2025-2026 UTSW

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I am struggling to think of a group project I am very proud of. Research I am proud of I did independently, so it doesn't fit. Would a random group project I did for class or talking about my sorority leadership work for it?
 
I technically had a part-time (900-hr) internship for the year, but it was through AmeriCorps, and ig they counted it.
 
ant25 said:
I am struggling to think of a group project I am very proud of. Research I am proud of I did independently, so it doesn't fit. Would a random group project I did for class or talking about my sorority leadership work for it?
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I would 100% use sorority leadership, any event planning or recruitment is basically a group project
 
For prompt 2, I was thinking of writing a microaggression that I experienced (I have an ethnic name that's hard to pronounce so people ask me if I have a nickname to be called instead or they just make their own nickname to call me). Would this count as experiencing discrimination? I'm not sure because it wasn't intentional to discriminate me i guess
 
luna0720 said:
For prompt 2, I was thinking of writing a microaggression that I experienced (I have an ethnic name that's hard to pronounce so people ask me if I have a nickname to be called instead or they just make their own nickname to call me). Would this count as experiencing discrimination? I'm not sure because it wasn't intentional to discriminate me i guess
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Depends if you count it as discrimination or harassment as well I guess. Regardless, I believe admissions is more focused on your process and rationale when dealing with an ethical situation and less focused on the situation itself.
 
As someone said above, I am also majorly struggling with a group project I'm proud of. Pretty much all of my undergrad experience was independent. I did research with a team and we did produce good data and presented at multiple conferences across the country however there wouldn't be much to expand on about it because I was pretty much the only consistent member and did most of it independently while all the group members I worked with would usually drop out of it after a year lol. I feel like it would be obvious I was exaggerating how proud I was of what my group and I did. What do I write about if I dont have an experience like this 😕 I am struggling so heavily its my last essay to write and cant get around to it cuz im stumped 🙁
 
mynamejef said:
As someone said above, I am also majorly struggling with a group project I'm proud of. Pretty much all of my undergrad experience was independent. I did research with a team and we did produce good data and presented at multiple conferences across the country however there wouldn't be much to expand on about it because I was pretty much the only consistent member and did most of it independently while all the group members I worked with would usually drop out of it after a year lol. I feel like it would be obvious I was exaggerating how proud I was of what my group and I did. What do I write about if I dont have an experience like this 😕 I am struggling so heavily its my last essay to write and cant get around to it cuz im stumped 🙁
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What about something non-academic?
 
wysdoc said:
What about something non-academic?
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Yeah, Ive tried to think of some, the thing is none of the "projects" ive done have led to some big result. I have a really meaningful and relevant volunteer activity I do but it doesnt really result in some aha moment where Im super proud. Im proud of the work we do and how it contributes and supports this a big mission, but I feel like it would be hard to write about considering theres no specific project/event we did that resulted in something phenomenal. Its more like a slow, ongoing process to reduce systemic barriers and stuff (which takes a long time to see results of). Ugh
 
mynamejef said:
Yeah, Ive tried to think of some, the thing is none of the "projects" ive done have led to some big result. I have a really meaningful and relevant volunteer activity I do but it doesnt really result in some aha moment where Im super proud. Im proud of the work we do and how it contributes and supports this a big mission, but I feel like it would be hard to write about considering theres no specific project/event we did that resulted in something phenomenal. Its more like a slow, ongoing process to reduce systemic barriers and stuff (which takes a long time to see results of). Ugh
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It doesn’t have to be something phenomenal or even have tangible results (yet) - the only requirement is that you’re proud of it. The activity descriptions and other parts of your primary are where you did your specific accomplishments. What about the group work makes you proud and what has it taught you over the years?
 
