Tips to Answer USC Columbia Secondary Application Essays

USC Columbia Secondary Application Pre-Writing Guidance: The USC Columbia secondary application questions do not change significantly each year. The last question is usually changed, so we encourage students to start pre-writing this secondary application and then submitting this by late July. 

• Read all our secondary essay tips: Secondary Essay Guide – Cracking Med School Admissions

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #1:  The first questions our Cracking Med School Admissions team gets asked: How long should each of my USC Columbia secondary application responses be? Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta think the ideal length is ~1,500 – 2,500 characters.

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #2: Our Cracking Med School Admissions team strongly encourages our students to include stories in your University of South Carolina School of Medicine secondary application. Stories can show the reader a lot about you!

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #3: For the USC Columbia secondary application question, “What additional qualifications have you acquired since your last application?” make sure to include both non-clinical and clinical experiences. You should add a story about a patient encounter you had and write what you learned from that experience. You should emphasize any work done in South Carolina (or in the same area of the United States), community health, community service, and teamwork. 

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #3: For the USC Columbia secondary application question, “What are your medical practice goals?” don’t worry if you don’t know what specific field of medicine you want to go into yet! You can be a bit broad and discuss what populations you want to work with or healthcare challenges you want to tackle as a practicing physician.

Important: If you want to stay in South Carolina, you should definitely mention it.  This is true for the USC Columbia secondary application question as well “In what region of the country do you want to practice medicine? Why?“

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #4: The the USC School of Medicine Columbia secondary application question, “Do you have any accomplishments or experiences that make you a unique applicant” don’t forget any awards or accomplishments you received! But make sure you expand on them. For example, if you won an academic award or scholarship for university, you can discuss your favorite class or major that you took. Some people also write about leadership experiences, such as being President of an undergraduate dance organization or Team Captain of a soccer team.

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #5: For the USC Columbia secondary application question, “Explain any impact that COVID-19 may have had on your educational, research, volunteering or employment plans“

• Read our blog post with tips on how to answer COVID-19 secondary questions: COVID Essay Medical School Example & Tips To Stand Out

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #5: For the USC Columbia secondary application question, “Working as part of a team is an important aspect of your medical education at our School of Medicine and as a practitioner in the future. Please share at least one experience where you worked as part of a team to accomplish a goal/objective. What was your role as a part of the team and what did you learn from working with others? How did you deal with conflict on the team and/or working with a team member who you disagreed with” here’s our advice about what to NOT write about:

• A group project at school as part of a class
• A team experience in high school – in general, write about college and gap year experiences in your medical school applications!

USC Columbia  Secondary Application Tip #6: Although there is no direct and specific question on the USC Columbia secondaries about why you want to go to USC School of Medicine Columbia, you should still write why you want to go to the medical school throughout your essays.

• Read our blog post: why this medical school to gain insights on how to incorporate a strong “Why University of South Carolina School of Medicine Columbia.”

USC Columbia Secondary Application Tip #7: Get our help to edit your South Carolina secondary application essays and your other secondary essays. We can help you through our secondary essay packages. Have questions about how you can stand out? Contact Dr. Rachel Rizal and Dr. Rishi Mediratta below. 

[Read more secondary tips and essays: Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), University of South Carolina Greenville (USC Greenville), University of Alabama, Emory]