supplemental essays in college

The Ultimate Guide to Writing College Supplemental Essays

What are supplemental essays? Our top tips for writing supplemental essays that move the needle on your admissions decisions.

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Supplemental essays are a key component of any good college admissions strategy. These small but powerful essays are a great way to differentiate yourself, particularly at competitive schools. This blog dives into what they are, how they differ from your personal essay, and how to write them well.

What is a supplemental essay?

A supplemental essay is an additional essay that colleges ask applicants to write alongside their personal statement. These essays usually respond to specific prompts that reflect a school's values, interests, or expectations. Colleges use supplemental essays to gather more personalized information about an applicant beyond grades and test scores, allowing students to showcase how they align with the institution’s academic programs, culture, and community.

Image is of a backpack, book and notebook. Text addresses the difference between personal and supplemental college essays.

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What is the difference between a personal essay and a supplemental essay?

A personal essay and a supplemental essay have different purposes in the college admissions process and each have a unique focus. The personal essay is not tied to any specific school and the topics are often decided by the Common Application or its alternative, the Coalition application. Supplemental essays, on the other hand, are school-specific, often asking applicants to answer targeted questions or prompts related to that particular institution.

The primary purpose of the personal essay is to allow the applicant to share something significant about themselves, their experiences, and their personal or intellectual journey. It is more general and focuses on who you are as a person. Typically, this essay provides an opportunity to communicate your character, values, and how past experiences have shaped you. It can touch on personal growth, challenges, aspirations, and passions.

Conversely, supplemental essays help admissions officers understand why you want to attend that school, how your academic and personal goals align with what the institution offers, and how you will contribute to their campus community. For example, many schools ask "Why this college?", where you are expected to demonstrate knowledge about the school and how it fits into your academic goals. Supplemental essays can also explore your academic interests, potential majors, or specific aspects of your identity.

What should I write my supplemental essay about?

Your supplemental essay should effectively address the prompt provided by the school and tie into the overall ethos, or theme, of your application. You should use the supplemental essay strategically and tailor your response to each school and program. It should reflect your genuine interest in the college, and highlight how you fit with their programs, culture, and values.

How long does it take to finish a supplemental essay?

How long it takes to finish a supplemental essay varies widely. How confident you are in what you are writing, how easy it is for you to write, and how long you want to give yourself to proofread and make edits all determine how long it takes to write a supplemental essay. That being said, supplemental essays are generally short (250 words or less) and a first draft can typically be written in 20-30 minutes. It is the refining process that makes the process longer, as well as the total number of supplemental essays you need to write.

Image is of a stack of books. Text covers the different type of supplemental essays seen in college applications and the purpose of each.

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What Are the Different Types of Supplemental Essays?

There are many different topics - and even formats - of supplemental essays: far too many to list them all! Below we cover a few of the most common and what colleges are looking to see in each.

1. "Why Us?" Essays

Purpose : Schools like Cornell and Penn use these essays to assess applicants’ knowledge of the institution’s unique resources and culture. This prompts students to demonstrate genuine interest in the school’s specific programs and values.
What Colleges Seek : Admissions readers look for evidence that the applicant has researched their institution and can articulate a specific fit, including majors, faculty, clubs, and research opportunities. Authenticity, specificity, and alignment with the institution's ethos are key.

2. Intellectual Curiosity or Academic Passion Essays

Purpose : Universities often request essays that reveal a student’s passion for a subject area, like public health, environmental science, or data science.
What Colleges Seek : Schools like UChicago encourage unique, thought-provoking approaches, pushing students to demonstrate an inquisitive, critical-thinking mindset. Admissions officers assess how the student's curiosity translates into research, community projects, or in-depth self-study, seeing it as a precursor to academic contributions on campus.

3. Community Impact or Service Essays

Purpose : Prompts related to community service and impact ask students to detail their contributions to their local or school communities, illustrating their awareness and proactive involvement in societal issues.
What Colleges Seek : Colleges value stories that highlight students’ proactive problem-solving, empathy, and long-term commitment. This demonstrates a capacity for leadership and a civic-minded approach to challenges that will benefit the campus community.

4. Identity and Perspective Essays

Purpose : Many top schools ask about applicants' personal backgrounds, often phrased as questions about their identities or unique viewpoints.
What Colleges Seek : Admissions committees evaluate how students’ identities inform their values and perspectives. For example, writing on “identity” at a reach school like Penn might require an introspective, nuanced answer that showcases critical thought rather than a straightforward description of heritage.

5. Video Supplements

Purpose : Video essays or supplements are a newer trend where students are asked to answer a prompt via a short, recorded video. These formats offer admissions committees a chance to observe a student’s personality, passion, and communication skills directly. Brown University has become particularly known for its requirement of a video supplement.
What Colleges Seek : Schools use video supplements to assess applicants’ engagement and authenticity, giving them insight into their character and enthusiasm in a way that written essays can’t always capture. The videos also allow students to add a new dimension to their application narrative, such as creative flair or humor, as well as real-time responses to potentially unrehearsed questions.

Do colleges really look at supplemental essays?

Colleges definitely look at supplemental essays. Since the personal essay is a multipurpose essay often used for all or most of the schools to which a student is applying, the supplemental essay(s) gives admissions officers the chance to really understand why a student is interested in a specific program or school. They are particularly important as a differentiator for highly selective schools and programs, since many applicants will have strong grades and test scores. The supplemental essay is where you can emphasize unique experiences, perspectives, and academic interests that align with the college’s programs.

Supplemental Essays in 2024

When will the supplemental essay prompts for 2024-2025 be released.

The 2024-2025 supplemental essay prompts were released over the summer of 2024 and can be found in the Common Application portal under the “Writing Supplement” Section (sometimes called “Other” or “Additional Essay”) for each school to which you are applying.

When Do Schools Release Supplemental Essays?

Supplemental Essay prompts are officially released on Aug 1 each year for the Common Application. Individual schools may choose to release their supplemental essays slightly earlier in July or later in August. Schools change their supplemental essays frequently so make sure you are using the correct prompts for your admissions cycle before beginning.

Colleges Without Supplemental Essays

Not all colleges choose to use supplemental essays ( here’s a nice list) . In some cases the supplemental essays are optional. If your school does not require supplemental essays but offers them, it is definitely advantageous to complete them.

How To Write A Supplemental Essay: 7 Tips For A Good Essay

To write a strong supplemental essay, our Director of College Admissions, John Morgenelli, Jr., shares his top tips based on the BluePrint Method he developed and his insights from years in the college admissions space.

Understand the Ethos of the Essay. The ethos is the core message or character of your essay. It should align with the prompt and strategically reflect your application narrative. Before writing, ask yourself: What message am I trying to convey through this essay? Your ethos should make clear your values, interests, and the role you would play at the university. Each supplemental essay should contribute to your overall narrative, complementing other parts of your application.
Tailor Your Response to Each School. Each college has its own unique culture and expectations, so it’s crucial to tailor your responses accordingly. Schools often ask for essays about why you want to attend or how you would contribute to their community. Research the specific programs, faculty, and opportunities that align with your goals, and reflect those details in your essay. Show that you’ve done your homework and understand how you fit into the school’s environment.
Be Specific and Personal. Avoid vague or overly general answers. Use concrete examples from your experiences to illustrate your points. If you’re discussing a future academic interest, describe specific engagements or research projects you've been involved with that align with the program you’re applying to. Personalizing your response by connecting it to your own narrative makes your essay more authentic and engaging.
Be Creative and Thought-Provoking. Especially for reach schools, it’s important to stand out with creativity and originality. When choosing prompts or topics, consider those that allow you to showcase your unique perspective. Approach the essay in an unexpected way—avoid clichés and predictable answers. Think of creative ways to address the prompt, like challenging an assumption or posing an intriguing question.
Use an Intellectual and Strategic Tone. Admissions committees are looking for critical thinkers. Even in personal essays, demonstrate depth of thought by explaining why your experiences or interests matter in the broader context of your future goals. Don’t just state facts—reflect on them and discuss how they have shaped your intellectual journey and potential contributions to the college.
Create a Coherent Narrative Across Essays. Each supplemental essay should serve a purpose within your overall application, contributing to a cohesive narrative. If one essay focuses on your academic interests, another might highlight your leadership or community involvement. Together, they should paint a full picture of who you are and what you will bring to the school.
Be Honest, but Strategic. While authenticity is important, your essays should also be strategic. Focus on the aspects of your personality and experience that best align with the program and the ethos of the school. If you’re not sure which qualities to highlight, consider what the school values most (e.g., intellectual curiosity, leadership, collaboration) and emphasize those traits in your essays.

