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College Essays

Are you hoping to be part of Virginia Tech's next matriculating class? If so, you'll need to write strong Virginia Tech essays to supplement your application.

All Virginia Tech applicants are required to answer four short answer questions as part of their application. In this article, we'll break down what the Virginia Tech essays are and what the admissions committee is looking for in your answer.

Why Does Virginia Tech Require Applicants to Answer Essays?

Virginia Tech requires all applicants to answer four short answer questions. If you're applying to the Honors College, your answers will also be shared with the Honors College admissions committee. You don't need to answer any separate questions as an applicant to the Virginia Tech Honors College.

The Virginia Tech essays are designed for the admissions committee to get a better sense of who you are, both as a student and a person. The short answers questions ask about your character, leadership, and goals. The admissions committee will use your answers to better understand you as a person—who are you? What do you care about? How will you fit in on Virginia Tech's campus?

It's important to put some serious effort into your Virginia Tech essays so that you represent yourself well to the admissions committee. These essays are your chance to present a well-rounded version of yourself that makes the admissions committee say, "We have to admit this student!"

What Are the Virginia Tech Essays?

Virginia Tech requires that every applicant answer four short answer questions. These short answer questions are just that—short! Each has a word limit of 120 words. Let's take a look at the 2022-2023 essay questions:

#1: Virginia Tech's motto is "Ut Prosim" which means 'That I May Serve'. Share how you contribute to a community that is important to you. How long have you been involved? What have you learned and how would you like to share that with others at Virginia Tech?

#2: Resilience is defined as the ability to adapt and learn from a difficulty. Reflect on a time that you have exhibited resilience. What growth did you see in yourself after this experience?

#3: Share a time when you were most proud of yourself either as a role model or when you displayed your leadership. What specific skills did you contribute to the experience? How did others rely on you for guidance? What did you learn about yourself during this time?

#4: Describe a goal that you have set and the steps you will take to achieve it. What made you set this goal for yourself? What is your timeline to achieve this goal? Who do you seek encouragement or guidance from and how do they support your progress as you work on this goal?

Virginia Tech Essays, Analyzed

Now that we know what the Virginia Tech essays are, let's break down how to answer each one as best as possible.

Since the Virginia Tech essays are so short, the key is to be super targeted in your responses. For each prompt, we'll break down what the essay is asking and how you can tailor your response to make sure it's what the admissions committee wants to hear.

Essay Question 1

Virginia Tech's motto is "Ut Prosim" which means 'That I May Serve'. Share how you contribute to a community that is important to you. How long have you been involved? What have you learned and how would you like to share that with others at Virginia Tech?

This essay question is asking about your involvement or service with a specific community. The admissions committee is looking for you to demonstrate a genuine commitment to a cause —what the cause is doesn't matter as much as the fact that you genuinely care about it.

To start, think about the communities that are important to you. This could be your family, neighborhood, school, place of worship, a club, etc. Then think about how you've worked to have a positive impact  there. Finally, consider the lessons you've learned from helping the community that you'll bring with you to Virginia Tech. 

You should pick a community that you've made real, lasting change at. Don't choose something that sounds the best if you haven't actually done a lot for them. For instance, if you were a member of your school's Habitat for Humanity club but didn't actually attend very many meetings, don't talk about how meaningful it was to build houses for disadvantaged people just because you think it sounds nice. Any insincerity in your application will be very obvious.

Essay Question 2

Resilience is defined as the ability to adapt and learn from a difficulty. Reflect on a time that you have exhibited resilience. What growth did you see in yourself after this experience?

This second question can seem intimidating—you'll need to reflect on a tough time and analyze how you grew as a person because of it.

Fortunately, this doesn't need to be an all-out catastrophe that happened in your life. Anything that you found a challenge but were able to overcome and learn from is fair game. For example, you could discuss not making the school basketball team, even though it was your dream to play on it, then deciding to rededicate yourself to practicing so you wouldn't let this failure define you. 

Your goal isn't to impress the admissions committee with the most tragic tale they've seen, but instead to show how you learn and grow from challenges.  So, as you're writing, keep the actual description of the setback short and focus most of your response on how you showed resilience because of it.

Essay Question 3

Share a time when you were most proud of yourself either as a role model or when you displayed your leadership. What specific skills did you contribute to the experience? How did others rely on you for guidance? What did you learn about yourself during this time?

This prompt wants to know two things: first, have you taken on the responsibility of leading other people? Second, what did it teach you about yourself?

The admissions committee wants to know that you don't shy away from mentorship roles and growth opportunities. You don't have to be president of a club or captain of a sports team to demonstrate leadership. Perhaps you took on the role of project coordinator for a classroom project or are section leader of a few instrumentalists in the band. The size of the role isn't as important as the scope of your influence—how did your choices and actions influence others as well as your perception of yourself?

The question also specifically asks you to explain how you relied on others for guidance, so be sure to make it clear that you weren't just making decisions unilaterally. In this essay, you want to show that you're capable of making decisions, but also that you're capable of cooperation and self-reflection.

Essay Question 4

Describe a goal that you have set and the steps you will take to achieve it. What made you set this goal for yourself? What is your timeline to achieve this goal? Who do you seek encouragement or guidance from and how do they support your progress as you work on this goal?

The final Virginia Tech short essay question assesses your commitment to growth. Notice that the question asks about a personal goal—that means you don't have to pick something lofty or world-changing. You just have to pick something that resonates with you.

Maybe you decided to wake up 30 minutes earlier every day so you can meditate or do yoga before school. Maybe you made it a goal to complete all of your essays two days before they were due so you could revise your work. Maybe you made it a goal to try a sport this year when you normally hate sports.

Whatever your goal is, you want to demonstrate that you're capable of self-reflection and of positive growth —that you're constantly assessing how to better yourself.

You also want to show humility in this prompt—that you can rely on or ask for help from others when you need it. The admissions committee doesn't expect that you'll have all the answers yourself. They want to see that you can collaborate with and learn from others when you need to.

Tips for Answering Your Virginia Tech Essays

Follow these general tips for making sure that your Virginia Tech essays are as strong as possible.

#1: Demonstrate Growth and Self-Reflection

Virginia Tech places a strong emphasis on service and self-reflection. These qualities are reflected in the choices of essay topics.

You should demonstrate these qualities in your answers. Show that you're constantly working to better yourself. Demonstrate humility and understanding. Virginia Tech wants students who will grow on their campus—not ones who will matriculate already thinking they're perfect.

#2: Be Honest and Sincere

All of the experiences that you outline in your Virginia Tech essays should be real—they need to have actually happened to you.

It can be tempting to lie about or exaggerate your experiences to make them seem more impressive. Don't do this!

First of all, lying on your application is a major ethics violation and can get you in some pretty serious trouble if you're caught.

Second all, insincerity will be super obvious. The admissions committee reads thousands of applications every year. They can easily sniff out people who are lying. Be as honest as possible in your Virginia Tech essays and remember—they WANT to hear about how you've grown.

#3: Proofread!

It should go without saying, but your Virginia Tech essays should be the best examples of your work possible. Don't just write your essays and be done with them. Take the time to formulate an answer and then go back and edit it. Make sure to proofread and run your work through a spelling or grammar checker to ensure it's polished.

#4: Get a Second Opinion

Getting a second opinion on your work can be a helpful way to assess whether your Virginia Tech essays are demonstrating your best qualities. Ask someone to read your work who really knows you, so they can tell you whether or not you're underselling yourself or missing a key feature of your personality that the admissions committee should know.

That being said, there's a fine line between getting a second opinion and plagiarism. It's okay to ask for someone's opinion on your work. It's not okay to steal their ideas and pass them off as your own. Make sure you're doing the former, not the latter.

Recap: Responding to the Virginia Tech Essay Prompts

The Virginia Tech essays are designed to show who you are as a student and how you'll fit in on Virginia Tech's campus.

• Be honest and sincere.
• Highlight opportunities you've taken to grow and change.
• Edit and proofread your work to make sure it's as strong as possible.
• Lie or over exaggerate to make yourself seem better.
• Steal anyone else's ideas.
• Sweat the short answers too much. They're important, but they won't make or break your chances at admission to Virginia Tech.

What's Next?

Want to know how to make your extracurriculars stand out even more? Check out this guide to four amazing extracurricular activities and learn why they're so impressive to colleges.

Thinking of applying to other great schools like Princeton , Brown , or Columbia ? Then be sure to check out our guides to learn how you can write amazing essays for these schools' supplements.

Hayley Milliman is a former teacher turned writer who blogs about education, history, and technology. When she was a teacher, Hayley's students regularly scored in the 99th percentile thanks to her passion for making topics digestible and accessible. In addition to her work for PrepScholar, Hayley is the author of Museum Hack's Guide to History's Fiercest Females.

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How to write strong virginia tech essays 2020-2021: the valuable guide.

Virginia Tech has an acceptance rate of 71%.

It is a four-year university with over 34,000 students. Located in Blacksburg, Virginia, the school offers 110 bachelor programs in addition to graduate and doctoral degree programs. To learn more about what the college has to offer, check out their website here .

Virginia Tech uses the Common App.

The Virginia Tech application requires four supplemental essays of 120 words each, which is not a lot of space to express yourself. Be concise and original, and follow these tips!

What are the Virginia Tech Essay Requirements?

Interestingly, Virginia Tech does not require you to submit the Common App essay with your application. That being said, there is absolutely no harm in submitting your Common App essay with your application. However, this does let you know that the focus will likely be on your supplemental questions specific to Virginia Tech, so make sure you give these extra attention!

Virginia Tech calls its supplemental questions the Ut Prosim questions, which means “ That I May Serve .” As you may have guessed, the emphasis is on service and your commitment to it on campus and beyond. The official directions for the Virginia Tech essays are as follows:

“Each of the Ut Prosim Profile questions are required with a limit of 120 words in length per answer. Once you submit your application, your responses to the questions are final and cannot be updated.”

Here are Virginia Tech’s essay prompts and a few ideas to get you started. 

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essay 1

Virginia Tech’s motto is “Ut Prosim” which means ‘That I May Serve’. We are interested in learning more about your interests and how you have been involved and/or served. Briefly describe a group, organization, or community that you have been involved with. Is this a special area of interest for you, and why? How long have you been involved? What role did you play? What contributions have you made to this group? Were you able to influence others and/or influence decisions for the good of the group?*

Read this prompt carefully: it asks you to write about how service is important to your life. It does not ask you to describe that one time you did community service because it was required for a class, and it does not ask for a laundry list of your volunteer hours.

This question asks you to go deep, as evidenced by the plethora of follow up questions. Virginia Tech wants to understand why a particular area of service is important to you, and you must convince them you “practice what you preach” and have delved into this area. 

• If possible, write about something you’re truly passionate about. It’s better to write on a topic that you believe may not sound as impressive, but to which you are truly devoted, than something fluffy and devoid of true personal meaning. Reflect on why this cause spoke to you and continues to do so. 
• A good example might be a leadership position in Students Against Destructive Decisions where through organized recurring service opportunities, you built up a network of students and organizations to match opportunities, and took the initiative to start multiple service projects to give back to the community appropriately.
• If you had a leadership role, focus on the strength of your leadership in guiding decisions. If you didn’t have a leadership role, focus on the areas in which you developed the organization, such as recruiting new volunteers or holding fundraisers. 
• Consider the internal effect and how this service has changed you or helped you grow. Do not be afraid to cite setbacks that one might call ‘failures,’ as long as you’re able to identify what you learned and how you can serve better in the future.

Get personalized advice!

Overall, this essay should give you an opportunity to elaborate on a passion project of yours that perhaps appears on your resume, but with limited detail. Avoid listing, repeating what’s already on other parts of your application, or gloating. Remember to write with humility and a lens of personal reflection. 

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essay 2

Describe a situation where you were involved or witness to an act of discrimination. How, or did, you respond? Do you wish you would have responded differently? Did this situation cause any change to happen based on this event and did you have a role in that change? What did you learn from this experience? *

This is a tough question that evokes an immediate emotional response in many applicants. You may have been a victim of discrimination, or you may have been a witness to an act of discrimination. You may have even been a perpetrator. 

There are two basic guidelines for this question.

• Be honest. This may be the greater challenge for some applicants. For example, if you were a witness to an act of discrimination in years past, and said or did nothing, you may feel ashamed to say as much. However, a response in which you describe that feeling, what you have learned, and how you have or did or would handle it differently in the future is a more authentic and meaningful response than describing an invented moment of activism in which you are the hero.

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essay 3

Briefly describe a personal goal you have set for yourself. Why this goal, what is your timeline to achieve this goal, what precipitated this goal? Have you turned to anyone for advice or help, what was their role, what did you learn about yourself, are you still working toward this goal?*

There’s a lot to unpack here in just 120 words. Virginia Tech is looking to see if you’re a goal-oriented person and how you handle challenges and setbacks in pursuit of a goal. Let’s start by picking a goal: 

• Don’t assume the goal needs to be academic. In fact, try to choose something not reflected in your application elsewhere. 
• The size of the goal is not important. It could be something as simple as saving some money for college. The important element is the journey. 

Once you’ve established what your goal was and is, reflect on the details. 

• What is it about this goal that’s so meaningful to you? If there was a catalyst or specific moment you knew you needed to set this goal, discuss that. 
• Reflect on the goal-setting process you went through. If you set milestones or timelines, examine their connection to the long term goal. 

Now comes unpacking what you’ve learned from the process. Try to spend the bulk of your essay in this section. 

• If you experienced any setbacks or challenges, talk about how you approached and overcame them. 
• If there was anyone influential in inspiring or supporting you in pursuit of your goal, discuss their role and what you have learned from them personally. What do you hope to replicate or emulate in your future? 
• Finally, how has this changed you? What will you use from this experience in goal setting that you’ll apply to achievement in your future, perhaps even at Virginia Tech?

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essay 4

Describe an example of a situation where you have significantly influenced others, took on a leadership role, helped resolve a dispute, or contributed to a group’s goals. What was your role, what responsibilities did you take on? Did you encounter any obstacles, and if so how did you respond, were you able to overcome them? What would you do differently?*

Similarly to the service essay, Virginia Tech is looking for a time you’ve successfully worked towards a greater cause. In this case, they want to see a clear demonstration of your leadership ability. 

Once again, try to avoid referring to something you already discussed in your service essay or in another part of your application. Ensure you address each part of the question. 

First, identify the leadership role and situation. 

• Remember that this does not have to be broad in scope. Depth is better than breadth. If you happen to have been the captain of a sports team or president of a club, fantastic. If not, consider smaller roles you may have had. The skills and qualities are the essences of the essay, not the situation. 
• Clearly identify and give context to the situation and role, but do not spend more than 1-2 sentences. The bulk of your essay should be spent elsewhere. 

Once you’ve provided a backdrop, focus on a problem or challenge you encountered and how you responded. 

• If there were ever disputes within your group that you were able to resolve, this is a great chance to show your people skills or strength in moving a group forward towards a greater cause. Clearly identify the action you took to resolve the problem. 
• If the problem was logistical, focus on concrete steps you took to tackle the issue at hand, and how you harnessed the commitment of others to support you. Focus on what you achieved together as a result of your leadership rather than personal accomplishments alone. 

To round out the essay, identify any areas for improvement, but don’t end the topic on a low. Focus on what you learned and how you would apply this to leadership roles in the future, perhaps at Virginia Tech. 

Conclusion: Writing the Virginia Tech Essays

As mentioned previously, the 120 word limit makes for a very short essay. Here is some general advice for making the most of your word count:

• Provide context, but remember that your essay is addressing the prompt.
• Use specific detail instead of vague statements. Those details should tie in your personal stories.
• Include your personality in your essay; it shouldn’t sound like it could belong to any student interested in attending Virginia Tech.
• Express enthusiasm at the possibility of getting admitted to Virginia Tech.
• Read aloud, revise, and share with a friend . Editing is your best friend.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, getting started on virginia tech essays: examples.

Hey everyone, I'm starting to work on my application for Virginia Tech, and I'm kinda stuck. Does anyone have any examples of successful Virginia Tech essays to give me some inspiration? Looking for stuff related to the Ut Prosim part as well.

Hey! Working on the Virginia Tech essays is an excellent step in showing your interest and fit for the school. The Ut Prosim part is important as it reflects the school's motto, 'That I May Serve,' so it's good to focus on that.

CollegeVine can help you find everything you're looking for. Here are four strong essay examples by real accepted students, along with feedback on what works and what could be improved: https://blog.collegevine.com/virginia-tech-essay-examples

In addition, check out CollegeVine's guide that breaks down each supplemental prompt to help you write the best essays you can: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-write-the-virginia-tech-essays

Finally, check out their article all about the "Ut Prosim" essay: https://blog.collegevine.com/virginia-tech-ut-prosim-essay

Make sure your essay reflects your personality and writing style. Focus on clear, concise storytelling, and connect the dots between your experiences and the values of Virginia Tech. By doing this, you'll be able to create a unique and engaging essay that will set you apart.

Best of luck, and remember to proofread and revise your essays before submission!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

CollegeVine’s Q&A seeks to offer informed perspectives on commonly asked admissions questions. Every answer is refined and validated by our team of admissions experts to ensure it resonates with trusted knowledge in the field.

