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University of Oklahoma’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Leadership essay.

The University of Oklahoma believes strongly in educating leaders of communities in Oklahoma, as well as across the country and the world. Please share your leadership experiences and why they are important to you.

Community Service Essay

The University of Oklahoma is home to a vibrant, diverse and compassionate University community that is often referred to as “the OU family.” Please describe your cultural and community service activities and why you chose to participate in them.

International Experience Short Response

Please briefly explain your meaningful international experience.

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

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. 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.

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Articles & Advice > College Admission > Articles

Best Ways to Prepare for 5 Different Supplemental Essays

Supplemental essays are an important part of your college applications. Here are the different types of writing themes and the best ways to prepare for each.

by Kim Lifton President, Wow Writing Workshop

Last Updated: Apr 6, 2023

Originally Posted: Nov 15, 2021

After you've written your personal statement for the Common Application, Coalition Application, or a specific school you’re applying to, you'll want to master your supplemental essays. These are additional materials that many colleges and universities require so they can get to know an applicant even better. Here’s a look at five common types of supplemental writing prompts, plus tips to help you master each task and write outstanding college essays.

Questions to ask before writing

Before drafting any supplemental essays, write out a simple paragraph or bullet points responding to this question: When they’re done reading this essay, what will readers know about me that they can’t find out from the rest of my application? You should also be able to answer the following questions about your respective essay: 

• What is the prompt really asking ?
• What appeals to you about the school or program? (Consider experiences you want to have as well as ways you’d like to extend current experiences into the future.)
• What do you want admission officers to learn about you from reading it?
• Why are you compatible with this school/program?
• What examples/illustrations can you share to demonstrate your compatibility?

Related: Now Is the Time to Start Your College Essay  

Types of supplemental essays

You may encounter several types of supplemental essays when applying to colleges. Each one should be approached with different writing techniques and questions you should ask yourself. Here are just a few examples. 

1. Activity essays

As with any other essay, you should start your activities essay by making sure you understand the prompt. The key question “What do I want readers to know about me that they can’t find out from the rest of my application?” is particularly relevant here. They already know you participate in this activity after reading your résumé. But they don’t know how you’ve benefitted from this experience, why it’s important to you, how you’ve contributed, or how it has influenced you. Answer some or all these questions as you’re brainstorming story ideas :

• What does my experience demonstrate about me?
• What have I learned from this activity?

• How have I grown since I started it?

• What has this experience meant to me? 

These answers will help you formulate a response to your cornerstone question . Once you know what you want readers to learn, it’s time to choose a story (or stories) to illustrate that characteristic (or characteristics). 

Always remember: The emphasis should be on characteristics (e.g., I’m confident ; I know how to relax under stressful circumstances ; I’m a strong team member ), not accomplishments (e.g ., I led our team to victory ; I got the highest score ; I was the youngest player to finish the tournament ).

2. Community essays

With community-based supplements, you’ll want to start by listing all the different communities you’re a part of. Examples include:

• School groups
• Religious groups
• Sports teams
• Volunteer sites
• Ethnic community

Community can mean many things, so try to get as specific as possible. After that, you have some questions to ask yourself:

• Which of these communities feels most important and meaningful ? Usually, this will be a smaller group—your Temple youth group, local cousins who get together every Sunday night, or fellow volunteers at the senior center.
• How has this community shaped you? How have you grown or changed because of that community? For example, if you’ve become more of a leader because you’re the oldest of your cousins, readers should know you’re a strong leader, trustworthy, and independent.

Once you know what you want readers to learn about you, choose a story (or stories) that illustrate that. It could start like this:  

Last summer, I took all my cousins to the beach alone. Our parents trusted me to make sure everyone swam safely and didn’t get too much sun. That was the first time I was entirely responsible for that group. How has being a part of my community of cousins brought me to this point? Because my aunts and uncles have trusted me with their children since I was young, and because of that, I’ve learned responsibility and independence, which I apply in many different situations.

Related: 3 Common Supplemental Essay Questions

3. Creative essays

When responding to open, creative questions, start with an open and creative mindset. Free writing is your most valuable tool here. Start by writing freely in response to the prompt, but don’t try to craft an essay just yet. Instead, wander and explore. See where the prompt takes you. You can do this type of free writing in response to one or more prompts if the school offers various options. Free write for several 10- to 15-minute sessions over the course of several days; it’ll help you let your story flow more freely. Remember, this type of essay requires time and a relaxed frame of mind, so don’t save it for the last minute.

4. Common Application COVID-19 question

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts on many students. If you need it, the COVID-19 Common App question is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects it’s had on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, plans for the future, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces. 

This prompt is optional, should be answered in 250 words or fewer, and appears in the Additional Information section of the Common App. Despite it being optional, some schools strongly encourage students to answer this prompt. If you complete this essay, only share information that’s new and can’t be found elsewhere on your application. Start by answering these three questions:

• What did you do during the pandemic?
• What were you unable to do?
• How do you feel about it?

Note: This is purely an informational question; reflection isn’t really necessary in the way it might be in other essays. This is a question that deserves an honest answer, but there’s no right or wrong response.

5. The “Why This College?” essay

Many schools will ask you to explain why you want to attend their school. In addition to this core question, you should be asking two other key questions to answer this type of prompt:

• What attracts you to the school as well as your potential program/major?
• How does what you know about the program mesh with what you want the reader to know about you?

If you’re attracted to your program of interest because of their larger generalized courses paired with smaller group learning opportunities, you could emphasize your ability to work well independently and in a group. On the other hand, if you’re excited to explore areas you’re not familiar with, you might talk about your never-ending curiosity. As with all essays, focus on content before structure and polish, and make sure you understand the purpose of the essay.

Related: Top 5 Tips for Making Your College Essay Stand Out

Supplemental essays are the perfect chance to polish off and round out your college applications with stories about you. After finishing these additional materials, you’ll submit your college apps knowing your best possible self is represented by sharing the academic and personal facets that are important for admission officers to know. Don’t waste this valuable opportunity to gain acceptance to your dream college! 

Learn even more tips and tricks to perfect your writing with Our Best Advice for Writing Your College Application Essays .

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Supplemental Essays Guide: How to Write, Tips & Examples

Reviewed by:

Former Admissions Committee Member, Columbia University

Reviewed: 9/11/23

Writing stand-out supplemental essays may be your ticket into your dream school. Follow along for our complete guide on writing perfect supplemental essays for college.

If you’re working on supplemental essays, you’ve already spent countless hours perfecting your application. However, even the perfect application must be followed by stellar supplementals to get you into your dream school. That’s right, supplementals are a highly important piece of the application process - so how can you perfect yours? 

In this complete guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about writing excellent supplemental essays, including examples from well-written essays , tips for common essay prompts, and each possible length. To top it all off, we’ve also included answers to the most frequently asked questions about writing stand-out supplemental essays.

Let’s get started!

What are Supplemental Essays? 

Supplemental essays are additional writing samples that you submit along with the rest of your college application. Many high-ranking schools ask for these essays, as they are intended to be more specific than your personal statement. It’s a chance for you to further demonstrate why you are a good fit for the school you’re applying to.

How Important are Supplemental Essays?

In short, supplemental essays are an extremely valuable part of your application. Your application allows schools to see the base of your work ethic through numbers (grades, extracurriculars, awards, and more), but it doesn’t give any indication of your personality. 

These essays are your first opportunity to give your university an idea of who you are and what you are passionate about. 

Excellent essays can tip the scales in your favor, especially for highly competitive schools where most candidates have excellent grades. An in-depth, well-written essay can set your application apart from others.

What are Colleges Looking For in Supplemental Essays? 

In supplemental essays, colleges look for honesty, specificity, and the ability to answer the prompt accurately and succinctly. We will look at several common prompts that colleges often use: 

• “Why This Major?”
• Community/diversity
• Extracurricular

Using these prompts helps college admissions get a better idea of who you are as an applicant.

How to Write Different Supplemental Essay Prompts

Every college has a unique set of prompts they distribute to their applicants each year. However, most prompts follow core formats. Here are some of the most common types of supplemental essays and how to write them.

The “Why Us?” Essay

The “Why Us?” or "Why This School?” essay is one of the most common prompts in circulation. Top schools such as Brown, Columbia, and Cornell have all been known to ask applicants to answer this prompt as part of their application. So, how do you write the “Why Us?” essay? Let’s talk about it. 

When a college asks you why you want to go there, the admissions committee wants to know a few things:

• The specific things about this school that appeal to you (have you done your research?)
• How you will contribute to this school’s college life
• How attending this school will help you achieve short and long-term goals

With this prompt, avoid listing reasons you want to go to the school unless you are directly instructed to do so. This is an opportunity to show the admissions committee how much their school matters to you, what programs and courses most interest you, and how the school will help you develop your passion and achieve your goals. 

You should do thorough research on the school and consider what sets it apart from other colleges on your list . Avoid providing general reasons that could be said about any other college. 

Writing this essay is your chance to showcase why you are passionate about attending this specific school and why it matters to you. Finally, conclude your essay by explaining how and why attending this school will help your long-term goals. 

‍ “Why Us?” Essay Sample from Columbia University:

“Computer science is at the core of my academic passions and my life ambitions. What I value in life is being around brilliant technologists. At Columbia, I have worked with and befriended the most driven and gifted programmers I’ve ever met. In January, I formed a team with three Columbia freshmen for MIT’s annual strategy-game-playing artificial intelligence competition. Ben, Ryan, Koh and I spent the month reviewing matches, debating approaches and tweaking our models. More than once we coded through the night. Their caliber was clear in the subtle insights that their multi-disciplinary backgrounds gave them and they gave me something to aspire to.

I have many interests that lie outside of my intended major but that I want to continue to pursue, and Columbia provides an environment for those diverse passions. Recently, while at a Columbia math club meeting with Ben, I ran into a political science major, Mathieu. He was elated to point out the insights that a love of math granted him in his courses and his conviction encouraged me to explore the peculiar intersection of the two fields.

I love teachers who love to teach. At Columbia, I’ve seen faculty who have a love for what they do and who care about students. While touring, I sat in on a quantum mechanics lecture. Professor Norman Christ strode into the room at eight on-the-dot and jumped into a discussion of WKB complex value approximation. For three straight hours, he guided us through the intricate world of QM without any notes. His enthusiasm brightened that drizzling Monday morning. That I could follow the lecture at all is a testament to his lucid explanations and extraordinary knowledge. When I came to him with questions afterward, he helped me truly understand a topic that initially felt years out of reach.”

Why this is a successful essay: In this essay , the writer starts by talking about their major and how Columbia provides an excellent program. They continue to add how they could positively impact Columbia if accepted. Take note of how the writer lists their key topic at the beginning of each paragraph and then connects Columbia to each topic. 

This student also mentioned that they enjoyed a Columbia professor's lecture, which is an excellent way of showing their deep interest in the school. Showing in your essay that you are passionate about the program and that you’ve done your research can be a point in your favor. 

The “Why This Major?” Essay

Although this prompt is very similar to the “Why Us?” essay, your answer should focus entirely on why you’re passionate about your degree. Think of this essay as an opportunity to tell the story of how you developed your passion. Try creating a timeline before you start writing to help organize your ideas. It should look something like this:

1. The first time I thought about pursuing this major was: __________________                              

2. I started to get more serious about pursuing this passion when:___________________

3. I’m now applying to this program so that in the future, I can: ___________________

Creating a timeline can help you easily convey how important your major is to you and the journey you’ve taken to build upon your passion. 

