Secondary Essay Prompts Database

Loyola University Chicago – Stritch School of Medicine (Maywood, IL)

These are the secondary application essay prompts for Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. To put your best foot forward and maximize your chance of an interview invitation, visit our secondary application editing page.
Program Overview

Loyola University Chicago – Stritch School of Medicine (Maywood, IL)

Secondary Deadline
December 11, 2026
Secondary Fee
$115
FAP Waiver
Yes
Casper Required
No
Screens Applications
No
Accepts Application Updates
Yes
Mission
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) is committed to scholarship and the education of medical professionals and biomedical scientists. Our school, including its faculty, trainees, and staff are called to go beyond facts, experimentation, and treatment of disease to prepare people to lead extraordinary lives and treat the human spirit in an environment that encourages innovation, embraces diversity, respects life, and values human dignity.
Vision

Explain how you know that you want to spend your life studying and practicing medicine. Describe how the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) can help you develop into the kind of person and physician you hope to become.

Values

Social justice in the Jesuit tradition, justice due each person by virtue of their own inherent human dignity, is an essential dimension of education at SSOM. Describe what you have learned about yourself from your concrete social justice experiences.

Application Cycles
2026-2027
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. As you consider Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, please tell us what resonates with you regarding our mission as a Jesuit, Catholic medical school? Consider also what you may be curious about regarding our institutional mission and identity. (500 word limit)
2. Considering all that you could do with your life, how have you discerned your decision to become a physician? What is particular to the practice of medicine and the vocation of a physician that draws you to apply to medical school versus another helping/caring profession? What experiences, conversations, and encounters have informed your decision to apply? (500 word limit)
3. Social justice, in the Jesuit tradition, justice due to each person’s inherent human dignity, is an essential dimension of education at SSOM. Describe an impactful experience working with and for under-resourced communities. Explain what you have learned about yourself through this service and/or what has hindered your efforts to serve others in these environments. (500 word limit)
4. Describe a time you received feedback about your performance and disagreed with the feedback. What did you disagree with? How did you handle it? (500 word limit)
5. Medical education is characterized by long hours of study, a steady cadence of course exams, subjective and objective assessment of performance, licensing exams, and sometimes demanding and stressful educational contexts in the clinical environment. How has your chosen undergraduate course of study prepared you for the rigor and demands of the medical school curriculum? What additional skills have you learned as a pre-med student to help you balance your educational and personal responsibilities, including managing your time and relieving stress? (500 word limit)
(Optional)
6. Please indicate additional grades earned, amendments to your proposed coursework or graduation date, address changes, additions to your list of experiences, and anything else you feel we should know.
7. Please explain in more detail (in less than 1500 characters) anything that would help us understand any gaps or delays in your education, academic missteps, or personal challenges not listed elsewhere.
8. If you have not been enrolled in coursework for over two years, please let us know what you have been doing since your coursework ended.
9. Have you applied to SSOM prior to this application? If so, please list the years of your previous application submissions to SSOM and tell us how your application has improved since your previous submission.

2025-2026
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. As you consider Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, please tell us what resonates with you regarding our mission as a Jesuit, Catholic medical school? Consider also what you may be curious about regarding our institutional mission and identity. (500 word limit)
2. Considering all that you could do with your life, how have you discerned your decision to become a physician? What is particular to the practice of medicine and the vocation of a physician that draws you to apply to medical school versus another helping/caring profession? What experiences, conversations, and encounters have informed your decision to apply? (500 word limit)
3. Social justice, in the Jesuit tradition, justice due to each person’s inherent human dignity, is an essential dimension of education at SSOM. Describe an impactful experience working with and for under-resourced communities. Explain what you have learned about yourself through this service and/or what has hindered your efforts to serve others in these environments. (500 word limit)
4. Describe a time you received feedback about your performance and disagreed with the feedback. What did you disagree with? How did you handle it? (500 word limit)
5. Medical education is characterized by long hours of study, a steady cadence of course exams, subjective and objective assessment of performance, licensing exams, and sometimes demanding and stressful educational contexts in the clinical environment. How has your chosen undergraduate course of study prepared you for the rigor and demands of the medical school curriculum? What additional skills have you learned as a pre-med student to help you balance your educational and personal responsibilities, including managing your time and relieving stress? (500 word limit)
(Optional)
6. Please indicate additional grades earned, amendments to your proposed coursework or graduation date, address changes, additions to your list of experiences, and anything else you feel we should know.
7. Please explain in more detail (in less than 1500 characters) anything that would help us understand any gaps or delays in your education, academic missteps, or personal challenges not listed elsewhere.
8. If you have not been enrolled in coursework for over two years, please let us know what you have been doing since your coursework ended.
9. Have you applied to SSOM prior to this application? If so, please list the years of your previous application submissions to SSOM and tell us how your application has improved since your previous submission.

2024-2025
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. Explain how you know that you want to spend your life studying and practicing medicine. Describe how the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) can help you develop into the kind of person and physician you hope to become.

2. Social justice in the Jesuit tradition, justice due each person by virtue of their own inherent human dignity, is an essential dimension of education at SSOM. Describe what you have learned about yourself from your concrete social justice experiences. Explain how you plan to sustain your efforts to advocate for current social justice issues as a medical student and as a physician.

3. Relate a situation within your professional formation in which you determined that something you did or said did not go over well with someone else. How did you know? What did you do? What did you learn from the experience?(minimum of 100 words, maximum of 500 words)

4. Describe a time you received feedback about your performance and disagreed with the feedback. What did you disagree with? How did you handle it?(minimum of 100 words, maximum of 500 words)

5. Describe a non-academic personal/professional challenge or conflict that you have experienced. Explain what skills, resources and/or strategies you employed to resolve the problem.(minimum of 100 words, maximum of 500 words)

2023-2024
Application Cycle
All questions have a 250-word limit.

1. Explain how you know that you want to spend your life studying and practicing medicine. Describe how the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) can help you develop into the kind of person and physician you hope to become.

2. Social justice in the Jesuit tradition, justice due each person by virtue of their own inherent human dignity, is an essential dimension of education at SSOM. Describe what you have learned about yourself from your concrete social justice experiences. Explain how you plan to sustain your efforts to advocate for current social justice issues as a medical student and as a physician.

3. Relate a situation within your professional formation in which you determined that something you did or said did not go over well with someone else. How did you know? What did you do? What did you learn from the experience?(minimum of 100 words, maximum of 500 words)

4. Describe a time you received feedback about your performance and disagreed with the feedback. What did you disagree with? How did you handle it?(minimum of 100 words, maximum of 500 words)

5. Describe a non-academic personal/professional challenge or conflict that you have experienced. Explain what skills, resources and/or strategies you employed to resolve the problem.(minimum of 100 words, maximum of 500 words)

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