Stony Brook University

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea important to you or others. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What aspects about medicine/dental medicine intrigue you? Describe how these aspects influence your life.

Please discuss why you are a good fit for your preferred University Honors Program (Honors College, University Scholars, or WISE).

Tell us more about yourself; in particular, how your academic, extracurricular, and life experiences have influenced your desire to pursue a career in STEM. Additionally, explain how the Stony Brook Simons STEM program will help you achieve these goals.

Please tell us how pursuing a PhD in STEM will help you achieve your educational and professional aspirations?

Why is the advancement of historically underrepresented groups in STEM fields important?

We're interested in getting to know you as a person, as a writer, and as a reader. (Writers are chronic readers.) Tell us about a book that changed you in some way, even if you hated it. How does it fit with what you write and, perhaps more importantly, with how you write? What do you want to get out of this major?

Writing Sample: The writing sample is our opportunity to get to know what you write about and how you write it. Please submit 10-15 pages of your best and most characteristic work. If you mostly write poetry, submit poems. If you mostly write stories or plays, submit those. You can also combine genres if that's your thing. Quality, not quantity.