You can also include, if it applies, what specific things about your school’s program that drew you to your current selection. However, the main focus of this essay should be how you developed your passion for the subject and what you want to do in this field later on.

"Why This Major" Essay Sample from Yale:

“Literature and anthropology are telescopes into the past; philosophy, a prism into the mind. I want to ask the hard questions: Do I have free will? Is meaning lost in translation? Is there eternal truth? What is an “I”? Am I my mind, body or something more? Literature is an empathetic account of the past, anthropology a scientific documentation of human lives. I want to find commonality in lives separated by time and space, find meaning within them, partake in the collective memory of humanity, and interrogate what it means to be human.”

Why this essay works: 

In this short essay example from a Literature and Anthropology student from Yale, the student gets straight to the point. Demonstrating the questions they have that they hope to answer throughout their education is an excellent way to show that you’ve given your major a lot of thought. 

They’ve also captured the true essence of their major in the last sentence by stating they want to “partake in the collective memory of humanity” and “interrogate what it means to be human.” Whatever major you choose, write honestly about what calls you to the subject and demonstrate that you have a thorough understanding of the genre of material you’ll be studying. 

The Adversity Essay

As one of the most challenging essay prompts, the adversity essay presents students with the uncomfortable task of recalling a difficult life experience and explaining how they overcame it. 

For some, choosing an instance of adversity can be the most challenging part of this prompt. Keep in mind that adversity looks different to everyone. Your story doesn’t have to be overly tragic to write a good adversity essay; you simply need to approach your issue from a place of growth. 

One of the main mistakes applicants make when writing the adversity essay is thinking that their adversity story needs to be overly tragic or complex. Instead of focusing on the actual adversity, your essay should mainly focus on the steps you took to overcome the adversity and learn valuable lessons moving forward. 

If a school asks you to write an adversity essay, the admissions committee wants to know how you handle a challenge. If you buckle under pressure, you may not be able to handle the intensity of a heavy workload. 

Therefore, schools want to know that you are capable of facing challenges head-on and have the capacity to learn from your mistakes. 

Adversity Essay Sample from Harvard University:

“When I was a freshman in high school, I didn't care about school or my education. I couldn't see a future where it mattered whether I knew how to say 'how are you' in Spanish or how to use the Pythagorean theorem. Because I couldn't see the point of these classes, I found myself disconnected from the high school experience as a whole, which resulted in low grades. My parents expressed their disappointment in me, but I still couldn't bring myself to care; I was feeling disconnected from my family, too.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I was depressed. I stopped spending time with my friends and stopped enjoying the things I used to enjoy. I was feeling hopeless. How could I get through three and a half more years of high school if I couldn't even get through a semester? I couldn't stand the thought of feeling this way for so long – at least it felt so long at the time.

After a few failed tests, one of my teachers approached me after class one day. She said she also noticed a difference in my demeanor in the last few weeks and asked if I was okay. At that moment, I realized that no one had asked me that in a long time. I didn't feel okay, so I told her that. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her that I was feeling disconnected from school and classes and just about everything at that point.

My teacher suggested I visit my guidance counselor. So the next day, during study hall, I got a pass to visit with my guidance counselor and told her I was feeling disconnected from classes and school. She asked me what my interests were and suggested that I take an elective like art or music or a vocational tech class like culinary arts or computer coding. I told her that I wasn't sure what I was interested in at this point and she told me to take a couple of classes to see what I like. At her persistence, I signed up for art and computer coding.

It turns out art was not my thing. But it also turns out that computer coding is my thing, and I am not sure I would have realized that had I not gone to see my guidance counselor at my teacher's recommendation. After taking computer coding and other similar classes, I had something to look forward to during school. So even when I still dreaded taking Spanish and Geometry, I knew I could look forward to an enjoyable class later in the day. Having something to look forward to really helped me raise my grades because I started caring about my future and the possibility of applying for college to study computer science.

The best thing that I took away from this experience is that I can't always control what happens to me, especially as a minor, but I can control how I handle things. In full transparency: there were still bad days and bad grades, but by taking action and adding a couple of classes into my schedule that I felt passionate about, I started feeling connected to school again. From there, my overall experience with school – and life in general – improved 100%."

Why this is a good essay: In this essay , the applicant focuses on personal development. They begin by addressing their low grades and poor mental health at a younger age and how the experience affected them. The main focus of the essay, however, is how they found the motivation to get back on track and improve their grades. 

The student has taken this essay opportunity to not only explain the poor grades that Harvard will see from freshman year but has also proven that they have the ability to pull through when times get tough. Remember, the adversity essay should focus mainly on how you’ve learned and grown from a negative experience rather than focusing on the experience itself. 

Community/Diversity Essay

Essay prompts that ask about your experiences in your community help colleges to better understand your unique perspective. Many schools aim to cultivate a diverse environment to enrich the student experience and make sure students from all different backgrounds feel welcome on campus. 

Diversity can relate to your ethnicity, culture, birthplace, health, socioeconomic status, interests, talents, values, and many other things. There is no “correct experience” when it comes to choosing a topic here. In this essay, you have the opportunity to celebrate your unique perspective.

Think about experiences that are important to your identity. For example, you could write about your hometown, a family tradition, a community event, a generational story, or whatever feels most authentic to you. 

Keep this essay authentic; avoid fabricating a story or using someone else's experience. This story needs to come completely from you and let your school get some more information on who you are.

Community/Diversity Essay Sample from Duke University:

“The pitter patter of droplets, the sweet smell that permeates throughout the air, the dark grey clouds that fill the sky, shielding me from the otherwise intense gaze of the sun, create a landscape unparalleled by any natural beauty. I have gazed upon the towering cliffs of Yosemite, stood next to Niagara Falls as the water roars, succumbing to the power of gravity, and seen the beaches of Mexico basked in moonlight, yet none of these wonders compares to the simple beauty of an Arizona rainstorm. To me, our rain represents more than humidity and darkness; its rarity gives it beauty. The uncertainty of when the next day of rain will come compels me to slow down, and enjoy the moment.

Out of the three realms of time; past, present, and future, the present is the only one we can experience, and I take advantage of every moment I have. When I pause my running to enjoy a sunset that dazzles the sky with brilliant colors of purple and orange, when I touch my brush to a canvas and focus on my movements in the present, when I drive home after a long day of improving our robot, and decide to drive around my neighborhood to finish “Garota de Ipanema”, which just popped up from my playlist of 700 songs, I am taking advantage of the moment.

So next time it rains, step outside. Close your eyes. Hear the symphony of millions of water droplets. And enjoy the moment.”

Why this is a successful essay: This essay is an excellent example of pulling a unique experience from your life and expressing its importance. The applicant tells a compelling story about their unique perspective on rain in Arizona and does an excellent job of expressing how special the seemingly mundane event is to them. 

The language used here is visually descriptive, which makes the reader feel as if we are experiencing the event with the writer. This is an excellent way to get the admissions committee to feel connected to your story and get a better understanding of who you are and what you enjoy doing in life. 

The Extracurricular Essay

Many schools are interested in how you spend your time outside of the classroom. Extracurricular essays are quite common as supplemental essays, although students often struggle with how to make an entire essay out of their extracurricular activities. That’s why it’s important to brainstorm and create a story.

Think of a problem that arose while you were participating in one of your extracurricular activities, such as:

• Your sports team lost an important player
• You were injured during a dance recital
• Your music group needed funding 
• Your local soup kitchen was at risk of being shut down, etc.

The problem you choose can be big or small as long as it lends itself to a story. Think about the problem and how you took steps to solve it with your team or other members of your community. 

Use your extracurricular essay to show how your passion and motivation extend beyond the classroom. You can choose any activity to write about, as long as it was not during regular school hours or related to a specific course. 

Extracurricular Essay Sample from Yale:

“ Haunted romanticism, ravaged gaze, desperation bordering on lunacy, Saturn Devouring His Son first caught my attention as a bored nine-year-old wandering around a museum, and once again as a high-school student, after catching a glimpse of it in a textbook. 

Because after looking at angelic frescos after more Church frescos, I could not stop myself from flipping back to the tiny printing of this unholy piece. I sought to discover the story behind it—what caused this artist to create something so raw and naked, in the age of staid royal family portraits?

I became immersed in unraveling each bit of the story, how Goya had long transitioned from a royal painter, to a harsh, but veiled critic of society, the desolation that occurred during the French occupation of Spain, the corruption of Charles IV— who was really only a puppet ruler to Godoy. I learned how kingdoms rose and fell—and rose again, how art is unafraid to capture the seditious attitudes of the common people, and how it has endured to teach us of past mistakes.

I fell in love with dissecting the messages from the past, and discovering how we still have not listened to them.”

Why this essay is successful: 

The prompt for this Yale extracurricular essay was “Write about something that you love to do,” and the writer has certainly delivered. Here, the writer goes into detail about why they enjoy going to art museums outside of school. They’ve kept their essay focused on the meanings behind the paintings, giving the reader a deeper understanding of not only what fascinates them - but why it does.

The real key to an extracurricular essay is showing your passions outside of school. There is no right answer; you should simply focus on what interests you and explain why. Try to make the reader feel as if they are there with you. Think about the smells, the sights, and the feelings that surround your extracurricular interest and include them in your essay. 

College Supplemental Essay Length 

All of the essay types above come in different lengths. Some essays will ask only 150 words or less, while some have no word limit at all. Here, we’ll go over how to adjust your writing depending on your word count. 

Short Essay

There is a broad misconception that writing a short essay is “less work,” which we are unfortunately here to squash. Writing shorter-form essays (150 to 500 words) can be more challenging because you have less room to make your point, and your writing must be concise. 

To write an excellent short-form essay, start by brainstorming your ideas and move on to writing once you have a solid idea of the main points you want to include. Avoid fluff, repeating the question, reciting your resume, and run-on sentences. The best short essays are honest and to the point. 

If your essay is too long when you’ve finished writing, go through each sentence and ask yourself: “Could I tell this story without this sentence?” If yes, cut it completely. If you answered no, find ways to subtract unnecessary words. Having a friend help you edit is a great way to find out which parts are making the text longer without lending anything to the story. 

Medium Essay 

A medium essay is a sweet spot. Typically, a length of one to three pages flows easily and allows the writer to include all necessary information without repeating themselves or taking anything away. 

Because of this, make sure not to go over or under the word count. Most students do not struggle to keep their writing within these parameters, so it’s important to respect them. 

Although you have more room in a medium-length essay, your writing should still be concise and flow well without including excess information. It’s always a good idea to have a teacher, friend, or family member look over your story. 

Make sure that when they edit, they are looking for things like grammatical errors, run-on sentences, and unnecessary information. They shouldn’t take too much out of your essay because you don’t want the voice of the essay to change. 

Long Essay 

When tasked with writing a long essay (three pages or more), it can be challenging to continuously provide fresh information and avoid repetition. However, repetition and dragging sentences is the main thing you’ll want to avoid in a long-form essay. To do this, you should rely heavily on planning and your thesis statement.

Your thesis statement sets up your article, allowing you to break the information into parts and tackle each step individually. Brainstorming before you start writing is critical as it ensures you have enough relevant information to fill out the full length of your paper. 

How to Write School-Specific Supplemental Essays? 