By following these strategies, you can craft supplemental essays that not only stand out but also complement your overall application narrative, making you a more compelling candidate.

If you’re concerned about the strength of your supplemental essays, or have yet to craft an overall application strategy, consider working with Ivy Tutors Network. We offer college essay coaching , college admissions coaching , and our trademarked BluePrint plan to help you achieve your college admissions goals.

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The Ultimate Guide to Supplemental College Application Essays (Examples Included)

Learn how to impress admissions committees through any type of school-specific supplemental essay prompt plus strategies for tackling essays of various lengths.

Two students working on supplemental college essays at a library

We recommend using this resource alongside our College Supplemental Essay Premium Example Hub , which includes a sample essay in response to every prompt required by the top universities and BS/MD programs in the United States.

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: from outlining to writing.

The 600-word essay

The 500-word essay

The 150–250-word or other very short essay, part 3: types of secondary and supplemental essays.

The “why us” essay

Tell us more about an extracurricular

Design a class/a major

Tell us about your major

Diversity-in-community essay, part 4: frequently asked questions.

If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably finished the most challenging part of your college application process, the Common App essay, i.e. personal statement. In that case, major congratulations are in order!

Now it’s time to address the various supplemental or secondary essays that schools like Harvard , Princeton , Yale , Stanford , and many others will ask you to write. Whereas some universities will require you to complete one additional essay, other schools will ask you to complete multiple essays. In addition, the essay lengths will vary from school to school and from prompt to prompt, ranging in length from 25 characters to 650 or more words.

Some students think they should treat their personal statement as the main “essay question” on the test and consider the supplemental essays as “short answer” questions. While it’s true that your personal statement almost always allows you the most space to share an aspect of who you are, it’s important that you treat your supplementals with the same rigor.

Admissions committees use your secondary essays to augment the story they have assembled about you as a candidate from your Common App essay and your recommendations. They are looking for more details that confirm and expand what they know about you, and which neither contradict nor repeat what they’ve already learned from your personal statement.

Let’s replace the “essay question” and “short answer” analogy we hear from students a lot with an interview analogy. Your Common App essay is the initial answer you get to give the interviewer when they say, “Tell me about yourself.” You deliver that with excellent posture and careful word choice. Now, as the interview continues, and the questions become things like, “Why would you like to attend our school?” and “What’s your favorite snack?” and “Can you elaborate more on your favorite extracurricular?” you don’t want to kick off your shoes, slouch in your chair, and develop a sudden drawl as you respond to your interviewer.

Realizing that the supplemental essays are, well, still essays that require outlining, planning, and editing, some students can freeze up. You’ve just completed a mammoth task of squeezing yourself into your personal statement and now you have to write more ?

The good news is that the skills and rhythms you developed while writing your personal statement remain applicable for your supplemental essays. If you haven’t worked through our step-by-step guide to writing your Common App Essay or viewed our college essay examples , go do that now, and you’ll be well prepared for your supplemental essays shortly.

In preparing for your Common App essay, you likely left some material “on the cutting room floor,” so to speak—meaning you probably thought about topics or experiences that moved you but weren’t “the one” for your personal statement. Now is your chance to make use of that excess!

The exercises and prompts we used to prepare for the Common App personal statement can serve as excellent material for addressing the many types of questions that come up in the supplemental essays. The difference is how you’ll apply them to the formats of your supplemental essays, which are generally shorter.

Here’s a general strategy for approaching essays of varying lengths. We’ll tackle examples of the essays themselves by subject matter shortly.

The 650-word essay

In this essay, a college may simply give you a chance to write another Common App-style personal statement.

Let’s take a look at some example prompts from Pitzer College : At Pitzer, five core values distinguish our approach to education: social responsibility, intercultural understanding, interdisciplinary learning, student engagement and environmental sustainability. As agents of change, our students utilize these values to create solutions to our world’s challenges. Please answer only ONE of the following prompts (650 words maximum)

Reflecting on your involvement throughout high school or within the community, how have you engaged with one of Pitzer’s core values?

Describe what you are looking for from your college experience and why Pitzer would be a good fit for you.

Pitzer is known for our students’ intellectual and creative activism. If you could work on a cause that is meaningful to you through a project, artistic, academic, or otherwise, what would you do?

Strategies for this essay: It’s the personal statement 2.0—so lather, rinse, repeat! Go through your materials from your Common App essay pre-writing phase, including the list of topics you made originally, and choose the one that almost made the cut for your personal statement. Outline it with the same rigor and attention that you gave the Common App!

This means you’re using your traditional five-paragraph essay tools. You’ll need an intro paragraph with a lede or hook of some sort, a billboard paragraph, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You will likely want to follow our personal statement model of linking your essay to at least one anecdote or specific story.

Need inspiration for your Common App personal statement? Click below for instant access to 25 full-length example essays including advanced breakdowns of why they resonate with admissions committees.

Gain instant access to 25 exclusive full-length examples covering all seven prompts, plus comprehensive analyses for each to help you craft stellar essays.

Here’s an example prompt from Rice University : Rice is lauded for creating a collaborative atmosphere that enhances the quality of life for all members of our campus community. The Residential College System and undergraduate life is heavily influenced by the unique life experiences and cultural tradition each student brings. What life perspectives would you contribute to the Rice community? (500 word limit)

Strategies for this essay: With just 500 words to work with here, we might want to think slightly smaller or more contained than a five-paragraph essay revolving around an anecdote or personal experience. Instead, let’s think in terms of the following units:

A topic or thesis statement that unites the question with your personal experience.

Some evidence, drawing on personal history, that supports the thesis statement.

The one-line zinger that ensures the committee knows you read the question and are answering it.

Here they are again, with examples based on our student Ramya, whom you met during the personal-statement-writing process.

A topic or thesis statement that unites the question with your personal experience

Ramya came up with a number of things that make her uniquely “her,” and which her friends, family, teachers, and counselors would all recognize as her. She’s planning on studying medicine but is a rabid sports fan, loves football and soccer, and is also a loyal friend. Ramya is also Indian American and comes from a small town in California where being Asian doesn’t actually make her a minority. So, while some students might choose to write about race or identity or other things we traditionally think of when thinking of “diversity,” Ramya’s mind doesn’t go there. Instead, she thinks about… Harry Potter. Hold that thought. Here’s what she thought about when asked to consider what made her different:

I grew up in a community full of ambitious people, all of whom were told to be leaders. What makes me unlike them? I’m not the one who stands up at the front of the room to try to run things. I’m the one who makes them run, behind the scenes. In fact, I’m the dependable one, the loyal one...

Ramya's personal experience has shown her that this makes her different.

So, what about Harry Potter? Here’s how Ramya articulates this to her readers:

I was raised on J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. As a kid, I remember friends choosing which house they thought they’d be sorted into: brave in Gryffindor, smart in Ravenclaw, ambitious in Slytherin, and… everyone else in Hufflepuff. Rowling says Hufflepuffs are the “loyal and true.” But when friends and I talked about landing up as a badger, it seemed like we were doomed.

