Applying through the Common App? Don’t overlook the Additional Information Section, a hidden opportunity to stand out from other applicants. Used strategically, it can boost your application and give you a competitive edge.
Most students treat this section as optional–many don’t even fill it out at all! But that’s why it offers you a great opportunity.
Because most colleges are now more selective than they have ever been, you need to take advantage of any chance to improve your application relative to other students.
The additional info is the perfect section to do just that, and this guide will show you how to craft a compelling additional info section.
Why trust us? Well, not only are our founders two Princeton grads, but they’ve put together an elite team of Ivy League graduates and professional educators that has coached students to acceptances at top schools for over two decades.
As proof of our tutors’ quality, you can check out the free resource below. It includes over 40 real sample Common App essays that got our students admitted to Harvard, Princeton, Duke, and many more!
Should You Use the Common App Additional Information Section?
The short answer is yes! The longer, more honest answer is: it depends.
In almost every instance, using the additional info section will allow you to show admissions officers things that don’t fit elsewhere in the Common App. That means it’s a plus!
When it comes to elite schools these days, you need to take every advantage you can get.
Imagine that your application is really, really similar to someone else’s. Same grades and test scores, similar activities, and so on. But what if they’ve taken the time to put something extra in the Additional Info section, and you haven’t? It could make the difference between acceptance and rejection.
We’d push you to think long and hard about whether there’s anything impressive or helpful you could put in this section. If so, you’ll want to take that opportunity.
There’s only one case in which you should leave this section blank. That’s if you really, truly, honestly have nothing left to add.
If you would only be repeating something that’s already in your application, then don’t bother!
But before you make that decision, read on below for some unexpected examples of what you could put in the Common App’s Additional Info section.
15 Smart Things to Include in the Additional Info Section
You might not be thinking of all the things that should find a place on the additional info section. We’ll start with some of the most obvious, then work down to the really niche and specific.
1. Important activities that didn’t fit in the Activities Section.
If you’re truly busy and have more than 10 hobbies, sports, jobs, or other important experiences, use the additional info section to show these!
2. Awards/Honors.
The Common App only gives you room for 5 Honors or Awards. If you have more than 5 from high school, make sure to list them here.
3. Explanations of serious illness or other events that affected your academic work.
This is a touchy one: don’t use a fairly minor event to explain away bad grades. But if you were, say, hospitalized for a long period of time and unable to complete schoolwork, you should address that here.
4. Links to independent research papers.
If you’ve written a research paper outside of school and feel confident about it, drop a short abstract and a link to it here! Remember that our tutors can always help you work on your research writing!
5. Coding or CS projects.
If you’ve coded an impressive project, you can drop a github link to your code here. Make sure to include a brief description!
6. Website links.
If you have a website for a blog, business, or artistic endeavor, include a link and description to it here. Just make sure it’s appropriate for admissions officers to look at!
7. Art portfolios.
If you have any artistic hobby that takes a physical form–pottery, painting, origami, flower arranging, making murals–take some photographs and include a link to a gallery of your best work.
8. Writing excerpts.
If you’re a creative writer or journalist, include both a link to your best work and a very brief excerpt of what you think is your strongest writing sample.
9. Music samples.
Are you a musician? If your performances are live, include a link to 1 or 2 youtube videos of you performing. If you make beats or record music at home, include links to those songs.
10. PDFs of poster presentations.
If you’ve presented at a science fair or conference, you likely had to create a poster. Upload a PDF of that to your Google Drive or Bit.ly, then link it here.
11. Film/video projects.
If you make short films, video essays, animation, or anything like that, you should provide a link to your Youtube channel. As always, ensure all of the content admissions officers would see is appropriate.
12. News articles about something you’ve accomplished.
If one of your projects was profiled in a local news source, provide a link to that here! Even if you’re not mentioned by name, you can make clear that the article was about you.
13. Recordings of any competition you excelled in.
Whether it’s robotics or mock trial, a short video of you performing well in a competitive environment is another great addition to your application.
14. Certifications, coursework, or other distinctions that don’t fit anywhere else on the Common App.
This could include online courses you’ve completed or professional certifications (like, say, an EMT license or lifeguard certification).
15. Websites of community organizations you’re involved with.
If you work closely with the local library on ESL courses or volunteer with a local ecological organization, feel free to provide a link to their website–especially if you’re featured on it!
There are more options, but those 15 possible additions cover a lot of ground. Don’t overdo it, but don’t underdo it either: if you have anything that fits one of those categories, include it!
Make sure that anything you include has a short, clear description to go along with it.
And remember that our college essay experts and writing tutors can always help you frame this section to be maximally effective.
5 Common Mistakes to Avoid in the Additional Info Section
Here are 5 things you should not put on this section, however tempting it may be!
Excuses for bad grades.
Many students—especially strong students—want to explain away any B or C grade they’ve gotten.
Unless the grade was the result of something serious going on in your life at the time, don’t do it.
Any explanations about a bad teacher, unfair grading, difficult semester, etc. will only make you look immature.
Full essays or personal statements.
Don’t use this as a way to try to sneak in an extra supplemental essay! That’ll just annoy admissions officers, who won’t read it anyway.
Anything half-baked or lazy.
For example, if you include a link to a research paper, make sure that research paper holds up. If admissions officers take a look at it and see that it’s subpar work, you’ll only hurt your chances.
Links to content that is inappropriate or downright embarrassing.
The line can be hard to draw. For example, if you’re a creative writer, your poetry or fiction may very well have swears or adult themes, which is likely okay.
But if you’re linking a blog that includes you ranting about people at school or detailing your party lifestyle, that would be a big problem.
Lies!
Is there a chance that you can simply make up an award or activity and not get caught?
Sure. In fact, admissions officers are generally unlikely to engage in extended fact-checking with your application.
But, putting aside the ethical question, is lying worth it? The answer is 100% no. This is high risk, low reward. If they don’t catch you, you might have just slightly improved your chances. But if you’re caught lying, you can kiss your chances of admission goodbye.
Always remember that this section is just part of your larger application narrative! It should complement your personal statement, activities list, and other sections. Focus on those first, then consider what to add to Additional Info.
For 40 real Common App essays that earned students acceptances to Harvard, Princeton, and other Ivies, check out our free pdf below!
Whether you’re just starting your personal statement, digging into supplemental essays, or looking for a final review of your application, you should consider enlisting the help of an expert essay tutor.
With acceptance rates lower than ever, more and more competitive students are turning to support from tutors and application coaches.
And with good reason: the right essay tutor can help save you from costly mistakes and increase your chances of acceptance.
Want expert guidance on your college essays? Work one-on-one with an experienced tutor from our team.
Last year, Cornell had an acceptance rate of 8.4%, so making sure your essays are perfect is crucial if you want to have a strong chance of admission!
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays. It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Princeton, Cornell, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works. We've also summarized that expertise in our Ultimate Guide to College Supplemental Essays.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Cornell supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
You’ll notice that this post is broken up by individual College at Cornell. That’s because the supplemental essays you’ll have to write depend on which College (Engineering, Business, etc.) you apply to. Use the table of contents to navigate to the essays that are relevant to you.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools—including real essays that got students admitted into Cornell!
Cornell is a little bit unusual because the supplemental prompts you’ll see depend on what college within Cornell you’re applying to. In reality, however, all colleges at Cornell except for the College of Engineering are asking the same basic question: Why are you interested in your major, and why do you want to pursue it at Cornell specifically?
The "Why Major?" and the "Why Us?" prompts are the 2 most common kinds of supplemental essay prompts, which is why we actually have a dedicated guide on the "Why Major" Essay and another in-depth guide on the "Why Us?" essay. Those pages are where you'll find the most detailed guidance and the greatest number of sample essays.
Below, we'll organize all the possible supplemental essays by College, including their word counts. But remember: the overall advice for how to approach these essays is the same for all Colleges except Engineering. For our guide to answering Cornell Engineering's prompts, jump down to the appropriate section below.
Here are all of the essays, prompts, and word counts for Cornell’s 2026-2027 supplementals:
Applicants to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences:
What interests you about the major you selected? Tell us about experiences (both in and outside of the classroom), questions, and goals that influenced your choice. (350-word limit)
What draws you to Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)? Reflect on the learning, community, or impact opportunities that matter most to you, and share how they align with Cornell CALS (as you understand it currently). (350-word limit)
Applicants to the College of Arts and Sciences:
At the College of Arts and Sciences, your education is yours to shape. Describe an intellectual passion, question, or idea that has captured your attention—whether it emerges from your studies or extends beyond your coursework. What specific aspects of our liberal arts curriculum would you draw on to explore and connect your varied interests?(650-wordlimit)
Applicants to the SC Johnson College of Business:
What kind of business student are you? Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you.