For prompt 2 (I am a nurse), I was thinking of writing about how I hear healthcare workers making rude remarks or unethical comments about trans people (children included). I wonder if this is too risky? Otherwise, I would just do something related to not accurately completing assessments on patients or making generalized assumptions based on race or other demographics.
 
ajaxmonkey said:
For prompt 2 (I am a nurse), I was thinking of writing about how I hear healthcare workers making rude remarks or unethical comments about trans people (children included). I wonder if this is too risky? Otherwise, I would just do something related to not accurately completing assessments on patients or making generalized assumptions based on race or other demographics.
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Regardless of topic (objectively-speaking), if I had to write about something that I deemed risky, I would probably avoid it. Could do more harm then good. But if it's something you are super passionate about, I would write it. So depends on you?
 
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ajaxmonkey said:
For prompt 2 (I am a nurse), I was thinking of writing about how I hear healthcare workers making rude remarks or unethical comments about trans people (children included). I wonder if this is too risky? Otherwise, I would just do something related to not accurately completing assessments on patients or making generalized assumptions based on race or other demographics.
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I believe advocating for the humanity/dignity of people regardless of their circumstances is a powerful story to share. Politics aside, that quality is very welcome and valued here.
 
1. Describe a group project or activity that you are most proud of. Consider the following in your response: What aspect makes you most proud? How was it accomplished? How did you deal with disagreement or conflict in the group? How did you get fellow group members to embrace a position or view your perspective? (2500 Characters)
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Is a class group project (which I also used last cycle) a bad idea for this prompt? Idk if there were issues with my secondary.
 
stere0psis said:
I believe advocating for the humanity/dignity of people regardless of their circumstances is a powerful story to share. Politics aside, that quality is very welcome and valued here.
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I agree! If someone thinks that another person's identity in life doesn't matter or is disgusting, then maybe I shouldn't want to go there anyway. I would rather be a good person than a doctor in a nasty place. Just my preference, but that's because I have been through a lot and seen a lot. Thank you so much.
 
For Prompt #2, would it be acceptable for me to write about witnessing a friend experience harrassment & discrimination and how I reacted/helped him through it? It was an extremely meaningful story so I would like to know.
 
Diamond45123 said:
Hey, for MSTP, do we also have to answer diversity essays and the other MD questions?
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Please refer to the UTSW website for instructions for applying MSTP or MD/PhD.
These tracks use AMCAS, even though UTSW is a TMDSAS school.
I’m sure you will get your own set of essay questions
 
wysdoc said:
Please refer to the UTSW website for instructions for applying MSTP or MD/PhD.
These tracks use AMCAS, even though UTSW is a TMDSAS school.
I’m sure you will get your own set of essay questions
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I get that but I'm more asking if it is worth pre-writing the MD-only essays aswell or are those not included in the UTSW MSTP application?
 
Diamond45123 said:
I get that but I'm more asking if it is worth pre-writing the MD-only essays aswell or are those not included in the UTSW MSTP application?
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🤷🏻‍♀️ I don’t know

Didn’t you like the answer a fellow applicant supplied for you? 2025-2026 UTSW
 
For Prompt 3, I was thinking of writing about a shadowing experience with a family med physician and a transgender patient on HRT. I would talk about how communication and support is important to individuals who often faced the burden of advocating for themselves. Is this risky in any way?
 
For prompt 1, do we need to answer every question they mentioned in the prompt? The group project I am talking about didn't really have disagreements or conflicts tbh (the only thing I can think of, which is not a conflict but an issue I noticed, is that the project we worked on didn't have an organized timeline, so I created one and implemented that for that next semester). I think thats the one aspect of the prompt I'm like ehhh about since I dont know if I can answer it directly
 
gym_panda said:
For prompt 1, do we need to answer every question they mentioned in the prompt? The group project I am talking about didn't really have disagreements or conflicts tbh (the only thing I can think of, which is not a conflict but an issue I noticed, is that the project we worked on didn't have an organized timeline, so I created one and implemented that for that next semester). I think thats the one aspect of the prompt I'm like ehhh about since I dont know if I can answer it directly
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They are looking to see how well you work in groups and what your style is when working in a group. Most medical schools lately embrace the group concept of medicine and want to see team players who contribute and/or able overcome any conflicts.
 
pirateb said:
For Prompt 3, I was thinking of writing about a shadowing experience with a family med physician and a transgender patient on HRT. I would talk about how communication and support is important to individuals who often faced the burden of advocating for themselves. Is this risky in any way?
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My situation was similar, but I didn’t really mention the physician because he wasn’t too involved really. Just want to shy away from possibly bashing a physician or their coworkers. Make sense? If it’s not thy at kind of situation, I think it’s a great idea.
 
notjoemama said:
i mean a job?
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This prompt is referring to long-term service commitments, which a traditional teaching job wouldn’t typically fall under.

