Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Secondary Application Essay Tips [2022-2023]

Case Western is located in Cleveland, Ohio with four teaching hospitals in the area and a student run clinic. They are ranked #24, for research and #71 for primary care by U.S. News and World Reports. They accept 155 students each year. Classes are pass/fail in the first two years. Students are placed in one of four advising societies and maintain involvement throughout all four years. They have IQ (inquiry) teams of eight to nine students, that discuss two cases, three times a week with a faculty member. Teamwork is built into the curriculum. It focuses on four themes: research and scholarship, clinical mastery, leadership and civic professionalism. For more information about their curriculum, check out case.edu/medicine/admissions/programs/university-program/curriculum and our podcast interview with Dr. Lina Mehta, Associate Dean for Admissions at Case Western Reserve University College of Medicine.

This school is looking for students who are well rounded in all of these areas: scholarship, interpersonal communication skills, leadership, teamwork and community service. Less than 20% of accepted applicants are in-state, making this medical school attractive to out-of-state applicants.

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine 2022-23 Essay Questions

CWRU essay #1: Greatest Challenge Response

The admissions committee is interested in gaining more insight into you as a person. Please describe a significant personal challenge you have faced, one which you feel has helped to shape you as a person. Examples may include a moral or ethical dilemma, a situation of personal adversity, or a hurdle in your life that you worked hard to overcome. Please include how you got through the experience, how you handled the uncertainty or stress, and what you have learned about yourself as a result.

Please limit your response to 1 page (about 3,500 characters), and leave a blank line between paragraphs.

Given the size of this character limit, you have space for a short essay. Start by making a list of obstacles that you have overcome.

Choose to tell the story of an event or experience that has had the biggest impact on your identity. A one-time event would be a strategic choice if it had long term effects on you and your development. There are many different topics that would work well for this essay, like traveling to a different country, having a unique life experience, or making a difficult decision that had major consequences. Introduce the idea in the first paragraph. Give background on the situation or event in the second paragraph. Use the third paragraph to explain “how you got through the experience.” In the fourth paragraph, you can detail what you learned. In the conclusion, look at the bigger picture. How did the event have an impact on your life, identity and/or career path? Conclude positively, even if the only positive outcome is in having deeply learned something about yourself, about teamwork, about problem-solving, about inequity and equity.

This prompt is a testament to your character or to your growth.

CWRU essay #2

Optional Responses For All Applicants:

COVID-related Disruptions Response

The past few years have reflected an unprecedented time in world history, and we are aware that many have experienced significant disruptions in numerous aspects of their lives. You may use the text field below to share with us how you may have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including academic, financial and medical disruptions, etc.
If medically-related or patient-based experiences were interrupted, please tell us how you were able to explore these areas in alternate ways.

Please limit your response to 1 page (about 3,500 characters), and leave a blank line between paragraphs.
COVID-related Coursework Response

If you took coursework that was Pass/No Pass due to pandemic disruptions for 2019-2020 and/or 2020-2021 academic years, please list the courses below.
Gap Year Response

Did you take a gap year(s)? Yes or No.

If Yes:
If you are taking time off between college graduation and medical school matriculation, please tell us what you are doing during this gap, and why. Please limit your response to no more than 1000 characters, and leave a blank line between paragraphs.

Nearly all applicants had to adapt to changes in their education, community work, and academic plans. When writing the short essay (#1), tell the personal story if you and your family were personally affected by COVID-19.

If you choose to tell a story about how you lost shadowing opportunities, volunteer experiences or research opportunities, be certain to focus the story on the unforeseen new opportunities you sought and found. If you were an essential worker, tell this story. If you volunteered at a COVID-19 vaccination center, tell that story.

University Program (4 yr. MD) Applicants:

Optional:

1. One of the four pillars of the Western Reserve2 Curriculum is Research and Scholarship. Although research is not a prerequisite requirement for the University Program, if you have participated in research or in another scholarly project, please tell us about it. Describe your experience, including the question you pursued and how you approached it, your results and interpretation of the results, and most importantly, any thoughts about what this experience meant to you. Remember that research is broad-based and can include such projects as a senior capstone or a thesis, and can include both medical and non-medically-related investigations. If you have not completed research, please indicate that in the text box below.

Please limit your response to one page (about 3,500 characters), and leave a blank line between paragraphs.

– Note that if you are applying to both the University Program and the CCLCM, the research response will default to the CCLCM required response.

2. Additional Information Response: Is there any further information that you wish to share with the Admissions Committee that may not be captured in the rest of your application? Please limit your response to 3,500 characters.

This prompt also provides the structure for your response. If you are writing about one major research experience, in the introduction explain the basics of the project and your role. In the second paragraph, provide a detailed description of the project and the research question. For the third paragraph, discuss how you “approached it.” In the fourth, explain the outcomes and any interesting developments in the data for the project. Last, you can use the conclusion to share the overall impact the research had on you.

If you participated in several research projects, you might use this space with a chronological list, most recent research first, with each sub-entry mirroring the prompt expectations. This way, you will cover each project in detail in exactly the same format.

Keep in mind that since 2018, 93-98% of accepted students at Case Western Reserve University SOM had research experience. If you don’t have research experience, then make the case in the secondary Essay #2 that you will be heavily involved in research. Otherwise, be prepared to update the school on research activity at a later date, at the very least.

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