2024-2025 Tufts

[wysdoc]

2024-2025 Tufts Secondary Essay Prompts (1000 characters each)​

1. Do you wish to share a specific reason why have you chosen to apply to Tufts University School of Medicine? (Yes/No)​

2. Please briefly describe your plans for the coming year. Will you be a student, working, conducting research, volunteering, or other activities?​

3. Please tell us about your journey to medical school and how your background and experiences will positively impact your future as a medical student and physician. If you have experienced personal circumstances or hardships that have helped you develop qualities that you believe will allow you to better serve your future patients and the medical community as a whole, please share those experiences in your response.​

4. Which of your experiences with clinical medicine or healthcare has best prepared you for a future career as a physician, and why? Please tell us about the specific experience, the skills you acquired, and the insights you gained about the profession of medicine.​

5. Tufts University School of Medicine is committed to social responsibility, and to serve and advocate for all people. Have you done substantial work or service that has contributed to societal good, or addressed social determinants of health, health equity, or social justice? (Yes/No)​

6. Do you have any withdrawals or repeated coursework listed on your transcript(s)?​

7. Did you take any leaves of absence or significant breaks from your undergraduate education? (Do not include time off after graduation.)​

8. Because your academics (grades and MCAT scores) will not be shared with interviewers until after you complete your interview, we encourage you to use this space to elaborate on any academic challenges you have overcome since completing high school. We understand that many applicants encounter academic hardships along the way. We believe that such difficulties offer an opportunity for growth and would appreciate learning how your experiences have affected your approach to academics. If you have not encountered any difficulties, you may answer 'No.'​

Good luck to all applying!
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[dolephant]

Secondary received (prompts same as last year). Verified 06/21. OOS

 

[Iron Man23]

OOS Secondary received

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

Just got the secondary, glad the prompts are the same again lol

 

[trumpet298]

is anyone else planning to use the first question as a Why Tufts essay

Yeah, I am just a little thrown off because it says, "share a specific reason," which leads me to believe they want us to talk about one specific aspect of their school that we like.

 

[dolephant]

Yeah, I am just a little thrown off because it says, "share a specific reason," which leads me to believe they want us to talk about one specific aspect of their school that we like.

Yes this is what I'm doing. Not sure if I want to use the "is there anything else" box for more "why us" stuff.

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

I you guys are overthinking it. "Share a specific reason" is the "Why us." They probably just don't want a dump of everything in their program ending up in the secondary. Find what you like about Tufts and write about it.

 

[supercoolkid2000]

can someone post them

 

[Zirah]

Submitted!

 

[CheeesyBoi]

1. Do you wish to share a specific reason why have you chosen to apply to Tufts University School of Medicine? (Yes/No)​

2. Please briefly describe your plans for the coming year. Will you be a student, working, conducting research, volunteering, or other activities?​

3. Please tell us about your journey to medical school and how your background and experiences will positively impact your future as a medical student and physician. If you have experienced personal circumstances or hardships that have helped you develop qualities that you believe will allow you to better serve your future patients and the medical community as a whole, please share those experiences in your response.​

4. Which of your experiences with clinical medicine or healthcare has best prepared you for a future career as a physician, and why? Please tell us about the specific experience, the skills you acquired, and the insights you gained about the profession of medicine.​

5. Tufts University School of Medicine is committed to social responsibility, and to serve and advocate for all people. Have you done substantial work or service that has contributed to societal good, or addressed social determinants of health, health equity, or social justice? (Yes/No)​

6. Do you have any withdrawals or repeated coursework listed on your transcript(s).​

7. Did you take any leaves of absence or significant breaks from your undergraduate education? (Do not include time off after graduation.)​

8. Because your academics (grades and MCAT scores) will not be shared with interviewers until after you complete your interview, we encourage you to use this space to elaborate on any academic challenges you have overcome since completing high school. We understand that many applicants encounter academic hardships along the way. We believe that such difficulties offer an opportunity for growth and would appreciate learning how your experiences have affected your approach to academics. If you have not encountered any difficulties, you may answer 'No.'​

@wysdoc @chilly_md

 

[WinSpin]

Just got my secondary, OOS 🙂

 

[sensorimotorstage]

OOS (legacy) Received 6/30

Verified 5/28/2024

 

[WinSpin]

Maybe a silly question - but I had a single withdrawal in college - I answered yes for q6 and explained the W, how I grew from it, etc etc. Do I need to also fill out q8 if that was the only struggle I encountered? I feel like that would be silly to repeat myself but wanted to see any other opinions

