Penn State College of Medicine offers accelerated programs for students interested in Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Orthopedics, Emergency Medicine and Neurosurgery to complete their training in three years. It provides an interdisciplinary training environment for students from their medical school, physician assistant program and nursing school to train together. Through its Global Health Scholars Program, students can train at international sites in Ghana, Taiwan, Peru and other countries. Their school is currently unranked by U.S. News & World Report. The secondary application consists of four required essays.
Penn State College of Medicine 2020-2021 secondary application essay questions
Penn State College of Medicine essay #1
Is there a unique aspect of your application that should be considered by the admissions committee? (Maximum 75 words)
This type of question can be difficult to answer, if you’re not sure what is unique about you or your application. Review your primary application and make a list. Take some time to identify anything unusual about your upbringing, life, hobbies, skills or other areas that would explain why you would be an excellent physician. If possible, it would be best to find something that you have not already covered extensively in your application. If that is not possible, cover this information from a different angle than you did in the primary. If you are stumped, you are welcome to contact me or one of my colleagues at Accepted for more help.
Penn State College of Medicine essay #2
Explain why you decided to apply to the Penn State College of Medicine. (Maximum 75 words)
Take some time to review Penn State’s website, mission statement and values:
“Mission: Penn State College of Medicine is committed to enhancing the quality of life through improved health, the professional preparation of those who will serve the health needs of others, and the discovery of knowledge that will benefit all.”
“Values: Respect, Integrity, Teamwork and Excellence”
Make a list of reasons as you review their curriculum and quick facts. Rank your list, based on the level of your interest. Use this list as an outline to answer the prompt, starting with the least important reasons and ending with the most important reason. Be honest.
Penn State College of Medicine essay #3
Write a short paragraph describing a significant experience you have had working in a team setting. (Maximum 250 words)
Use a recent experience that has a clearly positive outcome as a direct result of your teamwork. You can use anything from team sport accomplishments to research publications. Many different situations could potentially work as a response for this essay as long as you focus on the team aspects of your success.
Penn State College of Medicine essay #4
Write a short statement describing how you envision using your medical education to advance care for under-represented or marginalized populations. (Maximum 250 words)
Reflect on ways in which you would like to assist such groups once you are a physician or even as a physician in training at Penn State. Would you plan to take advantage of Community half-days at the University Park campus? Or does the medical humanities element of the curriculum appeal to you as a way to bridge the gap between marginalized populations and healthcare professionals? How would you apply lessons learned during these experiences after you leave Penn State? This question is future-focused, but if you can very briefly relate your vision to something that you’ve done in the past, it will be more concrete and credible.
If you would like professional guidance with your Penn State College of Medicine application materials, check out Accepted’s Medical School Admissions Consulting and Editing Services, which include advising, editing, and interview coaching for PSCOM’s application materials.
Penn State College of Medicine 2020-2021 application timeline
| AMCAS Application Due | November 15 (11:59pm EDT) |
| Supplementary Application Due | January 15 (11:59pm EST) |
| Earliest Admissions Decisions Released | October 15 |
***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with individual programs to verify the essay questions, instructions and deadlines.***
Alicia McNease Nimonkar worked for 5 years as the Student Advisor & Director at the UC Davis School of Medicine's postbac program where she both evaluated applications and advised students applying successfully to med school and other health professional programs. She has served Accepted's clients since 2012 with roughly a 90% success rate. She has a Master of Arts in Composition and Rhetoric as well as Literature. Want Alicia to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
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