It’s a good idea to tailor your supplemental essays to match the expectations of the school you’re applying to. Here are some guides on how to write outstanding essays for specific schools: 

• How to Write the Harvard Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the Vanderbilt Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the University of Michigan Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the Duke Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the Northwestern University Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the UPenn Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the University of Washington Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the Boston College Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the Cornell Supplemental Essays
• How to Write the Bowdoin Supplemental Essays ‍
• How to Write the Pepperdine Supplemental Essays

These guides will help you write stellar essays!

FAQs: Supplemental Essays

Here are our answers to some frequently asked questions about supplemental essays.

1. Do Colleges Care About Supplemental Essays?

Yes, colleges care about supplemental essays. Your writing gives colleges extra insight into who you are as a person beyond your grades. Strong essays can give you an advantage in your application to many different schools. 

2. What to Include in Supplemental Essays?

Stick to the prompt. Your response should approach each aspect of the prompt while providing genuine information about your life experience. 

Each essay prompt is different, but admissions committees always love to hear a good story. Use descriptive yet concise language to get your points across while transporting the reader into your world.

3. When Should I Start My Supplemental Essays?

You should start planning your essays as soon as you receive the prompts for each. Once you’re confident in your plan, begin writing your essay as soon as you can to give yourself plenty of time to edit before submitting. 

4. Are Supplemental Essays Hard?

For students who are not strong writers, it can be challenging to get started on your essays. However, the most important part of your essay is to remain genuine, tell your story, and be concise. 

5. How Do I Start Writing My Supplemental Essay?

Before you start writing, brainstorm and create a solid plan for what you want to include. This will help you write with ease and remain on track while you’re writing your paper. You can also look at good essay examples for inspiration. 

6. Where Do You Submit Supplemental Essays? 

If using the Common Application, you can submit your essays in the Writing Supplements section. Generally, you will submit your essays along with the rest of your application.

Final Thoughts

Your supplemental essays are an important part of your application and should be given plenty of time and attention. No matter what essay prompts you are given, ensure that you are consistently speaking from the heart and telling a compelling story. 

Keep in mind that your experiences are what make you unique, and you do not have to exaggerate or fabricate anything to craft an excellent supplemental essay.

If you are still struggling with writing compelling essays, you can always seek professional help to get assistance with writing, editing, brainstorming, and overall crafting stellar supplementals. 

Good luck with your essays!

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Blog > Essay Advice , Supplementals > How to Write Supplemental Essays that Will Impress Admissions Officers

How to Write Supplemental Essays that Will Impress Admissions Officers

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Alex McNeil, MA Admissions Consultant

Key Takeaway

Welcome to the wonderful world of supplemental essays.

If you’ve made it this far, there’s a good chance that you’ve completed (or at least have begun thinking about) your Common Application personal statement.

But believe it or not, you’re not done once you’ve sorted out your personal statement.

That’s right—many colleges require you to write even more essays as part of your application. These essays are called supplemental essays , and you’ll usually write 0-4 per school you apply to.

Hopefully you’re starting to do the math… If I apply to 10 schools that require an average of 2.3 supplemental essays, then that’s 20+ essays I have to write on top of my personal statement!

And, to make matters more dire, supplemental essays are really important to your application. Schools only require them because they play a critical role in admissions decisions.

That’s why having good supplemental essay strategy matters. There’s no time to waste, and they need to be good.

But thankfully you’ve found yourself here, at the ultimate guide to supplemental essays. We—Alex, Ben, and Kylie—have compiled our years of admissions and essay-writing knowledge to tell you everything you need to know about writing supplemental essays. (And, as you’ll see, we also have more specific guides for the most common supplemental essay prompts.)

In this guide-to-end-all-guides, we start out with supplemental essay basics and then break down the supplemental essay strategies that have worked for our clients again and again. Once you reach the end, you’ll be able to download a free essay tracker to keep you organized and on track.

Ready? Here we go.

What are supplemental essays?

Supplemental essays are a kind of college essay.

As a refresher, recall that there are three main kinds of college essays:

Personal Statement: A personal statement is a singular essay that is the keystone of your entire application. It goes to all the schools you apply to, and it covers a topic that is deeply meaningful to you. Personal statements are typically around 650 words. (For more about personal statements, see our college essay writing guide .)

Supplemental Essays: Supplemental essays are essays required by specific schools. They typically have different prompts than the personal statement and are usually shorter in length.

UC Essays: UC essays are their own beast in the college essay-writing world. Their purpose is a blend of personal statement and supplemental essay. (For more about UC Essays, see our UC guide.)

Supplemental essays serve a unique purpose. The reality is that the majority of your college application has to be written with several colleges in mind, especially if you’re applying to schools through application systems like the Common Application or Coalition.

That means that the majority of the information admissions officers base their decisions on is relatively generic information that doesn’t address why you’re a good fit for their school in particular.

That’s where supplemental essays come in.

Supplemental essays give you the opportunity to tell an admissions officer why you belong at their school specifically. They also allow colleges to ask you questions based on what they’re looking for in applicants.

Imagine that you’re interested in adopting a new dog. You browse your shelter’s online photo gallery, see the statistics about the age and weight of each dog, and read the brief descriptions of their temperament. The online profiles give you quite a bit to go on, but you still can’t quite picture how each one would fit into your family. You need just a little more information. So you drive to the shelter, meet the animals, and ask the shelter staff more questions about the animals you’re interested in.

Okay, college admissions are obviously a lot different than adopting a dog. But you get the metaphor. Sometimes the information on the Common App alone isn’t enough. Admissions officers need more information about which students are going to be the best fit for their college communities. And the one tool universities have to get that specific information are supplemental essays .

In short, some schools require supplemental essays because they want to get more information about how well your academics, extracurriculars, values, or otherwise align with their institution.

What’s the difference between a supplemental essay and a personal statement?

We can look at the differences between personal statements and supplemental essays across three categories: purpose, length, and research.

Supplemental essays serve a very different purpose than personal statements. While personal statements are deeply meaningful reflections that go to all the colleges a student applies to, supplemental essays are school-specific. Your personal statement is a place for you to write about something related to one of your core strengths. Supplementals are opportunities for you to show how your core strengths make you a good fit for a particular institution. Since they have different purposes, you’ll need different writing strategies to approach each kind of essay with.

Essay lengths vary by school and type, but supplemental essays are generally shorter. The Common App personal statement, for example, is maximum 650 words. Supplemental essays, on the other hand, typically range from 100 to 400 words (although occasionally some will be longer). When added together, you’ll likely be writing at least a couple thousand words for your college applications.

Finally, personal statements and supplementals also require different levels of research. Whereas personal statements typically require no research, supplementals require a lot. Because supplemental essays are school-specific, you’ll need to do research about every single school you write a supplemental essay for. We’ll get into that more in a second.

So personal statements give admissions officers a deep insight into who you are, while supplemental essays build on that narrative and sometimes include school research.

How important are supplemental essays?

Supplemental essays are important. At schools with sub-20% acceptance rates especially, they alone can be the difference between a deny and an admit.

Take this story from Ben’s time at Vanderbilt as a cautionary tale:

A prospective engineering student has an unweighted 4.0, near-perfect test scores, and extracurriculars that show both reach and impact. But none of their essays says anything about why they want to study engineering or why they want to go to Vanderbilt. Because they can’t communicate why they are a good fit, they get denied.

Unfortunately, Ben saw this situation time and again.

Sure, you could write your personal statement about how much you love engineering or what a good problem-solver you are. But doing so still doesn’t allow you to talk about why you align with the engineering options at a particular school .

Supplementals are your one chance to communicate this information with admissions officers, so use it wisely.

Types of Supplemental Essay Prompts

Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? Don’t fret. While you’ll be writing a lot of supplementals throughout your application process, you won’t necessarily have to come up with unique ideas for each of them. That’s because most supplemental essay prompts can be broken down into seven common categories: “why us,” diversity, community, academic interest, “why this major,” personal challenge, and extracurricular activities. Because there are similarities between prompts, you can reuse some of your essay ideas and content from school to school—and we have a whole post about how recycle your essays effectively. For now, let’s take a quick look at the prompt types. If you’re interested in any in particular, you can click through to our more in-depth post about each.

These prompts ask students to write an essay that explains why they want to attend a particular institution, school, or program.

Some diversity prompts ask students to write about some aspect of their background or identity that makes them diverse. Other diversity prompts ask students to write about a time they engaged with diverse perspectives.

Community prompts ask students to write about some aspect of the community they come from. Other community prompts ask how a student will contribute to the college community they’re applying to join.

Academic Interest

These prompts ask students to demonstrate intellectual curiosity by elaborating on a particular academic interest.

Why this Major

These prompts allow students to make a case for why they want to study a particular major at a particular school.

Personal Challenge

Personal challenge prompts ask students to write about a moment or period when they encountered a personal challenge. Often personal challenge prompts will encourage students to think about how they grew as a result.

Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities essays ask students to discuss one of their resume items.

Okay, so there’s lots of prompt types that ask you to do different things. But no matter the supplemental prompt type you’re responding to, your supplemental essays will have some commonalities in form and function. We’ll dive into those commonalities in the coming sections.

What should a supplemental essay look like?

Because supplemental essay prompts can be more direct than personal statement prompts, students often get confused about what a supplemental essay should look like.

Let’s use a simple example prompt: “Why do you want to attend X school?”

Since the prompt is formatted in the style of a straightforward question, many students (logically) begin their essays like this:

“I want to go to X school because it is a great academic fit for me. I love the location, and the weather can’t be beat. I know I would be happy there because there are lots of things to do. I would be so excited to work with Professor Y because their research is exactly what I want to do in the future. I love the traditions on campus and can envision myself joining in them, especially the annual puppy days before finals. Overall, I think I am a good fit”

While that essay directly answers the question, it doesn’t have an engaging hook or storyline. When you write a supplemental essay that explicitly addresses the question without paying attention to style and form, it reads more as a short answer question than an actual essay.

Like a personal statement, a supplemental essay should still be an essay. Even for supplemental essays under 150 words, there should still be some kind of essay structure. The essay should begin with a hook, build up a story, and offer a brief conclusion that ties everything together.

So now that you know that your supplemental essays should still be essays rather than short answers, let’s get to the juicy stuff: strategy.

The 3 best supplemental essay strategies

As with any part of the college application process, you should consider approaching your supplemental essays with an explicit strategy from the start.

Since supplemental essays are the main way for you to signal school and academic fit, your strategy will likely revolve around deciding when and how to demonstrate your academic, social, and value-based alignment with the school in question.

Strategic supplemental writing also means balancing your narrative across your personal statement and supplementals. Planning ahead to determine what information will go where can save you a lot of trouble later on in the application process.

Strategy #1: Do strategic school research.

The first step in writing good supplemental essays is knowing how to do school research. It’s also about knowing how to use your school research effectively. In the case of supplemental essays, “school research” means a lot more than simply googling a school and pulling out a few facts and figures. Unlike the research you did when building your school list, your supplemental essay school research is a lot more intentional and targeted.

Think of supplemental school research like the final stages before buying a car. Your initial research—the school list-building research—helped you narrow down all your options to find cars with the right facts and figures for your needs. But now you need to think in terms of specifics. Looking at Car A, you see that the infotainment is perfectly suited for your music-loving needs and the 4-wheel drive will let you drive to your favorite remote hiking destinations. Car B has all the safety features you could ever ask for and has enough cargo space to go on long road trips. For each car, you can explain exactly why you and the car are a good match.

