Memorial Sloan Kettering Summer Summer Student Program Essays Guide 2026

Memorial Sloan Kettering's Summer Student Program is a highly competitive and intensive 8-week summer research internship that accepts high school juniors who have demonstrated a strong interest in biomedical sciences and translational cancer research. The program is only open to students living in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut within 25 miles of MSK's Main Campus in Manhattan. With approximately 1,000+ applications received each year and only 20 students accepted, it is one of the most selective summer research opportunities for high school students, boasting a roughly 2% acceptance rate.

Its inclusion on an applicant's resume carries significant weight in the college admissions process, particularly for students interested in pre-med, biomedical research, or related STEM fields. As a result, it is an opportunity that all high school juniors who live in the Tri-State area and have a genuine interest in cancer research and biomedical sciences should pursue. This article will guide you on how to approach the various essays required as part of the application process.

1. What are your career interests? How does this internship align with your career goals? Aside from your academic coursework and previous research experiences, what skills, perspectives, or qualities do you possess that will help you thrive in this internship? (400 words)

This is a multi-part question that combines a career interests essay, a "why this program" essay, and a skills-based essay. The key is to weave all three elements together into a cohesive narrative rather than answering each component separately.

Career Interests

For this portion, I suggest starting with an anecdote that highlights a personal motivation driving your long-term academic and career aspirations. As with all essays of this nature, specificity is key. Being vague, silly, or whimsical for the sake of whimsy will not suffice for a serious research program like MSK's Summer Student Program. You should clearly articulate the highest degree you intend to pursue, the subject area of focus, and the type of career you aim to achieve with that degree. The purpose of this section is to provide a compelling personal reason for your ambitions and demonstrate to the reader the meaningful impact that can result from your success.

Alignment with Career Goals

There are a limited number of valid goals and aspirations a young researcher should expect from this program. These include: learning how to navigate peer-reviewed literature in oncology and biomedical sciences; understanding how statistics and data analysis can be used to generate insights from experimental results and quantify how reliable or meaningful those insights are; learning to communicate scientific findings effectively to both colleagues and laypeople; identifying a problem in cancer research that sparks your imagination due to the depth and complexity of its exploration and related challenges; and fostering the desire to push your limits by tackling problems that have yet to be solved. Be sure that your reasons are tailored to one of the research areas that MSK specializes in, such as cancer biology, immunology, computational biology, or pharmacology.

I may have overlooked a few other valid motivations, but as you can see from the examples provided, the only truly valid ones are intimately tied to the research process itself. The key isn't to cram all of these motivators into a short essay. Instead, focus on selecting the reasons that you prioritize the most given your lived experiences and show the reader a snippet of those experiences to establish a strong personal motivation for those reasons.

Skills, Perspectives, and Qualities

For this portion, the key is to show the reader, not just tell them, what you bring to the table. For example, don't say you are a good communicator; instead, show them a scenario where your communication skills made a difference. Don't say you are detail-oriented; show them a moment when your attention to detail caught an error or improved an outcome. This doesn't need to be a beautifully written essay. The important thing is that you convey how you can contribute to a research team by applying skills you've developed through experiences outside of the classroom.

Remember that focusing on soft skills or taking a frivolous approach will not be effective unless you ground them in concrete examples. The program administrators are seeking candidates who can meaningfully contribute to their research efforts. Conclude by discussing how the MSK Summer Student Program will play an indispensable role in helping you accomplish your goals.

2. List 3 research areas that are of interest to you at MSK

This is a straightforward question, but you should approach it strategically. The areas you choose should align with your stated career interests from the previous essay and demonstrate that you've researched what MSK actually does. The available research areas at MSK include:

• Cancer biology

• Cell & Molecular & Developmental Biology

• Chemistry/Chemical biology

• Computer Science/Computational Biology/Genomics

• Engineering/Optics/Imaging/Research Tools

• Immunology/Immuno-oncology

• Pharmacology & Drug Development

• Structural Biology

Choose three areas that genuinely excite you and that you can speak about knowledgeably if asked during an interview. Don't choose areas just because they sound impressive, choose areas where you have some foundational understanding or genuine curiosity that you can articulate.

3. What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the 8 weeks in this internship? (Up to 100 words)

Given the short word count, you need to be precise and intentional. This is not the place for vague aspirations like "learn more about science" or "gain research experience." Instead, show, rather than simply tell the reader, how you plan to enhance your existing skills or develop new ones at MSK. Show how these improvements will either deepen your enjoyment of academic pursuits or create meaningful impact in people's lives.

Your conclusion should inspire readers to believe in and support your proposed personal growth. Focus on 1-2 concrete, specific goals that tie back to the career interests you expressed in the first essay. For example, if you want to pursue computational oncology, you might discuss learning how to analyze genomic data or gaining experience with specific laboratory techniques used in translational research.

4. {OPTIONAL} Is there anything else you would like the reviewers to know about you that was not captured in this application? (Up to 100 words)

It is critical that you don't include any information that is provided in other essays or in other parts of your application. Additionally, the topic you choose to write about needs to be relevant to the your ability to perform in the program.

Your response can either showcase a well-developed skill that you possess, which required a lot of effort to develop. That skill should be presented in a way that demonstrates to the reader how it will allow you to contribute to the research team and MSK community. Alternatively, it can showcase a non-trivial perspective that you hold, which will allow you to contribute to the intellectual diversity and vibrancy of the incoming cohort, and the role your life experiences played in helping you formulate that perspective.

If you have no additional information to share that wasn't already covered, it is perfectly acceptable to leave this optional essay blank. A weak or redundant response is worse than no response at all.

If you want help applying to the MSK Summer Student Program or any other summer research program, or would just like someone to help you strengthen your overall extracurriculars, schedule a free consultation with an admissions expert today.