Some evidence, drawing on personal history, that supports the thesis statement

Now, just as we used anecdotes and set scenes for readers while writing the personal statement, we want to do something similar here. But we don’t have time for Ramya to walk us through the room where her heart pounded as she revealed herself to be a Hufflepuff. We have to move more efficiently this time, without sacrificing specificity. One way to do that is by writing in a list, as Ramya did here:

Strangely, though, as we got older, it was exactly my Hufflepuff qualities that my friend group seemed to depend on the most. “You might belong in Hufflepuff,” the Sorting Hat sings, “where they are just and loyal.” Hufflepuffs are “patient,” “true,” and “unafraid of toil.” It’s not a thrilling description! No bravery, no promises of ruling the world here. But those words all seemed to describe me. During my junior year, I found my friends turning to me after the loss of a classmate. We needed people to organize an assembly, a memorial, and a charity in the classmate’s name. My school was going through a difficult time, and everyone was trying to contribute in their way. But we were all young and new to grief, which meant we didn’t always know how to get things right. Some people were quick to speak or write about the classmate, believing that someone had to take a leadership role. Others felt uncomfortable and tried to move on past it entirely. I was quiet, as I often am, but when I saw how many ways people were trying to respond, I realized we didn’t need another “leader” to step in. We needed loyal followers and patient workers to follow through on the many initiatives that people were trying to start in the wake of this classmate’s passing.

The one-line zinger that ensures the committee knows you read the question and are answering it

Because many essays are like opening a door to a larger conversation, it can be easy to wander through the door and begin pacing around the interesting room you have discovered on the other side. But don’t forget your manners! At some point you have to make sure you acknowledge that a specific door was opened. Leaving that metaphor before we wring it dry: in plain terms, remember that, unlike in the case of the personal statement, the supplemental essays often ask a specific question that you need to ensure you’ve answered. So make sure your concluding statement or one of your last few lines gets into that. This Rice essay has Ramya musing on what makes her “different” (her Hufflepuff-ness) and has sent her into anecdotal territory, remembering her classmate’s loss. But she has to bring it home, and answer that question specifically, not just introduce the committee to something quirky and distinctive about her. Here’s how she does it:

If there’s one thing I, and the generation of kids who grew up on Rowling’s series, learned from those books, it’s that you need all types of people, represented by all four houses. My personality, as a loyal, heads-down, sometimes quiet Hufflepuff, often made me think of myself as boring when I was younger. But for the past year, I’ve seen how it can be a strength, not just to me, but also to the community I belong to. I am applying to Rice early because it feels like a strong community. From the residential college system to the tight-knit campus, I can see myself giving my best Hufflepuff qualities to my classmates and peers during intramural sports tournaments, late-night study sessions, and more—in the face of both everyday trials and larger, scarier moments in life.

Ramya has done a double-whammy here, telling us not only about what the community gets from her unique qualities, but also slipping in an answer to the “Why Rice” question that she’ll soon have one more chance to respond to in full.

An example prompt from Columbia University : Please tell us what from your current and past experiences (either academic or personal) attracts you specifically to the areas of study that you noted in the application. (200 words or fewer)

Strategies for this essay: With a short amount of space to work with, we’re going to need extremely taut and clear sentences. This essay doesn’t need the fancy flourish of anecdotal hooks or ledes; in fact, you can’t back into this essay through narrative. Clarity and direct responses to this kind of question will win you the game. The components of a successful answer to an essay of this length:

A topic sentence that explicitly answers the question that has been asked

Evidence supporting the conclusion (in this case, that neuroscience is the right major for Josh)

A dash of introspection to finish the day

Here’s what Josh, our pianist and soccer player, wrote:

I hope to double-major in neuroscience and behavior and film and media studies at Columbia. Though I may eventually attend medical school, I want to use the liberal arts curriculum at Columbia to explore multiple disciplines as an undergraduate. The combination of neuroscience and film studies might seem surprising to some, but together they pay tribute to the reason I love science at all. My elementary and middle schools didn’t have strong STEM programs, and so my teachers, seeing a student enthusiastic about science, used to put on science documentaries when I’d finished the homework. Watching Stephen Hawking, Oliver Sacks, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, I discovered things that couldn’t have reached me from the textbook. At Columbia, I hope to both take courses that prepare me for a career in neuroscience while also learning documentary filmmaking and production. I hope to intern at least one summer at a production company specializing in science documentaries, and to do a senior project that might eventually see screen time. Whether or not I go on to make films as a career, I know that learning how to communicate complicated ideas to the public will serve me well as a scientist.

Josh’s essay is successful for a number of reasons, but particularly because it not only answers the question (how did you come to your interests), it also specifies the types of classes he’d like to take, summer internships he’d like to pursue, and his eventual goals with both majors. It’s excellent because it’s tailored to Columbia, the asking school; like Ramya’s Rice essay, it serves as an additional mini essay proving Josh’s knowledge of and passion about the school.

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While you can face a number of different types of questions when tackling your secondary and supplemental essays, there are certain prompts and certain genres of prompts that come up again and again. It’s a good idea to be aware of the general types of secondary essays that can come up.

(On the other hand, the University of Chicago is a school that’s famous for coming up with new prompts inspired by its current students each year—a list of current and past questions is available here .)

You’ll notice that many of these secondaries touch on things that you scribbled about way back during your pre-writing phase, while others may ask you to do some thinking about the qualities of the specific college to which you are applying.

We’ve broken down the wild sea of supplemental essays into a few particular types of questions and come up with some strategies with which you can approach the next phase of your application.

The “Why us?” essay

Some colleges will ask you to explain why you’d like to attend their school.

Baylor University : What are you looking for in a university, why do you want to attend Baylor, and how do you see yourself contributing to the Baylor community? (450 words)

Dartmouth College : Dartmouth celebrates the ways in which its profound sense of place informs its profound sense of purpose. As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2028, what aspects of the College's academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? In short, why Dartmouth? (100 words or fewer)

Yale University : What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)

Strategies for addressing the “Why us?” essay:

Work backward. Think about what your big dream is—what or who you hope to become—and identify a few specific things about each college you’re applying to, asking yourself how each one of those is going to help you get there.

Provide a “mini-thesis” for each school rather than a general list of qualities that the school meets for you. Anita, our humanities-oriented student, writes that she’s interested in studying history, and includes a tidbit in her “Why Yale” essay from the campus tour she was able to take about how Yale’s architects were so obsessed with the past that they built the campus to look even older than it is. This jives with her own interest and the fact that Yale has one of the best history departments in the country.

Go beyond the website, and be specific. Don’t restate the “About Baylor” section of the Baylor brochure to the admissions committee—they already know why they offer you a great opportunity. Talk about your experiences with the college you’re applying to—did you visit and hear something from a tour guide, admissions officer, student, or professor? If you couldn’t visit, did you do some online research that got you in touch with some of the big themes a tour guide or info session would hit? Is there a particular class you’ve heard of that’s legendary on campus? A tradition at the school? An alumna/alumnus of the college whose work has inspired you?

Here’s an example of a great “Why us?” essay, responding to Yale’s prompt. Our mock trial champion from our Common App personal essay guide, Anita, was admitted to Yale.

I hope to study history or English, and Yale's departments in both are some of the best in the world. I am drawn to the interdisciplinary humanities offerings, including the Directed Studies program and the Humanities major. A writer, I also hope to work on the Yale Daily News or the Globalist. But it isn't just the caliber of academics that draws me to Yale. It's also the sense that the campus itself is comprised of history and knowledge. From Sterling Memorial Library, literally constructed as a cathedral to knowledge, to the buildings the architects poured acid on to make them look older, I felt a sense of almost ancient respect for intellect when I visited.

Anita’s essay is extremely specific, citing history, English, a freshman academic program, a particular major, two campus publications she wants to write for, and two facts she learned on her campus tour (which you could also get from watching a number of YouTube videos or speaking with local alumni or meeting admissions officers at a local college fair, if you’re not able to visit schools). But it’s also successful because it has a thesis that conveys a dual passion: a personal passion for her own academic interests, and a passion for the school. She converges her personal plans with the spirit of Yale, and that shows the admissions officers that she’s a natural fit.

