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(click to skip ahead)At Case Western Reserve University, nestled in Cleveland’s vibrant University Circle, big questions are answered with bold solutions. Students are challenged to push boundaries, think critically across disciplines, and tackle complex social challenges. The university is well-known for its strengths in research, engineering, medicine, business, and beyond, blending academic rigor and application to make tangible, lasting impacts.
The Case Western community emphasizes collaboration, and thrives on innovation and exploration. But the Case Western experience extends beyond a strong academic foundation—outside the classroom, students eagerly explore Cleveland’s rich arts scene, cheer for their Spartans, and dive into the more than 200 student organizations, ranging from improv comedy, robotics, and sustainability initiatives.
If Case Western is sounding like the place you’d thrive, their essay prompts are your chance to show how your goals, values, and experiences align with their mission. Below, we’ll talk you through how to write the Case Western Reserve University personal statement and supplemental essays, with examples and tips + analysis for how to write yours.
If you want to get a clearer sense of all that Case Western is looking for, you can explore an extensive, by-the-numbers look at its offerings, from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information, on its Common Data Set. And for insights into how the university envisions itself and its role, and how it wants to grow and evolve, read its strategic plan. Reading through these will give you a strong idea of what Case Western values.
What Are the Case Western Reserve University Supplemental Essay Prompts?
If you’re applying to the Pre-Professional Scholars Program (which grants undergraduate admission and conditional admission to Case Western Reserve's School of Medicine or School of Dental Medicine), you’ll need to complete the following prompts:
Prompt #1
Prompt #1 In the college application process, you are constantly prompted for a list of your achievements, awards, and accomplishments. While this information is useful to us, we are interested in hearing more about you. Describe an event, achievement, or experience of which you are particularly proud but that will not show up on a resume, may not garner any recognition, and does not appear anywhere else on your admission application. (750 words)
Prompt #2
Prompt #2 By applying to the Pre-Professional Scholars Program, you are applying to gain admission to professional school earlier than students who apply in the traditional way. Please indicate why you’re interested in your chosen profession. How do you see yourself being particularly suited to this field? What events and/or experiences have led you to your choice? This essay should be between 250 and 500 words in length.
How to Write Each Supplemental Essay Prompt for Case Western Reserve University
How to Write Case Western Reserve University Supplemental Essay Prompt #1
Prompt #1
- Share with us why you are interested in LMU and/or why you chose your specific area of study or major. (500 words, optional)
In the college application process, you are constantly prompted for a list of your achievements, awards, and accomplishments. While this information is useful to us, we are interested in hearing more about you. Describe an event, achievement, or experience of which you are particularly proud but that will not show up on a resume, may not garner any recognition, and does not appear anywhere else on your admission application. (750 words)
This is, essentially, a second personal statement.
So use this to show them some totally different sides of who you are and what you value than they’re getting in your Common App essay. (And if you’re looking for a guide to writing that essay, head here.)
Key to this is that they’re explicitly asking you to cover something/s “of which you are particularly proud but that will not show up on a resume, may not garner any recognition, and does not appear anywhere else on your admission application.”
That can feel pretty tough for students at times, especially if you tend to associate your sense of self with things like achievements/accomplishments (which plenty of students do, though we’d encourage you to shift and expand how you conceive of yourself—you’re more than a resume, and ideally sense of validation comes from within).
One way to explore this is to start with the Roles and Identities Exercise.
Step 1: Spend ~5 minutes exploring different roles/identities. In this first step, try not to filter too much.
Step 2: If you haven’t already, spend another ~5 minutes on the Values Exercise.
Step 3: What are some different ways you’ve explored, strengthened, or pursued some of those different values through different roles/identities that you’ve taken on? Under each role/identity, list out values it connects to.
Step 4: What are the different moments/experiences/details that can illustrate those values to a reader? And key: Which are things that don’t fall into the categories Case Western mentions in the prompt (on a resume, elsewhere in application, etc.).
Step 5: Do you want to take a narrative approach here? Or more of a montage approach? (Neither is inherently better.)
Here’s a nice example essay to illustrate the direction you can head.
Example essay:
אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Eizehu chachâm? Ha’lomed mi’kol adâm
Who is wise? He who learns from all people.
-Jewish Proverb
It was the first nice day we’d had all winter, the wind just calm enough that we could convince our parents to allow our newly-licensed friends to drive us to the diner so long as we promised to be home before curfew. I was bundled up in a coat that was probably too light and sitting in the passenger seat of a bright red Jeep as we left my driveway, the three of us excited about our newfound freedom and discussing all the places we would go as soon as the temperature went above freezing. For now, though, we were going to Stateline Diner, home of the Best French Fries Known to Man.
“How do you feel about the Yids?”
