Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University Secondary Application Tips [2021 – 2022]

The Lewis Katz School of Medicine has several campus locations in Pennsylvania. The school emphasizes hand-on, collaborative learning, community service, and the intersection between research and clinical care. It is one of the top ranked research-oriented schools. Temple also features a “simulation center” where students take a hands-on approach to clinical work.

Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University 2021-2022 secondary application essay questions

• • There is a 2,000 character limit per essay question, including spaces.
    
    
  • All questions are required

LKSOM secondary essay #1

What is the nature of your interest in the Lewis Katz School of Medicine?

Here, you should describe particular programs at Temple that interest you. Review their website and materials and make a list of about 3 or 4 specific characteristics that you appreciate about Temple. Then, write specifically about each one and why you would like to participate.

LKSOM secondary essay #2

How do you plan on contributing to the Lewis Katz School of Medicine Community? 

LKSOM seeks an engaged student body with a wide variety of backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and interests to enhance the medical school experience for everyone. Please use the space below to describe what makes you unique as an applicant, an obstacle that you had to overcome, or how you will contribute to the LKSOM community.

For this prompt, make a list of your unique characteristics that might not be evident from the rest of your application. Be sure to include anything that might highlight diversity of experience or background. Then, choose the most compelling and write an essay where you specifically explain what your unique quality is and why it will contribute to the community, keeping in mind the values of the medical school and mission.

LKSOM secondary essay #3

Tell us about your special interest in the campus you selected.

Because Temple has multiple campuses, you should rank your choices and write why you are interested in your first-choice campus. The main campus is in Philadelphia. You can cite reasons relating to special programs, proximity to family, or group dynamics.

LISTEN: 3 Ways Temple Can Help You Become an MD: MCAT, Postbac, Med School >>

LKSOM secondary essay #4

What are your plans for the current year – June 2021 until June 2022?

Explain to the adcom what you are doing during the gap year. Include volunteer and other experiences to give the full picture. If you are still in school, mention that, including additional or continued volunteer work. If you are taking the MCAT, mention that too.

LKSOM secondary essay #5

The Coronavirus pandemic has affected all of us in one way or another.

Please use this space to describe to us how you were impacted academically, personally or professionally by COVID-19. 

It is true, COVID-19 has derailed the majority of volunteer work, shadowing, academic research, internships and MCAT plans for medical school applicants. The good news is you’re not alone. 

Medical schools want to know how future students’ application requirements may have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. 

It’s likely this prompt is a place for LKSOM to easily and uniformly locate information on how applicants were affected by COVID-19s. That’s practical. So, stay clear and categorize in the manner they ask: personal, professional and educational.

Also, consider that this prompt offers a brief opportunity to place in context the effect of a public health crisis that no one could foresee, perhaps in your concluding comment. Avoid self-pity. Avoid woe-is-me. Convey instead how you, a future doctor, adjusted and further engaged the crisis. How did you step up to the pandemic, in whatever practical or innovative way? Did you organize students to deliver groceries to vulnerable people in your neighborhood? Did you involve yourself in the vaccination efforts or contact tracing? If your clinical volunteer work was cancelled, did you participate remotely in a hotline or crisis prevention center? Any of these activities are worth mentioning as part of how you were affected by and responded to the pandemic.

LKSOM Letters of Recommendation

LKSOM participates in the AMCAS Letters of Evaluation Program. Letters can be sent to AMCAS through the AMCAS Letter Writer Application or Interfolio. All letters should be on letterhead and contain the letter writer’s signature.

If LKSOM is designated as a recipient of the letter on the AMCAS application, AMCAS will release the electronic copy to LKSOM. All letters designated for LKSOM must be received before your application will go under review.

LKSOM will consider letters of recommendation from a premedical committee, a packet from a school letter compilation service, or three (3) individual letters.

If submitting a compilation packet or individual letters, they prefer, but do not require, two (2) letters from professors with whom you completed course work from the AMCAS course classification of Biology, Chemistry, or Physics.

• • LKSOM welcomes letters from research experiences, but prefer them in addition to the requested science letters from professors with whom you completed coursework.
    
    
  • One (1) additional letter is required from a non-science professor, work experience, or service activity.
    
    
  • A premedical committee letter does not need a specific number of science/non-science letters.

At any point in the application process, you are welcome to submit additional letters to support your application. They encourage you to use the AMCAS letter service to transmit these letters.

When done, thank those who wrote letters for you.  

CASPer and DUET

All applicants to the MD program are required to complete two online assessments, CASPer and DUET, to assist with our selection process. CASPer is an online, video-scenario based test which assesses for non-cognitive skills and interpersonal characteristics that we believe are important for success in our program and will complement the other tools that we use for applicant selection. DUET assesses the value alignment based on input from both LKSOM and the applicant. LKSOM will not use Snapshot for the entering 2022 application cycle.

Check out our CASPER tips here.

Applying to Lewis Katz School of Medicine? Here are some stats:

LKSOM average MCAT score: 512

LKSOM average GPA: 3.77

LKSOM acceptance rate: 5.3%

U.S. News ranks LKSOM #61 for research and #84 for primary care.

You’ve worked so hard to get to where you are in life. Now that you’re ready for your next achievement, make sure you know how to present yourself to maximum advantage in your medical school applications. In a hotly competitive season, you’ll want a member of Team Accepted in your corner, guiding you with expertise tailored specifically for you. Check out our flexible consulting packages today!

Dr. Mary Mahoney, Ph.D. has over 20 years of experience as an advisor and essay reviewer for med school applicants. She is a tenured English Professor with an MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and a PhD in Literature and Writing from the University of Houston. For the last twenty years, Mary has served as a grad school advisor and essay reviewer for med school applicants. Want Mary to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!

Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University 2021 – 2022 application timeline

AMCAS application deadline	December 15
Transcript submission to AMCAS	December 29
Supplemental including fee, and letters	January 17

Source: Lewis Katz School of Medicine website

***Disclaimer: Information is subject to change. Please check with individual programs to verify the essay questions, instructions and deadlines.***

Related Resources:

• 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your Med School & Secondary Essays, a free guide
• Applying to Med School During COVID-19, a podcast interview
• 4 Tips for Writing Successful Secondary Essays

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