In the same way, your supplemental essays will draw attention to the specific points of connection you have with a school. After reading your supplemental essay, you want your admissions officer to say, “Wow, they really belong here.”

But the mistake most students make when doing supplemental school research is that they look up a few professors or programs that align with their interests, and they plop those brief references into their supplemental essays without actually making it clear why they’re important.

While this method does show some effort and may impress admissions officers at schools with lower acceptance rates, it won’t cut it at schools where the majority of applicants get rejected.

Let’s go over how to do supplemental school research the right way.

How to do school research

This kind of school research may seem a bit elusive. There are so many places on a school website to look that it can be overwhelming. But the key to doing successful school research isn’t about finding those little nuggets of information.

It’s about creating a cohesive story that makes it seem only logical that you be admitted.

And how do you do that?

By looking at the values the institution holds dearly and positioning yourself in clear alignment with them.

It’s easy to find an institution’s values if you know where to look. Most often, they appear in the following places:

a) The school’s motto

We’ll use Lewis and Clark College’s motto as an example. A quick Google search of “Lewis and Clark College motto” informed me that their motto, in English, is “to explore, to learn, to work together.” Right off the bat, that tells us a ton about what Lewis and Clark College values and looks for in students.

If I were to write a supplemental essay (and—surprise!—one of their supplemental essays is actually about the motto), then it’d be easy to draw from areas of my own life that represent the values of exploration, education, and teamwork.

b) The school’s 5-year plan

Schools are future-minded institutions, so they always have plans that discuss where they want to be five or ten years down the road. These plans are written by university leadership and lay out values, goals, and strategic initiatives that the institution will be devoting resources to. They can tell you a lot in a short amount of time.

c) Departmental websites

Don’t just find an interesting professor and call it quits. Take the time to go through and actually read the website for your department of interest. Look at the kinds of research professors and students are doing. Departments often have a list of where students tend to end up after they graduate, so take note. Find anything you can about what the department looks like and values.

For instance, take this press release from the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. The headline says, “The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is investing nearly $12 million in four College of Engineering faculty members this fall through its  prestigious program for outside-the-box thinkers .” There you go. Without even reading on, you can tell that out-of-the-box thinking is a popular characteristic among these Georgia Tech faculty members. You could then craft your supplemental essay around a time you showed out-of-the-box thinking yourself.

The beauty of this strategy is that it works no matter the kind of supplemental essay prompt you’re responding to. It is as applicable to a “diversity” or “why us” prompt as it is to an “extracurricular” one.

Setting your supplementals apart using school research

Take this example, which we sent out recently in our newsletter .

Say you’re interested in attending Johns Hopkins University to study business.

You set out to answer their supplemental prompt: Founded on a spirit of exploration and discovery, Johns Hopkins University encourages students to share their perspectives, develop their interests and pursue new experiences. Use this space to share something you’d like the admissions committee to know about you (your interests, your background, your identity or your community) and how it has shaped what you want to get out of your college experience at Hopkins. (300-400 words)

You could talk about how devoted you’ve been to DECA and mention a JHU business faculty member whom you admire. But that essay wouldn’t be memorable at all. Admissions officers have likely read hundreds of similar essays.

Instead, using your newfound school research knowledge, you start by googling JHU’s strategic plan . You keep diving deeper. You find that they have a specific initiative to engage more with their local community in Baltimore. You dive even deeper and see that part of that initiative revolves around encouraging the JHU community to shop locally .

Ah ha! You actually created a holiday market at your school and invited local vendors to participate. You brought your community together, and you helped them make the decision to buy from local businesses.

You now have a story that shows your business interests and connects seamlessly with the values at Johns Hopkins University. And it’ll lead to a supplemental essay admissions officers haven’t read before.

Okay, that is a very specific example. Remember, school research needs to be specific to you and your interests. When you are clear about your strengths and keep your own activities in mind, you can point your research towards what the school does that most clearly relates to you.

Strategy #2: Make a case for school or academic fit.

Each supplemental essay should have a specific purpose. We’ve already established this fact in this guide, but it’s worth restating. One of your application essays needs to make a case for school or academic fit. There’s no other way to slice it.

Institutions are like people. They have unique personalities, values, and preferences that attract students and community members to them. A single school will not be the right fit for every student. That’s why it’s so important to take academic and school fit into account when building your school list, and that’s why institutions factor these considerations into their admissions decisions.

What is “academic fit”?

“Academic fit” is particularly important when you’re applying to a specific major (like computer science, engineering, music, etc.). The concept is fairly straightforward.

It measures how well your academic background and interests meet the standards of a particular school or program. While academic fit includes measurements like your weighted and unweighted GPA, the level of rigor you’ve taken throughout high school, and your standardized test scores, it isn’t just about your statistics. It is also relevant to how you talk about your intellectual vitality in your essays.

This could look like showing disciplinary alignment. If you’re dead set on studying business but you’re applying to a school without a business program, for example, then you won’t have good academic fit, no matter how solid your academic record is.

It could also look like showcasing your intellectual curiosity or an academic passion. These kinds of academic values can signal to an admissions committee that you are a good fit for the program.

What is “school fit”?

“School fit” is a way to categorize how well you align with the overall vibe and intellectual community of a school. Academic fit is part of school fit, but school fit encompasses more. It’s like a friendship test. Do your personalities mesh well? Do you have similar values? Can they meet your needs and vice versa? Do your extracurricular activities align? Do you envision yourselves having a future together?

School fit is important because you don’t want to end up at a school that doesn’t align with your wants and needs across these categories. Transferring is always an option, but being mindful of school fit from the start can help you get it right the first time.

When it comes to your supplementals, signaling those intangible measures of school fit can also be one of the best tools in your application toolbox. Because they’re intangible, they’re harder to communicate. But communicating them correctly can help set you apart.

Overall, academic and school fit are application essentials. If your academic background hasn’t prepared you for a particular college environment, or if you can’t clearly communicate why you’re a good academic fit, then an admissions officer might believe that you’d be better off elsewhere. Similarly, there’s no point in applying to a school that you’d be miserable at, and there’s no point in admitting you to a school that you’d likely transfer from anyway. Keeping the concepts of “academic fit” and “school fit” front and center meets student and institutional needs.

How to show academic fit

We’ve written on Reddit  about the importance of academic score in college admissions. While each institution has its own process, academic scores are usually some kind of measurement of a student’s academic success in high school, calculated based on statistics like GPA, number of rigorous classes, and standardized test scores.

Since academic scores are based on things that have already happened, you have very little control over them as you put together your application.

To a certain extent, there’s nothing you can do to overcome a low academic score. That’s why it’s important to put the right schools on your school list . 

But what you do have control over is how you communicate academic fit.

Remember that your entire application should cohere to form a unique personal narrative . Your academic alignment with the programs you’re applying to is part of that narrative, and supplemental essays are a fantastic place for you to drive home why you belong in a particular program.

It’s often easiest to show academic alignment in “why us,” “why this major,” and “academic interest” supplemental essay prompts. But it is possible to accomplish with other prompts, too.

No matter the supplemental you’re writing, consider applying these tips to show academic fit.

a) Think about the academic values the admissions committee will be looking for.

You’ve already done your school research and have probably learned something about the values a school is looking for. Now you can think more specifically about what kinds of values admissions committees will be looking for in their applicants. Make a list of these values.

Here are a few values we’ve looked for as admissions officers to get you started: teamwork, creative thinking, resilience, leadership, communication, intellectual curiosity, real-world applications.

Once you have your list of values, start circling the ones that apply to you and your experiences the most. Then you’ll be able to incorporate those values into your supplemental essays.

b) Consider how your previous experiences relate to your future goals.

Another approach to showing academic fit is thinking linearly about how what you’ve done in high school relates to your future academic and career goals.

Especially with prompts that ask you to reflect on concrete experiences, taking this approach can be a great way to bridge the gap between your resume and academics. Showing an admissions officer why your background experiences make you a natural fit for a specific program can be an effective supplemental essay strategy.

Overall, remember: schools want students. When in doubt, show academic fit.

How to show school fit

How you show school fit will depend on the type of school you’re applying to. There are three main levels: the institution as a whole, individual schools or colleges, and particular majors or programs. Each level requires a different school fit focus. Let’s start by going through the types:

Level 1: The Institution

For some schools, you apply to the institution as a whole. Think liberal arts colleges or other schools that don’t require you to declare a major upon application.

Level 2: Schools & Colleges

Other schools have you apply to a college or school. Think of applications that have you choose a “college of arts and sciences” or “a school of engineering.” These are institutions within an institution, so the dynamics are a little different.

Level 3: Major

Finally, others yet will have you apply directly to the major you want to study. If you indicate the major you want to apply to, or if you’re asked to respond to a “why this major” supplemental essay prompt, then you’re likely applying directly to a major.

For each of these levels, school fit will look different because the community you’re applying to join has a different makeup. So bear those differences in mind as you consider the two following tips about aligning with school fit:

a) Write supplemental essays that connect your extracurricular activities to major or program fit.

One way to demonstrate school fit is by showing that you’ve already been doing what students at that institution do. We’ll pretend that for one of your extracurriculars, you participate in hack-a-thons.

Let’s also say that during your school research, you found that your top-choice computer science major values technical skills and diverse perspectives. Finally, we’ll also pretend that the first hack-a-thon you did was a special event intended to introduce more girls to computer science, and you found it a really empowering experience.

Using what you know about school fit, you can craft a supplemental essay about one of your hack-a-thon experiences that shows the technical skills and diverse perspective that you bring to the table. Writing your essay in a way that highlights a convergence of your background with their offerings is exactly what your supplementals need to do.

b) Write supplemental essays around community values.

Especially if you’re applying to an institution as a whole, you can also consider incorporating institutional values into your supplementals. These values, taken from your school research, don’t necessarily have to be about academics.

Let’s return to our Johns Hopkins example about organizing a holiday market to encourage students to shop at local businesses. That example seamlessly demonstrates school fit because it hinges on values the student shares with the institution. While the example may gesture towards academic fit because a holiday market is inherently related to business, it doesn’t do so explicitly. The focus is more on the underlying community values.

All this talk about fit is also to say that none of your applications will look exactly the same. Because institutions have different makeups and expectations, the shape your application narrative takes will vary from institution to institution.

Strategy #3: Highlight your strengths.

Every college essay you write should be rooted in a strength.

If you’ve read any of our other guides or blog posts , you’ve likely seen this statement before.

We say it again and again because it’s true. And very important.

Admissions officers don’t admit students at random. They admit students who will be good additions to their community. All communities need a range of people and personalities—strengths, if you will.

To help admissions officers know how you’ll add to their campus, it’s critical that you tell them what your strengths are.

That doesn’t mean literally writing, “I am a strong critical thinker.”

What it does mean is writing essays that demonstrate positive characteristics about yourself.

Recall that application strengths can include things like critical thinking, open-mindedness, problem-solving skills, a passion for justice, artistry, and more. These kinds of traits are what you want your admissions officer to learn about you from any piece of writing you submit with your application.

We’ve already covered how to write strengths-based personal statements in our college essay writing guide .

But when you’re juggling a personal statement and several supplemental essays, it can be tricky to balance your strengths in an authentic way.

Juggling Your Strengths

You don’t want all your essays to talk about the same strength. You also don’t want your strengths to seem disparate or unrelated. And you really don’t want to come across as braggadocious.