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essays 2023-24

August 28, 2023

Unlike many other public institutions with notable strengths in the areas of business, computer science, and engineering, Virginia Tech’s acceptance rate does not yet strike fear into the hearts of prospective applicants (although it has fallen from 70% to 56% in the past three years). However, it is important for wannabe Hokies to be aware that the admissions process at this university is becoming highly selective. This is particularly true for the aforementioned popular majors. Thus, prospective Virginia Tech students need to take advantage of every component of the application in order to stand out. This includes the Virginia Tech supplemental essays.

 (Want to learn more about How to Get Into Virginia Tech? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into Virginia Tech: Admissions Data and Strategies  for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

Virginia Tech’s motto “Ut Prosim” is Latin for “That I May Serve.” The school requires all undergraduates to complete the “Ut Prosim Profile” which consists of four service-related essay prompts. These essays are “very important” to the admissions committee. Therefore, it is vital that all Tech applicants dedicate a significant amount of time to these short answer questions.

Below are Virginia Tech’s supplemental prompts for the 2023-24 admissions cycle along with our advice for composing winning essays.

2023-2024 University of Virginia Tech Essay Questions

Virginia Tech’s motto is “Ut Prosim” which means ‘That I May Serve.’ Share how you contribute to a community that is important to you. How long have you been involved? What have you learned and how would you like to share that with others at Virginia Tech? (120 words)

Pretty much everyone applying to Virginia Tech is deeply involved in some semblance of a “community.” The term “community” can have many meanings. In this instance, it could be an ethnic, religious, or neighborhood community or a group of individuals who gather for a club, sport, or service project. You could discuss how you have engaged with your high school local/community and what you have learned from interacting with people of a different ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual identity, etc. Or, perhaps you are the captain of a team, the editor-in-chief of your school paper, the president of a club, or simply a valuable contributing member. Regardless of whether you are a leading man/woman or a still-essential bit player, make sure that you use your writing ability to  show  the admissions officer what type of community member you are rather than merely  telling  them.

Whatever you choose, be sure to draw on past evidence of your commitment to being a positive force in your community and speculate how that is likely to manifest on Virginia Tech’s campus. Research and cite  Virginia Tech student-run organizations  or local nonprofit groups. The admissions committee wants to understand precisely how you will contribute to their campus community of 30,000+ undergrads. Drawing the link between your past efforts and future aims is critical here.

For example, if you’ve done work with Habitat for Humanity throughout your teens, it will be most impactful if you express your commitment to joining Tech’s chapter of Habitat for Humanity in the future.

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essays (Continued)

Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community supports access and inclusion by affirming the dignity and value of every person, respecting differences, promoting mutual understanding and open expression, and strives to eliminate bias and discrimination. Reflect on a time when you were not able or allowed to express a different or diverse position or opinion (or you witnessed another person or group experience the same situation)? How did you respond or wish you would have responded? Did your viewpoint change in any way after this experience? (120 words)

The U.S. presently finds itself in an extreme state of polarization. There seems to be little agreement even as to what constitutes “truth” or “facts” Within this divided world, it can be hard for individuals with competing viewpoints to engage in civil and productive dialogue. Here, Virginia Tech is giving you the chance to reflect on a time when your voice may have been silenced (or when you observed someone else’s voice being silenced). What was the outcome? How do you feel about your reaction, and what did you learn from it? This is your opportunity to show that you are an open-minded, intellectually curious, self-aware young person. One key thing to remember when addressing this prompt is that you don’t have to be the hero of the anecdote. In fact, you may be one who learned to expand their thinking.

Share a time when you were most proud of yourself either as a role model or when you displayed your leadership. What specific skills did you contribute to the experience? How did others rely on you for guidance? What did you learn about yourself during this time? (120 words)

Leadership is an admirable quality, but it can manifest in many different forms. This essay is not only for those who captained a varsity team to a state title, started a charitable organization, or made sweeping changes as student body president. Teamwork and collaboration are also valued leadership skills both in academia and in the workplace, and students with strong interpersonal skills and a high EQ can be an asset to any university. Think beyond the title that you may have held and more about the action(s) of which you are most proud.

To sum up, this essay is about leadership, broadly defined. You can chronicle anything from mentoring others on your debate team to a simple instance of conflict resolution within your peer group. Along the way, just make sure that you provide answers to each question embedded in the prompt. This includes what you learned about yourself through this role modeling/leadership moment.

Describe a goal that you have set and the steps you will take to achieve it. What made you set this goal for yourself? What is your timeline to achieve this goal? Who do you seek encouragement or guidance from as you work on this goal? (120 words)

Through this prompt, Virginia Tech wants to know more about your goal-setting, work ethic, and level of executive functioning. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that becoming a master or expert at anything takes 10,000 hours of practice. Consider talking about the grind and sacrifice it will take you to become great at a given skill. Further, explain how you see that skill becoming even more finely tuned/developed over time. If this goal fits into your future academic/career plans, all the better—share that too! As with the other three prompts, #4 packs in a lot of questions into a single prompt.

Ultimately, you’ll need to produce a well-edited, concise piece of writing that chronicles not only your goal, the steps you will take to achieve it, and the timeline of the steps, but also who will help you along the way. Answering the last question is key in showing that you are a mature learner who understands that you will need mentorship, assistance, and other resources along the path toward achieving your dreams.

How important are the Virginia Tech supplemental essays?

The essays are “very important” to the Virginia Tech admissions committee. This places them in the same tier of importance as the rigor of your coursework, GPA, first-generation status, geographical residence, state residency, and race/ethnicity.

Want personalized essay assistance with your Virginia Tech supplemental essays?

Lastly, if you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your Virginia Tech supplemental essays, we encourage you to  get a quote  today.

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Virginia Tech Supplemental Essays Guide: 2021-2022

Not sure how to write Virginia Tech supplemental essays? CollegeAdvisor.com ’s guide to the Virginia Tech application essays will show you exactly how to write engaging Virginia Tech essays and maximize your chances of admission. If you need help crafting your Virginia Tech supplemental essays, create your free account or schedule a free advising consultation by calling (844) 343-6272.

Virginia Tech Essay Guide Quick Facts:

• Virginia Tech’s acceptance rate is 67% 
• U.S. News considers Virginia Tech a selective school.
• Virginia Tech is ranked #75 on the U.S. News ‘ list of National Universities .

Does Virginia Tech Have any Supplemental Essays?

Yes. In addition to the personal statement that you will write for the Common App or the Coalition App , you’ll also answer four Virginia Tech essay prompts. The Virginia Tech essay questions are designed for the admissions committee to get a better sense of who you are as a student, peer, and person.

Need some help writing your Common App essay? Get great tips from our Common App essay guide .  

How Many Essays does Virginia Tech Require?

You must answer four Virginia Tech essay questions when you complete your application. Each of the Virginia Tech essay questions requires a response of no more than 120 words. It is just as challenging to write a short essay as it is to write a long essay, so take time to brainstorm, outline, draft, and revise each of your four Virginia Tech supplemental essays. There should be a targeted message in each of your Virginia Tech essays. 

What are the Essays for Virginia Tech?

The Virginia Tech application essays for Virginia Tech are about four topics: service, resilience, leadership, and goals. Each of the Virginia Tech essay prompts is relatively broad. This gives you lots of freedom and flexibility to choose your topic and articulate the story you tell in each of your Virginia Tech supplemental essays. At 120 words each, your Virginia Tech essays must be clear and concise. 

How do I Write the Essays for Virginia Tech: Question 1

Prompt 1: Virginia Tech’s motto is “Ut Prosim” which means ‘That I May Serve’. Share how you contribute to a community that is important to you. How long have you been involved? What have you learned and how would you like to share that with others at Virginia Tech? (120 words)

Question #1 of the Virginia Tech supplemental essays is a bit of a twist on the classic community service essay. Since the school incorporates its motto into the prompt, you will also want to look at the school’s core values and mission statement. These will help you learn what should be reflected in your Virginia Tech application essays. 

“Community” is defined very broadly. Successful Virginia Tech essays can be written about families, teams, project groups, neighborhoods, religious groups, or any other group of people with whom you spend your time. The key to writing a strong Virginia Tech supplemental essay is to choose a community that is important to you. The best Virginia Tech supplemental essays show how you have been an active member of your community. Through your Virginia Tech supplemental essays establish clearly how you would be an active member of communities on campus.

Address each part

This prompt asks that you include a few specific details in your Virginia Tech supplemental essays: how long you have been involved, what you learned, and how you would share it at Virginia Tech. The best Virginia Tech essays will not only answer these but also discuss the “why.” Why do you choose to spend time impacting this community in particular? In your Virginia Tech supplemental essays, articulate how what you do has shaped who you are.

