UCR School of Medicine is located in Riverside, California and serves the broader Inland Empire of Southern California. The medical school is well known for having excellent primary care, and it’s one of the best hospitals in the Inland Empire. The UCR secondary isn’t too long, but the admissions committee suggest a one week turnaround time for this school once you receive its secondary. Therefore, if you live in the Inland Empire, we highly suggest that you pre-write this secondary so it’s ready to submit once you receive the official secondary application.
Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta have helped several students get admitted to UCR School of Medicine! We can definitely help answer any questions or work with you on your secondary essays – feel free to contact us down below!
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UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2024 – 2025
- The mission of the UCR School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of California and, especially, to serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians and by developing innovative research and health care delivery programs that will improve the health of the medically underserved in the region and become models to be emulated throughout the state and nation. What experiences, skills, and abilities will you bring to the class to fulfill this mission? (250 words max)
- The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of these values and tell us about a time that you demonstrated it. (250 words max)
- In what medical specialty or specialties are you interested? What experiences have created the foundation for this interest? (250 words max)
- Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it. [Please do not write about studying for or taking the MCAT.] (250 words max)
- (Optional) If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us. (250 words max)
Tips to Answer UCR Secondaries
UCR Secondaries Pre-Writing Guidance: UCR typically has a one week turnaround time. Given that these essays haven’t changed each year, if you are from the Inland Empire of California, you might want to consider pre-writing this secondary.
- Download our Cracking Med Secondary Essay Workbook and Examples.
UCR Secondary Application Tip #1: The UC Riverside School of Medicine Admissions Committee is looking for medical students who are committed to the Inland Empire and the issues the Inland Empire population faces. For example, what we’ve seen from our medical school students’ essays is that writing about healthcare disparities, LatinX population, immigrant health, and migrant health are “winning” topics for UCR secondaries. Contact us if you have questions about what you should write.
UCR Secondary Application Tip #2: The best response for the UCR secondaries question, “The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of the values and tell us how you have personally experienced it or have seen it emulated in a clinical setting,” include a patient story. Ideally, you should discuss direct patient care through including a story in which you have helped with a patient’s clinical care rather than discussing a time when you watched a doctor portray those values.
UCR Secondary Application Tip #3: For the UCR secondaries question about a challenge, “Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it,” make sure to explain the following:
- What was the challenge. Make sure to give clear, concise context of the situation.
- How did you overcome the challenge?
- What did you learn from this experience? And how did the obstacle define you?
- What will you do differently in the future?
Dr. Rizal and Dr. Mediratta would strongly advise you to NOT write about studying for the MCAT or getting a B- or lower in a course.
UCR Secondary Application Tip #4: Answer ALL applicable optional questions, especially the UCR secondary essay prompt, “If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us.”
- This open-ended question is like a diversity essay. Read our helpful blog post: How To Write Medical School Diversity Essay Examples and Tips
UCR Secondary Application Tip #5: For the UCR secondaries question, “In what type of healthcare setting do you see yourself practicing medicine” you don’t have to commit to a specific field of medicine if you are unsure. However, UCR medical school greatly emphasizes primary care. So, we would write a primary care field or even more generally, you can say “I want to be a primary care doctor” for this question.
UCR Secondary Application Tip #6: Getting a UCR School of Medicine interview is all about whether you portray yourself as having the right fit for UCR to the admissions committee. This can be tricky and we can definitely help you submit a strong secondary in a one-week time period through secondary essay packages.
[Read More Secondary Essay Tips: University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA); University of Southern California (USC); University of California – Irvine (UCI); University of California – San Francisco (UCSF) ]
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Use this essay guide and workbook to write standout secondaries.
