share your thoughts about this statement. (500 words)
- Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and insights. (500 words)
- If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew about you? (500 words)
Michigan State Medical School Medical School Secondary Application Essays: 2020-2021
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Secondary Application ESsay Prompts
- The College of Human Medicine offers students an innovative learning environment. What experiences have you had that have prepared you to succeed in our curriculum? How will you approach any challenges you may face? (500 words)
- Discuss a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone. What were the challenges? What did you learn?(500 words)
- If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew about you? (500 words)
Michigan State Secondary Application Essays: 2018 - 2019
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Secondary Application ESsay Prompts
- The College of Human Medicine implemented a new curriculum in the fall of 2016. Describe your understanding of this curriculum. Explain which of your attributes/strengths will assist in being successful in this curriculum. Explain how you will address any challenges it might pose. Please limit your response to 250 words or less.
- Discuss a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone. What were the challenges? What did you learn? Please limit your response to 250 words or less.
- If you could present yourself to the Committee on Admissions, what would you want to make sure they knew about you? Please limit your response to 250 words or less.
- Thoroughly review the CHM course Prerequisite Model Options as outlined on our website. Which course prerequisite model are you applying to CHM with? (choose between options)
Michigan State Secondary Application Essays: 2017 - 2018
- The Michigan State University College of Human Medicine strives to ensure that its students become respectful physicians who embrace all dimensions of caring for the whole person. Please describe how your personal characteristics or life experiences will contribute to the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine community and bring educational benefits to our student body. (1000 characters)
- Is there any further information that you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your file that you were not able to notate in another section of this or the AMCAS Application? (1000 characters)
- Why have you chosen to apply to the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and how do you think your education at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine will prepare you to become a physician for the future? (1 page, formatted at your discretion, upload as PDF)