It is extremely important to express your healthcare passions in your Dartmouth secondaries. In particular, emphasize your ideas to improve healthcare and how Dartmouth Medical School will help you accomplish these goals. Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth has an extremely unique clinical curriculum in which you can do your clinical rotations in different parts of the United States. The Geisel Dartmouth Medical School Admissions Committee looks for students who are interested in rural health and/or who have had experience with the Northeastern United States population.
Because there are no word limits for each prompt AND the essays don’t change much year after year, we strongly advise students to pre-write the Dartmouth secondary application essays.
Our biggest suggestion is to utilize the space allowed to answer these secondary essays. Read more below for tips to STAND OUT on your Dartmouth Medical School secondary essays! We wrote ideas for each essay prompt below. The Dartmouth Med School secondary application hasn’t changed in the recent years, so you can definitely pre-write this secondary. We can help you strategize this Dartmouth secondary application. If you have any questions, contact our Cracking Med School Admissions team. We can help you tailor your Dartmouth secondary through our secondary essay packages.
Dartmouth Secondary Pre-Writing Guidance: Because there are no word limits for each prompt AND the essays don’t change much year after year, Dr. Mediratta and Dr. Rizal strongly advise students to pre-write Dartmouth secondaries.
Dartmouth Secondary Application Tip #1: Take advantage of the space in the Dartmouth secondaries, including in essay #1 and essay #2. For Dartmouth secondary essay #1, make sure to discuss both clinical and non-clinical opportunities you will pursue in the upcoming year. You can even put 1-2 sentences about what you will be doing for fun (i.e. hobbies, planned travel, learning new skills). For Dartmouth secondary essay #2, write anecdotes and stories. You literally can write anything. Our Cracking Med School Admissions mentees have written on an array of topics, including: their culture, extra-curricular pursuits, mentors or classes in college that have inspired them, details on their research, and “Why Dartmouth.”
Dartmouth Secondary Application Tip #2: The Dartmouth Medical School secondary essay #4 (Geisel School of Medicine values social justice and diversity in all its forms. Reflect on a situation where you were the other) is unique and many medical school applicants aren’t sure about how to answer this. We think this is an opportunity for you to show your leadership, persistence, and grit! You can talk about a time when you were a minority in your community. Our other students have talked about times where they were “the other” in group settings, including being the youngest individual in their research labs. Finally, some of our students have talked about how they were “the other” by having a differing opinion from the majority.
Dartmouth Secondary Application Tip #3: Tell stories to convey your impact and leadership throughout your Dartmouth secondaries. For example, if you conducted research over a gap year, tell a story about a challenge you faced in your research experiments. In our opinion, it is extremely important to write a specific story for the Dartmouth Medical School Secondary Application prompt, “Geisel School of Medicine values social justice and diversity in all its forms. Reflect on a situation where you were the other.“
Dartmouth Secondary Application Tip #4: Don’t forget to incorporate a little bit about “Why Geisel (Dartmouth Med)” throughout the Dartmouth secondaries. Talk about projects and research you want to do at Dartmouth. Read our How to Get Into Dartmouth Medical School blog post to learn more about Dartmouth’s curriculum and student culture.
As we mentioned in the beginning of this Dartmouth secondaries blog post, medical students at Dartmouth have a unique medical education in that they can do their clinical rotations around the country. They can understand rural health in New Hampshire and urban health in San Francisco. Read more about Geisel’s clinical rotations.
Dartmouth Secondary Application Tip #5: Legacy does play a factor into Dartmouth School of Medicine’s admissions decisions. Make sure to mention if you or your family have attended Dartmouth College (undergrad) or any Dartmouth graduate programs.
If you have talked to any current medical students, you can mention it in your Dartmouth secondaries.
Dartmouth Secondary Application Tip #6: Ask us for help with tailoring and personalizing your Dartmouth School of Medicine secondary application essays. We have a track records of our students receiving acceptances at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth year after year! Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has also visited Dartmouth several times, so we understand the culture and location. Contact us below if you have questions or want our editing help through our secondary essay packages.
Dartmouth Secondary Application Tip #7: Emphasize rural health. Geisel School of Medicine is right next to the Dartmouth University undergraduate campus in Hanover, New Hampshire. This is an extremely rural area – we know because we’ve visited several times! You will stand out to the Geisel School of Medicine Admissions committee if you discuss your interests and personal experiences with helping patients in rural settings as well as showcasing your knowledge about rural health. Many medical school applicants don’t discuss rural health specifically in their primary application, so the Dartmouth secondaries are a chance to show your interest in rural health specifically!