There are a fair number of veterans, folks who’ve done missionary work, etc. here which is more what Prompt 4 is looking for from respondents. That said, if there’s an aspect of your teaching experience that feels relevant, answering it probably won’t hurt you. I’d just be careful not to repeat anything you’ve already said about your role as a teacher elsewhere, since the prompt really is optional.
 
For: 5. (OPTIONAL) Please explain any academic discrepancies or extenuating circumstances that you feel the Admissions Committee should know. (2500 characters)

If I do not have anything to add beyond what I have written in my personal statement and previous prompts, is it ok to leave this blank? I will it look bad? I feel as though I have written everything important and don't want to add anything meaningless that could harm my application.
 
greenteagarden said:
For: 5. (OPTIONAL) Please explain any academic discrepancies or extenuating circumstances that you feel the Admissions Committee should know. (2500 characters)

If I do not have anything to add beyond what I have written in my personal statement and previous prompts, is it ok to leave this blank? I will it look bad? I feel as though I have written everything important and don't want to add anything meaningless that could harm my application.
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I think that's fine.

Personally I did a "to briefly reiterate what I already mentioned in my primary..." response. It wasn't more than a couple sentences and I doubt it made any difference for my app.
 
notjoemama said:
i mean a job?
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They are looking for people who did service which usually goes with a college scholarship for continued education. I believe most of the service corps pay some amount of tuition for those who go back to school after their year or two.
Teaching is considered a great resume enhancer by itself to show you care about people even if it was a job. you could leverage it to write essays about planning to go into academics.
 
gym_panda said:
For prompt 1, do we need to answer every question they mentioned in the prompt? The group project I am talking about didn't really have disagreements or conflicts tbh (the only thing I can think of, which is not a conflict but an issue I noticed, is that the project we worked on didn't have an organized timeline, so I created one and implemented that for that next semester). I think thats the one aspect of the prompt I'm like ehhh about since I dont know if I can answer it directly
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I would recommend either changing the topic or trying to remember any disagreements. It would be wise to answer ALL parts of the prompt as they asked you for a reason. For this prompt, it would seem that UTSW is also trying to gauge how you resolve conflicts in group settings.
 
greenteagarden said:
For: 5. (OPTIONAL) Please explain any academic discrepancies or extenuating circumstances that you feel the Admissions Committee should know. (2500 characters)

If I do not have anything to add beyond what I have written in my personal statement and previous prompts, is it ok to leave this blank? I will it look bad? I feel as though I have written everything important and don't want to add anything meaningless that could harm my application.
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I left it blank and was fine. In my opinion, it is a true optional essay not a "secret-optional-essay-that-gauges-your-interest-so-it's-not-actually-optional" essay
 
BigBroBeans23 said:
I left it blank and was fine. In my opinion, it is a true optional essay not a "secret-optional-essay-that-gauges-your-interest-so-it's-not-actually-optional" essay
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Yes, for this school Questions 4 and 5 are truly optional & it's better to leave them blank if they don't apply to you rather than writing an irrelevant essay
 
emonggalep said:
Hi all, for prompts 2 and 3, do y'all think the following topics be appropriate?
(2) Being harassed/touched inappropriately on a plane by a man traveling with his young daughter, who I helped out earlier in the flight. Dilemma on whether I should seek help or keep quiet to preserve his young daughter's face.
(3) My experience (as a clinical research coordinator) with a cognitively impaired patient who I initially thought was glaring at me and refusing to participate in research tasks because she was racist (she was not, she had other reasons why she was really angry/frustrated but had trouble expressing that properly and instead placed her anger on me because of her cog. impairment).
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3 - this is what they are looking for.
2. i am not so sure it belongs under ethics or dishonesty. Got anything else?
 
