A common prompt you will encounter while writing your secondary applications is the “leadership” prompt:

Please describe your most meaningful leadership positions. (Columbia)

What has been the one most unique leadership, entrepreneurial or creative activity in which you participated? (UCLA)

The Approach

I think a common mistake students make with this prompt (especially ones worded like Columbia’s prompt) is to simply describe a time they’ve held a formal leadership role.

That’s not enough!

The problem with simply describing roles they’ve held is that it starts coming off like a “narrative resume”, when in reality, this essay should not just describe the leadership experience, but also be a space where students reflect on that leadership experience, what they learned, and how they grew from it.

My advice would be to focus on just one meaningful leadership experience, while making sure to quantify accomplishments if there were any (if you were leading an organization, what was the impact of the organization? how many people did that organization serve?). Then, most importantly, you should reflect on your key takeaways (ex: were you able to resolve conflict? what were the challenges you faced as a leader? how did you grow from the experience?).

What if I’ve never held a formal leadership role?

Don’t stress!

First off, I think it’s important to discuss that there are what we consider to be “formal” leadership positions, like being a president in a club, or “informal” leadership opportunities—where you simply are able to coordinate a group of people so that you all can reach a common goal. I think it’s important to remember that just because someone holds a formal leadership role, doesn’t mean they have demonstrated that they have qualities of a good leader, and just because someone has never held a formal position, doesn’t mean they’ve never acted like a leader.

So, if the situation applies to you where you’ve never held a formal leadership role before, think back to your activities, and think of a time of when you acted as a leader. Were you someone who helped a group of people realize a shared vision or common goal? Did you step up in a moment of chaos? Was there a time when people really relied on you?

Another important thing to remember is that sometimes, a leader might not have a title like “president” or “founder”—as an example, teachers are definitely leaders!

Keep this in mind as you write your essay, and even if you have held formal leadership positions, you may find that your most meaningful experience is one where you didn’t have that formal title.

From there, your approach should still be as described above: describe what you did, but also reflect on that experience. Some things to address or think about might be: what were the qualities of leadership that you demonstrated? How did you grow from this experience? How will these qualities translate to the type of physician you want to be?

It’s really important in these essays to reflect on the experience, and on your growth, and again, this is true even if you were writing about a leadership experience with a formal title.

Key Takeaways

Ultimately, I believe what medical schools want to know is that you have demonstrated that you have the qualities of a leader, and not necessarily that you have held a specific leadership position. Be sure to reflect on your experiences, not just list them.

Let me know if you have any additional questions, and good luck writing this essay!