Some colleges will simply ask for you to elaborate further on an extracurricular activity or class you’ve already mentioned on your Common App activities list . This is the only time you should elaborate further on something already in your application.

An example prompt from Brown University : What is your most meaningful extracurricular commitment, and what would you like us to know about it? (100 words)

Strategies for addressing the extracurricular essay:

Choose an activity that means something to you, or that could benefit from being livened up by your prose. Anita our mock trial champion, chose to write about a wilderness solo. But now would be a good time for her to talk about mock trial—the thing the admissions committee will already know her for, but which now she can add some humanity to, without making it the only thing that defines her.

Don’t write about the same thing you’ve written your Common App Essay on! Josh, who chose piano for his personal statement, will need to pick something else.

Here’s another of Anita’s essays, this one about her mock trial activities. Remember that mock trial is one of Anita’s most obviously impressive activities. She’s nationally competitive, and it will come up in her counselor and teacher recommendations and her national wins will show up on her resumé and lists of awards. But she hasn’t written about it yet. Her job is not to summarize her wins—her recommenders and CV will do that for her—but to tell the admissions committee something they can’t get from other portions of her application.

I spend several Saturdays a semester in front of a room full of people, acting out a story. It is one of the greatest adrenaline rushes I can think of. My role: I am an attorney, for a few hours. My motivation: simple. To win the case.

I’m not in the drama club. I’ve never been on a proper stage. I almost threw up as an eighth-grader at theater camp when I had to improvise a scene. And yet, I thrive as a member of the mock trial team. That’s because when my job is to make sense of a series of arguments, to cross-examine my way to the heart of the trial, and to articulate a clear and powerful closing statement, I am inhabiting my best self. I am Atticus Finch and Clarence Darrow, and, most importantly, me.

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Design a class/major

Some colleges, especially those with a liberal arts foundation, will ask you to come up with a seminar or even reimagine an entire department.

Example prompts:

University of Chicago : Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Pundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History... a full list of unmodified majors ready for your editor’s eye is available here . — Inspired by Josh Kaufman, Class of 2018

University of Notre Dame : During the spring semester, Notre Dame faculty gave 3-Minute Lightning Talks on exciting topics within their fields of expertise. While you don't have a Ph.D. yet, we bet you're developing an expertise in something. If you were giving a Lightning Talk, what topic (academic or not) would you choose? (200 words)

Strategies for this essay: This should be tons of fun—a way of getting to hear you geek out and be creative; it’s a chance for you to show your excitement at the chance to get a broad and varied education. The important thing here is to convey excitement for the reason the college is asking you to do this at all: you’re going to get a chance to study somewhere where your intellectual curiosity is valued.

Here’s Ramya’s answer to an Emory University prompt from a few years back:

If you could create an academic course that is in the Emory University spirit of collaboration, creativity, entrepreneurship and inquiry, what would it be? What impact would the course have on you and your classmates’ educational experience? (500 words)

Why do I love chocolate while my brother gags at the scent of it? Why are some people more attracted to Italian food than Mexican food? Why do we like some foods during the summer, and others during the fall? Can we predict what people might find enjoyable based on their background and attitudes? As an avid foodie, I have always wondered what it is that attracts each person to different tastes.

These are a few of the questions we would answer in my Freshman Seminar class on “Food for Thought.”

We would purchase, cook, and taste foods from all around the world and observe the neurological effects that each has. While there is common knowledge of the basic proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, along with how a good balance should be struck in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle, this new class would focus on the subtle differences in types of signals emitted by the brain when different foods are consumed. Students would be exposed to the theory and practice of neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI and PET scans. We would identify neurotransmitters emitted as a result of the food ingested and study if different parts of the brain “light up” in response to different foods.

Along with creating a brain-food map, students would learn how to use statistically sound methods to study how variables such as a subject’s ethnic background, age, gender, and social attitudes such as open mindedness, correlate with the subject’s likes and dislikes.

This class will also address cultural elements of food. When eating foods from around the world, in order to fully appreciate the dish as a whole, it is important to understand the context surrounding what lands on our plates. We would read short stories or passages and watch excerpts of popular film focused on food from the countries whose cuisine we are testing. Cooking and tasting food together are great ways to bring people together, as seen in many movies such as Ratatouille and The Hundred-Foot Journey.

Not only would this class be informative, but it would also be an engaging, hands-on experience, and would provide freshmen with two valuable experiences during their first year at college—forming community and rethinking their fundamental approaches to academics by introducing them to interdisciplinary thought. “Food for Thought” would expose freshmen to an integrated approach to science while providing a fun environment for freshmen to get to know each other. At the end of the class, all students would have a better understanding of neuroscience as well as an appreciation for different cultures and their unique foods.

Sign us up for Ramya’s class! This is such a vibrant essay for a number of reasons. She’s truly thrown herself into imagining an interdisciplinary topic that converges a fun, light part of her personality—food—with something already on her application—her interest in medicine and neuroscience. She’s also made a few expert moves here, whether consciously or not. By pointing to the “valuable experiences” students need freshman year, she has indicated to the admissions committee that she understands that being a part of Emory involves both community and academics. That’s the kind of person you want on your campus!

Some schools may ask you to apply to a specific professional school or track or having declared a major. Others may ask you to indicate an initial preference. Still others may expect no prior thought about majors.

Cornell University : Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s “any person…any study” founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College. (650 words maximum)

Brown University : Brown’s Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about an academic interest (or interests) that excites you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue it. (200–250 words)

Strategies for this essay: This is one essay hiding two in it—it’s a “Why us?” essay combined with an essay that wants you to state where you see yourself in 5–10 years.

First, apply the same strategies you did for the “Why us?” essay (specifics!) —go to the website of the undergraduate program or major you’re applying to/indicating interest in, and look at student or alumni profiles. Is there anyone who makes you say, “Yeah, I’d love to do that”? Write about them. Is there a summer program, a particular class, an internship, or anything else associated with this program that attracts you?

Second, talk about where you want to be in 5–10 years. Imagine your dream job and tell the admissions committee how this particular program or major might help you reach it. This is a time when you can and should be specific—because you’re not committing to the story you’re writing down. You’re just demonstrating that you’ve thought about it and have a passion or vocation pulling you in one direction or another.

Here’s an example in response to Brown’s prompt from our student Josh, who isn’t sure what he wants to study. But he’s generally interested in international affairs and global political issues.

I am interested in studying International Relations or East Asian Studies. My mother is Chinese and my father is American. When they met, their two countries could not have been more distant. But today, China and America have to increasingly understand one another, economically, politically, and culturally. I am able to stand at the crossroads of these two countries, and I hope to use my time at Brown to learn Mandarin and to study abroad in China. I am also excited about the East Asian Studies requirement to engage with countries beyond China; learning about migratory patterns and cultural conversations in the region and studying Korea and Japan will help me crystallize my sense of the region.

An essay that asks you what you bring to the college community can seem like it’s asking for you to explain the ways in which you bring “diversity” to the community. You can answer in terms of your identity—gender, racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, or otherwise—but you do not need to. Really, essays like this are asking for you to identify one way in which you’re different, and the way you make that difference a boon to others around you.

University of Michigan : Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.

Duke University : We recognize that “fitting in” in all the contexts we live in can sometimes be difficult. Duke values all kinds of differences and believes they make our community better. Feel free to tell us any ways in which you’re different, and how that has affected you or what it means to you. (250 words maximum)

Strategies for these essays: Go back to your pre-written prompts and think about what you noticed that made you different and unlike your peers. You’re often looking for something intangible to others but tangible to you. Think about what you wrote about your parents or siblings, your hometown or community.