I was caught off guard as the girl driving began with what had become a popular conversation topic after the lawsuit had ended. Whenever I heard someone mention it I felt my stomach drop, the provocation toward a debate I often did not feel like having.
“Well,” I started, pictures flashing through my mind of pennies thrown at me on public transportation and my brother coming home from school in tears because he had been bullied for being Jewish. Treading lightly, I flipped the question, asking instead, “How do you feel?”
“Hate them,” she replied, disgust evident by the eye roll I could barely see in the reflection of the streetlights. “I mean, you’re a good one. But the ones with the big coats and hats? They don’t belong here.”
For many of us, those whose voices would be listened to at courthouse meetings, there was little distinction between ourselves and our Orthodox brothers and sisters. For others, those who were with the opposition, we were worlds apart because our Judaism was quieter, less noticeable. To them, we were the tolerable version of a group that was ruining their community.
The lawsuit had begun sometime the summer before, over zoning conflicts and the rights of people in nearby towns to enter our parks. Of course, no such arguments had arisen previously, when the visitors in Mahwah, New Jersey had been indistinguishable from local residents. The conflict soon escalated, people claiming that Jewish influence would lower property values and dissolve community structure. Even though the anti-semites lost and we helped the good guys win, the remnants of it all can be found in the attitudes of the people I grew up with who drive me to diners and remind me that even though I may be welcome, the rest of my people are not.
Finally pulling up to Stateline Diner, I hopped out of the passenger seat, careful to note the #MahwahStrong bumper sticker I had previously missed. The battle call for anti-semites in the area, whether or not they’d agree to that label, was quick and catchy to hide the dark meaning. Printed in red, white, and blue, it was easy to draw connections between the nationalism that was being propagated by the Oval Office and the hatred burrowing deep below the neighborhoods where we were raised.
Over french fries and milkshakes, I was reminded that children and adults are both constantly forming and reforming their views on the world, and that it is a scary thing to question what you have been taught. I forgive the driver of the red Jeep for her words, for her sticker, for her intolerance. No longer do I let words and actions and lawsuits become carved into my being. I know that they are merely stones formed of claims without basis. They are just ghosts, and they cannot hurt me if I do not let them.
Maybe Mahwah is strong. But we, my family, the Jewish community, are stronger.
Tips + Analysis
Moments you can be proud of come in all shapes and sizes. It’s easy to think that “an event, achievement, or experience of which you are particularly proud of” needs to come with an official award, a title, or formal recognition. But that’s not the case at all. Transformative experiences can stem from everyday situations. Sometimes the bigger moments are more introspective and self-reflective, but they’re just as important in shaping who we are. Here, through one pivotal conversation that happens in the front seat of a Jeep, we learn a lot about this student and how they handle challenges and relationships.
Show your critical thinking. In this example, the student asks themselves some big questions on religion, equality, and advocacy—all while out to get french fries. And we see how their answers teach them lessons in understanding, tolerance, and change. When you’re crafting your response, consider ways you’ve done (and can show through details) some bigger-picture thinking. What kind of problem-solver or communicator are you? How does this one moment translate to something bigger than you?
Avoid clichés. It’s tough to stand out with overused topics like scoring the winning goal or acing a test or learning to manage your time. While these are certainly things to be proud of, they’re fairly common accomplishments and aren’t likely to help you stand out to the admission officer. Instead, pick a unique angle that reflects who you are outside of academics or extracurriculars. The outing, the conversation, and the experiences this student describes are so specific and unique to them, they can’t help but be memorable to the reader.
Highlight your growth. Emphasize how the story you’re telling has shaped who you are, what you learned, or how it shifted your perspective. Focus on your internal transformation—how you’re different at the end of the story than you were at the beginning. Being able to reflect back on an experience and identify the moments of growth—like how this student realizes it’s OK (and even good) to question what you’ve been taught and not let others change who you are—shows the mindset you’ll bring to the Case Western campus.
While the below essay was written for a different school, it’s another solid example of how to respond to this prompt.
Example essay:
“Boys brutalized and victimized by patriarchy more often than not become patriarchal, embodying the abusive patriarchal masculinity that they once clearly recognized as evil” (The Will to Change).
I hope to break this cycle.
Growing up a football player afraid of contact, I’ve heard the phrase “Be a man” more times than I’ve heard my Dad say “I love you.” And that’s no coincidence. Society taught him—taught us—to be that way.
Trapped underneath my sweaty pads, I am coached to be strong when I’m weak, tough when I’m in pain, cocky when I’m insecure.
But that’s not me.
I’m a boy who collects stuffed Polar Bears and cuddles with them when I’m feeling down. I’d rather wander through a grocery store than spend time perusing a Home Depot. And by no means am I a handyman.
I’m a softy who happens to throw a tight spiral.
