2023-2024 Michigan State

[PapaGuava]

2023-2024 Michigan State Secondary Essay Prompts (note that this is displayed on their secondary: "I certify that all written passages from this secondary application are my own and have not been written, in part or in whole, by another author and are not the product of artificial intelligence.")

1. Imagine and reflect upon your life and medical career at the time of retirement. What do you envision being your proudest/most significant accomplishment? (500 words)

2. American society has been reckoning with a variety of systemic injustices throughout its history. Considering your life experiences up to now, share your thoughts and perspectives about this statement using the lens from which you view the world around you. (500 words)

3. Consider three or four words and/or phrases from your medical school application that you use to describe or characterize yourself. Pick one (or a completely different one) that is underdeveloped to provide additional written narrative to the committee as to why you’ve decided to pursue a career in medicine. (500 words)

4. Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and/or insights. (500 words)

5. If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew (or remembered) about you? (500 words)

Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:

Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Interview Feedback

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[cytomegalovirus123]

Anyone else here apply early assurance? I am wondering how quickly everyone got their conditional acceptance once their MCAT score comes in. I am also wondering how heavy the CASPER is used to judge whether or not we get the conditional acceptance or not.

 

[Ali Salman]

Anyone else here apply early assurance? I am wondering how quickly everyone got their conditional acceptance once their MCAT score comes in. I am also wondering how heavy the CASPER is used to judge whether or not we get the conditional acceptance or not.

Regarding your question about CASPER I can tell you that each school weighs the test differently so it depends on the school you are applying to. And not all the medschools actually look at the CASPER test. I know for McMaster that they take it as 1/3 of your application I believe.

 

[purrrxoxo]

Anyone else here apply early assurance? I am wondering how quickly everyone got their conditional acceptance once their MCAT score comes in. I am also wondering how heavy the CASPER is used to judge whether or not we get the conditional acceptance or not.

I don't have a solid answer, but CHM was one of the first schools to make Casper part of their application process. I think this fact in and of itself shows that they care about it more than other schools.

 

[helloitsme1234]

Has anyone received a secondary from MSU-COM yet? I submitted my application (not early assurance, but regular decision) but never received a confirmation email saying they received it or any communication from them.

 

[stony24k]

Has anyone received a secondary from MSU-COM yet? I submitted my application (not early assurance, but regular decision) but never received a confirmation email saying they received it or any communication from them.

AMCAS primaries won’t be transmitted to any medical school until June 30th

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

AMCAS primaries won’t be transmitted to any medical school until June 30th

This comment was referring to MSU-COM which would be on AACOMAS

 

[irdkwym_z]

Anyone else here apply early assurance? I am wondering how quickly everyone got their conditional acceptance once their MCAT score comes in. I am also wondering how heavy the CASPER is used to judge whether or not we get the conditional acceptance or not.

did you hear back? im hoping to apply 24-25; would love to see how you worked on your app

 

[avacadoman]

+1 IS secondary

 

[Aundercoverdoc]

+1 IS secondary

Do you mind sharing the prompts? Is it the same as last year?

 

[avacadoman]

All of these essays have 500 word limits, questions 2 and 3 updated version of past prompts.

1. Imagine and reflect upon your life and medical career at the time of retirement. What do you envision being your proudest/most significant accomplishment?
2. American society has been reckoning with a variety of systemic injustices throughout its history. Considering your life experiences up to now, share your thoughts and perspectives about this statement using the lens from which you view the world around you.
3. Consider three or four words and/or phrases from your medical school application that you use to describe or characterize yourself. Pick one (or a completely different one) that is underdeveloped to provide additional written narrative to the committee as to why you’ve decided to pursue a career in medicine.
4. Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and/or insights.
5. If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew (or remembered) about you?

 

[demetriusclair]

OOS secondary received

 

[premed_15]

OOS secondary received

+1

 

[harry_potter138]

OOS secondary received

 

[happypremed11234]

How are people answering #2?