 

[The Deep]

1. Do you wish to share a specific reason why have you chosen to apply to Tufts University School of Medicine? (Yes/No)​

2. Please briefly describe your plans for the coming year. Will you be a student, working, conducting research, volunteering, or other activities?​

3. Please tell us about your journey to medical school and how your background and experiences will positively impact your future as a medical student and physician. If you have experienced personal circumstances or hardships that have helped you develop qualities that you believe will allow you to better serve your future patients and the medical community as a whole, please share those experiences in your response.​

4. Which of your experiences with clinical medicine or healthcare has best prepared you for a future career as a physician, and why? Please tell us about the specific experience, the skills you acquired, and the insights you gained about the profession of medicine.​

5. Tufts University School of Medicine is committed to social responsibility, and to serve and advocate for all people. Have you done substantial work or service that has contributed to societal good, or addressed social determinants of health, health equity, or social justice? (Yes/No)​

6. Do you have any withdrawals or repeated coursework listed on your transcript(s).​

7. Did you take any leaves of absence or significant breaks from your undergraduate education? (Do not include time off after graduation.)​

8. Because your academics (grades and MCAT scores) will not be shared with interviewers until after you complete your interview, we encourage you to use this space to elaborate on any academic challenges you have overcome since completing high school. We understand that many applicants encounter academic hardships along the way. We believe that such difficulties offer an opportunity for growth and would appreciate learning how your experiences have affected your approach to academics. If you have not encountered any difficulties, you may answer 'No.'​

@wysdoc @chilly_md

Thanks for sharing! By the way, do you have the character limits for each prompt?

 

[forumskeptic]

In state secondary received 10:16 am

 

[forumskeptic]

Thanks for sharing! By the way, do you have the character limits for each prompt?

They are 1000 characters each

 

[deleted1136284]

+1 OOS

 

[stargirl2003]

+1 INTL

 

[feeling_tireddddd]

IS received 6/30

 

[E. Leaf]

+1 OOS Secondary Received
Submitted 6/1

 

[justanaverageguy]

Maybe a silly question - but I had a single withdrawal in college - I answered yes for q6 and explained the W, how I grew from it, etc etc. Do I need to also fill out q8 if that was the only struggle I encountered? I feel like that would be silly to repeat myself but wanted to see any other opinions

I'm in the same exact situation. I was going to leave q8 blank

 

[ecobio]

Maybe a silly question - but I had a single withdrawal in college - I answered yes for q6 and explained the W, how I grew from it, etc etc. Do I need to also fill out q8 if that was the only struggle I encountered? I feel like that would be silly to repeat myself but wanted to see any other opinions

I used the first one to briefly explain what was withdrawn + what happened when i retook the course. then, for Q8, I went more in depth as to what specifically was going on at the time. 🙂


Ultimately, I think it's up to you how you want to use the space. As long as you feel confident that you've said what you needed to, I wouldnt worry!!

 

[emonggalep]

"Tufts University School of Medicine is committed to social responsibility, and to serve and advocate for all people. Have you done substantial work or service that has contributed to societal good, or addressed social determinants of health, health equity, or social justice? (Yes/No)"

Would it be appropriate to talk about nonprofit work or is this looking for like really big stuff like fulbright or other huge organizations (can't name any at the top of my head but the ones that are often listed in sections like "have you participated in any of these?" if that makes sense)

 

[hopefuldoc7381]

for the prerequisites coursework, for something like the bio requirement (1 year), should I only list 2 semesterly courses, or put all the bio classes I have taken that fall into the category?

 

[barbiedoc07]

+1 OOS secondary received

 

[Iron Man23]

"Have you done substantial work or service that has contributed to societal good, or addressed social determinants of health, health equity, or social justice? (Yes/No)"

Is this worth answering if my service has been normal, I wouldn't say its substantial.

 

[trumpet298]

"Tufts University School of Medicine is committed to social responsibility, and to serve and advocate for all people. Have you done substantial work or service that has contributed to societal good, or addressed social determinants of health, health equity, or social justice? (Yes/No)"

Would it be appropriate to talk about nonprofit work or is this looking for like really big stuff like fulbright or other huge organizations (can't name any at the top of my head but the ones that are often listed in sections like "have you participated in any of these?" if that makes sense)

No, I think your nonprofit work could work. It depends on what it meant/means to you. I talked about my volunteer work at the VA. While I was only a companionship volunteer in the palliative/hospice care wards (I wasn't addressing any huge issues or alleviating their suffering), I could provide comfort and compassion to a medically marginalized community during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was really rewarding and thought-provoking.