But sometime during my thirteen seasons of football, I realized that living in the weight room, hitting harder than your opponent, or leading a game-winning drive is not what makes you a good man. Rather, it’s being human enough to stand up for those who can’t walk, speak for those who don’t have a voice, and admit the damages of a lifestyle that has enveloped you since you could walk. Being a good man is being comfortable with connecting with your feelings—loving, caring, being passionate for yourself and for others. It’s the belief that doing so does not make you womanly or feminist and thinking “who cares?” if your peers view it as such anyway.
However, for millions of youth, believing in this principle is not possible. It’s as if strapping on a helmet causes boys and young men to become blind to the concept and inevitable destruction of patriarchal masculinity. I was once told by my head coach in a pregame motivational speech that “only dicks can play football”, and somehow that summoned every one of my teammates to roar with pride as if being called a dick made them something special—something to be celebrated.
The game changes the connotation of insults and masculinity and what it means to be a good man. It alters our perception of role models—no longer do we long to be Superman but rather to be the hardest hitter; it twists the way we view weak versus strong—strong is annihilating your opponent, weak is showing any sign of vulnerability; it shifts what a real man is.
But as I battle for the starting quarterback position this year, it’s my turn to redefine the culture that tried to define me, so that when the next generation of football players gets told to be a man, it means to use your heart, not just your helmet.
Because, to me, changing the narrative of how boys view masculinity matters.
How to Write Case Western Reserve University Supplemental Essay Prompt #2
Prompt #2
- By applying to the Pre-Professional Scholars Program, you are applying to gain admission to professional school earlier than students who apply in the traditional way. Please indicate why you’re interested in your chosen profession. How do you see yourself being particularly suited to this field? What events and/or experiences have led you to your choice? This essay should be between 250 and 500 words in length.
This is fairly typical of prompts for things like BS/MD programs—and if that’s your goal, for a full guide to BS/MD essays and examples, including how they tend to be read a bit differently from other undergrad application essays, check out that link.
Notice that they’ve got three key components for the prompt above (one of which is illustrated by the other two), and you’ll want to be sure to answer each of them clearly, directly, and with detail
Why you’re interested in your chosen profession.
How do you see yourself being particularly suited to this field?
What events and/or experiences have led you to your choice?
(Notice that Nos. 2 and 3 are essentially ways to illustrate No. 1 via specific experiences and details.)
If you’re not going to read the full guide above (though we’d recommend doing so), here are some key takeaways.
There are 4 or 5 major criteria BS/MD readers are usually looking at:
Academics (but these don’t help you stand out, as almost all applicants are in the 95-99th percentile for GPAs and test scores)
Letters of rec (again, hard to stand out here—guidance counselor letters are frequently glowing)
Essays (big chance for differentiation here)
Experiences (such as interning in a hospital)
Interviews (again, big chance for differentiation)
And BS/MD readers are also focused on some things that readers for undergrad admissions aren’t, especially:
Do you have an informed understanding of medicine?
Are you going to make it through the program?
You can see the full guide above for larger explanations (and further tips on writing), but essentially, Case Western wants to know they’re admitting people who are extremely likely not to drop out, they’re minimizing program attrition, and (linked to that) they’re ideally learning that you’ve done something like interact with a patient in some way, and that you aren’t hoping to become a doctor because of something like social prestige.
Here’s a sample essay to illustrate how you can tackle this prompt.
Example essay:
The sound of Parais (a loud Tamil folk drum) drilled into my heart as I walked behind the truck holding my grandfather's dead body. My distant relatives and I stepped barefoot on the path of flowers left behind on the scorching road to the crematorium. Many factors contributed to his death, but the healthcare system in India was the primary one. "What doctor makes his patient, recovering from two minor heart attacks within 48 hours, take a blood test for another three hours?" It seemed doubtful that a city with four major hospitals would require my grandfather to travel for two hours to receive an emergency angioplasty. From this experience, I felt the tragic impact that delays in the medical process could have. As a future physician, I want to make sure that patients, like my grandfather, no matter what their circumstances have the opportunity to extend their lives through efficient health services.
One opportunity that moved me closer to this goal was my internship at the Medical College of Wisconsin, which enabled me to submit a research paper to the Columbia Junior Science Journal. I observed Near-Infrared (NIR) Imaging used in nanoparticle testing experiments and learned its therapeutic effects on rats with similar tumors whose gene expression varied. Nights were spent scrolling through research papers regarding Phantoms (a tissue-simulating device). My mentor and I spent months meticulously fine-tuning and “over-engineering” our Phantom prototype to ensure upgradability in the future. My first-hand view of how researchers partner with technology companies demonstrated the collaborative nature of developing a useful medical device. With our Phantom prototype, we worked with IBM and implemented their algorithm which converted 2-D data into 3-D data allowing me to see a 3-D image of a tumor with high accuracy. The internship taught me about NIR imaging, but, more importantly, I recognized the sacrifices, dedication, and sheer work required to undertake research well and achieve my goals.