Your response should convey how your interests align with the school to which you are applying within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (the Dyson School or the Nolan School). (650-word limit)
Applicants to the David A. Duffield College of Engineering:
If you're applying to the College of Engineering, you'll need to write all six of these supplementals:
Fundamentally, engineering is the application of math, science, and technology to solve complex problems. Why do you want to study engineering? (200 words)
Why do you think you would love to study at Cornell Engineering? (200 words)
What brings you joy? (100 words)
What do you believe you will contribute to the Cornell Engineering community beyond what you’ve already detailed in your application? What unique voice will you bring? (100 words)
What is one activity, club, team, organization, work/volunteer experience or family responsibility that is especially meaningful to you? Please briefly tell us about its significance for you. (100 words)
What is one award you have received or achievement you have attained that has meant the most to you? Please briefly describe its importance to you. (100 words)
Applicants to the College of Human Ecology
The College of Human Ecology prepares students to respond to human needs through an education organized around the interconnected issues that profoundly affect individuals, communities, and the institutions that shape our lives.
Think about an extracurricular/community engagement/work experience that most closely connects you to the CHE mission and your intended choice of major. Tell us what that experience taught you about your broader community and its needs, and the impact you can make. How will your intended CHE major help you make that impact? (Refer to our essay application tips as you write your essay.)(600-word limit)
Applicants to the School of Industrial and Labor Relations:
Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should show us that your interests align with the ILR School.(650-word limit)
Applicants to the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
Discuss your interest in pursuing a major in policy at the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and what draws you to this field of study. You are encouraged to consider including details related to your personal experiences, values, academic influences, or extracurricular activities that have shaped your perspective and future goals.(650-word limit)
DC Start Applicants ONLY: Please describe why you are interested in being considered for the Brooks School DC Start program.(350-word limit)
Applicants to the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
B.Arch Applicants: How do your interests directly connect with your intended major at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP)? B.Arch applicants, please provide an example of how a creative project or passion sparks your motivation to pursue a 5-year professional degree program. (650-word limit)
BFA Applicants: How do your interests directly connect with your intended major at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP)? BFA applicants, you may want to consider how you could integrate a range of interests and available resources at Cornell into a coherent art practice.(650-word limit)
URS Applicants: How do your interests directly connect with your intended major at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP)? URS students, you may want to emphasize your enthusiasm and depth of interest in the study of urban and regional issues.(650-word limit)
Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach each of these supplemental essay prompts, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.
We’ll also be taking a look at real sample essays that got students admitted to Cornell and breaking down what allowed them to succeed.
As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!
Below, we’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools (including Cornell). You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.
As if aspiring engineers didn't have it hard enough as is, they'll have to write 6 supplemental essays for Cornell instead of the single essay that all other applicants have to write.
True, these 6 essays are much shorter than the essays required by other Cornell Colleges, but it's still more of a hassle than writing a single essay. Below, you'll find detailed guidance on how to answer every Cornell Engineering prompt.
Cornell Engineering’s 2 Long Essays
Although every college at Cornell has its own essays, the College of Engineering is the only one that is significantly different from the rest.
Instead of writing one long essay, you’ll have to write two 200-word essays and four 100-word essays. It can definitely be a bit brutal!
Fortunately, the approach here is fairly straightforward.
The first Cornell Engineering question is a standard “why major” question. All you need to tell is the story of how you came to be interested in engineering.
Focus on answering 3 questions, doing so by relaying a related anecdote:
What specifically are you interested in?
Why, using specific details from your life, are you interested in that subject?
How has your pursuit of this interest led you to choose it as a major?
You should start with a specific moment from your life: perhaps describe the first moment you discovered your interest in this field. Or recount a particularly important moment in your journey of discovery.
Then, move on to what you’ve already accomplished with this interest and what you still hope to do.
Convincingly convey your passion for engineering here, and admissions officers will be far more likely to see you as someone who will seriously pursue your interests—which is, of course, what they’re looking for.
The second Cornell Engineering question is just the follow up: Why Cornell?
In other words, given the interests you describe in the first essay, why is it specifically Cornell Engineering that appeals to you? Here, you have to be very, very specific.
The first step here is research: identify specific, unique programs and offerings at Cornell that you hope to take advantage of.
Remember that admissions officers at Cornell will read thousands of these essays. If you write about the same things as everyone else, your essay will get lost in the shuffle.
So, put in the work to really dig up unique or little-known aspects of Cornell engineering, and make sure they connect back to your first essay.
A good place to start is the website for the department of whatever major you plan on pursuing. Additional, more interesting places to explore would be research opportunities, past student projects, and ongoing initiatives at Cornell Engineering.
Cornell Engineering’s 4 Short Essays
These four short essays are the perfect opportunity for you to tell 4 impressive stories about yourself!
If there’s one piece of guidance you need to remember for each of these essays, it’s this: tell a story!
Don’t even worry about the prompt itself: think of it as merely the opportunity to tell a particular kind of story. So:
Joy: use this prompt to tell admissions officers about something unique or meaningful that you do. The key is to stand out, so pick something unusual. Don’t pick things like video games, hanging out with friends, etc.
Community: This essay wants more reflections on community. The goal here is to focus it around the engineering community specifically. How have you built strong communities through engineering? What challenges does engineering as a discipline still face? How will you contribute?
Extracurricular: this is a straightforward chance to tell the story of an extracurricular that matters. Again, don’t just describe: set the scene of an important moment and really show us why it matters to you.
Award: Many students mess up their response to this prompt! If you fall into the trap of talking about how proud you are to have earned a particular award, you’ll come off sounding conceited or vain.
Can you guess what we suggest? Yep: use this moment to tell another story. Show us the process of getting this award, and you’ll write a way better essay than if you just describe the award itself.
Our team includes current undergrads at top universities like Cornell, PhD English scholars from schools like Duke, and professional writers who have helped countless students get admitted to Ivies.
Below, you can find over 50 real supplemental essays written by some of our tutors when they applied and were accepted to Ivy League universities!
How to Write the College-Specific Essay (non-Engineering Applicants)
While every other College at Cornell technically has its own supplemental essay, they’re actually all the same at heart.
Each of them is a combination of two essay types we’ve written full guides for: the “Why Major” essay and the “Why Us?” essay. The one exception to this is the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, which asks students to answer those two prompts separately, in up to 350 words each.
The other colleges' supplemental essays are all simply a combination of both prompts, although with an exceptionally long word count: from 500 to 650 words! That makes this essentially a second personal statement. Think of this essay as your academic story.
The key to answering Cornell's supplemental prompts about your intended area of study is to do 3 things:
Tell the story of where your interest originated from.
Describe how you’ve pursued that interest.
Identify specific resources at Cornell that will help you take that interest to the next stage.
NOTE: Because CALS splits this prompt into two separate essays, your first essay will address the first two bulletpoints (where and how), and your second essay will address the third (the specific resources).
Start with an anecdote about the source of your academic interest.
This story should be detailed, vivid, and unique. What moment sparked your interest in this field? What are the burning questions you have? How did you feel as you first began seriously looking into your future area of study?
You have to be careful here: this origin story needs to be at least somewhat unique and nuanced. The problem is that it’s often hard to tell, as a high schooler, what’s unique compared to other high school students.
That’s why we recommend working with one of our tutors to discuss your planned topic first. Because our tutors have read many, many real essays, they’ll be able to quickly tell you if your essay introduction is generic.
Use that anecdote to launch into your journey of academic discovery
Perhaps you sought out additional classes and learning opportunities. Maybe you reached out to a professor and worked as a research assistant. Or maybe you worked on an independent engineering project to better your community.
Whatever you did to pursue your intellectual interests, this is the place to tell that story. Narrate, don’t summarize. That means actually showing us how you undertook your projects, how you did the work.
But it also means telling us what questions this work raised, what thoughts you were having, and where you see the potential to do more advanced work.
Explain how you’ll use specific resources at Cornell to pursue your academic interests.
This is the school-specific portion of the essay, which you’ll have to modify for every school you apply to. And the first step here is research: identify specific, unique offerings that you plan to take advantage of.
Note: for CALS specifically, this third bullet point lines up with the second supplemental essay prompt.
Your best friend here will be the departmental website of the program/major to which you’re applying. Invest time in exploring that website: you’ll find all the information you need about curriculum, research, and work opportunities there.
Then, you’ll take this specific information and focus on 1-2 key points at the end of the essay, favoring depth over breadth. Don’t just rattle off the first 10 things you see on the website: pick just a couple and spend a few sentences on each, explaining how the particular resource aligns with your academic interests and goals.
Why do it this way? Well, the goal here is to:
Show Cornell you’ve done your research
Convince the Cornell admissions committee that you really do think they’re a great fit for you.
By picking just a few specifics and connecting them with your own interests and story, you’ll be able to do both of these things without coming off as inauthentic.
Some great things to focus on would be:
Research programs
Work/internship/coop opportunities
Unique curricular offerings
Unusual minors or specializations
Service learning opportunities
Thesis/honors opportunities
While you’re doing all this, there are a few things you should avoid writing. Some of the Don’ts we list below are just too cliché; others are actually red flags for college admissions committees.
Don’t:
Reference money as a primary reason for your major choice.
Say you have no idea. It’s fine to be undecided! But even then you should discuss what kinds of things interest you and why.
Randomly name-drop professors or classes just because you came across them on the website.
Forget to include a specific story, question, or hook to get the reader interested.
This essay is serious. It might sound harsh, but if the only things you have to talk about in this essay are experiences from class or school, you’re in trouble.
Fortunately, a good essay coach can help you develop a more nuanced, sophisticated essay that can make up for any shortcomings. But the key is to ask for help early! Starting these Cornell essays too late is a recipe for disaster.
Below, we’ve got 50+ real sample supplementals for you to read, free. These essays tackle just about every possible supplemental essay prompt you’re likely to see, and they all have one thing in common: they worked.
Below, we’ve collected 3 Real Supplemental Essays that earned acceptance letters for their writers!
We’ve got 2 sample essays for the College of Arts and Sciences, and 1 for the College of Human Ecology.
If you’re impressed by these essays—and you should be, since they worked!—remember that they were written by some of our tutors when they were applying to Cornell.
There’s nobody better to help you craft your own successful essays: our tutors aren’t just rigorously trained; they’ve also successfully navigated the college application process themselves to earn admission to top schools like Cornell.
Cornell Supplemental Sample Essay 1: College of Arts and Sciences
What started off as a group of students writing a paper for social science research class became the beginning of my academic interest in voting, government, and social justice and my career goal.
Our research revealed that increased awareness of voter accessibility laws could boost voter turnout in NYC, and we were confident that the judges for a local research competition would take interest in our work. We were disappointed when we never heard back from the judges during the pandemic but this did not deter me from my interest in voting as a civic duty and a way to achieve social justice. At the College of Arts and Sciences in Cornell University, I will explore my passion for political science and civic engagement through further research, student clubs, and engaging academic courses.
High school students often associate research with scientists in white coats and goggles conducting chemical experiments using beakers and test tubes. The Cornell Center for Social Sciences, however, offers a different kind of research that aligns with my own interests in the social sciences. I’m specifically drawn to the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs, one of the branches of Cornell Center for Social Sciences, because of the Campaign for the Future of Democracy and the Bipartisan Policy Review. The institute’s concern about extreme partisanship in America and its detrimental impacts on democracy is directly related to the research about polarization among American voters and politics that I’ve conducted in high school and could help expand my knowledge on this topic even further. Cornell is a place that values research for all sciences, including political science, where I’ll pursue my goals of ending extreme partisanship and making government more effective and representative.
At CAS, I am eager to be politically active both inside the classroom, as a government major, and outside the classroom through organizations like Cornell Dems and Cornell Progressives. I imagine myself taking classes like “Democracy” with Professor Mettler, where I can not only learn more about political polarization, but also identify other threats to democracy and understand ways to combat them. In a country where political dissent is prevalent and divisive, I’m also interested in “Disobedience, Resistance, Refusal” with Professor Livingston so I can educate myself on democratic and effective ways to express dissent. Minors like History of Capitalism, Public Policy, and Law & Society will provide a greater depth of knowledge in the humanities since work to solve societal issues requires an understanding of issues not just of the politics, but also the historical, economic, social, and ethical context surrounding these issues.
I’m excited about the unique opportunities that allow students to be civically engaged within the Cornell community. I’m specifically interested in joining Cornell Votes and working with the Andrew Goodman Foundation to create an active voting culture on campus. To address low youth voter turnout and voter suppression, I plan on participating in voter registration drives and spreading knowledge on voter accessibility options such as early voting. In fact, the voter turnout rate for the Cornell student body was only 66% in 2020, so I’m aiming for the number to be significantly higher as a future student of Cornell by creating more student events dedicated to election awareness and increasing the number of voter drives.
I already see myself expressing and exchanging ideas about current issues that affect the community outside of college as well as the opportunity to learn from guest lecture events. I firmly believe that having a space to talk about social and political issues is one of the most important civic duties a citizen can partake in.
At the College of Arts and Sciences, I can focus on my interests and also have opportunities to explore different fields of study. I’ll combine education with meaningful action by being politically and civically active through the unique communities, organizations, research, and courses at Cornell.
Because our tutors are so talented, we’ve got plenty more real sample essays that got students accepted to Princeton, Harvard, Yale—you name it. Over 50 of those essays are yours for free in the resource below.
Cornell Supplemental Sample Essay 2: College of Arts and Sciences
Although nobody in my family is a healthcare professional, I am very passionate about science and the medical field. When I was twelve years old, I witnessed the loss of a close family friend, a young woman who had been my Sunday School mentor and a positive presence all throughout my childhood. I remember wondering what could cause brain tumors like the one she suffered from and why doctors cannot solve every problem that they encounter. This inspired me to apply to the Academy of Healthcare Sciences at my county vocational high school so that I could explore biology and medicine. As a future healthcare professional, I aspire to utilize cultural awareness in order to overcome communication barriers and deliver more personalized patient care.
As a daughter of immigrants, my identity and faith have shaped me in many ways, and I understand the importance of cultural sensitivity. I have seen the relief in my mother’s eyes when a doctor knows Arabic, or asks if she would prefer a female provider. I was born in Egypt but moved to the Northeast of the U.S. when I was six months old and have lived here ever since. I am fortunate to live in such a diverse community, and I hope to continue to learn more about myself in the context of society by embracing others’ cultures. I also enjoy learning about different cultures and languages by analyzing literature, though I have not been able to pursue this to the extent that I would like. I am interested in making connections between texts written in English, Spanish, and Arabic. The flexible curriculum at Cornell University would allow me to explore a variety of fields.
Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences would enable me to take the next critical step in my journey—as a student in CAS, I would be equipped with the resources necessary to delve deeper into my passions. I hope to engage in research with Professor Daniel Barbash and study concepts like germ-line stem cell genes, which could revolutionize cures for genetic diseases. By taking a course like “Environmental Issues in the Contemporary Middle East,” I could learn more about my culture. When I visited Egypt a few years ago, I noticed that there were many overpopulated regions with poor access to natural resources; I recognize that this is a problem throughout the Middle East and want to explore ways to alleviate this environmental concern. Over the summer, I enjoyed reading The Emperor of All Maladies, by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and was fascinated to see the origins of cancer explored through literature and history. Professor Elisha Cohn’s “Literature and Medicine” course would allow me to further explore the connection between the two concepts. Since CAS courses include students from all of Cornell’s seven undergraduate schools, I would be exposed to an unparalleled level of diversity in classroom discussions. I also intend on contributing to this truly global community by sharing my own background and academic passions with my peers. When I visited Cornell last year, I was excited to learn about the ample resources available to students in CAS. The John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines is especially appealing to me because in addition to the required writing courses and seminars, I want to pursue advanced writing-both scientific and literary-throughout my undergraduate experience. By utilizing an outreach effort like the Cornell Consortium for Writing in the Disciplines, I would be able to network with other students and professionals and gain valuable insight into becoming a successful writer across different disciplines.
Ezra Cornell’s mission “. . . Any person . . . Any study” appeals to me because I aspire to explore my interests through a varied academic course load—I hope I will be able to call Cornell University’s College of Arts and Sciences my home and to join the diverse community of scholars on Cornell’s campus.
Cornell Supplemental Sample Essay 3: College of Human Ecology
My palms are shaking to the point where I contemplate abandoning the mission. As my hands steer, the wheel glistens against the sun with the sweat immersing from my body. I step into the school and stumble through the hallways until I meet the watchful eyes of room B10. “Welcome!” the teacher says enthusiastically. Dragging my body into the room, I ask, “Who knows what a tampon is?” Ten girls raise their hands. Only ten girls out of thirty know what a tampon is. That day, I realized that we are in a public health crisis. The consequences of the lack of access to these small but basic necessities were presented to me in room B10. Our society’s system has failed to provide the materials for half of the population to thrive mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Because this societal issue was not covered in a secondary school curriculum, I began to do more independent research to explore the adversities of menstrual inequity. I found that menstrual products, unlike condoms, are taxed as luxury items. It became increasingly clear to me how our patriarchal society has consistently stigmatized these “disgusting ordeals.” I advocated for free products in Virginia school bathrooms to combat this demeaning social construct. After avidly campaigning, Bill 232 passed as a miraculous success not just for Virginia menstruators but for the girls of room B10.