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2023 – 2024
- The mission of the UCR School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of California and, especially, to serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians and by developing innovative research and health care delivery programs that will improve the health of the medically underserved in the region and become models to be emulated throughout the state and nation. What experiences, skills, and abilities will you bring to the class to fulfill this mission? (250 words max)
- The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of these values and tell us about a time that you demonstrated it. (250 words max)
- In what medical specialty or specialties are you interested? What experiences have created the foundation for this interest? (250 words max)
- Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it. [Please do not write about studying for or taking the MCAT.] (250 words max)
- (Optional) If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us. (250 words max)
- If you are a non-California resident, please explain your connection to Inland Southern California and the mission of the UC Riverside School of Medicine. (250 words max)
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2022 – 2023
- The mission of the UCR School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of California and, especially, to serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians and by developing innovative research and health care delivery programs that will improve the health of the medically underserved in the region and become models to be emulated throughout the state and nation. What experiences, skills, and abilities will you bring to the class to fulfill this mission? (250 words max)
- The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of these values and tell us about a time that you demonstrated it. (250 words max)
- In what medical specialty or specialties are you interested? What experiences have created the foundation for this interest? (250 words max)
- Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it. [Please do not write about studying for or taking the MCAT.] (250 words max)
- (Optional) If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us. (250 words max)
- If you are a non-California resident, please explain your connection to Inland Southern California and the mission of the UC Riverside School of Medicine. (250 words max)
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2021 – 2022
- The mission of the UCR School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of California and, especially, to serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians and by developing innovative research and health care delivery programs that will improve the health of the medically underserved in the region and become models to be emulated throughout the state and nation. What experiences, skills, and abilities will you bring to the class to fulfill this mission? (250 words max)
- The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of these values and tell us about a time that you demonstrated it. (250 words max)
- In what medical specialty or specialties are you interested? What experiences have created the foundation for this interest? (250 words max)
- Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it. [Please do not write about studying for or taking the MCAT.] (250 words max)
- (Optional) If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us. (250 words max)
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2020 – 2021
UCR secondaries changed a lot from last year
- The mission of the UCR School of Medicine is to improve the health of the people of California and, especially, to serve Inland Southern California by training a diverse workforce of physicians and by developing innovative research and health care delivery programs that will improve the health of the medically underserved in the region and become models to be emulated throughout the state and nation. What experiences, skills, and abilities will you bring to the class to fulfill this mission? (250 words max)
- The values of the UCR SOM are integrity, innovation, inclusion, excellence, accountability and respect. Please choose one of these values and tell us about a time that you demonstrated it. (250 words max)
- In what medical specialty or specialties are you interested? What experiences have created the foundation for this interest? (250 words max)
- Tell us about a personal challenge you have faced in your life thus far and how you demonstrated resilience and grit to overcome it. [Please do not write about studying for or taking the MCAT.] (250 words max)
- (Optional) If there is anything you would like the committee to consider about your candidacy that is not explained elsewhere in your application, please use this space to tell us. (250 words max)
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2019 – 2020
- Describe the single MOST important event or non-academic activity in your life and explain why it’s significant. (250 words max)
- What activity or accomplishment are you MOST proud of? (250 words max)
- What experiences or activities have prepared you to work with medically underserved communities? (250 words max)
- Please list any Scholastic Activities that you have been involved with (including honors and awards) (250 words max)
- 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. (250 words max)
- Is there any specific hardship to which you would like the committee to give special attention in evaluating your application? Please briefly explain below. (Include any geographic, language, economic, academic, physical, or mental factors.) (250 words max)
- What kind of health care setting do you envision yourself working in? (250 words max)
- How do you see yourself contributing to the mission of the UCR School of Medicine? (250 words max)
- PERSONAL STATEMENT: Your personal statement from the AMCAS application will be used in our admissions process. You do not need to duplicate it here. At your option, you may use this space to provide any further information you may want us to consider in addition to the AMCAS personal statement. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY.
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2018 – 2019
- Describe the single MOST important event or non-academic activity in your life and explain why it’s significant. (250 words max)
- What activity or accomplishment are you MOST proud of? (250 words max)
- What experiences or activities have prepared you to work with medically underserved communities? (250 words max)
- Please list any Scholastic Activities that you have been involved with (including honors and awards) (250 words max)
- 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. (250 words max)
- Is there any specific hardship to which you would like the committee to give special attention in evaluating your application? Please briefly explain below. (Include any geographic, language, economic, academic, physical, or mental factors.) (250 words max)
- What kind of health care setting do you envision yourself working in? (250 words max)
- How do you see yourself contributing to the mission of the UCR School of Medicine? (250 words max)
- PERSONAL STATEMENT: Your personal statement from the AMCAS application will be used in our admissions process. You do not need to duplicate it here. At your option, you may use this space to provide any further information you may want us to consider in addition to the AMCAS personal statement. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY.
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2017 – 2018
- Describe the single MOST important event or non-academic activity in your life and explain why it’s significant. (250 words max)
- What activity or accomplishment are you MOST proud of? (250 words max)
- What experiences or activities have prepared you to work with medically underserved communities? (250 words max)
- 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. (250 words max)
- What kind of health care setting do you envision yourself working in? (250 words max)
- How do you see yourself contributing to the mission of the UCR School of Medicine? (250 words max)
- PERSONAL STATEMENT: Your personal statement from the AMCAS application will be used in our admissions process. You do not need to duplicate it here. At your option, you may use this space to provide any further information you may want us to consider in addition to the AMCAS personal statement. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY.
UC Riverside Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2016 – 2017
- Describe the single MOST important event or non-academic activity in your life and explain why it’s significant. (250 words max)
- What activity or accomplishment are you MOST proud of? (250 words max)
- What experiences or activities have prepared you to work with medically underserved communities? (250 words max)
- 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. (250 words max)
- What kind of health care setting do you envision yourself working in? (250 words max)
- How do you see yourself contributing to the mission of the UCR School of Medicine? (250 words max)
- PERSONAL STATEMENT: Your personal statement from the AMCAS application will be used in our admissions process. You do not need to duplicate it here. At your option, you may use this space to provide any further information you may want us to consider in addition to the AMCAS personal statement. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY.