In our opinion, the most important thing to emphasize in your University of Chicago Medical School secondary application, otherwise known as the Pritzker School of Medicine secondary application, is how you want to improve and engage in the wellbeing of Chicago. Pritzker School of Medicine is located right next to the undergraduate University of Chicago campus. The campus is beautiful, located in the South Side of Chicago. Read below for University of Chicago secondary application tips.
There aren’t too many University of Chicago secondary essays, but they are long. Think about how long it took you to write your AMCAS primary application personal statement. Completing the UChicago secondary essays is like writing multiple personal statements! This is a good secondary application to pre-write.
Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta have a strong track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to Pritzker School of Medicine for the past several years. Make sure to ask us any questions you have about what to emphasize on your UChicago secondary application. We can also help you personalize your secondary through our secondary essay editing packages.
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University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2024 – 2025
- New Essay: Students at the Pritzker School of Medicine complete the majority of their clinical training at UChicago Medicine (UCM). UCM is one of the top ten most racially inclusive hospitals in the United States with a primary service area of 12 South Side zip codes where poverty is over double the state level. Additionally, our students lead six free clinics in diverse neighborhoods throughout the city of Chicago.
Please share with us the personal and professional experiences that have best prepared you to work in this diverse clinical environment. (450 words max) - New Essay: All MD students participate in our longitudinal Scholarship & Discovery research program, which offers protected curricular time, mentoring, and funding for students to pursue their scholarly interests. Please describe your research interests and share how our research opportunities will help you advance your career goals. (550 words max)
- Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (550 words max)
- (Optional) Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. For example, if you are not currently completing a degree, please share your planned or current activities for this application cycle. You may also wish to include any impact that COVID-19 has had on your educational, research, or extracurricular plans. (300 words max)
Tips to Answer UChicago Secondaries
University of Chicago Pre-writing Guidance: Pritzker changed its UChicago secondary essays prompts in the 2023-2024 cycle. This might not be a great secondary to pre-write this year. However, we do know that these Pritzker secondaries are long and difficult to master. If you really wanted to, you can pre-write the essays that have not changed in the past application cycle.
- To get all our secondary essay tips, download our Cracking Med Secondary Essay Workbook and Examples.
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Tip #1: Here are elements we would emphasize to the Pritzker School of Medicine’s Admissions Committee:
- Commitment to Chicago, specifically the South Side of Chicago.
- Interest in urban health and health inequities
- Research is a plus for UChicago
- Stories
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Tip #2: It is important to do your research on the University of Chicago. Reference specific aspects the curriculum and opportunities at Pritzker.
- Read our sample UChicago secondary essay here: Why this Medical School? Secondary Essay Example.
- Learn more details about Pritzker’s campus, student life, financial aid, pre-clinical curriculum, and clinical experiences: How to Get Into University of Chicago Medical School
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Tip #3: Aim to add at least 1 story in your UChicago secondaries. For example, when you discuss your research, you can discuss a time when you faced a research challenge or problem-solved through a research problem. Additionally, in the challenge essay, you should give a story (and not talk in generalities) about the challenge. Finally, in the optional essay, you can include a patient care story from a clinical experience.
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Tip #4: Highlight your leadership, passion to change healthcare, and impact on society. The questions are geared towards learning more about what you did in gap years and your extra-curricular activities.
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Tip #5: For the question, “share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice,” be detailed when explaining how you handled the specific challenge. Previous students have talked about how they leaned on social support, paint a clear picture about how they organize their tasks, and discuss wellness techniques like meditation that are involved with.
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Tip #6: Do you need to answer the optional question? YES! You can literally write about anything and we suggest that if you have no extenuating circumstances that you want to mention, then talk about an activity or passion that is important to you. Typically, we treat Pritzker’s optional essay as a diversity essay. Remember, add at least 1 story! This is a good place to continue to write about urban health, Chicago, patient care, and commitment to decreasing health inequalities.
- For examples and tips, read our HIGH YIELD blog post: Medical School Diversity Essay Examples and Tips
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Tip #7: Have questions about how you can stand out? Contact us below. Need editing help on your secondary? We can help you through our secondary essay packages.