With a major in Global and Public Health Sciences at the College of Human Ecology, I’ll carry this same ambition for change by traversing through multiple academic disciplines, thoroughly educating myself on the period poverty population. Just by analyzing the GPHS Curriculum sheet, I understand the college’s deep appreciation for ranging perspectives. From health policy to macroeconomics to vegetarian diets, the curriculum covers all pockets of thought to prepare students for taking multifaceted approaches to address human needs. I specifically look forward to taking the Explorations in Global and Public Health capstone course. The class will help me critically strategize on how to target the neglected menstruators in refugee and crisis situations, learning from my peers and professor’s viewpoints in the process. Utilizing my newfound academic knowledge, I would be thrilled to conduct research with Dr. Andrea Parrot on cross-cultural differences in reproductive education. I can then integrate my academic discoveries into the real world by implementing proper education for schools worldwide.
Although I plan on focusing on reproductive health in college, I want to explore other dimensions of gender relations. While working at a practice, I often notice transgender patients correcting the physician’s misguided pronoun identification. In fact, I’ve come to realize that misgendering is a common mistake throughout the medical field. Understanding patients’ frustrations, I informed the doctors at the practice about the importance of proper gender communication. If a doctor won’t listen to your pronouns, how can you trust them with your health needs?
With the connections to the Sloane Program in Health Administration, I can revolutionize physician knowledge to our modern, more inclusive society. I’m excited to work with the Sloane Student Association (SSA) to advocate for gender accountability throughout medical administration. Outside of the Cornell Campus, I’ll educate New York doctors through the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE). More than that, I’ll encourage a respectful medical ambience to make patients more active participants in the healthcare process. I also hope to enroll in Gender and Health: Concepts, Data, Theories, and Evidence to analyze the dynamic relationship between gender and healthcare knowledge. By prioritizing listening in patient-doctor relationships, I’ll reinvent medical treatment by deepening its service for the patient—consequently uplifting global health as a whole.
Whether devoting my service to the girls of room B10 or the misheard transgender patients, I intend to focus on my singular goal of promoting greater inclusivity and receptiveness. The College of Human Ecology will support my complementary interests for progressing public health and paving new intersections for a more collaborative global ecosystem.
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Cornell and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Cornell.
Most people don’t really know what colleges like Cornell actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing sample essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 15 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts—who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Cornell before undergoing a rigorous training process—contact us to get matched with a tutor!
Last year, Yale University admitted just 4.2% of applicants, so if you want to be one of those very, very lucky few who get an acceptance letter, your application needs to be perfect.
While you’ll need to make sure your grades and test scores are high enough to meet Yale’s standards, you can’t overlook the strength of your supplemental essays.
Yale’s admissions office spends a lot of time each year coming up with supplemental essay prompts and then reading the responses, which means they really do care about your supplemental essays!
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays that have earned them admission to elite schools like Yale, Princeton, and Harvard. We've also summarized that expertise in our Ultimate Guide to College Supplemental Essays.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Yale supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools–including real essays that got our tutors admitted into Yale!
For this admissions cycle, Yale has three short answer questions in addition to full-length essay prompts. You'll need to answer all three of these.
Here are the short answer questions along with their maximum word counts:
If you could teach any college course, write a book, or create an original piece of art of any kind, what would it be? (200 characters)
What is one aspect of yourself that you hope to grow or develop during college? (200 characters)
What is something about you that is not included anywhere else in your application? (200 characters)
If you're applying via the Common App or the Coalition App (like most applicants), you'll need to answer all of these questions. If you're a QuestBridge applicant, you don't need to answer any of them.
As you can see, you’ll have to do a lot of writing if you want to apply to Yale! Below, we’ll cover Yale’s additional supplemental essay prompts, then offer real examples of successful Yale supplementals.
You can also download 50+ Real Sample Essays That Worked below, including real essays that got students admitted to Yale!
Yale’s 3 Supplemental Essay Prompts for 2026 - 2027
In addition to those short answer questions, Yale has one longer supplemental essay for the upcoming application cycle, with three prompts to choose from. (If you're applying via QuestBridge instead of via the Common App or Coalition App, you're exempt from this essay.)
These prompts remain unchanged from last year. Students will have up to 400 words to answer one of the following three prompts:
1. Reflect on a time you discussed an issue important to you with someone holding an opposing view. Why did you find the experience meaningful?
2. Reflect on your membership in a community to which you feel connected. Why is this community meaningful to you? You may define community however you like.
3. Reflect on an element of your personal experience that you feel will enrich your college. How has it shaped you?
How to Write Yale’s Short Answer Questions
With both short answer questions and full supplemental essays, Yale has one of the most supplement-heavy applications we’ve seen for the upcoming admissions cycle, so you’ll want to start nice and early.
In reality, many of these “short answer questions” are just as beefy as other schools’ supplementals. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how to approach each question:
Yale’s First Short Answer Question
If you could teach any college course, write a book, or create an original piece of art of any kind, what would it be? (200 characters)
To impress the admissions readers with your response to this question, you need to do two things.
First, you need to be extremely creative and specific.
Yale got almost 60,000 applications last year. Almost all of those applicants had to answer this question. So: is your answer creative and specific enough that it is different from all of those other responses? If not, you’re in trouble.
Second, you need to connect this to a value or experience from your own life. This isn’t just an exercise in creativity. Yale admissions officers want to see what matters to you and why. What’s worth teaching a class on? What’s worth writing a book about?
The answers to those questions will reveal important aspects of your character.
Ultimately, it is incredibly difficult to write a good answer for this question without having a lot of perspective on what other students typically write about. That’s where one of our college essay experts can really help.
Because our college essay tutors have experience getting students accepted to schools like Yale, they’ll quickly be able to tell you if what you’re writing is unique or generic, potentially even saving your Yale application!
What is one aspect of yourself that you hope to grow or develop during college? (200 characters)
Although you don’t have to make this answer about academics, the structure is very similar to a “Why major in ____” supplemental essay! That’s because both are about an interest that you plan to develop — and how the college will help you do it. We’ve written a complete guide dedicated to just this kind of essay prompt that goes into great depth here.
Here’s what you need to do:
Start with a story or question. This is often good advice for any college essay, but it’s crucial here. Begin by telling a story of how you engaged with an interest that you want to develop further, or by asking detailed, specific questions that drive you.
Explain “why.” After you give us the Yale admissions committee a snippet of story, make sure you explain in detail why this is something you care about. How does it relate to your values? Why is this what fascinates or inspires you?
Explain “how.” Then, explain how you’ll pursue this interest at Yale specifically. What programs or courses do you hope to take advantage of? How will you continue building on this existing interest of yours while at Yale?
For every specific aspect of Yale you mention, you need to connect it back to some existing passion of yours. Quality over quantity is the rule here. Instead of listing 5 specific programs at Yale you like, list 2, but go on to explain how each one speaks to the experiences you’ve already had or the goals you’ve set for yourself.
The biggest risk with answering this short answer question is speaking only in general or abstract terms. Writing an essay about, say, “the boundless opportunities of scientific discovery” will inevitably make your essay feel vague and generic.
So long as your essay is interesting for Yale University admissions officers to read, you’ll be in good shape!
In our 50+ Real Supplemental Essays for Ivy+ Schools -- which you can download for free at the button below -- we have tons of sample essays that answer this question, including many from Yale!
Yale’s Third Short Answer Question
What is something about you that is not included anywhere else in your application? (200 characters)
Yep: Yale’s last short answer prompt is totally open-ended. Which makes it harder!
As with previous short answers, there’s one golden rule that holds true: as soon as your response becomes generic, you’ve lost.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that the Yale admissions committee will just ignore your application.
But it does mean that any energy you put into this specific essay will have been wasted. Why? Because a generic essay simply blends in with all the other ones and no longer sets you apart.
So, for this final short answer question, think about what story you can tell that complements the rest of your response to these short answer questions.
You can make it weird, risky, or formally experimental. Just don’t be boring.
The best way to prepare yourself for the slog of writing Yale’s six short answers is to start by immersing yourself in as many successful examples of supplemental essays as possible.
The problem is that there are so few high-quality publicly available essays out there for schools like Yale.
So, we did the hard work for you: we asked our top tutors to share the essays that got them accepted to Princeton, Yale, and other Ivy+ schools.
Then, we collected over 50 of the best examples in the free downloadable resource below. It’s a high-quality resource you’re not likely to find anywhere else, and it’s updated regularly with new supplemental essays for top schools.