It’s therefore important that your essays all tie together to form a cohesive application narrative .

So writing strengths-based supplementals requires a certain kind of balancing act.

Picture your college application narrative as a seesaw (stick with me for a second—I promise this is going somewhere). Imagine that your personal statement is the base of the seesaw. Without anything else on the seesaw, it is you in your most genuine, balanced form. It is the fulcrum upon which your entire application narrative rests. But it’s not yet complete. It’s limited in how much information it actually reveals about you.

Now imagine that you add in all your application data—your transcript, test scores, activities list, and letters of recommendation. We get more information, but the application data are heavy, weighing it down on one side. Your application narrative becomes slightly off-kilter. We see the strengths you describe in your personal statement, but they’ve become filtered through the lens of your application data.

Finally, we add your supplemental essays to the other side. They stitch together your personal statement and data to create a roundedness to your application narrative. They restore balance.

That means that the strengths you write about in your supplemental essays have to complement those in your personal statement. And the strengths in both have to make sense alongside your application data.

While your personal statement should be about a core strength, your supplemental essays should be about different strengths that support and cohere with your personal statement. It’s all about how you disperse your strengths across your essays. You want to show depth AND diversity.

Here’s an example breakdown of strengths:

a) Personal statement: problem-solving skills

b) Supplemental 1: passion for justice

c) Supplemental 2: teamwork

Without even reading the corresponding essays, we get a sense of who this person is by their strengths alone. We can envision them primarily as a problem-solver, but we also see that they use their skills to pursue justice. And we understand that they are someone who does all these things alongside others rather than as a lone wolf.

Just one of these strengths alone wouldn’t give the whole picture. It’s about finding the right mix of breadth, depth, and balance.

How to organize your supplemental essays

There are countless spreadsheets out there that can help you track and organize your applications and supplemental essays. It’s a good idea to browse through a few of them and see what format works best for you.

But we believe that one of the most efficient ways to organize your supplemental essays is to categorize them by prompt type.

Sorting your essays by prompt will allow you to group similar prompts together. That means you’ll have an easier time seeing where there’s overlap between essays, which will allow you to reuse ideas or snippets across your applications to write them more efficiently. (Using the same material for multiple supplemental essays is allowed, but there’s a right and wrong way to do it. We have a whole post on recycling your supplemental essays .)

Key Takeaways

There you have it! Everything you need to know about writing a supplemental essay. If you haven’t already, check out our mini-guides that cover the most popular supplemental essay prompts. You’ll find even more specific strategies and examples to guide you on your supplemental essay writing journey.

If you want to see some outstanding supplemental essay examples before you get started, head on over to our college essay examples .

When you're ready, grab your essay tracker and give your supplementals a go. If you need any more guidance, our Essay Academy program is chock-full of more strategies, insights, and examples from our team of admissions professionals.

Interested in more admissions insights? Read our next post , where we go behind the admissions curtain to reveal how admissions offices actually process tens of thousands of applications.

Happy writing!

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Should a National Merit student write the essays for supplemental scholarships at OU?

My son is interested in OU and is a National Merit semifinalist, but according to their website we are looking at around $7,500 first year/$9,000 for each additional year that would not be covered under the scholarship.

He has talked with the music department and the only significant scholarships they offer are tuition waivers, but as a National Merit student a tuition waiver would not be needed.

On the application there are two essay fields (650 words) for supplemental leadership, community involvement, and departmental scholarships. I was wondering if it would be worth it for him to write the essays for those scholarships? Can they be stacked with the National Merit package, and if so, has anyone ever heard of a National Merit student receiving one?

Yes scholarships can be stacked although I’m not sure if the tuition waver could be used in conjunction with the NMF scholarship. That’s a question either for the music department, the [scholarship office]( Student Financial Center ), or the [National Scholars staff]( http://www.ou.edu/admissions/nationalmerit.html ).

We talked with the music department and unfortunately he cannot use the tuition waiver with National Merit.

@rb681000 That is correct, sadly. However, winning the leadership and community scholarships is still an honor at OU and helps open doors (although it is difficult to get if you are out-of-state). If S still wants to apply for them, he does still need to write the essays.

@rb681000 - that seems like a lot of money outside of the NM scholarship. What do you still need to pay for that adds up to $7,500 and $9,000? My daughter is a potential NMSF, and we have started to look at OU as well. I’m trying to get a feel for what our expenses will be.

@crazy4info Here is the reason. Technically OU National Merit Package is not full ride. But close to it, Full tuition + $35k; As you may already know, it works like this.

• Tuition Waiver: 100% waived for 5 full years (Fall, Spring & Summer) including graduate programs
• OK Academic Scholars program: $22,000 - $2750 per semester for 4 years (including graduate programs) - (offset costs of fees, books, room and board)
• National Merit Cash Stipend: $5000
• Housing Scholarship: $4200 - Must live in OU residence hall during freshman year
• Technology & Book allowance Cash: $2000
• Research and Study Abroad Stipend: $2000

Though tuition is free, there are many weird ‘fees’ added to different courses. That small amount racks up depending on the number of courses student registers in each semester. It was a surprise since we also did not realize, but no complaints since we are very happy with what OU gives. But later we found there are many small scholarship (departmental) for $1 or 2k. We did not know about it and did not apply by the due date. Since you are currently applying, take a look at them and it may reduce the net cost for you. My D who is a freshman did 17 credits and we paid around $3.4k outside of NMS. Second year on wards, if they go to apartments, hoping it may reduce the cost though NMS will not get $4.2 for housing.

My D is National Merit this year at OU and because of the outside local scholarships we have paid zero out of pocket . OU even refunded her unused scholarship funds which she’s put aside to pay for future educational bills. She’s moving into a an apartment next year and even though it’s one of the pricer apartments in the area it will still be less expensive than living in the dorms (which is required for all freshmen).

My son did write the essays for the extra scholarships, and hopefully when he auditions in January he may be able to pick up some music money there as well. I think the deadline for the departmental and leadership scholarships was Dec.15th though. OU makes it easy to stack outside scholarships, so we are looking at some of those as well. However, many local scholarships in our area (we are very rural) are given through the local public school. We are homeschoolers, so we don’t qualify for most of them.

@rb681000 check out your local utility company, credit union, clubs - I’ve seen some very generous 4-H scholarships, in our area these have worked for homeschoolers. Also search your local and near by high school GC’s web pages some times they list scholarships that are open to everyone including homeschoolers.

@3scoutsmom Our rural electric cooperative is a big provider of scholarships in our area. My son was one of their DC Youth Tour delegates, so will also be elligible to apply next year for their alumnist scholarship. I’ve been poking around the websites of several school districts around us to see if he could possibly apply directly (instead of going through the school) for some of the scholarships I see.

Fraternal organizations are also good for getting scholarships. 7-9K seems completely out of whack. Even with no other scholarships, the out of pocket might have been $2500. I think the 7-9K is the guess for all out of pocket expenses: toiletries, travel, clothes, etc. Definitely live off campus after freshman year (unless your child gets to be an RA).

@Torveaux as a parent of a first year NMF- if no other scholarships in play, then 7k out of pocket for the year to OU is in the ballpark PLUS personal/books/travel.

OU did surprise D with a small one-time scholarship at an engineering event that was determined, in part, from one of the supplemental essays- any little bit helps.

@oneundecided Things must have changed considerably in the last few years. S1 is in 3rd year and graduates in May. He did not bother to apply for other scholarships. We do not pay for our kids’ college, just a little help with groceries and incidentals when visiting. No way it was $7K. He took no loans and only had a few thousand we had saved for him via UPromise. Travel is cheap for him as we are only about 3 hours away from Norman.

May be things have changed a bit even in 3 years. Because the fact is I paid around $3.5k for each of the 2 semesters so far and it amounts to $7k/year. She did the normal course load, 17 credits in fall, 3 in winter break and 18 in Spring. Nothing unusual or any course which needs some super special fees. My D got NM scholarship and she did not apply for any other scholarship. So the fees are $7k and I am not expecting it is going to change much in the next 2-3 years and we need to budget for at least $7k. This $7k does not include any of the trip expenses from home to OU.

May be your S1 has used the few thousand from UPromise to pay for this additional expense.

@Torveaux there was large across the board increase in tuition, fees, and room and board this year but no increase in the NM scholarship to cover the increase in fees and room and board. In addition to that the “academic excellence fee” is based on the the year you enrolled if you started school in 2014 it was $60 per credit hour but if you started OU in 2016 it is $75 a credit hour. The increases in fees and room and board really add up. Thankfully D has outside scholarships to help and moving off campus next year will also help bring down the cost.

Still $7Kish a year is a good deal for OU and I’m not complaining.

My son did audition on one of their regular audition days. I spoke with someone that day about additional scholarship money, but he thought the National Merit scholarship would be all they could do. But later my son received a message from from the person that would be his studio teacher saying they had music money set aside for him if he is still interested in OU. We haven’t heard how much yet. The extra essays didn’t help, but the audition did.

That is good to know. S2 has a couple more years of HS left, but he is a award-winning Bass already. He would love to sing in college and if that adds to a scholarship, even better!

Is it still the case that Supplemental Scholarships can be stacked with National Merit Scholarships? Also, I can’t find a list of the available supplemental scholarships and their amounts - that would help determine whether DD should take the time to write the essays. Thanks!

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University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts

• Cracking Med School Admissions

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine is a popular medical school students who grew up in Oklahoma and other Midwest states. It is important to convey why you would be a great fit for the the medical school on your University of Oklahoma Medical School secondary application. The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine is a community-oriented school, and it is important to talk about how you have been involved with your local community . Read our other University of Oklahoma Medical School secondary application tips   below for advice on how to answer each question. 

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine is definitely a secondary application we would advise to pre-write! Look at the previous year’s essay prompts below. Our Cracking Med School Admissions team can help you personalize and tailor your University of Oklahoma Medical School secondary application essay responses towards the school’s values and your healthcare experiences. We can help you personalize your secondary through our  secondary essay editing packages .  

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University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2023 – 2024

University of oklahoma college of medicine – oklahoma city track essay prompts.

• Why are you applying to The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine?  (250 words max)
• Do you have family or friends in Oklahoma? Please explain  (no word limit)
• Where else are you applying? (no character limit)

University of Oklahoma College of Medicine – SCM Track Essay Prompts

• Please submit an essay (450 words or less) that explains your interest and commitment to Community Medicine.
• Please explain (in 250 words or less) how you expect the SCM track to enhance your medical education.
• Please enter any additional community or volunteer experience not included on your AMCAS application. (No word limit)
• Please highlight any other relevant life experience that you feel might have an impact on your application to the SCM track. (No word limit)

Tips to Answer University of Oklahoma Secondaries

University of Oklahoma Secondaries Pre-Writing Guidance: This is a great secondary application to pre-write. The questions are short and they don’t change much. At the minimum, you should look into the two University of Oklahoma tracks to see which one fits with the type of medical education and medical student body you want!

• Download  all  our HIGH-YIELD tips for secondary essays:  Cracking Med School Admissions Secondary Essay Guide

University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Tip #1: It is important to note that there are two main campuses, or “tracks,” at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. Make sure you understand the nuances of each track .