 

[BiomedEGR777]

So with the first question essentially being a why us essay, should I use the new additional info as a reapplicant essay? I hate the 1000 character limit for that essay

 

[dolephant]

I hate that so many schools make us list that we meet the pre reqs...like do you guys look at our transcripts or not lol

 

[StraightAd57]

Probably a stupid question but do yall think the "Do you have any additional information" is really optional? I already did the "Why Tufts" essay so im not sure if theres anything else to mention.

 

[jrlybob1]

+1 OOS secondary received

+2

 

[justanaverageguy]

for the prerequisites coursework, for something like the bio requirement (1 year), should I only list 2 semesterly courses, or put all the bio classes I have taken that fall into the category?

I'm only putting in what they need. Their secondary application says "You are only required to list the specific coursework that fulfill our minimum requirements and not every course taken in that discipline. We will see your complete academic history on your AMCAS grade report."

 

[soldier boy]

For the competency portion of the prerequisites, can we just list our courses there as well? Or do we have to write an explanation

 

[carneasdasd]

For the competency portion of the prerequisites, can we just list our courses there as well? Or do we have to write an explanation

^

 

[justanaverageguy]

For the competency portion of the prerequisites, can we just list our courses there as well? Or do we have to write an explanation

Just list the courses like you did for the other ones

 

[soldier boy]

Just list the courses like you did for the other ones

thank you 🙂

 

[BiomedEGR777]

Probably a stupid question but do yall think the "Do you have any additional information" is really optional? I already did the "Why Tufts" essay so im not sure if theres anything else to mention.

I used it as a reapplicant essay, even though it was super short

 

[WinSpin]

Probably a stupid question but do yall think the "Do you have any additional information" is really optional? I already did the "Why Tufts" essay so im not sure if theres anything else to mention.

I think I'm going to leave it blank - I usually would use it as a "why this school", but since that is already a question I'm comfortable leaving it blank. I don't think anyone reading your application will think of you negatively if you don't write anything - I think they'd be more annoyed if you wrote something that wasn't meaningful to you! I don't think there is a wrong answer 🙂

 

[QuantumPhoton]

Would it be appropriate to discuss an unbalanced MCAT score in question 8?

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

Would it be appropriate to discuss an unbalanced MCAT score in question 8?

I wouldn't call attention to it. Anyways, how unbalanced are you (I'm also unbalanced)?

 

[ClashRoyaleKing]

Is an appropriate abbreviation TUSOM?

 

[CheeesyBoi]

Is an appropriate abbreviation TUSOM?

I personally just used Tufts

 

[MapoBuldak]

I personally just used Tufts

+1

 

[signomiii]

It’s TUSM btw! Tufts works as well and is what I used on my app last year

 

[Agape_ornis]

should I answer question 8? I have a 4.0 gpa and the only thing I can think of is when I was struggling with studying for the mcat because my family came to live with me and my responsibilities shifted and had to study at night. not sure if that is enough? i dont want to answer for answering.

 

[ecobio]

should I answer question 8? I have a 4.0 gpa and the only thing I can think of is when I was struggling with studying for the mcat because my family came to live with me and my responsibilities shifted and had to study at night. not sure if that is enough? i dont want to answer for answering.

If you feel you can answer the question in a way that improves your application + directly answers the prompt, then do so. But if you feel like you aren't adding anything substantial then I would not. There's no right or wrong answer-- just do what makes you feel more confident 🙂

 

[happy_carrot]

does anyone know if for MD/MPH applicants, students must complete the MPH specific questions prior to submitting the primary? or are they viewed as two separate applications, and the MD questions can be submitted earlier?

 

[ecobio]

does anyone know if for MD/MPH applicants, students must complete the MPH specific questions prior to submitting the primary? or are they viewed as two separate applications, and the MD questions can be submitted earlier?

You can submit the MD secondary prior. The MPH application is separate and shows up separately in the status tab if you elect to apply.

 

[scampi]

Incoming student here! Happy to answer any questions about the secondary or Tufts application process as I was just in your shoes 🙂

 

[Agape_ornis]

Incoming student here! Happy to answer any questions about the secondary or Tufts application process as I was just in your shoes 🙂

what does tufts values in an applicant? especially one out of state. Do you have any tips for the secondaries? thank you