How to Write Yale’s Supplemental Essay
For Yale’s longer supplemental essay question, you’ll have to choose from three prompts (400 words max):
1. Reflect on a time you discussed an issue important to you with someone holding an opposing view. Why did you find the experience meaningful?
2. Reflect on your membership in a community to which you feel connected. Why is this community meaningful to you? You may define community however you like.
3. Reflect on an element of your personal experience that you feel will enrich your college. How has it shaped you?
Although these seem like three fairly different prompts, Yale wants something very specific from your supplemental essay here. All 3 essay question options want you to tell a story that allows you to reflect on community.
The first essay question is about how to navigate disagreements within a community. You have to be very careful in answering this question, because it essentially requires you to thread the needle.
On one hand, Yale (and other elite universities) want students who can productively engage with others' viewpoints while maintaining an open mind.
On the other, Yale doesn’t want pushovers, especially when it comes to questions of intolerance.
This makes answering the first question difficult: you want to show that you have a firm commitment to open-mindedness and inclusivity while also showing that you’re able to engage with those who don’t.
For this essay, you’ll want to tread carefully. Naturally, these “opposing view” prompts tend to invite essays about political or social issues. That’s fine, but you also want to be mindful of any highly controversial, hot-button stances.
Here are our three tips for approaching this essay.
Don’t come off arrogant
Many of us have strong beliefs about current issues. If that’s the case for you, that’s a good thing! Elite universities like passionate students.
But you need to avoid sounding like someone who is arrogant, cocky, or incapable of listening to others’ viewpoints. Remember: this is one of the key things Yale admissions officers are looking out for. Even if they might agree with you on the issue you discuss, they’re making sure you’re able to be productive and civil in difficult situations.
This is more difficult than you might think. Many students believe that they’re coming off as passionate or dedicated when, in reality, their essay makes them sound intolerant, angry, or arrogant.
Don’t be a pushover
There’s a flip side to that coin: you also don’t want to be someone who has no firm convictions.
For example, many student responses to this kind of supplemental essay question end by simply saying that “the truth is somewhere in the middle” or “you have to respect everyone’s opinion.”
While that’s better than coming off intolerant, it still isn’t great. If your essay is about you immediately changing your beliefs because someone argues with you, you might come off as someone who doesn’t care much about anything.
It’s a really, really tough line to walk. That’s why we always recommend working with one of our college essay experts, who can guide you away from giving the wrong impression in your supplemental essays.
Some issues are better avoided
If you’re going to take a strong stance on an issue in this essay, you need to make sure your viewpoint isn’t extreme enough to alienate admissions officers. Is the political or social belief you’re expressing here the kind of thing that Yale admissions officers would find distasteful or concerning?
If so, you’re at risk for sinking your application then and there. If you’re not sure, then you need to do more research first.
Do all of the above, and you’ll have the first of Yale’s supplemental essays locked down tight–plus, you’ll have a great template for any other schools that ask the same question.
Yale’s Second Supplemental Essay Prompt
The second prompt is a bit less dangerous, but it still wants the same fundamental thing.
You need to show Yale’s admissions office that you’d be a good fit for their community, and you do that by telling a story that shows how you’ve come to think about your place as part of something bigger.
We call this common prompt type the diversity/community essay, because those are really always two sides of the same coin.
With the Yale diversity/community essay, there are 2 basic options for structuring your response:
Discuss community through the lens of your identity.
Discuss community through the lens of other events/activities/pursuits in your life.
Which path you take will actually be easy to decide:
If your identity (racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, religious, etc.) has significantly influenced your worldview or experiences, go with option 1.
In other words, if you know you have something meaningful to say about how your identity has shaped you, that should structure your response. This might mean writing an essay about how discrimination or systemic biases have affected you or your family; it could just as well, however, mean writing about specific experiences you’ve cherished as a member of a particular culture.
A few great examples from recent essays we’ve worked on:
An essay that focuses on a student’s biracial background and how she learned to use others’ ignorant/racist comments as opportunities for starting difficult conversations.
An essay exploring how a first-generation immigrant served as a translator for his parents.
An essay from a young woman exploring how she navigated the contradictions between her feminist views and the emphasis on tradition within her religion.
If your identity has not significantly experienced how you view the world, go with option 2.
If you don’t feel particularly connected to a specific identity, or if you can’t think of specific ways that your identity has affected you, you should instead focus on other elements of your life that have shaped your view of community.
Think about what you want out of a community: then, think about what aspect of your life (an extracurricular, a hobby, a social circle) has shaped that desire. Tell that story. It may sound a bit tough to thread that needle, but it really isn’t so bad. Here are a few really successful topics from recent students in response to this kind of prompt:
An essay about how a student’s participation in yearly music recitals with strangers shaped how he views community as a place for everyone to share their gifts/talents.
An essay from an avid hiker about how his experiences maintaining hiking trails taught him to think of community as a shared, daily effort in the service of others.
An essay from a student who moved countries multiple times reflecting on what in each place contributed to creating a cohesive community.
All the examples are different, but share one thing in common: using your personal experiences to reflect on your role in a diverse community.
In any case, tell a story, and make it clear how that story has prepared you to support others, whether at Yale or beyond.
Yale’s Third Supplemental Essay Prompt
This very broad essay could a form of the "identity" prompt. Some students have a background that they feel is important to share in their application, whether ethnic, religious, LGBTQ+, or anything else. If so, this is a good place to do that, if you didn't already do so in Yale's second supplemental essay.
But this doesn't have to be about a specific type of identity. Think about what you want Yale to know about you that isn't found anywhere else in your application.
Interpret this prompt broadly. Any aspect of your "personal experience," however big or small, is fair game.
Use real moments from your life in your response to this prompt.
Connect your identity to your views on community, social issues, or education more broadly.
That last part is what students often forget. You should use examples from your life – but don’t limit yourself to your own experience.
Explain how that personal experience has shaped your academic interests, career goals, or outlook on life.
Like all college essays, this is a chance for you to show something important about yourself and what you’ve done.
As an example, look at the real sample essay below. This student isn't focusing on a specific identity or even on one specific experience. But through the form of a story, they convey their passion and their creativity.
Last year, inspired by my aged copy of Derek Walcott’s Collected Poems, 1948-1984, I resolved to begin writing poems of my own. In class or before bed, I would open my notebook, uncap my pen, and scribble away. One problem plagued me, though: Walcott. Faced with his descriptions of a child as "a flute/of frail, seraphic mist" and the setting sun that "mesmerized like fire without wind," my writing felt hokey, mundane. For weeks, I dismissed poem after poem, feeling condemned to a lifetime of poetic feebleness.
Still, I wrote. My notebook grew fuller, its pages crinkled, as I unloaded verse after verse onto its lines. With this, my poetry grew fuller as well. I developed a voice in my writing, one increasingly comfortable with imagery and complex in its metaphors and wholly my own. With time, my self-comparisons to Walcott receded, and I wrote each poem trying to best only its predecessors.
Writing poetry leaves a record of who I am. A weathered spiral notebook bears witness to my deepest thoughts and emotions, and I strive continually to fill it with pieces of myself. Even if I’m no Derek Walcott, this is something that I love to do.
Read the above essay carefully, and note how it shows the student’s passion and drive. That’s your goal.
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Yale and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Yale.
Most people don’t really know what schools like Yale actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing real essays that helped students get accepted.
We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Yale before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with an expert tutor.
Last year, Brown's admissions office accepted only 5.65% of applicants! That means if Brown is your dream school, your application needs to be seriously impressive to stand a chance.
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays. It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Princeton, Brown, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Brown supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools–including real essays that got students admitted into Brown!
For this admissions cycle, Brown has 4 required supplemental essays and one optional Video Introduction.
Here are all of the essays, prompts, and word counts for Brown’s supplementals:
Essay Prompts:
"There is something distinctive about Brown students. It is a blend of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and humility. A commitment to collaboration. An openness to new ideas and perspectives. A desire to make the world better. And it is resilience: the ability to recover and thrive after experiencing difficulties." From President Christina Paxson's 2025 Convocation Address. How will you use these characteristics or others to shape your approach to the Open Curriculum? (150-250 words)
Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community. (150-250 words)
Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy. (100-150 words)
If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be? (100-150 words)
Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach each of these supplemental essay prompts and the optional video introduction, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.
We’ll also be taking a look at real sample essays that got students admitted to Brown and breaking down what allowed them to succeed.
As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!
Below, we’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools (including Brown). You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.
Before You Start: Insider Tip!
As a high schooler, it can be hard to have a sense of a college’s reputation, or of how the college thinks of itself.
