University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill (UNC School of Medicine) cares deeply about serving its surrounding community and the citizens of North Carolina. Submitting OUTSTANDING UNC secondary essays is vital to receiving an interview invite, which ultimately can lead to an acceptance. Read our UNC secondary tips down below. Once you get accepted to UNC Med, you can also apply for various UNC School of Medicine Scholarships.
UNC secondary essay prompts change drastically each year, so we would not pre-write your UNC secondaries. However, there is a suggested two-week turnaround time once you receive the official UNC School of Medicine secondary application. Therefore, you should work on this as soon as you receive the official UNC secondary application from the admissions committee.
Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has a track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine year after year. Furthermore, we’ve been successful in advising students receive acceptance to the UNC FIRST program, which allows applicants to do one less year of medical school and guarantees residency placement in family medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, or surgery. Work with us through our secondary essay editing packages to STAND OUT in your UNC secondary application!
- Personally Tailored Essays
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- We study your application strengths to see what unique attributes we’ll bring to the medical school
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2024 – 2025
Recommended 2-week turnaround time by the UNC School of Medicine Admissions Committee
- Describe an experience where you attempted a task and realized during the process that you were not ready for it. How did this experience impact your approach to trying new things. (250 words max)
- How will your life experiences foster a positive educational environment and benefit your future patients? (250 words max)
- Discuss your involvement in a service activity that has impacted your understanding of healthcare and your desire to pursue a career in medicine. (250 words max)
- What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (250 words max)
- (If applicable): If you are a re-applicant, what has changed about you as a candidate since your last application to medical school? What has made you a stronger applicant? (200 words max)
Tips to Answer UNC Secondary Essays
UNC Secondaries Pre-Writing Guidance: UNC medical school changes its UNC secondary essay prompts each year, so we would not recommend pre-writing your UNC secondaries. However, this medical school has a very quick turnaround time. Make sure you work on the UNC secondary application as soon as you receive it (all applications are not given out at the same time). Contact us if you need help with editing your UNC secondaries – we will make sure it stands out even with a tight turnaround time!
>> Get all our secondary essay tips by downloading our FREE Cracking Med School Admissions Secondary Essay Guide
UNC Secondary Essays Tip #1: To answer the “Why UNC School of Medicine” question, read our blog post about how to answer why this medical school?
Also, understand what UNC School of Medicine is looking for:
- Desire to serve the North Carolina population, including pursuing a career in medicine in North Carolina
- Research
- Diverse and ample clinical experiences and patient care experience
UNC Secondary Essays Tip #2: Given that UNC is a state school, you must discuss your affiliations and prior work in North Carolina. If you want to practice in North Carolina in the future, then you should mention this in your UNC secondary essays. For example, some of our Cracking Med School Admissions students have talked about working as an EMT in North Carolina, patients they met through clinical care in North Carolina, life experiences like growing up in North Carolina, and rural / underserved populations they served in North Carolina.
UNC Secondary Essays Tip #3: For the “diversity” question, diversity does not necessarily mean your ethnic diversity. We recommend students write about their strengths, including exceptional extracurricular activity endeavors. Make sure to link this to how you will contribute to your medical school class. Because UNC looks for medical students with a strong research background, you can use the diversity essay to discuss your research.
UNC Secondary Essays Tip #5: Need editing help on your UNC secondary essays? We can help you through our secondary essay packages.
UNC Secondary Essays Tip #6: If you are a re-applicant, it is important to discuss how your application has changed from the first time you applied to this current time you are applying.
It is very important to discuss the following in the re-applicant essay:
- Reflections about why your application was not as strong last cycle. In your opinion, what were the weaknesses?
- How have you addressed the weaknesses?
- Clinical experience you’ve had since you applied in the last application cycle. Reflect on what you learned about patient care.
- For UNC, any activities related to research, clinical experiences in North Carolina, patient care, and community service in North Carolina will be a big plus.
UNC Secondary Essays Tip #7: For the new UNC secondary essay question, “Discuss your involvement in a service activity that has impacted your understanding of healthcare and your desire to pursue a career in medicine” understand why UNC medical school is asking this. The Admissions committee wants medical students who are involved in the North Carolina community, and use these insights to pursue research opportunities for students, community health projects, and clinical opportunities for students that improve the overall health of the local population.
Here are what some of our students discussed in their UNC secondary essays:
- A volunteer experience focused on underserved populations and motivating them to improve the local free clinic for underserved populations.
- Working with individuals in the community who were overweight and motivating them to pursue a career in medicine that incorporates nutrition education with the community and patients.
- Personal experiences with individuals who were addicted to drugs and motivating them to do research related to drug addiction.
UNC Secondary Essays Tip #8: UNC School of Medicine has an extremely tough interview. It has both Multiple Mini Interviews and traditional interviews. Start reading about Multiple Mini Interviews and stand out using our Mastering the Multiple Mini Interview course created by Dr. Rachel Rizal!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Does UNC screen secondaries? Yes, it does screen AMCAS primary applications for secondary essays. Not all UNC secondaries are sent out at the same time. And, from our experience, in-state applicants receive UNC secondaries before out-of-state applicants.