• University of Oklahoma College of Medicine – Oklahoma City Track
• University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine Track (SCM)

For example, the SCM track only has 25-30 students per class and requires these unique courses not offered in most other medical schools:

• Lifestyle Medicine and Health Promotion 1 (MS1)
• Lifestyle Medicine and Health Promotion 2 (MS2)
• Humanities Enrichment: America’s Quest for Health (MS2)
• Health Systems Science in Practice (MS3)
• Geriatrics & Community Medicine (MS4)
• Bedlam E (MS3 and MS4)

University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Tip #2: Make sure to include “Why University of Oklahoma College of Medicine”  and why you are specifically applying to each track.

• Read our HIGH-YIELD blog post on how to answer “Why this medical school” to help you explain which campus you prefer:  Why this Medical School? Secondary Essay Example
• Reach out to faculty and students to learn more about the campuses. 
• Qualities that we advise students to highlight include: specific populations you want to serve (rural vs. suburban vs. urban); opportunities, such as combined degrees; specific curriculum style; and clinical opportunities.

University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Tip #3: In the University of Oklahoma SCM Track essay, “ Please submit an essay that explains your interest and commitment to Community Medicine. ” talk about your experiences in community medicine. You can also include any volunteer work you’ve had in the Oklahoma community. Additionally, you should discuss your goals to become a community physician in the future and how the SCM track will help you achieve your goals. 

University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Tip #4: Get our help to edit your UCSF secondary application essays. We can help you through our secondary essay packages . Have questions about how you can stand out? Contact us below.

[Read More Secondary Essay Tips: University of Nebraska – Lincoln ; University of Texas – San Antonio ; University of Michigan ]

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University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2022 – 2023

• For Out of State Students : You have indicated that you have close ties to Oklahoma. Please document these ties below in the space provided. Only nonresidents with ties are required to complete this portion of the supplemental application.
• No secondary application essays for Instate applicants interested in the Oklahoma City Educational Track only.

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University of Oklahoma Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2021 – 2022

University of oklahoma secondary application questions: 2020 - 2021, university of oklahoma secondary application questions: 2019 – 2020, university of oklahoma secondary application questions: 2018 – 2019, university of oklahoma secondary application questions: 2017 – 2018, university of oklahoma secondary application questions: 2016 – 2017, tulsa scm track essay, university of oklahoma secondary application questions: 2015 – 2016.

There were no essay prompts in the secondary application for the 2015-2016 cycle.

University of Oklahoma Secondary Application Questions: 2014 – 2015

There were no essay prompts in the secondary application for the 2014-2015 cycle.

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How to Write the University of Oregon Essays 2023-2024

The University of Oregon offers all applicants two optional prompts—one with two options to choose from, and one that’s more open-ended than a usual prompt. There’s also a required prompt for Honors College applicants and two required prompts for prospective Architecture majors.

Since UO receives thousands of applications from academically strong students, your essays are your chance to stand out. In this post, we’ll discuss how to craft an engaging response to each of these prompts and their options.

Read these University of Oregon essay examples to inspire your writing.

The University of Oregon Supplemental Essays

All applicants.

Prompt 1 (optional): Choose one of the topics below and respond in 250-500 words:

• Option A: Describe an experience with discrimination, whether it was fighting against discrimination or recognizing your contribution to discriminating against a person or group. What did you learn from the experience? In what ways will you bring those lessons to the University of Oregon? (250-500 words)
• Option B: The University of Oregon values difference, and we take pride in our diverse community. Please explain how you will share your experiences, values and interests with our community. In what ways can you imagine offering your support to others? (250-500 words)

Prompt 2 (optional): This section can be used for various purposes, and gives you an optional opportunity for discussing any of the following.

Your academic record might have included periods of low performance such as grades of D or F, inconsistent or downward trends in grades, deficiencies in particular subject areas, or discrepancies between your test scores and GPA. This might be because of special personal circumstances such as death or illness of a parent, caring for a family member, homelessness, frequent moves, or due to learning disabilities/differences or study habits. If relevant, be sure to let us know what actions you have taken in order to be successful, and what you have learned from the experience.

You want to help us better understand how your involvement in activities was limited by work or family obligations, or by the unique setting of your school or community., you need to share any other information with us about yourself that is not provided elsewhere, or uo admissions staff told you to provide certain information in this space., honors college applicants.

Essay Instructions:

Curiosity and breadth of interests are defining characteristics of Clark Honors College students. We value originality and want to learn more about your unique journey and the nature and breadth of your intellectual curiosity.

Note: applicants are required to submit the UO’s application essay and the CHC application essay. The UO’s essay cannot be used to fulfill the Clark Honors College admission essay requirement.

Essay Prompt:

Please tell us about a specific enthusiasm that showcases your curiosity and intellectual engagement with the world. Your chosen enthusiasm or passion can be from any domain—academic, artistic, scientific, cultural, or any other area that has captivated your interest. Be thoughtful and provide concrete examples to support your response. (500 words)

Architecture and Interior Architecture Major Applicants

Prompt 1: Describe your engagement with an experience, activity, or creative project (as in art, construction, or craft, etc.) that has influenced your interest in design. What did you learn from this experience? (350 words)

Prompt 2: Why have you decided to study this design program? Please expand on relevant experiences and motivations that have shaped your desire to apply to the major. (350 words)

How to Write the University of Oregon General Supplemental Essays

All applicants prompt 1, option a (optional), describe an experience with discrimination, whether it was fighting against discrimination or recognizing your contribution to discriminating against a person or group. what did you learn from the experience in what ways will you bring those lessons to the university of oregon (250-500 words).

Discrimination is a very personal topic. After reading the prompt, you’ll probably have an idea whether or not you have enough experience to select it as your essay. Your essay doesn’t necessarily have to be about an experience where you were the one being discriminated against, and it also doesn’t have to be about a time when you did the right thing and actively stood up to discrimination.

In fact, the prompt suggests discussing an experience where you contributed to discrimination or failed to prevent it. If you decide to answer this prompt, you need to be prepared to share personal experiences and stories that might be uncomfortable for you to address. If you don’t feel comfortable writing a detailed, personal essay on this topic, it’s probably wiser for you to choose the other prompt option.

If you decide to write this prompt, you’re going to first need to find an experience to write about. You might have something off the top of your head, or it might take a little longer to figure out what you want to write about. Some possible experiences you could consider include:

• Being a racial minority in a predominantly homogenous school
• Being told you can’t do something because of your gender
• Bullying someone or not preventing bullying
• Participating in racial justice or gender equality marches
• Being treated differently because of your sexuality
• Witnessing discrimination and not standing up

A note about race/ethnicity: In June 2023, the United States Supreme Court struck down the use of affirmative action in college admissions. The ruling, however, still allows colleges to consider race on an individual basis. If you wish to discuss a time during which you were discriminated against because of your racial/ethnic background, this is the place to discuss that.

Whichever experience you decide to write about as your experience with discrimination, positive or negative, you should start the essay with an anecdote to help the admissions officers understand what your experience was.

Let’s say your example is a time when you were walking down the hall on your way to your calculus class and you heard your friends calling a girl racist names. Did you keep your head down and ignore the situation because you didn’t want a late pass to class? Or did you join your friends and make fun of the girl in some way? Or, did you go over to your friends to call them out for their actions and to ask the girl if there was anything you could do to help her?

By setting up your experience in a very personal, anecdotal fashion, you can quickly establish what your experience was and ground your essay so it feels individual and unique.

The most important part of this essay is not your story about discrimination—though that is still the subject of the essay—but rather how you overcame the discrimination and grew from the experience. Or maybe you weren’t able to overcome it, but you still learned about yourself and society from that experience. That’s a perfectly valid thing to write about as well.

After you’ve established what your experience was, you should focus the remainder of your essay on how that experience changed you as a person or opened your eyes to something that had a deep impact on you. If you carefully choose an experience with personal significance, you’ll be able to figure out why it was important to you fairly easily. You want to show the admissions officers that this experience taught you something you still carry with you every day and will continue to carry with you on campus.

Maybe you learned to never judge anyone for a physical trait or disability again after you were belittled and profiled yourself. Perhaps you saw the need for more social justice lawyers in the country after you read stories about innocent people on death row who never got the fair representation they deserved. Or, maybe you decided to stop letting society define what is “appropriate” and started encouraging other students to embrace their own personalities rather than societal conventions.

The final part of your essay should describe how you’ll bring those lessons to the University of Oregon. You could choose to talk about how you vow to be accepting of everyone you meet with your new perspective on life, how you want to speak with students who’ve confronted discrimination in similar ways, or your plan to study a field related to some level of societal inequity to continue learning about how to combat injustice.

If you end up choosing this essay option, the key is to be as introspective and personal as possible. The admissions committee does want to hear if you have suffered any hardships or even if there are moments you yourself aren’t proud of in life, but they are most interested in your personal growth from these events. As long as you’re willing to open up about your experiences and reflect on what you have learned, this is a great option to choose!

Some helpful tips for this essay:

• Avoid using a privileged tone. This type of prompt may lead you to accidentally frame yourself as a champion for the marginalized, and that is something you need to make sure to avoid.
• Use “I” statements. It’s very difficult and complicated to speak on behalf of an entire subset of people, but you can speak for yourself and speak from your own experience.
• Show what you learned. If you choose to write about an event where you did not speak up, it would behoove you to show some personal growth and/or a time that you did. If you are writing about a time when you were discriminated against, do not forget to include what you learned and how you will rely on that experience at The University of Oregon.

All Applicants Prompt 1, Option B (optional)

The university of oregon values difference, and we take pride in our diverse community. please explain how you will share your experiences, values and interests with our community. in what ways can you imagine offering your support to others (250-500 words).

While the previous option focuses on a student’s experiences with discrimination, this essay focuses on a student’s background. Every student on campus contributes to making a diverse community, so in this prompt, you’ll want to share with the admissions committee ways in which you will add to the University of Oregon’s vibrant community.

We recommend writing this essay if you come from a background or identity that has given you a unique experience and perspective. Even if you feel like the community you come from is “boring” or “generic,” there’s probably still a lot you could find to write about! Take a look at our guide to writing the diversity essay for some tips that will help you tackle this prompt.

Brainstorming your topic:

No matter where you come from, the person you are now has been influenced by your background and many converging factors. That said, there is a wide variety of experiences, values, or interests that you might pick from for this essay. Here are a few ideas:

• Family traditions
• Religious holidays
• Music tastes
• Unique hobbies
• Cultural values
• Moral values you live by

As opposed to the previous option, where you’re asked to describe an experience, this prompt is more focused on how you plan to share your unique background with your fellow students on campus, thus contributing to and expanding the diverse community. Don’t spend too much time describing your background without discussing how you plan on sharing it at the University.

This also means you don’t just have to pick one thing to discuss for the entire essay. A Chinese-American student could talk about his tradition of making dumplings with his dad’s side of the family and the filial piety that is a core aspect of their culture, while also mentioning his deep-rooted love for the Yankees that he got from his mother.

Tips for writing your essay:

The admissions officers reading this essay are really looking to hear about how you plan to share your unique personal culture with other students on campus. As you write, make sure you both describe what is important to you and why you want to share it with others. Including stories or anecdotes is a great way to establish the personal connection to these experiences that you value. They provide the admissions committee with a deeper understanding of your personality.

This prompt also asks how you plan to offer support to others on campus, and a great way to answer this question would be to tie it back to whatever you plan to share with the campus community. This support can take many forms. Consider the following examples:

• A student might write about how he will pack extra curry powder so he can cook chicken curry for his friends when they’re upset, because his mom makes that at home to cheer him up.
• A student could write about some memories from Hanukkahs spent with her family, and how she’ll share these experiences with new friends who don’t know anything about Judaism.
• A student who lost a parent at a young age knows how hard it is to struggle with loss, so they will be there to comfort and console peers who might experience similar loss.