But here’s a crucial insider tip on Brown: of all the Ivies, Brown is the one with a reputation for exploration, creativity, and quirkiness. You might say it’s the “weird” Ivy.
It’s something they pride themselves on, and you’ll score bonus points with admissions officers if you show that you’re able to pick up on this!
How to Write Brown’s First Essay: Academic Interests
Brown’s first essay prompt might not look like it, but it's really just a classic “why major” essay, on which we’ve written a comprehensive guide here: How to Write the "Why Major" Essay.
But because Brown doesn't do traditional majors, they want you to focus your essay instead on the Open Curriculum. At heart, this doesn't change much: you still want to write this essay about your academic interests.
The key to doing that is to answer three key questions:
What specifically are you interested in?
Why, using specific details from your life, are you interested in that subject?
How, using the Open Curriculum at Brown, will you pursue that subject?
If you’ve already written a Why Major essay for another school, you should be able to save a lot of time by reusing the basic structure of that essay, and simply replacing the school-specific portions.
If you don’t already have a template, here’s what it should look like:
Start with a brief anecdote from your life or academic question that interests you.
Start by telling a story!
The anecdote should show where your interest comes from, the moment you realized you wished to pursue this subject, or simply dramatize an important learning experience related to your chosen field of study.
You can use this portion of the template for any school that asks a Why Major supplemental.
Use that anecdote to launch into a discussion of why the subject matter interests you/why you want to pursue it as a major.
Whatever your major, you need to convincingly convey your passion for a particular subject to the admissions officers at Brown.
Do so, and they’ll be far more likely to see you as someone who will seriously pursue your interests–which is, of course, what they’re looking for.
As with the anecdote, you can reuse this portion of the essay for any school with a similar prompt.
Explain how you’ll use the Open Curriculum at Brown to pursue your academic interests.
Note that while many schools ask a version of this question, Brown is one of the few that directs you to write about a specific program at Brown: the Open Curriculum.
Then, make sure to connect what you like about the Open Curriculum with your own interests and story. Below, take a look at a real example that one of our tutors wrote to get accepted into Brown:
In second grade, I dreamed of writing cookbooks in space. Unable to pick a career—author, chef, astronaut?—I combined my options and disregarded everyone who told me that this path was unrealistic, detecting no reason to limit my interests. As I’ve matured, neuroscience has become my focus, but I will always be fascinated by more subjects than I have time to explore.
When I first visited campus, I instantly recognized that intellectual curiosity in Brown’s students. Everywhere, they spoke with animation, genuinely excited to learn from each other. I long to participate in these conversations, and after learning about the Open Curriculum, I know that Brown will broaden my horizons unlike any other school.
Therefore, beyond a concentration in neuroscience, I would study literature through Brown’s Open Curriculum. A current student spoke so highly of his French Novellas class that I would love to pursue a similar opportunity in Spanish. I hope to study abroad to further immerse myself in language and culture. Stemming from my interests in astronomy and neuroscience, I am fascinated by existentialism and hope to take classes in philosophy to further explore the big questions of the universe. Also, I would take classes on gender and sexuality to connect with queer students like myself and better learn to be an advocate, an activist.
At eight, I could not accurately predict my future, but I did anticipate that my unquenchable thirst for knowledge would only grow. Brown’s Open Curriculum is well-suited for the philomath I’ve always been.
In the meantime, you can find over 50 additional real supplemental essays for free below!
How to Write Brown’s Second Essay: Community
As you can probably tell by the prompts, this essay question really wants you to reflect on how your background will contribute to a strong community at Brown.
To a large extent, the advice that we give for the Common App personal statement also holds true for this kind of supplemental: be specific and tell a story!
The good news is that you don’t have to write about a particular identity for this essay to be effective.
In fact, one of the best ways to approach this Brown supplemental is by writing about a meaningful community you’re involved with.
That could mean a number of things: it could be a religious or identity-based community. But it could just as easily be a community you’re part of through sports, extracurriculars, or your interests.
The key to this essay is to show Brown how you’ve been a good community member, and how you’ll be a good community member at Brown.
Here’s the magic formula for this first essay:
50% personal anecdote about your background/community involvement
50% discussing specific community initiatives you’ll engage with at Brown
Of course, the best essays play with this formula and tweak it to suit the writer. But you can use it as a starting point for crafting this supplemental.
Here’s a real example of an essay one of our star tutors wrote for this prompt that got them a Brown acceptance letter!
“Why won't she ever talk to us?” my teammate asked me. “She’s so obnoxious.” During my junior year field hockey season, such comments were frequently directed towards one player who kept to herself during practice. Thinking she was rude and unfriendly, my teammates ostracized her, pushing her out of drills and excluding her from team activities. However, as we attended church together, I knew that she was neither rude nor unfriendly—she was extremely sweet but struggled with her self-esteem, which prevented her from connecting with others.
I recognized that my teammates had misjudged this player, and as junior captain, I would use my influence to be her advocate. Whenever anyone complained to me, I stressed her kindness and asked them to encourage her, as she would gain confidence if we fostered a supportive environment. I also ensured that she attended team bonding events.
Eventually, the team dynamic shifted: rather than pushing her out of drills, our teammates cheered her on and inspired her to participate. Her confidence gradually grew as a result; soon, she was playing in varsity games. When she scored her first goal, we exploded with excitement, and she beamed with pride.
By using my leadership role to promote empathy, I changed the way that this girl was perceived, broadening the perspectives of my teammates. This experience solidified my long-held belief: we can only become more inclusive once we put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, as there is always more to a person than what meets the eye.
We won’t tell you it’s easy to write supplemental essays this successful for schools as selective as Brown.
How to Write Brown’s Third Essay: Joy/Extracurricular
Brown’s third supplemental essay asks you to write about something that brings you joy, but you can really use this to write about any extracurricular event you’ve been involved with.
That’s a good idea because you’ll likely have to write about that for other schools, so you can easily reuse any “extracurricular” essay for this Brown prompt.
Ultimately, two things count with this essay in particular:
Show, don’t tell
Convey passion
Naturally, you want to pick the most interesting extracurricular pursuit to write about, but so long as you engagingly show us what doing that activity looks like, you’ll be in good shape.
Not sure what that looks like? Great news: one of our very own tutors wrote the below essay and got accepted into Brown. Read it, re-read it, and take careful notes: this is what works.
And, if you want to work with a college essay expert like the one who wrote this essay, contact us.
Every August, I spend a week at Drew University through my internship at The Writers Circle (TWC), and it’s my favorite week of the entire year. TWC’s Summer Intensives hold all-day workshops for teenage writers, and when I’m not coordinating field trips, resolving technology issues, or leading class discussions, my days are filled with poetry lessons, peer critique activities, and lunchtime ultimate frisbee competitions.
Ever since preschool, creative writing has been my passion. I initially wrote to reflect upon my experiences and communicate effectively with others; I love the nuances of language, and creating images with careful precision helps me to be present and mindful.
While writing is still important to me for these reasons, through TWC, I found community. When I joined the Summer Intensives in 2016, it was the first time I met a group of people who shared my passion, and I felt seen. Over the following years, I formed my closest friendships. The supportive environment of TWC empowered me to be my most authentic self, someone unafraid to pursue what she loves. When I stand at the podium during our group readings, I feel so alive—like I’m doing what I was made to do.
My friends also taught me that my writing is meaningful—I have the power to evoke emotion, to change the perspectives of my readers. In this way, my time at TWC made my long-held dream come true: even in a small way, my writing can impact the world.
If you click the link below, you’ll find over 50 real essays that earned acceptances to Princeton, Harvard, Brown, and other Ivy+ schools!
It’s a free resource, and we can’t stress its importance enough. You can’t write a winning essay without first reading as many of them as possible!
Plus, all of the essay writers are our own tutors, so you can have a sense of just how talented our essay coaches are.
How to Write Brown's Fourth Essay: Teaching
Brown isn't the only school to ask a question about "designing a course of your choice." Other colleges, notably Northwestern, also ask a version of this question.
So, what do they really want you to do here?
Easy: they want you to show that there's something that you're passionate about and that you really know something about it.
In other words, what they are looking for here is both passion and depth. One without the other won't cut it. If you seem like you don't care about this subject or if you seem like you don't know very much about it, Brown admissions officers will treat that as a negative.
Here's what you can do to make sure that this essay works:
Make the subject of the class narrow. Not sure how specific you need to be? Here's a tip: look up past course syllabi for upper-level electives from Brown or other Ivy Leagues. Don't bother looking at foundational or "101" classes: find the really niche, upper-level ones. Your class should be that specific.
Include specific authors, works, projects, or labs. Don't just say you'll be reading "20th-century literature," for example. Instead, name-drop the books or authors that you know. The same goes for science: you need to demonstrate that you actually have an idea of what you would assign the class.