We’ve given you Ramya’s response to this above, but here’s another essay, from Michael responding to the Duke prompt, who wrote about surfing with his grandfather for the personal statement. Though Michael has included his grandfather in his application already, he takes a different angle on him for this optional essay so it does not feel redundant. Especially because this is a non-required answer, that repetition is fine.

I was born and raised in a small town in southern California and attended a big public high school. Here, everyone is racially mixed-up. Black, Asian, Hapa, Hispanic, and other combinations mingle in our loud school hallways. I never had much of a reason to think about my ethnic heritage until recently. My maternal grandfather is Hawaiian, and he married a “haole,” or a white person. My paternal grandparents are white Californians. I look almost entirely white, and I get to move through the world feeling like any old white guy. But when my grandfather got sick and eventually passed away at the end of high school, I became interested in that part of my background.

I learned about the state’s history and the colonial presence that white people had. I also learned how many people in Hawaii now serve in the Armed Forces. This is a complicated history, and one I am interested in exploring more in college. Though I don’t know if I will ever live in Hawaii long-term, I want to study history or anthropology to write about this part of American history, which I never knew about growing up. I think this cultural background could bring something unique to the Duke community. I also think it can contribute to conversations about social justice, which are big in my high school, but which entirely white people sometimes struggle to contribute to. My sense of containing multiple racial identities now will shape me and the school I attend.

Some universities ask for your “short takes” on a number of things, limiting your response to 35 words or so.

Yale University (approximately 35 words each):

Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What would you ask them to discuss?

Yale students embrace the concept of “and” rather than “or,” pursuing arts and sciences, tradition and innovation, defined goals and surprising detours. What is an example of an “and” that you embrace?

Princeton University (50 words each):

What brings you joy?

What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?

Strategy for these “essays:” Be authentic, original, and don’t overthink it. You might even have someone else read them aloud to you and answer instinctively. This is a chance for you to sound like the you your friends and family know and love. If you’re flexing here, trust us, the admissions officers will roll their eyes. They can smell it.

Recent trends in essay types

Through our work advising students on their college supplemental essays, we’ve noticed a few interesting trends in the types of questions universities prefer to ask over the last few years. Namely, a slow phasing out of questions around adversity or challenges and a greater variety of questions asking students to reflect on themes of diversity and community.

There may be a few reasons behind this shift. For example, students often felt at pains to paint a dramatic story that described their background and how they overcame some form of adversity to get to where they are today. This created an environment where many critics argued that students felt pressured to embellish or even completely fabricate stories of hardship in the hope that adcoms would look favorably upon them and their situation. Many students felt if they didn’t have anything especially challenging to write about, they were at a great disadvantage.

Furthermore, the recent Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action meant that many schools had to revamp their diversity essays as well as how they asked about and handled race in their applications. This caused some schools to reformulate their essay prompts, sometimes even adding more prompts to the application. For instance, schools would ask questions that focus on a student’s upbringing and how it shaped them, the meaning of community and the varying (diverse) communities that have shaped them, or ask students to detail an experience or relationship in which they had to closely interact with someone whose views, background or culture differ markedly from their own.

To see this change in action, let’s look at a few recent prompts as examples.

Vanderbilt University : Vanderbilt University values learning through contrasting points of view. We understand that our differences, and our respect for alternative views and voices, are our greatest source of strength. Please reflect on conversations you’ve had with people who have expressed viewpoints different from your own. How did these conversations/experiences influence you?

Northwestern University : We want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background, your identity, or your school, community, and/or household settings have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise?

Strategies for this essay: This is your chance to paint a picture of the range of experiences you’ve had and stand out as an applicant who will add to the dynamism of your future campus community. While it’s perfectly fine to discuss your race or sexual orientation here, it’s important to make the connection between your experiences and how they have shaped the way you connect with others.

Here’s an example response to Vanderbilt’s prompt written by one of our former students.

In my psychology class we discussed synesthesia, a condition in which people experience perceptions that cross between senses. This could mean tasting shapes or feeling sounds or, as one of my classmates put it, hearing colors. It turned out that my classmate Julie had identified as a synesthetic for many years.

When I asked her about it she was adamant that particular sounds were linked with colors. A classic telephone ring, for example, was the color red. As we stood in the hallway someone was drinking from the water fountain. Julie told me this sound was the color green.

I was intrigued by these insights because I tend to assume, as I think many of us do, that my own perceptual experience is the norm. My conversation with Julie reminded me that we never have full access to another person’s experience of the world. While we might agree that we are both looking at a blue sky, are we having the same experience of blue or is this merely culturally conditioned? I find this question both humbling and awe-inspiring.

At the same time, there was a way in which Julie’s experience made sense to me. I realized that I also tend to associate certain sounds with colors. Doing further research, I encountered a theory that everyone is born with synesthesia but that as we grow up our brains become more specialized. I think there’s joy to be found here, and lately I’ve been striving to recapture experiences of sensory overlap.

How much of a “theme” do I need to convey across my Common App personal statement and supplementary essays?

You want to offer one round story about yourself, while also giving the admissions committee an opportunity to discover you anew each time: first in your Common App essay, then in your recommendations, and finally in your supplementary essays. Stating major contradictions or trying to span too much—for example, saying you want to study English, biology, Chinese, and public health—might confuse things. Everyone is more complex and multivalent than they can seem on paper, but remember to keep sounding related notes without ringing the same bell over and over.

Are supplementary essays the place to explain away bad grades or holes in my academic record?

Some schools will give you a chance to elaborate on splotches on your transcript or weak points. If they don’t, remember that you have the chance to engage with your weak spots in any number of these supplementary essays, as long as you write narratively. Say your STEM grades were weak freshman and sophomore year. You might talk about how your middle school didn’t have a strong math or science program and when you switched to a good high school, you weren’t prepared. Then you’d want to explain what you did to improve them and how that taught you a lesson going forward.

It’s important to note, though, that it is rarely the right choice to talk about your bad grades in your essays. More often, you should try to be impressive on your own terms rather than risk seeming defensive.

Many supplemental essays seem to want me to “loosen up.” Is there such thing as going too casual?

Take your cue from the tone of the question. The Pitzer essays we mentioned in this post, for instance, have a serious tone and are basically invitations to write another personal statement. But the short takes, or Stanford’s famous “roommate essay,” are asking you to be creative, and that might mean more casual. But it probably means something more like “sound like you.” In any case, be deliberate and try not to slip too much into generational patois.

I’m applying to the University of California , which asks for 350-word essays, or another school system with short word counts on the essays. Can I use those as supplemental responses? Can I use my supplemental essays for the other schools?

Yes, definitely. It’s always a good idea to reuse your material as much as possible. You don’t have to reinvent yourself for every application. You’re presenting the same self at a slightly different angle based on the questions a given school chooses to ask you.

Always remember, though, that any essays you reuse across schools will probably have to be at least a little bit modified so that they directly answer the question that was asked. The question from the University of California that asks, “What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?” is not the same question as “Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences that was particularly meaningful to you.”

That said, your answer might be the same or similar. Your greatest talent or skill might be mock trial or soccer; perhaps you’ve written about mock trial for the extracurricular supplemental essay. The trick now is to make sure you’re answering the “over time” element of the UC question. Your job isn’t just to say you did mock trial and why you liked it; you will also need to explain something about its arc and change in your life over a period of months or years.

(Suggested reading: How to Write Great UC Essays )

Looking for UC Personal Insight Question examples? Subscribe below to gain instant access to 50 full-length example essays covering each prompt, plus an in-depth analysis of each essay to learn what UC admissions committees are looking for.

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I feel like everyone’s extracurricular activities are much more interesting than mine. I struggled to fill out my Common App activities list and now I have to make one sound compelling. Aren’t there some magic bullet points I could hit that they’re looking for?

Unfortunately, no. The whole essay writing process would be so much simpler if that were the case. Different schools will have different reasons for including a question like this on their supplemental applications.

However, it can be helpful to keep a few things in mind.