 

[firstfundamentalform]

Does anyone know how long it takes to get through the primary review after submitting the secondary?

 

[Feeny]

Are you guys trying to hit the full 500 words per prompt? I keep finding myself only getting around ~350 words each. Not sure how important it is to get super close to the full word count.

 

[ScribeBing]

Are you guys trying to hit the full 500 words per prompt? I keep finding myself only getting around ~350 words each. Not sure how important it is to get super close to the full word count.

That seems perfectly appropriate and is how I'm treating the word count as well. I think more than anything it's suggesting your ideas be thoroughly fleshed out and permits sufficient space to do so - write what you have to say, and don't over force things trying to reach a word count. Good luck!

 

[thenew_man1415]

The system literally did not let me click the "I certify that all written passages from this secondary application are my own and have not been written, in part or in whole, by another author and are not the product of artificial intelligence." and it submitted anyways, I really hope that doesn't raise red flags.

 

[Michelle Derevyansky]

How are you approaching question #3 "Consider three or four words and/or phrases from your medical school application that you use to describe or characterize yourself. Pick one (or a completely different one) that is underdeveloped to provide additional written narrative to the committee as to why you’ve decided to pursue a career in medicine?"

Are you stating the 3 or 4 words that are used to describe yourself first and going into detail as to why or going straight into the word you chose?

 

[thenew_man1415]

How are you approaching question #3 "Consider three or four words and/or phrases from your medical school application that you use to describe or characterize yourself. Pick one (or a completely different one) that is underdeveloped to provide additional written narrative to the committee as to why you’ve decided to pursue a career in medicine?"

Are you stating the 3 or 4 words that are used to describe yourself first and going into detail as to why or going straight into the word you chose?

I did 3 small paragraphs for 3 words/phrases, then 1 large paragraph for the underdeveloped/weakness

 

[Maybesomeday]

I did 3 small paragraphs for 3 words/phrases, then 1 large paragraph for the underdeveloped/weakness

don't they want us to write just one paragraph based on our underdeveloped trait? I'm so thrown off by this question lmao

 

[Feeny]

Ooof, I interpreted that as just taking ONE of the words and expanded on it.

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

I am once again asking if anyone else is applying early assurance. Just received my mcat score and I was wondering how quickly you guys hear back from admissions and how they tell you if you're accepted or not.

 

[thenew_man1415]

don't they want us to write just one paragraph based on our underdeveloped trait? I'm so thrown off by this question lmao

IMO the way they said "additional" made it seem like they want brief commentary on the first three words. I'm sure either way would be fine as long as you sell it well, I just didn't feel great about listing 3 words with no other context.

 

[FFforM1122]

IMO the way they said "additional" made it seem like they want brief commentary on the first three words. I'm sure either way would be fine as long as you sell it well, I just didn't feel great about listing 3 words with no other context.

but it literally says to pick 1? i don't think describing all 3 is what it's saying

 

[JWebb]

but it literally says to pick 1? i don't think describing all 3 is what it's saying

This is kind of how I am interpreting it, it says consider 3 and then pick one. A unique prompt but kind of confusing since we typically don't need to be told to brainstorm if that's what its suggesting...

Edit: But then I look at the "pick one (or a completely different one)" and question my whole understanding lol. Because why would you need to specify that.

 

[picklechips]

Does anyone have a good explanation of what they mean by "underdeveloped" for question three. Do they mean like a trait that can be approved, or one that we did not talk about a lot in our app and should touch on more?

 

[ablanco]

Considering adapting some of the ideas I included on MSU-COM prompts to the MSU-CHM responses, do you think this would be dinged against me? I'm pretty sure it's different admissions departments but am unsure.

 

[deleted1168662]

Guys I applied to MSU-CHM, but in my essays I accidentally wrote MSU- COM… I hope they don’t hold this against me

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

Got my early assurance conditional acceptance. Im thinking the formal acceptances will roll out after October?

 

[wysdoc]

All of these essays have 500 word limits, questions 2 and 3 updated version of past prompts.