Have a clear purpose/goal for the class. It doesn't need to take more than a sentence, but you should explain why this class is important and what you want students to take away from it. That's where the passion comes in!
If you're finding it hard to satisfy those three points off the top of your head, it means you probably need to do some research before writing this essay.
Here's the easiest way to do that: look at real course syllabi from elite universities and use those for inspiration. Don't copy them, but use them as the basis for your own course description, which should reflect your interests and goals.
What about the Video Introduction?
Many students forget all about the fact that Brown asks applicants to submit a roughly 90-second video introduction.
This video introduction is not required, but we strongly suggest that you submit it. Brown's admissions department notes that they "encourage students to submit one when possible." That means it matters! Your goal should always be to go above and beyond in your applications, and the video introduction is one place to do that.
This doesn't have to be a fancy production, and you don't need to have great video editing skills. The best path is a simple, straightforward video in which you tell the Brown admissions officers something interesting about yourself.
Here are a few words of warning:
Do not do this completely off the cuff. You need to plan out what you're going to say. Otherwise, you'll likely come off scatterbrained and ill-prepared, which are not qualities likely to appeal to admissions officers.
But also do not read a pre-prepared script. If you just write out exactly what you're going to say and then read it (or even if you memorize it word for word), you'll come off stilted and robotic. Nobody like that.
Be careful with jokes. Being funny is great (and taking risks is important), but if you plan to be funny, make sure you run this video past at least a few adults. What's funny to a high schooler might be cringeworthy or embarrassing to someone a bit older.
You should absolutely run the video by multiple adults you trust. We usually don't recommend having anyone but an expert review your college essays, but the video is different.
Because all that matters is that the video presents you as someone who is likable and mature, the people around you can give you a pretty good sense of whether the video is successful or not.
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Brown and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Brown.
Most people don’t really know what colleges like Brown actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing successful sample essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 15 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Brown before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor!
During the last application cycle, Villanova had an acceptance rate of 29.6%, making it a very selective school.
That means a good way of standing out from the 25,000+ other applicants is to write a compelling and successful essay for Villanova.
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays. We've also summarized that expertise in our Ultimate Guide to College Supplemental Essays.
It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Princeton, Yale, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works for the most selective schools.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Villanova supplemental essay for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools!
Currently, Villanova only requires 1 supplemental essay -- but you have to choose which one of 5 essay prompts you want to respond to.
The word count for this essay is around 250 words.
Here all of the prompts for Villanova’s supplemental essay:
Prompt One: As Pope Leo XIV (Villanova Class of 1977) has said, “no one can single-handedly bear the weight of the challenges the world is facing, just as no one is so weak that they cannot play their part.” What have you done to play your part in advancing equity and justice in your community?
Prompt Two: What is a lesson in life that you have learned that you would want to share with others at Villanova?
Prompt Three: "Villanova" means "new home." Why do you want to call Villanova your new home?
Prompt Four: Villanova embraces Artificial Intelligence (AI) with a commitment to thoughtful, ethical use rooted in our Augustinian mission and values. How do you see technology helping you to lead, serve, and contribute to the common good?
Prompt Five: At Villanova, we often say "each of us strengthens all of us." Please detail a time when someone has borrowed some of your strength in their time of need.
Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach this supplemental essay, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.
As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!
Below, we’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools. Many of those essays are similar to the one you’ll have to write for Villanova!
You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.
How to Choose Which Prompt to Answer
When you have 5 different prompts to choose from, it’s reasonable to wonder whether there’s a “right” choice.
In fact, there is! But the right prompt depends entirely on you. Here’s how to think about it:
When it comes to choosing what you’ll write your Villanova essay about, think about the story you’d like to tell.
These prompts are broad enough that you can make one of them fit for almost any story. So, start with what you want to convey, then simply pick the prompt that matches best.
Are you active in your community, with a meaningful service experience you’d like to recount? Pick Prompt 1.
Do you instead want to tell the story of an artistic pursuit? Great: with a little tweaking, you can make that work for Prompt 2.
The other consideration here is what other supplemental essays you have to write for other schools.
We always recommend reusing large parts of your supplemental essays to send to other schools. So, is there another supplemental essay you’ve written that you already love? If so, find a way to make it fit (with minor changes) one of the prompts here.
9 Tips for Writing Villanova’s Supplemental Essay
Before even writing, take some time to get to know Villanova. What are their values, what does the university pride itself on? You can find a lot of that information here: Villanova's Values.
All of this advice is a bit general, but it does show you what Villanova wants. Like most universities, Villanova is looking for honest, informal, and engaging stories. Well-written and carefully proofread, sure, but most importantly interesting!
Here are our 4 biggest tips for how to accomplish that:
Make sure your essay is introspective
Whatever story you tell, be sure that it shows you thinking critically about your life and your place in the world.
If your essay is introspective, admissions officers at Villanova should actually be able to track your thought process as you reflect on the experiences you recount.
It’s not just the story that matters: it’s what you make of it, and how you interpret it!
Use your own voice
It’s not just about telling your story; it’s about telling it in your voice!
A big problem in college essays, whether supplemental essays or personal statements, is that many students try to sound like someone they’re not.
Read your Villanova supplemental out loud. Does it sound like you? Are the words in the essay words you’d actually use? Do the sentences flow the way your speech does?
Don’t try to sound overly smart or mature: too many students try that, and so too many college application essays sound the same.
Admittedly, writing in your own voice can be tough if you’re not used to it. If you’re struggling, we recommend working with one of our college essay tutors, who will help you capture your unique style without making you sound like someone else.
Be honest
Vulnerability can work wonders in this essay. Villanova’s admissions committee makes that clear when they tell you to “speak your truth.”
Instead of writing what you think they want to hear, write that truth, even if it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes, admitting something about yourself that might not put you in the best light can actually be a strong, advantageous move in college admissions.
Don’t be generic or cliche
Nothing sinks an essay faster than it being boring or cliche.
As soon as you catch yourself writing a sentence, description, or reflection that someone else could have written, delete it. You need every sentence here to be specific to you, using the details from your life that only you can provide.
Rule number 4 can be rephrased more bluntly: don’t be boring.
For over 50 examples of supplemental essays that do this successfully, check out the free collection below–it includes essays written for Ivy+ schools, organized by university and prompt.
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Villanova and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Villanova.
Most people don’t really know what college admissions officers actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing real essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Yale before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor!
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays. It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Princeton, UPenn, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works. We've summarized that expertise in our Ultimate Guide to College Supplemental Essays.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the UPenn supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools–including real essays that got students admitted into UPenn!
UPenn has 3 required supplemental essays. The third prompt depends on which of Penn’s colleges or programs you apply to, but is essentially the same, asking you to explain “Why Penn” in 50-200 words.
Here are all of the essays, prompts, and word counts for UPenn’s supplementals:
Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!) (50-200 words, only required for first-year applicants)
How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective, and how your experiences and perspective will help shape Penn. (50-200 words)
School specific prompt:
College of Arts and Sciences: The College of Arts and Sciences is designed to foster discovery and connection. Describe something you are curious about—something you'd like to learn more about or find a new approach to—and how you might pursue that curiosity in the College. (50-200 words)
School of Nursing: Penn Nursing intends to meet the health needs of society in a global and multicultural world by preparing its students to impact healthcare by advancing science. Why are you applying to Nursing, where do you see yourself professionally in the future, and how will you contribute to our mission of promoting equity in healthcare?(50-200 words)
The Wharton School: Wharton prepares its students to make an impact by applying business methods and economic theory to real-world problems, including economic, political, and social issues. Discuss a current issue of importance to you and how you hope a Wharton education would help you explore it. (50-200 words)
The School of Engineering and Applied Science: Penn Engineering prepares its students to become leaders in technology by combining a strong foundation in the natural sciences and mathematics with depth of study in focused disciplinary majors. Describe how you plan to pursue your engineering interests at Penn, particularly within the intended major you selected. (50-200 words)
Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach each of these supplemental essay prompts, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.
We’ll also be taking a look at real sample essays that got students admitted to UPenn and breaking down what allowed them to succeed.
As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!
Below, we’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools (including UPenn). You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.
How to Write UPenn’s First Essay: The Thank-You Note
Writing Penn’s “Thank you note” essay requires balancing two key components.
First, you have to make sure you’re addressing the prompt and writing the essay to someone who’s influenced you in your life, sincerely thanking them.
Second, you need to make sure that the story you tell in this essay is still mostly about you.
If you spend most of this essay simply thanking someone for what they’ve done for you, you’ll be doing the first part. But you won’t actually show admissions officers at Penn anything about you.