Your extracurricular activity isn’t “you,” meaning the activity itself doesn’t have to be interesting to adcoms, only you do. You could be really passionate about watching grass grow but the way you “show” that passion to your reader is what will intrigue them about you as a candidate.

Being creative within constraints shows effort and an ability to think outside the box. In this case, your constraint is what you imagine is the typical extracurricular activity you must write about. Adcoms likely get hundreds of applications from students writing about biology club or being on the student council, but do those students’ larger personalities and passion show through their writing? Remember to consider an example or anecdote that sparked your interest in that activity and harness the emotional connection in your writing.

I’m applying to an Ivy League school and having trouble with the ‘Why Us’ essay. I can’t seem to think of a good enough topic – doesn’t everyone want to attend an ivy?

Answering a ‘why us’ essay question for a highly prestigious school can certainly be difficult. Surely, everyone wants to attend a top-tier institution, which makes the answer seem obvious.

It can be helpful to compare your dream school to other top schools. For example, if you’ve got the grades and the talent to gain acceptance to Yale, what makes Yale a more desirable place to study for you than Princeton? Why not a public ivy such as UC Berkeley?

Consider which specific professor, course, or research interest that exists at your dream school that isn’t offered at other ivies. No one institution can offer everything. Most importantly, how will your engagement with that professor, course or research interest add to the campus community? You can cite specifics from a professor’s published work that excite you, noting what you hope to accomplish from working with them. You could also discuss a unique course you hope to take and what you plan to do with what you learn or even a research facility at the school that specializes in a particular interest of yours.

Remember that location is important as well. The cultural and science activities you will have access to will be markedly different in Ithaca, New York from Boston, Massachusetts.

About the Author

Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on college admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into top programs like Harvard, Stanford, and MIT using his exclusive approach.

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How to Write the Most Common Supplemental College Essays: A Complete Guide

Note: This post focuses on supplemental essays. If you want advice on the Common App prompts, check out our guide to the Common App essays .

Your grades are in, your test scores have been sent, and recommendation letters have been uploaded…but there’s one last component of your college applications left: the essays. For many students, essays are the final and most daunting hurdle to clear before hitting submit.

Your essays, however, are your opportunity to tell admissions officers how you want them to remember you. Maybe you didn’t do so well on the SAT, or maybe you got a lower grade than you hoped for in Honors Chemistry, but you can’t change your grades or scores.

The essays, however, are entirely in your control. There is so much freedom to tell your story and what makes you unique. Our mission at CollegeVine is to make the essay-writing as stress-free as possible. Read on for our tips and tricks on writing a college essay that will give you the best chance at getting that thick envelope!

Content overview:

Why this college?
Why this major?
Elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience.
Discuss a community you belong to that has impacted who you are today.
Crafting the essay
Avoiding pitfalls

Want to learn more about Supplemental Essays? Check out one of our popular recorded live streams on this topic.

Common Types of College Essays

Colleges will find a hundred different ways to ask a question, but most of the time, the prompt boils down to one of the following common essay themes.

Common Essay #1: Why this college?

Students’ most common mistake on a “Why this college?” essay is lack of specificity; in particular, some students will list attributes that can apply to multiple schools, which is what you want to avoid at all costs.

When it comes to a “Why this college?” essay, you need to discuss qualities and programs specific to that school. It is not enough to merely list or name-drop, however. Instead, talk about why this item is important to you. Here’s how this plays out:

What not to do:

I want to go to the University of Southern California because it is a highly ranked school in Los Angeles. In addition, I like its Cosmic Writers Club, as well as the Incubate USC program. I am especially excited about the abundant film resources.

Why the previous response doesn’t work:

There are many reasons you want to avoid a response like this. Let’s start with the first sentence: replace the school’s name with UCLA and the accuracy doesn’t suffer. What this means is that the sentence is not specific enough to USC. In addition, you never want to state, or even imply, that you’re applying to a school due to prestige or ranking.

The exception for the previous rule is if a school is ranked highly for a specific program of interest. For example, if you want to pursue creative writing and a school has the number one creative writing program in the country, you can mention this because it is a quality specific to that school. A school’s overall prestige, however, should not be mentioned in your essay.

Why else doesn’t this response work? Let’s look at the second sentence. The writer does well to mention specific programs within USC. However, the response fails to discuss why they liked these programs or how they would benefit from having access to them.

What to write instead:

As someone with a lasting love for writing and a blossoming passion for entrepreneurship, I was so excited to find a large urban school like the University of Southern California that would give me the resources to pursue both. From classes with award-winning authors—amongst them Professor T. Boyle, whose environmental fiction works are similar to those I hope to someday publish—to clubs like the Cosmic Writers Club, which unites author hopefuls, USC offers more resources than I could ever exhaust in my journey to publish my first book.

On the business side, USC is known for fostering the type of creativity and innovation needed in pursuing start-ups. In particular, I was so excited to learn of the Incubate USC program, a unique mothership of ideas that nurtures the creativity of students. With the help of this program, I would be able to pursue my growing interest in the world of start-up ventures.

Why the previous response works:

This response not only mentions programs and resources specific to USC, but it shows how the student would take advantage of these opportunities. In addition, this response portrays passion and ambition, infusing elements of the student’s personality while still staying focused on answering the prompt.

Other things to keep in mind:

The first time you say the school’s name, you should write it out. After that, you can abbreviate.
Avoid writing what every other applicant is going to write. For example, every NYU applicant is going to mention NYU’s location in New York City. Unless you have a unique twist on this, you should skip it.
Don’t mention frivolous things like dorms or dining halls. Your reasons for liking a school should be more substantial.
Do your research. For example, don’t say you’ve always wanted to go to a city if you’re writing an essay for a rural school.
Do not copy and paste your “Why this college?” essay and simply change the school name. Many non-Harvard admissions officers have received essays from students about why they want to go to Harvard. If your “Why this college?” essay is so general that you can copy and paste it, your reasoning will not impress admissions officers.

For more tips on writing this essay, see our complete guide to the “Why this college?” essay , including a real sample essay.

Common Essay #2: Why this major?

One of the most important things to remember is that admissions officers are not looking for a résumé. This is not to say you can’t discuss your activities and how they culminated a passion for a specific major. The challenge, however, is to use these activities to tell a story rather than a mere list of achievements.

How do you do this? Share your thought processes. Many times it is the thoughts surrounding an activity more than the activity itself that will show the reader your journey to choosing a major.

Other tips:

Don’t ever say that your reason for choosing a major is money-making potential. If you want to mention life beyond college, then talk about how this major will help you achieve your dreams. If your dream is to produce a feature-length film and a film major will help you get there, say that. But don’t say your dream is to be a rich film producer.
Undeclared? That’s totally okay. Just be sure to list a couple potential majors, and explain your interest in those. Under no circumstances should you say you have absolutely no idea, as that will make you look like you don’t care. For more tips, see our post on how to write the “Why this major?” essay if you’re undecided .

For more tips on writing this essay, see our complete guide to the “Why this major?” essay , including a real sample essay.

Common Essay 3: Elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience.

Is there an activity or work experience in your application that you have more to say about? Maybe there’s a story behind it that you want to tell. Some questions to consider are:

How did you become interested in this extracurricular?
What is your role in the activity or work experience?
Why do you do it?
Have you experienced growth within the activity over time?

There are endless angles you can pursue here, but your essay should, in short, show your motivation behind participating in a certain activity or job.

What you don’t want to do, however, is simply restate something that’s been said elsewhere. If you have already spotlighted an activity in another essay for a given college, don’t write about the same activity. Your goal here is to share new information and your breadth of experiences.

As with the “Why Major?” prompt, it is more powerful to share a story with the reader rather than to detail the activity itself.

For more tips on writing this essay, see our complete guide to the Extracurricular Activity essay , including a real sample essay.

Common Essay 4: Discuss a community you belong to that has impacted who you are today.

