2025-2026 SUNY Upstate (Norton)

[wysdoc]

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2025-2026 SUNY Upstate Secondary Essay Prompts:

1. Which medical specialty do you currently plan to pursue? (1800 characters)

2. Are there any areas of weakness in your application that you would like to clarify for the Admissions Committee? If yes, Please describe:
(1800 characters)

3. What experiences have you had with underserved communities/populations? What have you learned from these experiences?
(1800 characters)

4. Describe any ties or meaningful experiences you have had related to Central New York or SUNY Upstate Medical University.
(1800 characters)

5. How will you contribute to the diversity of your medical school class and The Norton College of Medicine? (1800 characters)

6. The Norton College of Medicine is committed to improving the healthcare of Central New York. How do your career plans advance this mission? (1800 characters)

Good luck to all applying!

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SUNY - Upstate Medical University College of Medicine - Admission, Tuition, Ranking & Overview | Student Doctor Network

Detail information of SUNY - Upstate Medical University College of Medicine including admission, tuition, ranking, and overview.

www.studentdoctor.net

 

[ihavetwobraincells]

anyone get secondaries yet?

 

[imsogonnagetrejected]

anyone get secondaries yet?

No for me

 

[greatlymed]

Anyone know when secondaries will arrive?

 

[FodRN]

+1 IS. Will post prompts when I access it

 

[mets05]

+ 1 IS

 

[notEinstein]

IS Secondary

 

[notEinstein]

- Which medical specialty do you currently plan to pursue?

- Are there any areas of weakness in your application that you would like to clarify for the Admissions Committee? If yes, Please describe:

- What experiences have you had with underserved communities/populations? What have you learned from these experiences?

- Describe any ties or meaningful experiences you have had related to Central New York or SUNY Upstate Medical University.

- How will you contribute to the diversity of your medical school class and The Norton College of Medicine?

- The Norton College of Medicine is committed to improving the healthcare of Central New York. How do your career plans advance this mission?

@wysdoc

 

[wysdoc]

@FodRN , @mets05 , or @notEinstein, can one of you give us the word count allowed on these? Thanks

 

[icouldntthinkofanything]

+1 IS Secondary

 

[9_rin]

The medical specialty question has no character limit (I will be writing a novel within it). All the other questions are 1800 characters @wysdoc

 

[katelynn]

Why are the options either MD 2026-2027 or BSMD 2025-2026...?

 

[greatlymed]

I am not seeing questions only academic history, military status, review and sig

 

[deleted1214788]

+1 OOS

 

[goingmerry]

Why are the options either MD 2026-2027 or BSMD 2025-2026...?

+1 OOS

yeah this confused me too :/ i accidentally clicked BSMD and now can’t go back i had to email them 😩

 

[goingmerry]

Does SUNY upstate not send secondaries to everyone?

 

[wysdoc]

Does SUNY upstate not send secondaries to everyone?

The FAQ on their web page says they send a secondary to every verified AMCAS applicant.
It will take time for them to process the applications however.

 

[deleted1214788]

It should be MD 2026-2027 correct?

 

[rosegold123]

+1 IS secondary

 

[greatlymed]

It should be MD 2026-2027 correct?

yes

 

[katelynn]

I'm so confused. Do they actually want us to relist all of our coursework?

 

[dahquinnz]

It says “currently taking” or “prior to matriculation”. If you don’t have any I’d imagine you can leave it.

 

[9_rin]

Does anyone know whether SUNY Upstate waives the secondary application fee for AAMC FAP recipients. Every other school I completed the secondary for already automatically waived the cost, but not this one.

 

[wysdoc]

Does anyone know whether SUNY Upstate waives the secondary application fee for AAMC FAP recipients. Every other school I completed the secondary for already automatically waived the cost, but not this one.

MSAR indicates they do have fee waiver available, but some schools will want to see a copy or documentation of your AAMC waiver

 

[greatlymed]

I'm so confused. Do they actually want us to relist all of our coursework? View attachment 406590

No its just courses you're taking in the coming school year or current summer classes

 

[FodRN]

Hi! Is anyone having trouble submitting? I keep getting an error for essays I’ve already submitted

 

[9_rin]

Hi! Is anyone having trouble submitting? I keep getting an error for essays I’ve already submitted

I didn't get any errors. I pasted my essays directly from a google doc

 

[Namingishard]

I'm so confused. Do they actually want us to relist all of our coursework? View attachment 406590

Same question .... and do we have to reenter the test scores below?

 

[notEinstein]

Same question .... and do we have to reenter the test scores below?

Come on guys - this is just basic reading! It says to enter the coursework you’re currently working on or will work on before matriculating. It does not say to enter every course. And the test page says to list any tests you taken - including the MCAT.

Just read and follow the instructions!

 

[Namingishard]

How specific should we say about the medical specialty question? Should we simply list one or more specialties we wanna pursue? Should we write a whole lot of essays explaining that? Would it be appropriate to write some badass specialties like those bunch of highly competitive surgical ones or more conservative choices would be favored (simply say surgery if u wanna be a whatever surgeon)?

 

[golgibody787]

How specific should we say about the medical specialty question? Should we simply list one or more specialties we wanna pursue? Should we write a whole lot of essays explaining that? Would it be appropriate to write some badass specialties like those bunch of highly competitive surgical ones or more conservative choices would be favored (simply say surgery if u wanna be a whatever surgeon)?