[Read Other Medical School Secondary Essay Tips: Northwestern (Feinberg), Rush, New York University (Grossman), University of Michigan ]
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University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2023 – 2024
- New Essay: Students at the Pritzker School of Medicine complete the majority of their clinical training at UChicago Medicine (UCM). UCM is one of the top ten most racially inclusive hospitals in the United States with a primary service area of 12 South Side zip codes where poverty is over double the state level. Additionally, our students lead six free clinics in diverse neighborhoods throughout the city of Chicago.
Please share with us the personal and professional experiences that have best prepared you to work in this diverse clinical environment. (450 words max) - New Essay: All MD students participate in our longitudinal Scholarship & Discovery research program, which offers protected curricular time, mentoring, and funding for students to pursue their scholarly interests. Please describe your research interests and share how our research opportunities will help you advance your career goals. (550 words max)
- Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (550 words max)
- (Optional) Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. For example, if you are not currently completing a degree, please share your planned or current activities for this application cycle. You may also wish to include any impact that COVID-19 has had on your educational, research, or extracurricular plans. (300 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2022 – 2023
- Please write a short essay about why you are applying to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. (550 words max)
- Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (550 words max)
- (Optional) Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. For example, if you are not currently completing a degree, please share your planned or current activities for this application cycle. You may also wish to include any impact that COVID-19 has had on your educational, research, or extracurricular plans. (300 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2021 – 2022
- Please write a short essay about why you are applying to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. (550 words max)
- Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (550 words max)
- (Optional) Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. For example, if you are not currently completing a degree, please share your planned or current activities for this application cycle. You may also wish to include any impact that COVID-19 has had on your educational, research, or extracurricular plans. (300 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2020 – 2021
- Please write a short essay about why you are applying to the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. (550 words max)
- Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (550 words max)
- Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. For example, if you are not currently completing a degree, please share your planned or current activities for this application cycle. You may also wish to include any impact that COVID-19 has had on your educational, research, or extracurricular plans. (300 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2019 – 2020
- Our mission statement is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. In particular, it highlights the value we place on diversity since we regard the diversity of entering class as essential for educational excellence. Please write an essay on how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and advance the Pritzker mission. (550 words max)
- Share with us a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (550 words max)
- Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. For example, if you are not currently completing a degree, please share your planned or current activities for this application cycle. (200 words max)
- There’s also a prompt asking you to explain why you opted out of having a pre-med committee letter if your school does committee letters.
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2018 – 2019
- If you wish to update or expand upon your activities, you may provide additional information below. (500 words max)
- If you are 2018 or earlier college graduate, please use the space below to tell us what you have done since completing your undergraduate degree. (400 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2017 – 2018
- Our Mission Statement above is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. In particular, it highlights the value we place on diversity since we regard the diversity of the entering class as essential for educational excellence. Please write an essay on how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and advance the Pritzker mission. (550 words max)
- Tell us about a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (400 words max)
- Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. (200 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2016 – 2017
- Our Mission Statement above is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. In particular, it highlights the value we place on diversity since we regard the diversity of the entering class as essential for educational excellence. Please write an essay on how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and advance the Pritzker mission. (550 words max)
- Tell us about a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (400 words max)
- Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. (200 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2015 – 2016
- Our Mission Statement above is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. In particular, it highlights the value we place on diversity since we regard the diversity of the entering class as essential for educational excellence. Please write an essay on how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and advance the Pritzker mission. (550 words max)
- Tell us about a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (400 words max)
- Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. (200 words max)
University of Chicago Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts: 2014 – 2015
- Our Mission Statement above is an expression of our core purpose and educational philosophy. In particular, it highlights the value we place on diversity since we regard the diversity of the entering class as essential for educational excellence. Please write an essay on how you would enhance diversity at Pritzker and advance the Pritzker mission. (550 words max)
- Tell us about a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. In your response, identify both the coping skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (400 words max)
- Please feel free to use this space to convey any additional information that you might wish the Committee to know. (200 words max)
Premedical Committee/Advisor: If your school has a premedical committee or premedical advisor who composes a letter for each applicant from your school and you chose not to avail yourself of this service, please check the “Yes” button below and provide an explanation in the textbox below for your decision not to do so. Be sure to save and finalize your response. If you are availing yourself of your premedical committee/advisor letter or if you attend a university which does not offer this service, please check the “No” button below, leave the text “N/A” and then save and finalize your response. (200 words max)