texasvandy said:
3 - this is what they are looking for.
2. i am not so sure it belongs under ethics or dishonesty. Got anything else?
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thank you for your help! for 2, i was thinking of responding to the "experienced a behavior of harassment or discrimination" portion of the prompt instead of the ethics/dishonesty part. would you say it still doesn't work? i'm def open to writing about other stuff i'm a reapplicant so i was just looking for other potential things to talk about
 
emonggalep said:
thank you for your help! for 2, i was thinking of responding to the "experienced a behavior of harassment or discrimination" portion of the prompt instead of the ethics/dishonesty part. would you say it still doesn't work? i'm def open to writing about other stuff i'm a reapplicant so i was just looking for other potential things to talk about
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The issue with all essays such as this is that they are looking for action on the applicant's part in a academic, work, volunteer setting of issue they faced. My gut feeling is "I ignored sexual harassment on a plane by a stranger to not leave life long impact on his kid" doesn't exactly say you stood up for yourself. Others here may offer you different advise.
 
For prompt 2, maybe I am looking too much into it, but do they want us to describe what we did when we observed an act that was unethical/dishonest/harassment/discrimination to someone else? Or can we talk about something that happened to us. I did have someone yell at me I was a terrorist when I was walking to a mosque lol and I thought I could tie that into something potentially.

Also just wanted to say thank you to all the helpful folks on here! I've been feeling so guilty asking so many questions but as a reapp this year, I've been a lot more paranoid about my application :,)
 
gym_panda said:
For prompt 2, maybe I am looking too much into it, but do they want us to describe what we did when we observed an act that was unethical/dishonest/harassment/discrimination to someone else? Or can we talk about something that happened to us. I did have someone yell at me I was a terrorist when I was walking to a mosque lol and I thought I could tie that into something potentially.

Also just wanted to say thank you to all the helpful folks on here! I've been feeling so guilty asking so many questions but as a reapp this year, I've been a lot more paranoid about my application :,)
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When I wrote about it, I interpreted it as both. That's also a crazy story lol.
 
baxworth said:
Can prompt 1 expand on something that is menitioned multiple times on the primary, like something that is both an community engagement activity and an MME.

or should i focus on "school project". i am a non-trad
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You can use either an academic or off campus group for your example.
Be wary of using the same story over and over as they have already seen it in your TMDSAS primary and possibly your MME section.
 
Anyone having trouble with Casper being sent to UTSW? I filled out my secondary and submitted it today, and it says that everything is complete except for Casper (states that it is not received). However, when I go on my Acuity Insights account, it shows that it was sent to UTSW. For comparison sake, I also sent Baylor secondary today and they received my Casper score. Should I just wait it out? I don't want to contact admissions if I don't have to.
 
beepbeepboopbop02 said:
Anyone having trouble with Casper being sent to UTSW? I filled out my secondary and submitted it today, and it says that everything is complete except for Casper (states that it is not received). However, when I go on my Acuity Insights account, it shows that it was sent to UTSW. For comparison sake, I also sent Baylor secondary today and they received my Casper score. Should I just wait it out? I don't want to contact admissions if I don't have to.
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I had a similar thing where UTSW was the only one that said Casper was received and all other Texas schools said they weren't, but my results had only recently just come out. Problem fixed itself after a few days for everywhere else. Give it at least a week and if it's not updated by then I'd say maybe reach out?
 
freakooo4 said:
I had a similar thing where UTSW was the only one that said Casper was received and all other Texas schools said they weren't, but my results had only recently just come out. Problem fixed itself after a few days for everywhere else. Give it at least a week and if it's not updated by then I'd say maybe reach out?
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Awesome, thanks for the info! Will wait it out for a few days.
 
UTSW doesn't have a specific "why us" prompt... do we have to integrate this into our responses?
 
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