Mistakes to avoid:

If you choose this option as the topic of your essay, you want to make sure your voice and personality come across. Be careful that you don’t write things that are too generic or clichéd in your essay—you don’t want to write about a life lesson that could be on a Hallmark card. If you are writing about your heritage or cultural ethnicity, you don’t want to accidentally stereotype yourself or make monolithic statements about an entire group of people.

The best way to avoid the above mistakes is to write about things from your personal experience. This essay should be about something so unique and specific to you: only you could have written it!

All Applicants, Prompt 2 (optional)

This section can be used for various purposes, and gives you an optional opportunity for discussing any of the following..

After reading this prompt, perhaps you experienced a great sigh of relief. There may have been a time where you feel as though your academic performance didn’t match your ability, or, more simply, that an academic record is not indicative of you as an entire person.

This prompt gives you the opportunity to explain a blemish on your academic record. It’s important, however, to keep in mind when choosing to write something in the additional information section that you should not simply be making excuses for a bad GPA or trying to downplay getting suspended for cheating—whatever you choose to include should substantially improve upon and develop your application, as well as offer a perspective on your record and on yourself as a person that is not otherwise reflected in your essays.

See CollegeVine’s guide to writing the “exceptional personal circumstances” essay to gain a deeper understanding of what you should and shouldn’t include.

Essentially, this essay should provide explanations, not excuses.

When writing this essay, you should highlight personal responsibility and growth, in place of justifications or apologies.

For example, if you were caught in an academic integrity scandal, it is much more compelling and refreshing to hear you explain how you are a different student and grew from that experience than it would be to read a laundry list of excuses about the pressure you were under.

This is also the place to discuss any personal hardships you experienced during your high school experience. It’s important to remember the gravity of this question—the school cites “death or illness of a parent, caring for a family member, homelessness, frequent moves, or due to learning disabilities/differences or study habits” as possible reasons.

Also note that while the year 2020 may have been difficult for you, it affected most students in similar ways, at least with regard to the disruption to normal studies. It would probably be best to avoid writing about this time, but if you do choose to write about this disruption to learning in 2020, make sure to make it as personal as possible.

For example, perhaps you didn’t have a reliable computer or internet at home, or maybe you were splitting your time taking care of your siblings while trying to study. The more specific you are, the more the admissions panel is able to see you as a holistic candidate.

Finally, remember that this prompt is optional . If you truly don’t have any substantial reason to respond to this prompt, that’s completely fine. Don’t try to make up an academic struggle or place undue importance on a trivial matter just to write this essay.

Prompt: Please tell us about a specific enthusiasm that showcases your curiosity and intellectual engagement with the world. Your chosen enthusiasm or passion can be from any domain—academic, artistic, scientific, cultural, or any other area that has captivated your interest. Be thoughtful and provide concrete examples to support your response. (500 words)

This prompt is meant to gauge who you are as a person, beyond just your abilities as a student. That said, an open-ended prompt like this one is both a blessing and a challenge. On the one hand, the endless number of interests to share about yourself can serve as a strength, as there aren’t really any limitations to the essay you can write. On the other hand, because it’s so open-ended, it can be daunting to figure out which is the perfect passion to choose.

The passion you write about doesn’t necessarily have to be a traditional extracurricular activity, but you might still want to take a peek at our guide to writing the extracurricular activities essay for some tips!

First and foremost, it’s important to follow the prompt—i.e., to select only one passion. Perhaps one passion is so essential to your identity that you already know what you’re going to share. More likely than not, though, you might be struggling to identify a singular topic that encapsulates your essence.

Before you begin writing, it’s important that you select a strong topic. When choosing a passion, you need to be sincere. Don’t write about a topic you aren’t really passionate about just because you think the admissions committee wants to read about it. An authentic topic will always make for a better essay than some random extravagant one.

To begin, you might draft a list of formative interests, things that have come to define who you are. This could be anything from chemistry to horseback riding. The passion you choose should ideally reveal a greater truth about yourself—something that the reader wouldn’t know about you from the rest of your application. If you’re still struggling, you might think about what passion or interests your friends or family might share to describe what you’re about.

You might also draft a list of experiences that fall into certain emotional categories (i.e. pride, fear, excitement, jealousy). By breaking down these experiences into subcategories, it might be an easier way to access your best memories with certain activities or subjects.

Good essays often begin in the middle of a story—this technique is called beginning in medias res. Starting right in the midst of the action makes for an engaging hook. Try using an anecdote and beginning with a feeling or a setting. The word count is large enough to put this technique to good use, and you’ll want to capture your reader’s attention as quickly as possible.

For example, a student who loves playing classical guitar might begin her essay like this:

“My fingers pluck each string deliberately but delicately. My foot taps quietly along, keeping rhythm like a metronome. I am at peace, once again practicing classical guitar like I have every day for the past ten years. That seems long already, but there is still so much to learn.

As each mellifluous note wafts through the air, I am filled with the joy of knowing there is another technique to master, another piece to play, another obstacle to conquer. Playing classical pieces is more than a hobby; it is a challenge, an opportunity to honor something that transcends time.”

This is a strong start to a response for a number of reasons:

• First, it uses very evocative language to great effect, painting a vivid picture of the passion.
• Second, it describes in detail the emotions the passion evokes and the reason it elicits joy in the student.
• Finally, it showcases the student’s perspective in a way that cannot be misconstrued. This student is clearly intellectually stimulated by this passion, dedicated to it, and industrious when it comes to practicing—all excellent qualities to bring to the University of Oregon.

Best of all, all of those reasons have been established in under 100 words! As you can see, there is an immense amount of freedom to exercise your creative writing skills.

There are techniques besides in medias res anecdotes. For example, you might begin with a bold claim:

“My mother begged me not to do it.”

“To be completely honest, I’ve never been much of an athlete.”

Or, you might start with a question, a statistic, or an interesting fact:

“When a dive is being adjudicated, there are four essential criteria: your approach and starting position; your take-off from the platform or springboard; your flight through the air; and your entry into the water.”

The main idea is to have a strong hook that will make your reader want to keep reading. Once you accomplish that, you can move on to the body of the essay. This is where you should detail the passion, when and how it developed, what it means to you, how you feel when you partake in it, etc.

It’s also important that you write positively about yourself. While that doesn’t mean the essay has to be an uplifting piece about how amazing and fantastic you are, you should make sure not to tell a story that might be misinterpreted or misunderstood by the admissions panel. If the passion you write about involves directly ignoring a reasonable rule set by your high school’s administration—or worse, the law—for example, that will signal to the admissions community that you are constantly “defying authority.”

Besides illegal activities, you’ll want to avoid writing about the following things, some of which we’ve discussed already:

• Something you aren’t actually involved/interested in.
• Something you already wrote about elsewhere (or intend to include elsewhere later).
• Something you think sounds impressive that you aren’t too invested in.
• And just because it bears repeating, don’t write about defying authority/breaking the law!

The end of your essay should have some reflection. What did you learn from this experience? In what ways are you different from how you were when you first discovered the passion? How do you plan to apply any lessons the passion taught you in the future?

Whatever passion you choose, both you and the admissions officers reading your essay should be able to answer this question—Why share this passion? If you feel like you can answer this question with a response like “it showcases your grit,” “it demonstrates that you’re an intellectually curious person,” “it exemplifies your love for your family,” etc., then you’re off to a great start.

Architecture and Interior Architecture Major Applicants, Prompt 1

Describe your engagement with an experience, activity, or creative project (as in art, construction, or craft, etc.) that has influenced your interest in design. what did you learn from this experience (350 words).

This extracurricular essay prompt is asking you to write about a specific experience, activity, or project that has inspired your interest in Oregon’s architecture program. When thinking about what experience you might write about, make a list of some top contenders then ask yourself these questions about each of them:

1) Is this the activity/project in which you have shown the most commitment to the field? Has it been the most influential experience in your development?

2) What is the strongest emotion you feel about this experience?

• Why do you feel that emotion?
• How has that emotion evolved over time?
• What is/was your emotional state during the experience?

3) What goes through your mind at the moment that you participate in this activity/project?

4) Have you developed or strengthened any personality traits as a result of participating in this activity/project? If so, what are they and how have they changed over time?

5) Are there any specific skills that you have developed as a result of participating in this activity?

6) How does this activity affect the rest of your life? This can include other activities, your social life, academics, etc.

Your approach to answering this prompt will be different based on whether you choose to discuss an activity or a creative project.

If you choose to discuss an activity you’ve partaken in, then you’ll want to select an one that has truly and profoundly influenced your interest in design. Outline specifically what this experience was and what your role in it was.

For example, say a hypothetical student was an Instructional Design Intern at a plastic manufacturing company. They would want to focus on explaining what their role in the organization was and how they made an impact. They could write the following:

“As a design intern, I conducted material science research and provided administrative support to a team to develop a new type of packaging—one that is made from more sustainable materials than plastic and paper. My work helped create more environmentally friendly packaging that is biodegradable, and it will reduce the microplastic waste that ends up in the world’s soils and oceans.”

If you chose to discuss a specific project, you will want to outline the creative process. For example, a hypothetical applicant could talk about how they always start a creative project by taking a walk through a local park listening to calming music. Here is an example of a paragraph they might write:

“Before every creative project, I always go on a calming walk through the trails of my local park. This helps clear my mind of everything that isn’t related to the project and gives me creative ideas while I am immersed in the nature around me. Once I finish my walk, I go back to my house and begin jotting down the different ideas for 15 minutes straight. I write down anything and everything that comes to mind without worrying about whether or not it will make for a good project—I just want the creative ideas to flow.”

This could serve as a plausible way to explain how your creativity serves your projects, and it shows how these projects influence your curiosity in the domain of design.

After choosing either an activity or a project, make sure to discuss what you learned from that experience. Do not just simply state that you learned how to draw an elephant, for example. Instead, if you created a colorful painting of a forest or garden, write that you learned how to blend certain colors to achieve a desired effect and form a complete picture.

Architecture and Interior Architecture Major Applicants, Prompt 2

Why have you decided to study this design program please expand on relevant experiences and motivations that have shaped your desire to apply to the major. (350 words).

This prompt is sort of a cross between the common “Why This College” prompt and “Why This Major” prompt . Be sure to look at both articles to get a good idea of how to tackle this prompt. It’s different from either one in that it asks about a specific program as opposed to the University as a whole or one particular major. The first step when writing your essay is to do your research .

Go through the University web pages about the program and the department as a whole , noting the specific features and offerings that pique your interest. You’ll want to demonstrate that you are truly committed to this program and uniquely suited for it by mentioning specific appealing resources by name.

Here are strategies to consider for this prompt:

1. Zero in on your academics.

Discuss in depth how Oregon’s program matches your goals. While you discuss this idea broadly, be sure to also mention specifics about the program that serve your goals better than any other school or program could.

For example, a hypothetical student might be interested in obtaining a Bachelor of Interior Architecture. The student could write an essay about how the major program interests them because it would uniquely allow them to explore their passion for connecting virtual reality to the architecture of the real world.

They could then mention specific resources that the program offers to help them achieve their learning goal, including: a class called “Introduction to Architectural Computer Graphics,” Professor Siobhan Rockcastle’s virtual reality research into building skylights, and virtual reality architectural design exhibitions on campus.