1. Imagine and reflect upon your life and medical career at the time of retirement. What do you envision being your proudest/most significant accomplishment?
2. American society has been reckoning with a variety of systemic injustices throughout its history. Considering your life experiences up to now, share your thoughts and perspectives about this statement using the lens from which you view the world around you.
3. Consider three or four words and/or phrases from your medical school application that you use to describe or characterize yourself. Pick one (or a completely different one) that is underdeveloped to provide additional written narrative to the committee as to why you’ve decided to pursue a career in medicine.
4. Use the space below to reflect upon your COVID-19 public health crisis experiences, challenges, and/or insights.
5. If you could present yourself to the Admissions Committee, what would you want to make sure they knew (or remembered) about you?

Thanks for sharing the questions, @avacadoman

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

did you hear back? im hoping to apply 24-25; would love to see how you worked on your app

yes I did hear back I would definitely recommend applying early assurance

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

Regarding your question about CASPER I can tell you that each school weighs the test differently so it depends on the school you are applying to. And not all the medschools actually look at the CASPER test. I know for McMaster that they take it as 1/3 of your application I believe.

I am not sure how much weight casper holds but my 2nd quartile score did not hurt me like I thought it would.

 

[billybob321]

Is it worth applying to Michigan State as an OOS with no connections to the state? The interview rate looks rather low...

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

Is it worth applying to Michigan State as an OOS with no connections to the state? The interview rate looks rather low...

no

 

[Sam325]

any ideas on how to approach the second question?

 

[grilledcheese]

any ideas on how to approach the second question?

Think back to some of your ECs... Have you witnessed any instances/results of systemic discrimination? If you have a story that'd be great. After that, write a brief reflection. Based on how they tweaked the prompt from last year I think this is the direction they want us going in.

 

[Hilove]

Does MSU CHM have lgbt interests groups? I cant seem to find one

 

[harry_potter138]

no

can i ask why you said no?

 

[purrrxoxo]

Is it worth applying to Michigan State as an OOS with no connections to the state? The interview rate looks rather low...

I definitely think it is worth a shot if you feel you're a good fit for the school. I'm an M1 there and there are quite a few classmates from OOS -- particularly CA.

 

[camt_spel]

I am not sure how much weight casper holds but my 2nd quartile score did not hurt me like I thought it would.

phew. Casper is... interesting. I got 2nd quartile casper and 92nd quartile PREview. You would think there would be a slight correlation between the two.

 

[harry_potter138]

phew. Casper is... interesting. I got 2nd quartile casper and 92nd quartile PREview. You would think there would be a slight correlation between the two.

opposite for me, top quartile in Casper lowest quartile for PREview - hoping the low PREview doesn’t hurt me too much

 

[thecookiemonster1012001]

if i submitted secondary today, does it hurt my chances? I've been reading that they love early applicants.

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

can i ask why you said no?

They just take 85% of their class in state but it would not hurt to apply still. You never know truly.

 

[purrrxoxo]

opposite for me, top quartile in Casper lowest quartile for PREview - hoping the low PREview doesn’t hurt me too much

I did horrible on PREview and perfect on Casper... I got in just fine

 

[purrrxoxo]

They just take 85% of their class in state but it would not hurt to apply still. You never know truly.

It's a little less than that. As per their website: "As a state-funded school, residents of Michigan are given preference. However, approximately 20-30% of each entering class is from outside of Michigan"

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

It's a little less than that. As per their website: "As a state-funded school, residents of Michigan are given preference. However, approximately 20-30% of each entering class is from outside of Michigan"

Ahh well I was referring to the AAMC where 84.7% of matriculants in 2022 were in state for MSU CHM.

 

[cytomegalovirus123]

I did horrible on PREview and perfect on Casper... I got in just fine

Same got in just fine 2nd quartile casper

 

[deleted1140515]

Does MSU CHM have lgbt interests groups? I cant seem to find one

Yes they do, current M1