“Community” can mean many things, so there are many possible approaches to this prompt. Some applicants respond with a community they’re linked to through culture, and others through sports or a club.

One thing you can emphasize is personal growth—or other aspects of who you are as a person—that has come from belonging to this community. The majority of the essay should, in fact, center around how being part of this group has changed or impacted who you are as a person.

What to avoid:

Do not discriminate against other communities in your response.
Try not to talk about your community in broad terms, but instead focus on your place within this community.
Avoid using the essay as a chance to complain. If you choose to talk about challenges in a certain community, find a way to give your essay a sense of resolution. This can consist even of talking about how you’ve grown as a person or learned how to confront these obstacles in a productive way.

Writing the Essay

Phase 1: ideation.

Highlights of this section:

Thinking of an idea
Portraying individuality
Staying true to yourself
General tips and tricks

Now that you’re familiar with some of the most common types of essay prompts, let’s dive into the ideation process. Here are some questions that it’s good to ask yourself when you’re just starting out, particularly when the prompt deviates from the more straightforward archetypes above:

What makes you unique?
What is your story?
Is there something you weren’t able to say in your application that you think admissions officers should know?
Did you mention something earlier in your application that you want to elaborate on?

Remember that your essays, and application in general, should read like a portfolio in which all components are complementary without being redundant. If the application is like a drawing, then the essays should contribute to creating one coherent image without sketching the same line more than once or leaving gaps in the drawing.

Don’t shy away from being quirky! The more you present yourself as your own unique person, the more likely the admissions officer is to remember you. Take the following cases, for instance:

A football player who scores a winning touchdown in the last five seconds of the game.
A football player who knits scarves for residents of a retirement home in his free time.

In the first case, telling this story doesn’t do anything to differentiate this football player from others. However, the second story portrays a unique student with two interests the reader might not otherwise have paired together. Individuality is the goal here.

Of course, don’t exaggerate , lie, or pretend to be someone you’re not. In particular, don’t write something just because you think the admissions officer wants to hear it. They have read enough applications to separate the genuine voices from the insincere. As such, your only job is to put your true self on the page!

Here are some other things to keep in mind while brainstorming college essay topics:

Narratives will always be more successful because they engage the reader emotionally. They are also an easy way to demonstrate how you’ve changed and grown over time.
If you have already emphasized something in your application, don’t dedicate an essay to it unless can share an entirely new perspective. When in doubt, choose a new topic.
Your essay doesn’t have to be about something rare and incredible. You don’t have to have started a company or traveled the world to write a solid essay. In fact, some of the strongest essays have taken a simple, perhaps even everyday occurrence, and portrayed it in a beautiful way that shows a unique way of thinking.
Be sure to answer all aspects of the prompt while still giving the reader insight into who you are. It’s very easy to speak about some topics in third-person or broad terms (example: “What is your idea of success?”). Don’t do this. Instead, find a way to link the prompt to your own life.

Overall, think of the essays as a way to let the admissions officer get to know you on a personal level. Humanize yourself.

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Phase 2: Crafting the Essay

Show, don’t tell.
Perfecting the first and last sentence
What does the essay say about me?

You have likely heard this next tip a hundred times throughout high school, but it’s vital to writing a strong essay: show, don’t tell . The whole point of essays is to give insight into who you are and how you think. Can you effectively do that if you’re merely listing off things that happened? Nope. Let’s take a lot at two examples:

An example of telling: The cat ran out the door, and I got scared.
An example of showing: The doorbell rang, accompanied by the creak of the mailbox as the mailman slipped the day’s envelopes inside. I ran downstairs and threw the door open, knowing today was the day I was going to hear back. My excitement made me oblivious, though, and it wasn’t until I saw a blur of dark fur dash through the open door that I realized my mistake.

The second example takes the facts and turns it into a story. It gives the reader a sense of anticipation as well as a character to identify with and root for. That’s what “show, don’t tell” does for your essay.

Now let’s talk about the two most important parts of your essay: the first sentence and the last sentence.

Your first sentence’s job is to hook the reader. Aim for a first sentence that surprises, even slightly jars, the reader to wake them up and get their full focus on your essay. Here are some examples:

It wasn’t supposed to be blue.
Was the car meant to sound like that?

In both cases, the writer has intentionally withheld information, providing just enough to leave the reader wanting to know the rest of the story. What isn’t supposed to be blue? What happens next?

As for the last sentence, its job is to resolve the essay, leaving the reader with a sense of peace and finality. Give the reader one last great impression to remember you by. Here’s an example:

“I’ve learned to hold my failures close; not so close that they burden me, per say, but just

close enough that they can guide me as I journey onward.”

This sentence works because it gives the reader a sense that, though the story continues on in the form of the narrator’s ongoing journey, the story on the page has been resolved. It feels peaceful.

Now then, after you’ve completed your first draft, the next thing you want to do is ask yourself the following question : What three things about me can the reader get from reading this essay? If you’re having trouble answering this question, then the essay needs to share more about you. Otherwise, you’re ready for revision!

Phase 3: Revision

Careless errors
Staying under the word limit
Getting a second opinion

You’ve done the hard work. You came up with a brilliant idea and poured your heart and soul into the writing. Now comes the tedious part: revision.

Most importantly, college essays need to be absolutely devoid of grammatical or spelling mistakes . You don’t want to give your admissions officer the impression that you didn’t care enough to proofread, especially after all of your hard work.

Another aspect that tends to frustrate students is the word limit. If you’ve made it under the word limit, great! If not, here are some methods of cutting down.

Example: In visiting your campus, it occurred to me that the method with which you schedule your classes is ideal because…
This can be cut down to: The way you schedule your classes is ideal because…
Most times phrases such as “I think,” “I believe,” “it seems,” and other similar wording is not necessary and simply takes up extra space. Use your judgement, but generally, these phrases get the boot.
Keep an eye out for the word “that.” This can almost always be cut.
If you use a long hyphen (—), no space is needed between words. This will bring your word count down. Don’t get too hyphen happy, though!

If the above tips are not enough to get you below the word limit, you may need to remove entire paragraphs. If a paragraph does not drive the story forward, or is unnecessary in understanding the progression of the story, you may want to remove it.

Once your essay is mistake-free and below the word limit, your next task is to send it to at least three trusted individuals. Ask them the following questions to guide their suggestions:

Does it make sense?
Does it sound like me?
What does it say about me? (Check that this aligns with what you want it to say about you).

Take note of their responses and decide what changes you want to implement. Be receptive, but remember to stay true to yourself and your vision.

Avoiding Pitfalls:

Avoid discussion of taboo subjects or things that can be perceived as controversial. Everyone is entitled to their own views, but you don’t want to chance saying something controversial that your reader might disagree with.
Never appear discriminatory in any way. Colleges tend to be vastly left-wing and progressive.
Don’t turn in work that isn’t your own. When does accepting another person’s edits become plagiarism? If they are rewriting entire sentences in their own words, it is no longer your own work.
Avoid clichés! It is okay to write about a common experience (like a sports injury or service trip), but only if you have a unique take on them. Don’t write on a popular topic if you will simply describe the same lesson that everyone else learned.
Don’t write your essay directly into the application text box or it may not save your work. Write it in a separate document and copy and paste it later. Then, double check that the format is correct.

At the end of the day, your essays should just leave the reader thinking: I want to have a conversation with this student. You want to show that you’re an multifaceted, mature person with an interesting story to tell. At CollegeVine, we’re rooting for you all the way—go get writing!

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

How to Combine Your College Essay Prompts (To Save 20+ Writing Hours)

I’ve developed a pretty simple, step-by-step process to help you see which essay prompts can overlap. Follow my lead and it may not only save you dozens of hours of writing, it could improve the quality of those essays.

The "Why This College" Essay

Seems pretty natural that a school wants to know why you chose them, right? Read this step-by-step guide on writing the infamous “Why Us” essay.

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The "Extracurricular Activity" Essay

In this post, I’ll share some practical tips for how to write about your extracurricular involvement in your college essays.