Highlighting these specific resources and reasons for choosing the major program will make the student stand out, and will show that they are passionate enough about UO’s offerings to do research into its offerings that set it apart from other schools.

2. Link opportunities to your skills and experiences.

Be sure to connect your extracurriculars, high school classes, and general life stories to your academic interests. Show that you’re a good fit for the program by highlighting relevant prior experiences with topics that are central to the program.

For example, if a hypothetical student worked in construction in the past, they might talk about how they gained a deeper understanding of how houses are built. They could then explain how gaining this knowledge inspired them to pursue an architecture major with a focus on townhome design.

Maybe they also visited a lot of museums, churches, and other buildings with rich histories, and they were fascinated by the methods each architect took in the design and construction processes. This would explain their interest in studying architecture and their desire to one day recreate historical styles for a new era.

3. Discuss unique features of the program.

For instance, one key aspect that a hypothetical student could highlight in their essay is that Oregon’s design program heavily emphasizes a hands-on approach throughout their curriculum. Their essay would talk about their appreciation for the fact that students are given their own work area in studios and are granted a high degree of independence.

Another specific detail that their essay might include is that Oregon’s faculty members focus on having discussions about students’ work rather than giving letter grades, so that students can gain constructive feedback and learn from their mistakes.

No matter which approach you take, mentioning specifics about the program will help the admissions officers envision you as a student in it. Just be sure that you do good enough research to discuss these resources, people, and opportunities with some depth. If your research was lackluster and you just name-drop things without elaboration, your essay will seem insincere and unfocused.

Where to Get Your University of Oregon Essays Edited

Do you want feedback on your Oregon essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

Villanova University 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 15

You Have: 

Villanova 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 250 words, 1 short response of 150 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Oddball , Community

Essay #1: Villanova Free Choice (2023-24)

For the first Villanova-specific essay, we have offered a range of topics to pique your interest. We hope to gain a deeper understanding of your thoughts, experiences, and opinions. Choose one of the five topics below and submit a written response in about 250 words.

Prompt 1: St. Augustine states that well-being is “not concerned with myself alone, but with my neighbor’s good as well.” How have you advocated for equity and justice in your communities? 

If you choose this prompt, then social justice is probably pretty important to you. And you don’t have to be a protest organizer to impress admissions here. It can be just as bold to engage in a dialogue with family members from older generations on controversial topics or utilize your creativity to draw informative comics breaking down complex issues for Instagram. If you’re feeling stuck, maybe start by thinking about the topics that are most important to you. What keeps you up at night? Gun violence? Corporate greed? Food deserts? Next, think about what steps you’ve taken in your life to create change, inform, and/or organize. Ultimately, the key to writing an excellent response to this prompt is in the details. Don’t just tell Villanova about something you’ve advocated for recently; tell them why you did so, and maybe even share how you would like to continue engaging with or fighting for equity and justice in the future.

Prompt 2: As an Augustinian community, we believe that you should see people for who they are. Please share with us a time when you were misjudged based on your identity or background.

This prompt will likely stick out to students who know what it’s like to be reduced to one aspect of their background or identity, and odds are, you have a specific memory in mind. As you write your response, you’ll want to make sure you summarize your account as succinctly as possible; that way, you can dedicate most of your words to discussing your feelings and experience. Since you only have 250 words to work with, you won’t be able to write a lengthy thesis on the general public’s preconceived notions about people who appear different from them, but you can reveal more information about your background and experiences. Share what it’s like living in a world where stories are often assigned to you before you have the chance to introduce yourself and offer admissions deeper insight into who you are in the process.

Prompt 3: In the Villanova community, we learn from one another. What is a lesson in life that you have learned that you would want to share with others? 

If you find yourself drawn to this prompt, we’re willing to bet you’ve learned a thing or two in your life that you want to share with others. By all means, lean into your instincts. In order to ace your response, show admissions that you are capable of thoughtful reflection, seeing different sides, adopting a growth mindset, and/or sharing with the world so that others can avoid suffering. Maybe you learned a lesson about the gift of the here and now after losing a relative in an abrupt way. Or, perhaps, you wish to tell your peers, “They’re not judging you! They’re too busy thinking about themselves!” Whatever your life lesson may be, we encourage you to leave some space to share why this lesson is valuable and who you think will benefit from your advice.

Prompt 4: At Villanova, we often say “each of us strengthens all of us.” In a time of personal challenges, how do you borrow from the strength of others? 

Life can be difficult—especially during college when you’re becoming a whole adult—and when it is, we often turn to loved ones for support. Borrowing from the strength of others requires humility and vulnerability, which are wonderful traits for any community member to have. After all, even though the word itself isn’t mentioned, “community” is at the heart of this prompt. Many applicants are likely to think of a beloved mentor who has guided them through periods of hardship in the past. It’s important to remember, as you write, that this essay is about you, so don’t spend too many words describing the actions of others. Instead, showcase your ability to connect, to be inspired, to see yourself as part of something bigger than yourself. Ultimately, the kind of person who can borrow from the strength of others is likely to lend strength to others in times of need and will make an excellent addition to any college campus.

Essay #2: Why Villanova?

Why do you want to call villanova your new home and become part of our community (150 words).

A classic short why essay. This is the time to do some research on Villanova’s course offerings and extracurriculars, and then show admissions why this particular university stands out from the crowd for you. Don’t be afraid to go deep! Beyond the classes and professors in your desired academic department, explore the options for other subjects you’ve always wanted to study. Learn about clubs and special events on campus to get a feel for student life. Read over the school’s mission statement to get to know the community both in and around the campus. You might even want to read up on the notable alumni you admire and provide examples as to how they inspired you to attend! By the time you’re done, you’ll have a whole list of reasons for wanting to call Villanova your new home. Now all you have to do is arrange them. Think about telling a story that illustrates your path to Villanova and shows admissions that this community is the perfect place for you to pursue your degree.

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Medical Humanities Scholars Program

The Honors College and the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine are pleased to offer this exciting opportunity to a small number of incoming freshmen each year. In this sequential BA/MD program, Medical Humanities Scholars design unique interdisciplinary programs that allow them to enhance their study of medicine with other areas of academic interest from the humanities, arts, and social sciences.

Why Study the Medical Humanities?

Medicine is both art and science. It is the art of understanding humankind in the context of disease — not just recognizing or diagnosing the pathological condition, but seeing how an individual's disease is a product of his or her environment, constitution, and personality. By exploring medicine through the lenses of the historian, the ethicist, the sociologist, the anthropologist, the writer, and the visual artist, students gain insights into the nature of the human condition, human suffering, personhood, and the responsibilities of individuals to one another in sickness and in health. These insights are valuable for both the aspiring clinician and anyone who will someday get sick and seek medical care. The history of medicine, for example, can provide orientation in a discipline that is changing at a dizzying pace — presenting a picture of where medicine has been, how it is evolving, and what promises and challenges its future may hold. The study of bioethics and medical ethics offers a vital reminder that medicine is a social enterprise that must balance cultural values and moral principles with scientific goals. Literature and the visual arts can convey the personal experiences of sickness and healing, revealing the subjective side of clinical care. Sociologists and anthropologists illuminate the ways in which professional and popular cultures interact, alternately clashing with and complimenting one another. Taken together, these disciplines offer both physicians-in-training and healthcare "consumers" an enriched understanding of the dynamic relationships between medicine and the larger social world.

History of the Program

In 2000, the University of Oklahoma Honors College and the College of Medicine created a partnership to further the study of humanities in relation to medicine. Today, at the Honors College there are two programs for students interested in pursuing study in the medical humanities: the Medical Humanities  Scholars Program (MHSP) and the Medical Humanities Minor. MHSP students can take advantage of the revised curriculum at the College of Medicine, including electives such as "history of medicine," "literature and medicine," "photography and medicine" and "medicine and spirituality," for second-year students. Likewise, students not in the MHSP who have chosen to complete an MH minor have taken advantage of the Medical Humanities Minor, focusing their studies on topics such as the politics of AIDS vaccine development, the bioethics of cross-cultural medical practice, music therapy, and the history of sports medicine. 

Application Process and Timeline 

We strongly recommend students apply to the university of oklahoma before december 1st in order to receive acceptance and be able to access the medical humanities application..

• Application opens: September 15th, 2023
• Applications closes: January 15th, 2024
• Interview letters sent out: Early March 2024
• Interviews scheduled: Mid March 2024
• Zoom interviews are conducted: 22 and 25 March 2024
• Offers made to selected finalists: late March- early April 2024
• Acceptance letters mailed out: May 2024

*dates are subject to change.

Apply 

The Medical Humanities Scholars Program application can be accessed through the Honors College application

MHSP Application

Medical Humanities Scholars Program Forms

MHSP Medical Humanities minor course plan PDF

Note: This form is only for medical humanities scholars, students that are minoring in medical humanities and not medical humanities scholars can find their forms under the Medical Humanities Minor tab.

Frequently Asked Questions

The deadline to apply to the program is January, 15th 2024

We recommend students apply to the university before December 1st in order to receive acceptance and be able to access the Medical Humanities Application.

• Application opens-  September 15th, 2023 
• Application closes-  January 15th, 2024
• Interview letters sent out- Mid February 2024
• Interviews Scheduled- Early March 2024
• Zoom Interviews are conducted in- Third week of March 2024
• Selected finalists letters mailed out- April 2024

Provisional acceptance means that a spot is waiting for you at the OU College of Medicine if you achieve an MCAT score and a GPA that are equal to or higher than the average MCAT score and GPA of the previous year's incoming medical school class. Typically, this is an MCAT score of approximately 509 and a science GPA of approximately 3.72.

•  A record of very high overall academic achievement.
•  Admission to the University of Oklahoma
• Admission to the Honors College

PLEASE NOTE: You are STRONGLY encouraged to submit your OU application by  December 1st. This gives us enough time to process your Honors application and your MHSP application. Applying to OU after 1 December may jeopardize your consideration for the MHSP.

There are no specific non-academic characteristics that are required for consideration or acceptance into the MHSP. In general, however, we look for students with the following attributes:

• A variety of extracurricular interests 
• A firm commitment to a career in medicine as a physician 
• A familiarity with clinical medicine (usually gained through volunteer activities and physician "shadowing")
• Knowledge of the problems facing the practice of medicine today.
• Genuine and demonstrated interest in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
• Exceptional maturity.
• Evidence of altruism as displayed through a variety of volunteer or community-service activities.

No preference is given to Oklahoma residents.

No. Please do not include ANY supplemental materials with your MHSP application. In order to keep everyone's application on a level playing field, we will review only the MHSP application itself. We will not examine any supplementary documents such as a resume, letters of support, or a transcript.

Yes. You will need to take the MCAT. See the average MCAT score for the latest entering class above.

Yes. The Medical Humanities Minor, administered through the Honors College, is open to any honors-eligible (3.4 GPA) student enrolled at OU. This way, all high-achieving students at the university may enrich their understanding of the social, cultural, ethical, political, economic, and spiritual dimensions of health, disease, and healing. Through the MH minor, you can enjoy all the curricular components of the MHSP. 

On average we receive over 200 applications per year from 30+ states. We invite approximately 20 applicants for online ZOOM interviews.

Of the students invited to interview for the MHSP (approx.20), between 5 and 8 students are accepted into the program.

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