Q: What is the UNC FIRST program? We love this program! UNC FIRST is a 3-year accelerated programs that focuses on primary care and serving the population of North Carolina. Read more here.
Q: Can you help me submit a stellar UNC secondary application even in two weeks? Yes! Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta can help you with your UNC secondary AND all your other medical school secondary essays through our secondary essay editing packages!
[Read More Secondaries: University of Virginia, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Wake Forest, University of Maryland]
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UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2023 – 2024
Recommended 2-week turnaround time by the UNC School of Medicine Admissions Committee
- Describe an experience where you attempted a task and realized during the process that you were not ready for it. How did this experience impact your approach to trying new things. (250 words max)
- How will your life experiences foster a positive educational environment and benefit your future patients? (250 words max)
- Discuss your involvement in a service activity that has impacted your understanding of healthcare and your desire to pursue a career in medicine. (250 words max)
- What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (250 words max)
- (If applicable): If you are a re-applicant, what has changed about you as a candidate since your last application to medical school? What has made you a stronger applicant? (200 words max)
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2022 – 2023
Recommended 2-week turnaround time by the UNC School of Medicine Admissions Committee
- Tell us about a peer who is deserving of recognition but whose accomplishments may not be acknowledged adequately. Why do you think their accomplishments have gone relatively unacknowledged? (250 words max)
- Please share your thoughts and experiences with navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. This could include the barriers you have faced in applying to medical school, creative ways you have overcome those barriers, feelings of grief and loss, thoughts on the role of health care professionals, challenges associated with racial health inequities, or other reflections on living through a global pandemic crisis. (250 words max)
- How will your values and attitudes foster a positive educational environment and benefit your future patients? Tell us about the sources of those values and attitudes (e.g. family, places you’ve lived in, things you have read, life experiences, etc). (250 words max)
- Tell us about a time when you observed or personally experienced biased behavior. What did you do to address this situation or what would you do in the future? Through either situation we are interested in what you learned. (250 words max)
- What motivates you to apply to the UNC School of Medicine? (200 words max)
- (If applicable): If you are a re-applicant, what has changed about you as a candidate since your last application to medical school? What has made you a stronger applicant? (200 words max)
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2021 – 2022
- Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1000 characters max)
- What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (1000 characters max)
- UNC School of Medicine values diversity and inclusion across the institution. We believe that education and professional development are enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe how your background and/or experiences would contribute to the UNC SOM community? (1000 characters max)
- Please use the space below for anything you might wish to discuss related to the COVD-19 public health crisis. Possible topics might include: your biggest lessons and insights from the pandemic, creative ways in which you were able to serve your community during the crisis, hardships you may have faced as a result of the virus, and/or quarantine. (1000 characters max)
- UNC School of Medicine values diversity and inclusion across the institution. We believe that education and professional development are enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe how your background and/or experiences would contribute to the UNC SOM community? (1,000 characters max)
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2020 – 2021
- Describe a situation or an experience, you’ve had when you were unsuccessful. Tell us what you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
- Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1,000 characters max)
- What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (1,000 characters max)
- UNC School of Medicine values diversity and inclusion across the institution. We believe that education and professional development are enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe how your background and/or experiences would contribute to the UNC SOM community? (1,000 characters max)
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2019 – 2020
- Describe a situation or an experience, you’ve had when you were unsuccessful. Tell us what you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
- Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1,000 characters max)
- What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (1,000 characters max)
- UNC School of Medicine values diversity and inclusion across the institution. We believe that education and professional development are enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe how your background and/or experiences would contribute to the UNC SOM community? (1,000 characters max)
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2018 – 2019
- We have all tried something and failed. Describe a situation, or an experience, you’ve had when you were unsuccessful. Tell us what you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
- Much of health care delivery involves teamwork. In what endeavor have you engaged that required a team approach? What was your role and what did you learn from working with this team? (1,000 characters max)
- Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1,000 characters max)
- What motivates you to apply to UNC School of Medicine? (1,000 characters max)
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2017 – 2018
- We have all tried something and failed, whether it was something big or something small. Describe a situation or an experience you had when you realized that you were not up to the task, and tell us what life-lessons you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
- Much of medical school education is based on team-learning. What important activity have you accomplished that required a team approach, what was your role in the outcome, and what did you learn from it? (1,000 characters max)
- Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life-whether it is a patient, friend, classmate, or a family member-and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1,000 characters max)
UNC Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2016 – 2017
- We have all tried something and failed, whether it was something big or something small. Describe a situation or an experience you had when you realized that you were not up to the task, and tell us what life-lessons you learned from this experience. (1,000 characters max)
- Much of medical school education is based on team-learning. What important activity have you accomplished that required a team approach, what was your role in the outcome, and what did you learn from it? (1,000 characters max)
- Give an example of how you made a difference in someone’s life-whether it is a patient, friend, classmate, or a family member-and explain what this experience taught you about yourself. (1,000 characters max)