Importantly, this prompt is not asking you to describe the community in your Virginia Tech application essays. Rather, you should discuss your role in the community in-depth. How has your involvement transformed you? How have you transformed the community? Service is inherently about others, but your 120-word Virginia Tech supplemental essays should contain vivid stories that illustrate your qualities and character traits. 

Connecting your cause

What cause are you committed to? This is the essential question that effective Virginia Tech supplemental essays will answer. Then, you can connect your passions to opportunities at Virginia Tech. Perhaps, you could highlight an initiative or two that you would get involved in through VT Engage or in volunteer opportunities in Roanoke in your Virginia Tech supplemental essays.  In your Virginia Tech essays, make an authentic connection between what you do now and what activities and organizations you plan to be involved in at Virginia Tech. 

In this and all your responses to the Virginia Tech essay questions, avoid writing a monologue on the meaning of service in general or using cliche examples and phrases. Also, be sure to hone in on a specific and personal story in your Virginia Tech essays. This should not be a laundry list of your community service endeavors. 

Essay Draft Key Questions:

• Do you answer all parts of the Virginia Tech essay questions in your essay? 
• Does your essay tell a compelling story?
• Do you clearly establish your “why” in your essay?
• Does the reader learn what is important to you through your Virginia Tech application essays?

How do I write the essays for Virginia Tech: Question 2

Prompt 2: Resilience is defined as the ability to adapt and learn from a difficulty. Reflect on a time that you have exhibited resilience. What growth did you see in yourself after this experience? (120 words)

This Virginia Tech application essay is almost identical to the common ‘overcoming challenges’ essay archetype, but with an emphasis on resilience. The best Virginia Tech application essays that answer this prompt will be authentic; the adversity that you overcame does not have to be traumatic or monumental. 

How you handled the challenge is more important than what the challenge was. So, don’t force a topic into your Virginia Tech supplemental essays. Your Virginia Tech essays will be better if you discuss a low-stakes challenge authentically than if you fabricate a high-stakes challenge that doesn’t have implications for your character, skills, or growth. 

Be specific and personal to make your Virginia Tech application essays stand out among the many other qualified applicants. Illustrate the traits and skills that you showed in your resilience. What motivates you? What enabled you to persevere? Your choice of topic is one way to stand out in your Virginia Tech essays, but so is your ability to write about your chosen topic. 

The best Virginia Tech application essays will incorporate elements of vulnerability and transparency. Before drafting your responses to this and each of the Virginia Tech essay prompts, take time to reflect on how your essay conveys your values. Also, remember that rarely do we overcome adversity alone. In your Virginia Tech essays, you can write about how you relied on others as part of being resilient.

Virginia Tech supplemental essays answering this prompt are only 120 words, so let’s talk about structure. In your Virginia Tech essays, take a few sentences to lay the foundation, elaborate descriptively on your story, and emphasize the “so what?” — why does it matter? 

The best way to maximize the 120 word limit in your responses to the Virginia Tech essay prompts is to show instead of tell. Use vivid descriptions instead of simple narration to make the reader feel like they are part of your story. How did you feel? What was your environment like? Who did you interact with? 

Avoid overused cliche examples such as losing a sports game or getting a bad grade unless you can make them extremely unique and personal. 

• Do you show instead of tell your message in your Virginia Tech supplemental essays?
• Is your choice of topic specific and personal?
• Do you focus more on your resilience in handling the challenge than the challenge itself?
• Did you thoroughly proofread your Virginia Tech essays for grammar and content?

How do I write the essays for Virginia Tech: Question 3

Prompt 3: Share a time when you were most proud of yourself either as a role model or when you displayed your leadership. What specific skills did you contribute to the experience? How did others rely on you for guidance? What did you learn about yourself during this time? (120 words)

When choosing your topic to write about for this Virginia Tech supplemental essay, you can discuss being a role model through one of several avenues: influencing others, leadership, resolving a dispute, or contributing to group goals. You have a lot of freedom when answering the Virginia Tech essay prompts! Think about a situation in which you took an active role in a group setting among peers, adults, or your family. In your Virginia Tech essays, highlight how your leadership demonstrates your problem-solving abilities and other character traits. 

When writing your Virginia Tech application essays, don’t worry if you don’t have an official leadership title such as president of a club or student council representative. Virginia Tech does not expect that every leader has a title. The impact you had in your role is significantly more important to discuss in your Virginia Tech supplemental essays than the title or size of the role you held. 

Different kinds of leadership

The leadership you discuss in your response to the Virginia Tech essay questions can be academic, professional, social, or otherwise. Regardless of the type of leadership you choose to discuss, the best Virginia Tech essays will reveal what role you play in group settings and how you build connections with those around you. 

The secret to this one of the Virginia Tech essay prompts is that it’s about collaboration more than leadership. After all, what is a leader without people to lead and other leaders to work with? The stories you select to write about for your Virginia Tech application essays should reveal how your leadership is cooperative in nature; you’re not in it alone!

Though you will inevitably write about other people in your Virginia Tech essay prompts, make sure that you are focusing on your own redeeming qualities and traits. 

• Do you discuss leadership in a collaborative way in your Virginia Tech supplemental essays?
• Do your Virginia Tech admissions essays reveal redeeming qualities about your character?
• Does your choice of topic enable you to highlight your leadership style?
• Do you fully answer all parts of the Virginia Tech essay prompt?

How do I write the essays for Virginia Tech: Question 4

Prompt 4: Describe a goal that you have set and the steps you will take to achieve it. What made you set this goal for yourself? What is your timeline to achieve this goal? Who do you seek encouragement or guidance from as you work on this goal? (120 words)

In your Virginia Tech supplemental essays for this prompt, you can write about many types of goals. You are not limited to just academic goals! Perhaps you have career goals, personal goals, or others. Interestingly, this prompt asks you for a goal that you are currently working toward achieving. Therefore, in your Virginia Tech essays, you must be able to articulate the steps that you are taking — not ones you plan to take or already took.

Another consideration when choosing which goal to write about for your Virginia Tech supplemental essays is the message that the goal and your progress send about what type of person, peer, and student you are. How does what you strive for show who you are?

Don’t forget the “why”

The Virginia Tech essay prompts you with guiding questions: What is your motivation? What is your timeline? Who do you seek help from? But, the most important question is implied: Why? In your Virginia Tech essays, fully answer each of these questions while demonstrating your commitment to learning and growing. 

You should not feel pressure to talk strictly about your academic and career goals in any of your Virginia Tech essays. However, of these Virginia Tech essay questions, that discussion likely fits in this one the most seamlessly. Nevertheless, you should not choose to write about your future plans if they are not clearly articulated or you are applying relatively undecided. With more than 150 majors and 130 minors to choose from, one likely aligns with your interests and goals. Investigate which clubs , classes , and research opportunities could fit your goals.

Whether you choose to write about an academic, personal, social, or another goal in your Virginia Tech essay questions, tell a compelling story about your motivations and aspirations. Help the admissions committee learn more about who you are in a way that your other Virginia Tech essays have not yet revealed.

• In your Virginia Tech essays, do you clearly articulate your goal?
• Is your goal one that you are currently pursuing?
• Do you clearly and concisely answer all parts of the question in 120 words or less?

Additional tips for Virginia Tech essays

In each of your responses to the Virginia Tech essay questions, strive to be honest and sincere while demonstrating growth and reflection. You only have 120 words to use in your response to each of the Virginia Tech essay prompts, so carefully consider the purpose of each word and sentence. Ultimately, aim for your Virginia Tech essays to be meaningful and memorable.

In combination with your Common App or Coalition App personal statement, your Virginia Tech essay prompts will round out the full package of your application. Consider how you can reveal another side of yourself in each of your essays responding to the Virginia Tech essay prompts. If you are applying to the Honors College, that admissions committee will also review your Virginia Tech supplemental essays. 

Virginia Tech Supplemental Essays — Final Thoughts

Before submitting your application, re-read your application and think about how the Virginia Tech admissions team will perceive each aspect of it. Make sure that your Virginia Tech supplement essays say something about you that the reader doesn’t learn in other parts of your application. 

The Virginia Tech essay prompts are only slightly altered from last year’s version, so it is clear that the school values the responses you write in each of your Virginia Tech supplemental essays. Clearly and concisely show the admissions readers who you are through your Virginia Tech essays. Highlight what will make you a star college student. Good luck!

This 2021-2022 essay guide on Virginia Tech was written by Caroline Marapese , Notre Dame ‘20. For more CollegeAdvisor.com resources on Virginia Tech, click here . Want help crafting your Virginia Tech supplemental essays? Create your free account or schedule a free advising consultation by calling (844) 343-6272.

