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Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center

Chicago, IL

Historical and predicted secondary essay prompts. Use these to understand how schools have framed their questions over time.

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15 prompts in the archive

Can you describe a time when you recognized your privilege and used it to promote health equity? Please share specific initiatives, projects, or actions in which you were involved in and the impact they had. (Optional)

1000 charactersOptional2025-2026New

Do you have direct patient care/contact experience beyond shadowing/observing? Answering "yes" demonstrates you have had active interactions with patients and/or clinical participation in their continuum of care. (no specified character limit for each experience description)

No character/word limit2022-2023, 2024-2025Historical

Distance traveled" is the metaphorical distance that represents the journey an applicant undertakes throughout their life, encompassing achievements, personal identity, and the competencies developed along the way. The Committee on Admissions seeks and values the skills and competencies that applicants develop as a result of their individual experiences, and recognizes them as desired and essential attributes of a future physician. Based on your experiences and your distance traveled, please describe any adversities, challenges, and/or marginalized experiences that you have encountered. (Optional)

1000 charactersOptional2024-2025, 2025-2026School Staple

Please describe the effect of these adversities, challenges, and/or marginalized experiences on you as an individual. Explain how you overcame them, what skills you built, what lessons you learned, and how these experiences motivated you to be a doctor. (Optional)

1000 charactersOptional2024-2025, 2025-2026School Staple

Have you ever been involved in an institutional action related to academic dishonesty/integrity? Have you ever been convicted of a crime, or pleaded guilty and been placed on probation, court supervision or another reconviction program for an incident other than a minor traffic ticket? (If Yes): Please explain in detail. (1000 characters)

1000 characters2024-2025Historical

Use this space to provide additional information you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your application (Optional, also 1000 characters)

1000 charactersOptional2021-2022Historical

Rush Medical College is located on Chicago’s Near West Side and serves a diverse patient population. We seek to train physicians who can connect with diverse patient populations with whom they may not share a similar background. Tell us about a life experience that has broadened your own world view or enhanced your ability to understand those unlike yourself and what you learned from this experience.

1000 characters2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025, 2025-2026School Staple

Describe personal attributes you possess or life experiences you have had that will enable you to better understand patients with a culture different from your own. Please include your self-reflection on how this experience has changed your insights, beliefs, and/or values. (1000 characters)

1000 characters2021-2022Historical

As an anchor institution, Rush is embedded in its strategies to improve the societal and structural determinants of health which improve the economic vitality of Chicago’s west side neighborhoods and help residents achieve better health. Using your own experiences, describe how you have impacted and/or changed a person or community.

1000 characters2022-2023, 2023-2024Historical

Use this space to provide additional information, that is non-COVID related, you would like the Committee on Admissions to be aware of when reviewing your application. (Optional) (1000 characters)

1000 charactersOptional2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025Historical

(If you choose Yes): List and describe, in detail, each experience below. While activities can parallel those listed on the AMCAS application, the narratives should not. Instead, focus on detailing the specific knowledge, skills, and abilities you learned and applied during these experiences. Additionally, estimate the proportion of each role that was spent interfacing with patients. When listing the start and end date of each experience, please use the calendar button to the right of each respective text box.

No character/word limit2024-2025Historical

Describe a challenging situation in which you did not agree with a directive/rule and how you handled this. (1000 characters)

1000 characters2021-2022Historical

If applicable, describe how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted your application to and/or preparation for medical school. (Optional) (1000 characters)

1000 charactersOptional2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024, 2024-2025Historical

Reflect on a time in which you personally gained more from an experience than what was expected. (1000 characters)

1000 characters2021-2022Historical

What do you hope to gain from your Rush Medical College experience that will make you a better/different physician? (1000 characters)

1000 characters2021-2022Historical