The "Why X Major" Essay

Tons of colleges require a supplemental essay that asks something like, “Why did you choose your major?”

The Community Essay

These essays are a chance to say: “Here’s how I connect with folks in my community. And if accepted to your college, I’ll probably be active in getting involved with that same community and others on your college campus.”

the Short Answer Questions

Dive into eleven do's and dont's for how to ensure your short answer questions are doing their job of highlighting your genius, your experience, your talents, and your personality.

How to Write the Stanford Roommate Essay

This is a must read for anybody writing the Stanford roommate essay: included is an example essay, a detailed breakdown, helpful tips along the way, and a section on how to revise your essay too.

Supplemental Essay Guide 2024-25

What do the 2024-25 supplemental essay prompts really mean, and how should you approach them? CEA's experts are here to break them all down.

Acceptance Rate

Undergrad population.

Liberal Arts (59)

* Tuition filtering is based on out-of-state fees

How to Approach Supplemental Essays

When our students dig into the college application process, they are often surprised to encounter not only the main Common Application’s personal statement , but also a host of supplemental essay questions. These assignments are often school-specific writing prompts for which a student must also craft thoughtful, well-written replies.

Supplemental essays are often more focused than the Common App assignment, though they vary in length and scope. Their prompts tackle subjects that range from deeper explorations of a student’s background to their collegiate and academic interests.

We often encourage our students to nail down their personal statement topic first, then ask them to approach their supplemental essays in priority order, according to submission deadlines. Many schools will offer prompts that are similar in theme and content to one another (for example, many institutions now ask about a student’s most important activity ), so it is helpful for students to gather and review all supplemental questions before beginning the brainstorm process to see where they might naturally overlap.

Elite institutions often have extensive supplemental sections, as do some honors programs, so students should keep this in mind as they hunt for their essay questions and map out their plan of attack.

All supplemental essays should be given the same time and care as the main Common Application essay. These supplements not only are an excellent opportunity to show a school both your competence and level of devotion to their institution, but also offer opportunities to paint some personality into your application. So embrace supplements, use your unique voice, and show these schools what you’re made of!

Why Choose College Essay Advisors for Supplemental Essay Support

College Essay Advisors has over twenty years of experience guiding students one-on-one through the essay writing process for school-specific supplements. We take a holistic approach to these essays and short answers, considering each student’s application package as a whole and identifying their strengths to highlight. It’s incredibly important to us that each student’s voice is preserved, and we pride ourselves in helping students to write successful supplemental essays that differentiate them from similarly qualified applicants. For more information, submit a contact form below or review our one-on-one advising services or list of student acceptances .

Agnes Scott College 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Alvernia University 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

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morehouse college 2024-25 supplemental essay prompt guide, mount holyoke college 2024-25 supplemental essay prompt guide, frequently asked questions.

It really depends. Typically, the more competitive the university, the more arduous the supplemental essay requirements. Most top universities ask for at least three supplemental essays, but some only require one short essay.

The most common supplemental essay topics are:

The Why Essay , which asks applicants to discuss their interest in their intended major and/or the school in question.
The Activity Essay , which asks applicants to describe their involvement in an activity that is meaningful to them.
The Community Essay , which asks about a community the applicant belongs to and the role that community plays in their life (and vice versa!).
The Diversity Essay , which often asks applicants to explore how they champion diversity and inclusion in their communities and/or how they engage with people from different backgrounds or who hold opposing views.
The Short Answer , which asks applicants to answer prompts in very few words (or characters) to add context to their application and a splash of personality.
The Oddball Essay , which asks applicants to tap into their creativity to connect curveball questions to their lives and interests.

Just like with the Common App personal statement, you’re going to want to write authentically about yourself while addressing all parts of each supplemental essay prompt. Many schools want to better understand how you see yourself contributing to their campus community and/or diversity and inclusion efforts along with how you hope to use your education to achieve your goals. So, be honest and forward-thinking, and don’t forget to customize each supplemental essay so it’s specific to each school you’re submitting to. That means doing research and weaving information into your essays that demonstrates the amount of time and thought you’ve put into your application.

We have a few successful supplemental essay examples in our Free Resources section.

Each admissions department has their own process for reviewing applications, and some admissions committees put more weight on supplemental essays than others, but all admissions departments that offer applicants the opportunity to pen additional essays are doing so for a reason: to better understand the applicant and compare similarly qualified candidates. It’s in the applicant’s best interest to not only provide admissions with as much information regarding their candidacy as possible, but also go the extra mile. At highly competitive institutions, admissions officers are looking for reasons to remove students from the applicant pool—don’t let poorly written or (*gulp*) incomplete supplemental essays work against you!

Absolutely not. Please do not reuse content from your Common App essay in your supplements. Although it’s possible for you to expand upon an idea, activity, or community that you mention in your Common App essay in your supplements, you should never recycle content or any phrasing word for word.

Start by reading through all the prompts. Next, jot down ideas that come to your mind (no matter how silly they may seem!). Everyone has a story to tell, and we’re willing to bet you’re more interesting than you think. Give yourself plenty of time to consider different topics and revise, revise, revise! Also, our handy dandy Supplemental Essay Guides are sure to help you on your writing journey.

We have been reading supplemental essays for over twenty years now, so we know a thing or two about the most common mistakes students make. The most common mistakes to avoid are:

Repeating the prompt in your essay.

You want to make sure every word counts, and repeating the prompt in your essay is a huge waste of space. Rest assured that admissions officers know which prompt you’re responding to. Instead, start your essay off with a strong hook that pulls your reader in (rather than puts them to sleep!).

Trying to sound like an academic.

Time and time again, schools post advice on their websites encouraging students to speak in their authentic voices and let the admissions officers reading their applications get to know them. Aaaand time and time again, we read essays students have written in which they go to great lengths to elevate their vocabulary, and in the process, they lose their own voice.

Using cliches.

Cliches are not your friends when it comes to writing supplemental essays. You may feel like a diamond in the rough, that the world is your oyster, or that love conquers all, but even reading those, did you feel your eyes glazing over? All cliches do is make your essay blend in with the thousands of others in the pile. Emphasize your uniqueness with concrete examples and personal anecdotes, because cliches are rather ineffective, boring, and—let’s face it—lazy.

New York University (NYU) 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

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IMAGES

College Supplemental Essay Examples for a Successful Paper
College Essay
How to Write Supplemental Essays for College: 6 Types of Supplemental
10 Columbia Supplemental Essay Examples That Worked
Learn how to write outstanding supplement college essays
Learn How to Write Great Supplemental College Essays

VIDEO

17 Tips for Writing Supplemental Essays for the Common Application
5 Mistakes Students Make on Supplemental Essays!
how to research colleges for supplemental essays / how to write the "why us" essay
How to Write Boston University's Supplemental Essays
College Supplemental Essays: Why Yours Suck (With Examples)
CEA's Guide to the 2021-22 Colgate University Supplemental Essays (and List!)

COMMENTS

The Ultimate Guide to Writing College Supplemental …
Colleges Without Supplemental Essays. Not all colleges choose to use supplemental essays (here’s a nice list). In some cases the supplemental essays are optional. If your school does not require supplemental essays but …
The Ultimate Guide to Supplemental College …
Learn how to impress admissions committees through any type of school-specific supplemental essay prompt plus strategies for tackling essays of various lengths
27 Outstanding College Essay Examples From Top …
Whether it’s a supplemental essay, personal statement, Common App essay, or diversity essay, the essays below can help you better understand what can result from following a college essay format or applying tips for how …
Learn How to Write Great Supplemental College Essays …
Write supplemental essays for hundreds of the most competitive colleges. Follow our step-by-step guides and read our supplemental essay examples that work.
2024-25 Supplemental Essay Guide
Comprehensive guide on how to approach supplemental essays for 2024-25. Get insider tips and personalized help from College Essay Advisors.