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First-year Admissions Requirements

Academic requirements for first-year applicants.

For Fall 2023, we received more than 47,000 applications for approximately 7,000 spaces in our entering class. To be a first-year applicant to Virginia Tech, you must complete:

18 units of high school coursework, including:

• 4 units of English
• 3 units of math (includes algebra I, geometry, and algebra II)
• 2 units of laboratory science (chosen from biology, chemistry or physics)
• 2 units of social science (one must be history)
• 3 additional academic units (foreign language is highly recommended)
• 4 elective units

If you have already graduated high school and have attempted 12 or more credits at the college/university level, then you should apply as a transfer applicant. If your credits were attempted or completed in high school, you are still a first-year applicant.

First-year Applicant Holistic Review

When your application is complete, it will be reviewed holistically by our admissions committee. We will look at your achievement inside of the classroom, as well as who you are outside of the classroom. This includes looking at your application within the context of your high school. The committee will consider your school’s course offerings, grading scale, and any other school-related information provided to review your academic achievement. Factors that are considered in the application review process include:

Academic Review:

• Rigor of academic program within context of school
• Grades in courses, including trends over time
• Standardized test scores (if applicable; test-optional for students entering through Fall 2025)
• Major requested on your application as we review by major at Virginia Tech

Personal Review (in alphabetical order, not reflective of order of review):

• Activities outside of the classroom like jobs, clubs, sports, family responsibilities, service, research, etc.
• Disciplinary record
• First-generation college student status
• Interest in the Corps of Cadets
• Participation in Virginia Tech pipeline programs
• Personal statements submitted through the Ut Prosim Profile
• Veteran status

Required Supplemental Information for Application Review

Academic materials.

Applicants who meet the following criteria are required to submit a Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) after application submission:

• First-year applicants who have only attended high school or have been home-educated within the U.S. will need to submit an SRAR for review. If you choose for your SAT/ACT scores to be reviewed, you must include them on your SRAR.

Applicants who meet the following criteria are required to submit their transcript(s) during or after application submission:

• First-year applicants who have attended high school or have been home-educated outside of the U.S. at any point will need to submit their transcript(s) for review. If you choose for your SAT/ACT scores to be reviewed, include them on your application for admission or upload a score report in your Applicant Portal.

In both cases, the Applicant Portal will be a tool for submitting your academic materials. Applicants will be able to either seamlessly log into their SRAR or upload their transcript(s) and standardized test score reports (if applicable).

Standardized Tests

• ACT or SAT: Virginia Tech is test-optional for students entering through Fall 2025. On the application for admission, you will be able to select whether or not you would like your scores to be reviewed as part of your application. We do not look at the Writing section of either test. If you do not want to include test scores in the review of your application, it will not impact your admission decision. If you are required to submit the SRAR, you will provide the scores there. If you are required to submit transcripts, then you can include the test scores on your Common App for review, or upload the score report in your Applicant Portal.
• English Language Requirements: If you are applying and your native language is not English, you will need to demonstrate English language proficiency through testing. For more information, please see the international requirements webpage for details.

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation are not required or requested. Even if submitted, they will not be considered in the review of your application.

If there is a circumstance that you would like to share that impacted you academically or personally, we encourage you to share this information on your application in the Additional Information writing prompt on Common App. Your counselor may also write a letter of circumstance on your behalf and email it to [email protected] to be added to your application for review. Please note that this should not be used to share letters of recommendation.

For a checklist related to applying to Virginia Tech as a first-year, please visit the first-year application checklist .

Home-Schooled, Home-Educated, and Others in Non-Accredited Programs

In order to be competitive for admission to Virginia Tech, students applying from educational backgrounds other than accredited schools (including home-schooled or home-educated students whose programs are not accredited) must provide the following documentation for review by the admissions committee:

• Application for admission, including the non-refundable application fee
• Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR) that includes all coursework completed in high school
• Grades/level of performance
• SAT and/or ACT test scores, if choosing to have scores reviewed

Virginia Tech attracts highly competitive students nationwide and from over 100 countries. An increasing number of these students have unique educational backgrounds that require additional evaluation. The university administration recognizes that students from educational backgrounds other than accredited schools may not study in the traditional classroom environment and that they are unable to provide the traditional documentation needed to evaluate their academic performance. Virginia Tech believes that providing this population the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in their college preparatory curriculum through the above-listed documentation will be beneficial to both the student and the university.

Updated July 2023

Writing personal statements

Writing statements for applying to graduate or professional school.

For each specific school and program to which you apply, instructions will be given regarding the topics and length of your statement. Allow sufficient time to write drafts, set them aside, re-read them with fresh eyes, review and revise, and obtain feedback, before finalizing. As you make revisions, it's easy to accidently leave in or leave out words in error. Proofread, proofread, and proofread again! Be scrupulous about grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Simple, avoidable mistakes can weaken or derail your application. Don't rely on spellcheck. You may be applying to multiple schools and writing a similar statement for each, with careful customization for each. Don't make the mistake of sending a statement to XYZ school that says you really want to attend LMN school; that's an error that can strike you from being considered.

Remember that human beings are reading your statement, and they're reading many. Avoid gimmicks. Do sound like a focused adult with realistic goals and expectations, and show that you have done your research on the career field you are pursuing and the school you wish to attend. Do advocate for yourself. In your statement, there is no need for you to apologize for something you don't have in your background, or something you perceive as a weakness. If you have a passion for a field or topic, do share and explain that passion!

For reviews of your personal statement:

You are welcome to schedule an advising appointment with Career and Professional Development . And the  Writing Center at Virginia Tech  is a resource for VT students seeking writing consultations.

Virginia Tech 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Decision: Nov 1

Early Action: Dec 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 15

You Have: 

The Requirements:  4 short essays of 120 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s):   Community ,  Additional Info

Each of the Ut Prosim Profile questions are required with a limit of 120 words in length per answer. Once you submit your application, your responses to the questions are final and cannot be updated.

Virginia tech’s motto is “ ut prosim ” which means ‘that i may serve’. share how you contribute to a community that is important to you. how long have you been involved what have you learned and how would you like to share that with others at virginia tech.

Chances are, you’ve done some community service at some point in your life, and this prompt asks you to reflect on that experience. The prompt is clear about what it wants you to cover and lays out a basic list of questions that we’d expect you to answer regardless: from details about your involvement to the lessons you’ve taken with you. You only have 120 words, so you will have to cut straight to the chase. In some ways, this is a glorified resume entry, but you can bring it to life by devoting more of your word count to concrete, personal details than a verbatim recitation of the organization’s mission and vision (or worse, a bloated list of clichés related to the value of service). Why do you care so deeply about a particular cause or community? What change do you hope to see in the world? Remember that, fundamentally, community service is not about personal glory or achievement. Did you volunteer at a hospital over the summer? Describe how this affected your beliefs about what doctors owe their patients or why bedside manner is as important as medical knowledge. Have you been fundraising for girls’ education in developing countries? Reflect on what drew you to this cause and how you knew your efforts had paid off. Finally, address about how you’d like to continue your service on Virginia Tech’s campus.

Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community supports access and inclusion by affirming the dignity and value of every person, respecting differences, promoting mutual understanding and open expression, and strives to eliminate bias and discrimination. Reflect on a time when you were not able or allowed to express a different or diverse position or opinion (or you witnessed another person or group experience the same situation)? How did you respond or wish you would have responded? Did your viewpoint change in any way after this experience?

The Virginia Tech admissions committee wants to hear about a time when you were (or someone you know was) silent or silenced while adverse opinions were being discussed. Admissions knows that engaging with others in meaningful conversations about important issues is both intimidating and integral to progress, and we’re not always able to get the words out. If you could do it over again, what would you change? What did you take away from this experience? Maybe your relatives were discussing gun control during Thanksgiving last year, and you watched as your cousin was dismissed for having an adverse option. Do you wish you would have added your two cents and offered your solidarity? Maybe you learned that one of your friends was a passive supporter of an organization that you vehemently disagree with. After mulling it over, did you broach the subject? What was the outcome of your conversation? In order to impress admissions, you just need to show that you’re capable of reflection and bravery when it comes to engaging with those who have different opinions than you. College will present you with a plethora of opportunities to meet and interact with people who are very different from you, so show VT that you’re game to listen, learn, call in, and grow.

Share a time when you were most proud of yourself either as a role model or when you displayed your leadership. What specific skills did you contribute to the experience? How did others rely on you for guidance? What did you learn about yourself during this time?