I think I'm just gonna put what speciality I'm interested and leave it at that. If they wanted an essay, I would think they would say "What specialty do you want to pursue and why?" Not sure though. Last year, I just wrote the specialty and still got an interview (didn't get an A obviously)

 

[LB225]

@wysdoc

In the college of Medicine tab, if you answer that you earned your bachelor's prior to June of this year, this question pops up-

If you earned your baccalaureate degree prior to this past June, please provide a brief statement indicating your plans for the upcoming academic year: (1800 characters)

Also, for the medical specialty question, limit is 1800 characters

 

[notEinstein]

Application changed to “Under review” today

 

[mmssjj]

Application changed to “Under review” today

When did you submit?

 

[notEinstein]

When did you submit?

I submitted the secondary on July 17.

 

[katelynn]

Did anyone else get an email and link to a different application portal and got told their application was under review?

 

[notEinstein]

Did anyone else get an email and link to a different application portal and got told their application was under review?

Literally 2 posts above yours...

 

[katelynn]

Literally 2 posts above yours...

The status in my submissions portal still says “submitted” but they sent a separate email saying it’s under review

 

[notEinstein]

The status in my submissions portal still says “submitted” but they sent a separate email saying it’s under review

Because they told you in the email that you referenced above that no updates will come from the original submissions portal.

 

[letsgojets1]

Under review, submitted 7/14

 

[pingu365]

I'm OOS and haven't received a secondary yet, you all think it would be a good idea to reach out to them around now about this?

 

[notEinstein]

I'm OOS and haven't received a secondary yet, you all think it would be a good idea to reach out to them around now about this?

How long have you been verified? If you were just recently verified there may be a delay if they send secondaries in batches. This school is not very OOS friendly but you should still receive a secondary because they want their money.

 

[pingu365]

How long have you been verified? If you were just recently verified there may be a delay if they send secondaries in batches. This school is not very OOS friendly but you should still receive a secondary because they want their money.

I was verified 7/3 and it seems like one other OOS person got a secondary so far based on this thread. I went to school in Upstate NY which is why I applied (absolutely love the area)

 

[medicineisawesome]

I'm really worried about "Describe any ties or meaningful experiences you have had related to Central New York or SUNY Upstate Medical University." Is anyone else answering N/A for this? I really love this school, but unfortunately, I don't have significant ties

 

[evenfeather]

Their secondary email says 2026-2027 application. This is a mistake and it should be 2025-2026 right? Super confused and just want to make sure I'm applying to the right one.

 

[imsogonnagetrejected]

Their secondary email says 2026-2027 application. This is a mistake and it should be 2025-2026 right? Super confused and just want to make sure I'm applying to the right one.

it says the same for me so u should be fine

 

[notEinstein]

I'm really worried about "Describe any ties or meaningful experiences you have had related to Central New York or SUNY Upstate Medical University." Is anyone else answering N/A for this? I really love this school, but unfortunately, I don't have significant ties

SUNY schools are known for being VERY state oriented. Buffalo and Upstate can even be considered county-oriented (they want people within 2 hours of them).

Therefore, even the few OOS students they accept are likely people with strong ties to the area.

That’s why its recommended for people to apply to SUNY only if you have serious ties to the area.

 

[mmssjj]

SUNY schools are known for being VERY state oriented. Buffalo and Upstate can even be considered county-oriented (they want people within 2 hours of them).

Therefore, even the few OOS students they accept are typically people with strong ties to the area.

That’s why its recommended for people to apply to SUNY only if you have serious ties to the area.

do buffalo and upstate accept students from nyc without any ties to upstate area?

 

[evenfeather]

SUNY schools are known for being VERY state oriented. Buffalo and Upstate can even be considered county-oriented (they want people within 2 hours of them).

Therefore, even the few OOS students they accept are typically people with strong ties to the area.

That’s why its recommended for people to apply to SUNY only if you have serious ties to the area.

So if I don't have any ties to New York, should I just not bother applying at all? I tried to research which schools are OOS friendly before adding them to AMCAS, but I guess I must have missed this one. Isn't at least one Downstate and Upstate relatively friendly to OOS? Or are they both heavily OOS unfriendly

 

[notEinstein]

So if I don't have any ties to New York, should I just not bother applying at all? I tried to research which schools are OOS friendly before adding them to AMCAS, but I guess I must have missed this one. Isn't at least one Downstate and Upstate relatively friendly to OOS? Or are they both heavily OOS unfriendly

With no ties at all? If you have the money to burn, I say go for it.

But if you are short on funds and want to maximize your chances (applying to schools with better chances), I would definitely pick other schools.

SUNY Buffalo for example asks about 10 different ways in their secondary how you have ties to the area. Its actually kinda crazy. Upstate is less crazy, but instead of asking 10 different questions about ties, they ask you to write an essay about the ties you have.

Isn't at least one Downstate and Upstate relatively friendly to OOS?

I have no idea about Downstate, but Upstate is like 80% IS.

They receive ~4,500 OOS applications and they interview less than 1% of them (0.009).

Tuition is also $25k more for OOS.