In addition to research, I recognize that any healthcare career requires a level of human connectivity and compassion. This led me to the Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Hospital as their only volunteer. I accepted more responsibility and long four-hour shifts instead of the regular two. I replaced the oxygen tank for the lady in room 2006 while we talked about our favorite cross-country workouts, and I laid a blanket over the grandpa in room 2014 while we talked about football. Some day, someone will do the same for me. Ultimately, it is both intellectual engagement and human empathy that makes me well-suited for the field of medicine.
Tips + Analysis
One way to hook: Start with a defining moment. Consider starting your essay with a specific anecdote—a vivid story or moment that sparked your interest in the profession. This student sets the scene using rich imagery (the Tamil drum, walking barefoot, and the scorching road) and connects it to his medicine-focused goal: delivering better healthcare services than those his grandfather received.
Connect the dots. Tie your interest to specific experiences—projects, internships, conversations, or times you dove into researching a particular topic. Each experience should build on the next, showing your deepening curiosity and interest. This student nicely ties together their research experience with their one-on-one patient interactions, showing a nice blend of “intellectual engagement and human empathy that makes me well-suited for the field of medicine.”
Incorporate the bigger picture. Beyond showing just what you’ve done, articulate how you see yourself contributing to the field—whether that might be through innovating, leading, or addressing specific challenges. Naming a specific career goal can show your focus and how you’ve mapped out a plan for your future. While this student has the goal of extending patients’ lives through efficient health services, they might’ve found ways to go even deeper: What does “efficient” mean, and how will this student specifically improve efficiency (e.g., via technology, research, customer service)?
Sprinkle in some “nerdy language.” Testing nanoparticles and engineering Phantom prototypes are just a day in the life of someone intrigued by the behind-the-scenes of medicine. But “name dropping” this subject-specific language in the essay is a great way for this student to show the depth of their interest without losing the reader with too much technical jargon.
Here’s an essay from another student who was responding to a similar prompt.
Example essay:
In my work in science, I actively engaged in multicultural conversations and heard diverse perspectives. During my UCI research internship, I contributed to published research exploring the use of an AI neural network model for detecting dementia through speech patterns. Spending countless hours processing and analyzing patient audio files, I learned firsthand the challenges elderly individuals face. I heard the impact of aging and cognitive impairments on their daily lives and mental health, from feeling like a burden to their families to concerns about financial and emotional investments in their health.
Translating in the ICU for my grandfather offered me a valuable perspective of healthcare inequalities, notably the contrast between Iran and the U.S. I witnessed American medical professionals’ compassionate, thorough approaches, involving trust and transparent communication, in contrast to Iran’s healthcare system, where upfront payments and profit-driven, unnecessary procedures are abundant.
While shadowing ICU doctors, I listened to discussions regarding a family’s challenging decision to prolong the life of a comatose patient. I observed healthcare teams' dedication during rounds, including the thorough process of intubating an exhausted 80-year-old patient who could barely breathe on her own.
These experiences reinforced my commitment to become a compassionate and empathetic physician who respects the cultural diversity of patients. I’ll enhance patients’ experiences through active listening and by addressing not only the illness but the individual behind it. I will help reform the healthcare system, moving away from price tags and insurance policies and toward patient-centered care.
At the Aquarium of the Pacific, I received training to better understand the challenges individuals with disabilities and processing disorders face. Through simulations comparing how those with and without processing disorders experience public settings, like a subway, I learned their experiences and explored ways to enhance their public interactions. I’m dedicated to promoting inclusivity and awareness within healthcare settings, and I’ll use this understanding of differing experiences to do that. I’ll offer compassionate and patient-centered care, tailoring my communication style to meet each patient's needs and preferences. I’ll advocate for creating more accessible and accommodating healthcare environments and develop adaptive technologies to support patients with disabilities.
One of my ideas is to develop a predictive machine learning model that helps individuals with motor or visual disabilities communicate faster and more accurately to empower them to express themselves effectively in many contexts. Or I can create a model designed to help those with visual or sensory impairments navigate unfamiliar environments independently. This technology will utilize a camera and give audio guidance and descriptions, therefore improving their mobility and safety.
My goal is to provide more opportunities for a safe, happy, and healthy life for individuals with disabilities. By improving technology and enhancing everyday functions, I aim to increase autonomy and self-confidence. As the population of individuals with disabilities continues to grow, these advancements will help enhance their quality of life.
Julia Byrd published her first “book” on the elusive Pika in elementary school and has been writing fervently ever since. She’s thrilled to unite her quirky love of grammar and master’s in psychology to help students tell their most meaningful stories. Her favorite punctuation mark is the apostrophe because, in the words of Imagine Dragons, it’s “a symbol to remind you that there’s more to see.”
Top values: Collaboration | Family | Productivity