At a glance, this might seem like a question about leadership, but secretly, it’s about collaboration. Which role do you choose in group situations and how do you connect to others? The greatest challenge may be choosing the right story. Any time you worked or engaged with others is fair game, so don’t restrict yourself merely to your science fair project or the baseball team. This is also a great opportunity to write about a professional experience (your first time working as a hostess!) or even community service (organizing the county coat drive!). Since the word limit is relatively tight, you’ll want to zero in on a specific moment or challenge. And remember that this question is about collaboration; it’s not just about how you paved the way or saved the day, but about how you interacted with and supported a larger group. How did your contribution affect your team’s ultimate success (or failure)? In the end, you should be driving at a lesson that you will be able to carry with you into the future. In other words: an experience that will have a positive impact on your collaborative work at Virginia Tech.

Describe a goal that you have set and the steps you will take to achieve it. What made you set this goal for yourself? What is your timeline to achieve this goal? Who do you seek encouragement or guidance from as you work on this goal?

So many questions! We all have goals we hope to achieve in the future, whether that’s learning how to decorate a cake, running for public office, or leading an expedition to space! Describe a goal that you have set for yourself and then let admissions in on how you plan to make that dream a reality. Your response will demonstrate your grit, tenacity, and determination. No goal is too small, so long as you’re showing admissions that you can follow through and challenge yourself. After all, you’ll be setting new goals and accomplishing them as you earn your degree!

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Personal Statement

Your personal statement is an integral part of a successful application. Unless a program’s faculty or residents know you personally through a rotation, your application — including personal statement — presents your entire professional persona to those who extend interview invitations. Competitive programs have hundreds of qualified applicants, so your personal statement must help you stand out.

Programs differ in how they use personal statements, so even an excellent essay doesn’t guarantee an interview. Number-oriented programs may “screen out” applicants whose numbers (e.g., USMLE scores) fall below their standards. Fortunately, a well-written personal statement can connect you with those who review applications more holistically.

Your personal statement should achieve these broad goals:

• communicate passion for and describe how specific experiences sparked and developed your commitment to your specialty,
• address sensitive issues (e.g., course repeats) to alleviate reviewer concerns,
• provide interviewers a base from which to ask questions during your interview, and
• give residency programs an idea of who you are and what makes you tick.

In short, your essay can help you secure interviews and establish rapport with those who influence where you’re placed on a program’s rank order list (ROL).

Additionally, program directors and faculty who screen applications want personal statements to:

• Be personal.  Tell your story so reviewers want to meet you.
• Portray marketable abilities.  Describe experiences (e.g., community service learning, jobs) that honed your interpersonal and communication skills.
• Describe specialty-specific attributes.  Integrate specific abilities (e.g., ability to focus under pressure) possessed by successful residents in your specialty.
• Demonstrate personal responsibility.  Address potential issues (e.g., repeated USMLE Step 1) directly and describe how you overcame the challenge.
• Be easy to read.  Write using short to moderate-length sentences.
• Be professional.  Eliminate typographical, syntax, and grammatical errors. These errors will likely produce an undesired outcome.
• Using a quotation.  If you include one, be able to discuss how it relates to you during an interview.
• Claiming an attribute you’re expected to possess. Instead, show you have various attributes through the experiences you share in your statement, rather than telling the reader you have them. 
• Making a request.  Reviewers are seldom moved by “Please allow me to interview at your program.”

Definitely do not

• Use a service that will write your personal statement for a fee.  People who review applications can often spot a professionally written essay, and professional writers may unknowingly include the same or similar content in the essays they write. Most programs view a ghostwritten essay as an unethical representation of your work. So tell your own story in your own words and forget about these services.
• Copy from other essays,  even if they say something eloquently. You might be investigated for plagiarism.

When writing your essay, work with a specialty-specific mentor to identify what your essay must and must not include. Then prepare and revise several drafts before asking your mentor for their feedback. If you disagree with the mentor’s assessment, ask a second specialty-specific mentor to review it. If their suggestions match, revise it. If their suggestions differ, use your best judgment. Last, ask someone who knows you well to also review your essay to assess whether it reflects you as a person.

A well-written personal statement is very important, but it won’t guarantee an interview invitation or a high standing on a program’s rank order list (ROL). Make it concise, logical, and sincere. After all, your personal statement provides programs an overview of you as a person and developing physician.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much of my CV should I include in my personal statement? Highlight one or two areas of particular passion or interest rather than doing a "CV dump."

Can my statement be over a page in length? Generally, it should be kept to a page or under.

Does anyone at VTC help me with my personal statement? Yes. In May through September of each academic year, Dr. Cynthia Unwin, PhD , is available to help rising M4 VTC students brainstorm ideas and edit personal statements. 

Student Life

Career advising, follow vtcsom.

To navigate within this website, use the breadcrumbs or the Explore bar at the top of the page. 

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

How to Write the Virginia Tech Application Essays 2017-2018

Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi! Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, better known as Virginia Tech, is a public university located in Blacksburg, Virginia. Virginia Tech serves around 31,000 students , making it the third largest university in the state.

Because Virginia Tech uses its own application — rather than the Common Application or the Coalition Application — the 1-3 supplements stand alone as each applicant’s writing sample(s). Virginia Tech evaluates the same essays whether an applicant chooses to apply to the Engineering School or the College of Humanities and Sciences.

For the 2017-2018 admissions cycle, Virginia Tech has provided seven essay prompts, from which applicants are free to choose one, two, or three prompts to answer. Each prompt has a word count limit of 250 words .

With an acceptance rate of 73%, Virginia Tech admissions are somewhat competitive, meaning that stellar supplemental essays have the potential to push an otherwise below-average applicant over the top. Here is how CollegeVine suggests you tackle each prompt.

What are the top five reasons you want to be a Hokie?

This prompt is an excellent opportunity to convey interest in attending Virginia Tech and to show that you have thought seriously about how you might take full advantage of your Virginia Tech experience.

To answer the prompt, first you should visualize how you might spend your four years at Tech — what classes, extracurriculars, and social aspects would you be most excited to explore? These three categories can serve as the basis for drafting your five reasons. Your essay should strike a balance between what you’ll pursue inside the classroom, what you’ll spend your time doing outside the classroom, and what aspect(s) of the Tech community appeal to you most.

For example, a well-rounded essay could include (1) two specific reasons related to academics (such as a class you would like to take and research opportunity you would like to pursue); (2) two activities you can either start or continue pursuing at Tech (such as intramural soccer and Hiking Club, for example); and (3) an aspect of dorm culture that interests you (such as the living-learning labs in some dorms).

Aside from this academic-extracurricular balance, the most important tactic for writing an essay for Prompt 1 is specificity. Cite specific examples within your reasons — writing “I’m eager to pursue PSCI 3034: The CIA In Today’s World ” is much more effective in showing interest and commitment than writing “I’m eager to pursue classes in my major, Political Science.” Look for clubs or extracurricular opportunities that appeal to you at Tech and call them out by name, showing your dedication to Tech’s academic and community offerings.

If there is something you think would be beneficial for the Admissions Committee to know as we review your academic history, please take this opportunity to explain.

Prompt 2 provides an opportunity for applicants whose academic careers have been affected by adverse or unanticipated circumstances to explain precisely how the situation(s) was/were detrimental to their academic performances . Moving during the school year, suffering a prolonged illness, being in an accident that required extended time off of school, or caring for an elderly relative or younger sibling are just a few examples of circumstances that could impact your academic performance.

The Virginia Tech Admissions Committees want the whole picture as they review your application, so if you feel that something in your academic history requires additional explanation, take this opportunity to engage in a candid dialogue about how the situation affected you as a student.

The essay you’ll write for this prompt will necessarily be personal, so there’s no “right” way to write it effectively. As you brainstorm, think of specific circumstances in which your academic career was affected by the topic of the essay. Don’t say “recovering from the accident made it harder for me to do my homework, which is why I did poorly my sophomore year.”

Instead, say, “Even after returning home from the hospital, waking up in the middle of the night to change my bandages often left me unable to focus effectively in my early classes.” Instead of “It took so much time to feed and get my little sister to bed that I just didn’t have time for my homework,” try, “Some nights, an unexpected stomach bug left me preoccupied caring for my little sister until late in the night; my chemistry reading was left untouched as I administered pink medicine and took her temperature at 30-minute intervals.”

As you write this essay, make sure that you’re honest and candid about how a situation or experience impacted your ability to perform academically, and keep in mind that the goal is to provide context for the evaluators of your academic credentials.

Our motto is Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). How is service to others important in your life?

Service is an integral part of Virginia Tech’s community, so this is a great essay choice if you prioritize serving others in any way and on any scale. You may wish to talk about your servant leadership in a school or community club, a service capstone project you organized to benefit those in need, or simply how you incorporate the ideal of service to others in your day-to-day actions.

Whatever you choose to write about, make sure that you hit not only the specific consequences of your service but also the reasons why your service is important to you personally . It’s not enough to say, “I love to serve others because it gives me a chance to help my community, and it makes me feel fulfilled.” Instead, try something like this: “Video chatting with the overseas beneficiaries of my used bike drive and hearing about how Sofia was able to spend two more hours each day with her son because of her new work transportation inspired me to continue my work with Bikes for the World.”

It may be appropriate for you to touch on how you plan to continue a prolonged service activity in college. For example, if you tutor elementary students in math each week as a volunteer service, you may want to cite your plans to join or create a similarly-oriented service club at Virginia Tech. Showing that you’ve taken the time to research service opportunities at Tech will help to show your commitment to service and its importance to your identity.

We believe strongly in the Virginia Tech Principles of Community and the value of human diversity affirmed therein. Share a perspective or experience related to your culture, age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status that might explain how you will enrich the climate of mutual respect and understanding here.

By this question, Tech strives to help potential students see that the admissions office and the university as a whole understand these aspects of identity to be complex and individualized facets of character rather than descriptors that can be answered for by simple yes/no check boxes. If you believe that there is an aspect of your identity that warrants special consideration of how you’ll fit into and benefit the Tech community , then this question is for you.

It’s easy to get carried away while discussing an aspect of your identity, so the important tip to remember while writing this essay is to stick to the prompt as much as possible. You want to write about your identity through the lens of Tech’s commitment to “mutual respect and understanding.”

This means you’ll want to discuss how your perspective can help others learn something about their community and the world. For example, your religion might give you a unique perspective on Eastern literature that would enhance your English class discussions. Alternatively, you might be committed to changing the narrative about disabilities on campus because of your physical or mental disability.

One of the most important factors that admissions readers consider is how each applicant will contribute to the school community. This essay is a direct opportunity for you to explain in a personal fashion how you would be able to contribute to Virginia Tech. So be sure to keep your essay focused on how you will use your identity to enrich your community at Tech both inside and outside the classroom.

Virginia Tech is one of six senior military institutions in the country. How will this setting contribute to your college experience?

This prompt is specifically tailored to students hoping to participate in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets . This is an immersive, residential program that provides a military training experience that’s comparable to the college experience at a U.S. military institution. Participants include all ROTC participants as well as some students who participate in the Corps of Cadets but not an ROTC program.

Most students choosing to pursue the Corps of Cadets have distinct personal reasons for their commitment. This is the time to convey those personal reasons – your convictions, career goals, and other motivators for your pursuing the program. Additionally, you’ll want to touch on what about the program appeals to you. This could include the residential aspect, the opportunity for leadership responsibilities, or the tight-knit community feel of the program, among many other possible motivators.

While the Corps of Cadets will likely serve as a track to your future career goals, it’s important that (if you choose to make this point in your essay) this not overshadow your answering the prompt – how will the CoC contribute to your college experience? Think about what you want to get out of your college experience, do your research on the CoC and all that it entails, and then speak candidly about why you would benefit from the program and what you would bring to it.

For example, if you participated in JROTC in high school, this would be a good time to describe a situation during training in which you exhibited honor, courage, leadership or another foundational value of the program — whether establishing a tradition to welcome new members, finding a way to motivate your peers during training, or enabling community by facilitating bonding outside of training. Then you’ll be able to tie your potential contributions into what you’re hoping to get out of the program.

You could write about how having a strong bond with a team of committed peers would help you stay on track in and out of the classroom. You might be eager to engage in the leadership training and education offered by the program. Explain your reasons for wanting to be a part of the Corps of Cadets community, keeping in mind the residential, immersive nature of the program in shaping your college experience.

Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

Writing a narrative, anecdotal account of an important experience can be an effective method for showing the admissions committee who you are as a person and what kind of Hokie you would be on campus. It’s an open-ended prompt — the story can be about something good or bad, seemingly insignificant or monumental, a failure or a triumph, as long as you can convey why and how the experience made you who you are today.

The most common mistake applicants will make on this essay is falling into the trap of “telling” rather than “showing.” Don’t just say what happened, set the scene and appeal to the senses of the reader . You want to give the reader a deeper understanding of the situation by making them feel a personal connection to the scene — this will help them understand better its impact on you.

For an essay about navigating your parents’ divorce, you’d want to avoid general “telling” statements like, “I had to calm down my little sister, who was upset about having to split time between our parents’ new houses.” Instead, you could “show,” saying, “As the blue-grey facade of my mom’s house faded out the car window, I distracted my sister with a game of tic-tac-toe. By the time we approached dad’s apartment, her tears had dried and she happily pressed her face against the glass to get a glimpse of dad.”

Remember that the focus of the essay is on how the experience changed your character. It may be helpful to use parallel examples from before and after the experience. For example, you could recount the ease with which you wrote, ate, and ran before an accident, and then detail the struggle of relearning these previously taken-for-granted abilities afterward.

If you choose to write about an experience that demonstrated your character rather than shaping it, choose one of your defining character traits and think of a situation or experience that was emblematic of that value.

For example, if you’re hardworking, you may want to write about a project that you gave your all and poured your heart into. No matter what topic you choose, “showing” by appealing to the senses rather than “telling” objectively will help you to write an effective narrative supplement.

Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.

If you have a topic that you’re eager to write about but it doesn’t fit any of the above prompts, you might consider creating your own prompt and writing the essay under Prompt 7. It could be your favorite essay from school or an essay you wrote for another school’s supplement or the Common Application or Coalition Application.

Regardless, make sure that you’re sticking to the rule of “showing” rather than “telling” and writing about something that resonates with you personally. Essays are an opportunity to show passion, character, and personality, so let your voice shine through.

Ideally, you should pick a topic that ties in with your admissions theme and that tells the readers something about you that hasn’t been explained in your previous essays. Other than that — anything goes! Have fun and write about something you love to write about.

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.

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Can you trust 2024 election polls on Donald Trump and Joe Biden? Here's how to cut through the noise.

Love them or hate them, political polls aren’t going anywhere. As the 2024 presidential election kicks into high gear, the internet will be flooded with surveys tracking the horserace between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Keeping track of the numbers can be daunting: Who's ahead in national polls? Who's ahead in state-level surveys? Figuring out which numbers to pay attention to – and whether any of it actually matters – can be even more challenging.  

Luckily, the USA TODAY Network has got you covered. Here’s a refresher on why polls matter, whether you can trust them and what to look out for this year.  

What do polls tell us about the election?  

Think of polls as quick snapshots rather than crystal ball readings.  

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

They don’t necessarily predict the results of an election. Rather, they’re used to gauge how people feel about a race during a specific period. Pollsters may ask questions about the future, but surveys have more to say about the voters' current temperature.

Polls also tend to have a short shelf life. Public opinion can shift quickly, meaning that the results of polls are often only a reliable measure of the state of a race during the time they were taken. 

A survey taken two months ago won’t reflect the state of a race today, and a poll fielded tomorrow won’t tell us who is going to win the presidential election in November.

However, that doesn't mean polls captured at the beginning of a campaign cycle don't matter. The insights from early polls tease out the major issues voters are thinking about that could shape the race.  They also help trace the trendlines of how a candidate is performing – whether they’re gaining traction, stagnating or losing support. 

Pollster John Zogby likened the importance of looking at early polling to checking benchmarks while trying to reach an exercise goal.  

“Am I going to get on the scale the day before to see how I did?” said Zogby. “No, I get on the scale every so often to say what am I doing? How am I doing? What am I doing right?” 

Conducting polls early in a race and often throughout the course of an election allows political scientists, journalists and the public to track trends and spot major inflection points in campaigns.  

Beware of two-candidate polls  

Not all polls are built the same. The way a survey is designed, from how questions are worded to the demographics of the participants chosen, can influence the accuracy of its results.  

David Paleologos , director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, said political polls are most accurate when they replicate as closely as possible the questions and options voters will see on their ballot.

For instance, he said that polls on the 2024 presidential election should include choices beyond the two major party candidates – Trump and Biden – because most ballots will contain third-party and independent candidates who will garner some support.  

“If the polls only show a binary choice, between Trump or Biden, you're not getting the full picture,” Paleologos said.

He pointed to close margins in critical swing states, including Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia, during the 2020 election as an example. Trump lost in those states by fewer votes than Libertarian Party candidate Jo Jorgensen received.  

If Jorgensen had not been in the race, the results in those battlegrounds, and possibly the outcome of the election nationally, could have looked markedly different, Paleologos said.

The Libertarian Party hasn’t yet chosen its candidate for the 2024 election. But early polls that include the party and other independent candidates as options are likely to more accurately show how disaffected voters are looking at their options, he explained.

Suffolk University and USA TODAY have a partnership collecting polling data and insights.

Who's being polled?

Another factor that can impact a poll’s accuracy is the sample population surveyed. Polls randomly select a small sample of people designed to represent the broader views and attitudes of a larger population. But every organization uses different methodologies to create their samples.  

For instance, some election polls take the temperature of the general population, while others only include active voters or likely voters. They also may weigh demographic information, such as the ratio of Democrats to Republicans, differently.  

In the 2024 race, Zogby, author of the forthcoming book "Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should," suggested that the most accurate polls include only likely voters, the pool of people already planning to cast a ballot in November.

“A likely voter today may not be a likely voter on October 31,” Zogby said, but capturing these voters allows political scientists to better understand the Americans who will choose the next president.

Should I pay attention to national polls or state surveys?

Pollsters were lambasted in 2016 for projecting that then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would win the election over Trump.

But national polls , which are supposed to reflect the popular vote across all states, were technically right. Overall, Clinton won nearly 2.9 million more votes than Trump.  

So, what went wrong? Many analysts overstated Clinton’s lead in national polls, and few organizations conducted state-specific polls in former Democratic strongholds, such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, that Trump was able to capture. His wins in those states ultimately landed him the electoral college victory.  

That’s not to say that national polls are inferior to state polls, but you should think of them differently.

“National polls are more valuable to understand what the issues are impacting likely voters,” Paleologos said, while state polls better represent the horserace.

He and other polling experts told USA TODAY that Biden needs to lead Trump by three to four percentage points in a national poll to be tied with the Republican in the electoral college . That's because large liberal-leaning states like California and New York tend to tilt the results of national polls in Democrats’ favor, whereas the "electoral college these days skews Republican," Zogby said.

In other words, a national poll showing Biden and Trump tied would tell a similar story to a swing state poll that shows Trump leading Biden by a few points.  But generally, experts warn against comparing national and state surveys, which are built off of different methodologies, against one another.

Can you trust the polls?  

Mostly. Because polls are analyzing a myriad of shifting factors, they'll always have some level of uncertainty baked in, regardless of the specific election. Organizations also don’t collaborate on what states they plan to poll, or when, which means there’s always potential for blind spots, like in 2016. 

Some political observers rely on poll averages, such as a tally from Real Clear Politics. These are generally reliable, but they can miss trends.

But when interpreted properly, polls often provide an accurate portrait of the state of an election. 

“There are folks that will say, ‘Oh, you missed the election by two points,’” Zogby said. "Well, two points – that showed the ballpark of what was going to happen.” 

And the more polls there are, the easier it is to evaluate the race.  

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The Food and Life Choices of a ‘Fat Activist’

Readers discuss the “freedom to be fat” and related health and parenting issues.

To the Editor:

Re “ In the Age of Ozempic, She’s Fighting for the Freedom to Be ‘Fat’” (front page, April 22), about Virginia Sole-Smith:

Ms. Sole-Smith does have the freedom to be fat. Adults have the right to make their own choices and pay the consequences that flow from them. While I respect every person’s right to eat what they want and do not think fat shaming is right, I take real issue with parents who try to push this on their children.

Parents are morally obligated to educate their children about obvious and known dangers to their health. Eating poorly, overeating and being overweight are obvious dangers.

Letting kids have occasional sweets is one thing; allowing them to eat brownies for dinner is another. Sorry, but this woman needs a little less freedom and a lot more parental responsibility.

Jeanne L. Ramasso Mount Sinai, N.Y.

I am disappointed that you gave a platform to someone who sits in judgment of those who look at the number on their scale, honestly tally up the health impacts and think: “I love my body, but for me to continue enjoying my life, there must be less of it.”

That’s what I said to myself two years ago, when the toll of being 95 pounds overweight hit home. I have been active most of my life, enjoying a mix of indoor and outdoor activities. But as I gained weight, I could do less and less of those things because doing so hurt from my lower back all the way down through my feet. Plus, I have multiple health issues that are directly linked to being overweight.

I sought out and joined a medically supervised weight loss program. After about a year, the needle had gotten stuck with 70 pounds still to lose. My doctor and I agreed that bariatric surgery was the next reasonable step. I’m recovering from that surgery as I write this.

I never stopped loving and appreciating my body. I just want it to be able to continue supporting the life I want to live.

There is nothing fat-phobic about wanting to lose weight to support your health and your lifestyle. If Virginia Sole-Smith is truly comfortable with her weight, more power to her. I completely agree with her that being overweight does not change the value of a person, and I’m grateful that we’re coming to accept that as a society (albeit slowly and patchily).

But to stretch that to “being fat is perfectly fine” (to paraphrase her) is disingenuous at best and actively harmful at worst.

Darcy Jayne Sedro Woolley, Wash.

The comments on your article on Virginia Sole-Smith were as predictable as they were disappointing. “Bad parenting.” “Neglectful mother.”

This is all directed toward a freshly divorced single mother balancing the onerous responsibilities of provider and parent. I don’t necessarily agree with a nihilistic approach to nutrition, but looking around I can’t say that decades of fat shaming and body-image zealotry have done much to curtail obesity in the community. We entrusted our food and our health to the free market, and the results speak for themselves.

If Ms. Sole-Smith is putting food on the table and a smile on her kids’ faces while putting a bit of money away for their future, then who can be taken seriously calling her a bad mother? Kudos to Ms. Sole-Smith.

Michael Hill Melbourne, Australia The writer is a paramedic.

Virginia Sole-Smith is right about the harmful biases toward fat people both in medical treatment and in general life. It’s unfortunate, however, that her account does not address the root causes of obesity: factory farming, the rise of ultra-processed foods and limited access to healthier foods.

This is a particular issue for the poor, who are increasingly faced with food deserts, where the available options tend to be highly processed. Rates of obesity in the U.S. have tripled over the last 60 years, mirroring the increased consumption of these highly processed foods and sugary drinks.

This phenomenon has been accompanied by a precipitous increase in sedentary lifestyles for both adults and children. Together, these facts indicate that it is societal choices, not individual ones, that are the main drivers of the obesity epidemic — a crisis that is a significant psychological and health burden for those afflicted.

Isaac Shub Laurie Bridger New Haven, Conn. Dr. Bridger is an internist.

I am a white, fat, disabled woman in my late 30s. I have lived with the stigma of fatness most of my life, on top of dealing with ableism. As Virginia Sole-Smith highlights, fat phobia and body shaming are horrible things to navigate and contribute to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

However, despite Ms. Sole-Smith’s good intentions, I feel that her perspective does a huge disservice to low-income people who are disproportionately Black and brown.

Low-income people often struggle to make healthy food choices because they do not have access to affordable produce (for example living in a food desert) and/or don’t have the time or resources to cook healthy meals for themselves and their children.

For an affluent white woman such as Ms. Sole-Smith to provide her children with unhealthy snacks and no guidance on how to eat healthily seems to be an insult to all the low-income mothers out there who are struggling to put healthy food on their children’s plates. She has the resources and privileges to buy healthy food options, but instead focuses on personal freedom and the right to be fat.

I choose to embrace my fat body because I know I am taking care of myself the best that I can with the resources I can afford. But I would not willingly refuse to provide myself or my children (if I had them) with healthy food options if I had the money and resources.

Patricia Kalidonis Philadelphia

While I agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and should not be stigmatized, it is undeniable that obesity is an epidemic that cannot be ignored.

Bias against overweight people is unjust and harmful. However, it is important to recognize that obesity is not a matter of personal choice or opinion; it is a serious, sometimes lethal health issue with far-reaching consequences for the individual and for society, which ends up paying the cost for the medical expenses associated with morbid obesity.

We should strive to support and empower overweight individuals to lead healthy lives, rather than downplaying the risks associated with this condition. We need to support efforts to address the obesity epidemic in a compassionate and evidence-based manner.

To give such a prominent platform to Virginia Sole-Smith is a disservice to your readers and to our society as a whole.

David S. Cantor Los Angeles The writer is the author of “The Book of Good Health — Destroying Myths, Lies and Deceptions. Reaffirming Truths to Achieve Total Wellness.”

Reading your article on Virginia Sole-Smith has left me in a dangling knot of contradictory emotions. As a man struggling with his own weight, I am happy that Ms. Sole-Smith has accepted her body unashamedly and am nauseated by the vitriolic abuse she has received. Nevertheless, I am ill at ease with the idea that obesity can be passed off as healthy, even celebrated, despite the heaving mass of professional and scientific evidence screaming the contrary.

In fat acceptance as in life, there is room for nuance. We can recognize that fat individuals are more prone to suffer a whole freight of health issues (Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea and so on), while also affirming that fat people are just as entitled to dignity and respect as everyone else, and do not deserve to have their bodies examined, mocked and made a public spectacle or political talking point.

Baybars Charkas State College, Pa.