The best way to approach this essay is to spend most of it describing the impact that the letter recipient had on you.
In other words, show readers what you did with this person’s advice or influence. It might feel awkward, but this is still your college application: your thank you letter needs to be about you.
It can be hard to strike the right balance here, which is why we’d suggest having a trusted writing expert look over your essay before submitting!
When everything has to come together perfectly like it does here, we recommend working with one of our experienced college essay coaches, the majority of whom come from Ivy League schools themselves.
In the meantime, download over 50 sample essays for free below!
How to Write UPenn’s Second Essay: Community
As you can probably tell by the prompts, this essay question really wants you to reflect on how your background will contribute to a strong community at UPenn.
The good news is that you don’t have to write about a particular identity for this essay to be effective.
In fact, one of the best ways to approach this UPenn supplemental is by writing about a meaningful community you’re involved with.
That could mean a number of things: it could be a religious or identity-based community. But it could just as easily be a community you’re part of through sports, extracurriculars, or your interests.
The key to this essay is to show UPenn how you’ve been a good community member, and how you’ll be a good community member at UPenn.
While you should begin this essay with an anecdote about yourself or a past community you’ve been a part of, at least half of this essay needs to focus on UPenn’s offerings.
Just as you should do with a “Why Major” essay (like Penn’s third essay–see below!), you need to carefully research what opportunities there are at UPenn that speak to your interests.
If you have a strong commitment to service, look up the volunteering programs that Penn has available: the more specific you can get, the better!
Or, if you have a religious, racial, or other identity that’s important to you, perhaps you plan to get involved with affinity groups and mentoring organizations on campus–again, just be sure that you’re doing the research into Penn’s specific community offerings and citing that.
Here’s the magic formula for this first essay:
50% personal anecdote about your background/community involvement
50% discussing specific community initiatives you’ll engage with at UPenn
Do both, and you’ll have a winning essay on your hands–just like the 50+ successful supplemental essays we’ve organized for you in the free resource below!
UPenn’s third essay prompt is a classic “why major” essay, on which we’ve written a comprehensive guide here: How to Write the "Why Major" Essay. Like we mentioned, it’s really similar to Penn’s second essay!
The key to answering this supplemental prompt about your intended area of study is to answer three key questions:
What specifically are you interested in?
Why, using specific details from your life, are you interested in that subject?
How, using the specific resources available at UPenn, will you pursue that subject?
If you’ve already written a Why Major essay for another school, you should be able to save a lot of time by reusing the basic structure of that essay, and simply replacing the school-specific portions.
If you don’t already have a template, here’s what it should look like:
Start with a brief anecdote from your life or academic question that interests you.
Start by telling a story!
The anecdote should show where your interest comes from, the moment you realized you wished to pursue this subject, or simply dramatize an important learning experience related to your chosen field of study.
You can use this portion of the template for any school that asks a Why Major supplemental.
Use that anecdote to launch into a discussion of why the subject matter interests you/why you want to pursue it as a major.
Whatever your major, you need to convincingly convey your passion for a particular subject to the admissions officers at UPenn.
Do so, and they’ll be far more likely to see you as someone who will seriously pursue your interests–which is, of course, what they’re looking for.
As with the anecdote, you can reuse this portion of the essay for any school with a similar prompt.
Explain how you’ll use specific resources at UPenn to pursue your academic interests.
This is the school-specific portion of the essay, which you’ll have to modify for every school you apply to. And the first step here is research: identify specific, unique offerings of UPenn that you hope to take advantage of.
Your best friend here will be the departmental website of the program/major to which you’re applying. Invest time in exploring that website: you’ll find all the information you need about curriculum, research, and work opportunities there.
Then, you’ll take this specific information and focus on 1-2 key points at the end of the essay, favoring depth over breadth. Don’t just rattle off the first 10 things you see on the website: pick just a couple and spend a few sentences on each, explaining how the particular resource aligns with your academic interests and goals.
Some great things to focus on would be:
Research programs
Work/internship/coop opportunities
Unique curricular offerings
Unusual minors or specializations
Service learning opportunities
Thesis/honors opportunities
Take a look at our free resource below: it contains over 50 real supplemental essays that got our tutors admitted into Princeton, UPenn, Harvard, and more!
And, if you want to work with a college essay expert like the one who wrote this essay, contact us.
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for UPenn and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like UPenn.
Most people don’t really know what colleges like UPenn actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing successful sample essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and UPenn before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor!
Last year, Dartmouth admitted just 5.8% of applicants, which means that if Dartmouth is your dream school, your application needs to be unbelievably impressive!
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays. It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Dartmouth, Princeton, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Dartmouth supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools–including a real essay that got a student admitted into Dartmouth!
Dartmouth hasn't officially announced its prompts for the 2026-27 admissions cycle. That usually happens in early August, so check back here to make sure you have the latest information.
But there's good news: Dartmouth hasn't changed their prompts much in recent years, so there's a good chance that last year's prompts still apply.
Currently, Dartmouth has 3 required supplemental essays, the first one considerably shorter than the second and third.
Here all of the essays, prompts, and word counts for Dartmouth’s supplementals:
As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2031, what aspects of the college's academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? How is Dartmouth a good fit for you? (100 words or fewer)
Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:
There is a Quaker saying: Let your life speak. Describe the environment in which you were raised and the impact it has had on the person you are today.
"Be yourself," Oscar Wilde advised. "Everyone else is taken." Introduce yourself.
Required of all applicants, please respond to one of the following prompts in 250 words or fewer:
What excites you?
Labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta recommended a life of purpose. "We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things," she said. "That is what we are put on the earth for." In what ways do you hope to make—or are you already making—an impact? Why? How?
In an Instagram post, best-selling British author Matt Haig cheered the impact of reading. "A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives," he wrote. How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter the way you understand yourself and others?
The social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees have been the focus of Dame Jane Goodall's research for decades. Her understanding of animal behavior prompted the English primatologist to see a lesson for human communities as well: "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right." Channel Dame Goodall: Tell us about a moment when you engaged in a difficult conversation or encountered someone with an opinion or perspective that was different from your own. How did you find common ground?
Celebrate your nerdy side.
"It's not easy being green…" was the frequent refrain of Kermit the Frog. How has difference been a part of your life, and how have you embraced it as part of your identity, outlook, or sense of purpose?
Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach each of these supplemental essay prompts, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.
We’ll also be taking a look at real sample essays that got students admitted to Dartmouth and breaking down what allowed them to succeed.
As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!
Below, we’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools (including Dartmouth). You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.
How to Write Dartmouth’s First Essay: “Why Us?”
The first supplemental essay prompt from Dartmouth is a classic essay type that we’ve written a lot about. Below, we’ll summarize the advice from our detailed guide to the “Why this College?” essay, then offer some Dartmouth-specific tips before looking at a real example.
The tricky bit is that while usually these essays have a word count of around 250, Dartmouth only gives you 100 words to make your case. That’s not a lot!
The analogy we like to use is that you can approach this essay a bit like a first date: you want to show why the two of you (you and the college) are a good match.
A lot of students just start by talking about how great the school they’re applying to is, but that’s the wrong move. Dartmouth already knows it’s hot stuff (they rejected over 90% of applicants, remember?).
What they want to know is why you are such a good fit for their offerings and culture, and vice versa.
So, we recommend tackling this essay in two steps:
Step 1: Research unique offerings
This first step is key. Research what Dartmouth offers that other universities do not.
Dartmouth-specific advice: from speaking to students who attended Dartmouth and worked in the admissions office, we can tell you that the key is to focus on community.
While Dartmouth offers many, many interesting opportunities, they pride themselves on how they build community.
So, when answering Dartmouth’s first question, be sure to focus primarily on why their community is a good fit for you, and vice versa. Our real sample essay below does a great job of showing this in action!
Step 2: Link to your story
People usually do step 1, but many forget to do this second step. It’s not enough to show that you did your research into Dartmouth’s offerings.
You need to show that these offerings actually speak to your interests, capabilities, and goals.
So, for every specific aspect of Dartmouth you mention, you need to connect it back to something you’ve already done or some existing passion of yours.
Quality over quantity is the rule here. Instead of listing 5 specific programs at Dartmouth you like, list 2, but go on to explain how each one speaks to the experiences you’ve already had or the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Take a look below for a real sample essay written in response to this prompt! And, if you want to work with a college essay expert like the one who wrote this essay, contact us.
Real Dartmouth Sample Essay for Prompt 1:
As I flipped through the hefty “Best 380,” Dartmouth jumped out for three words: “Students are happy.” I’m a big believer in happiness. I am motivated in races by a positive mindset, write daily in my “Happiness Project” journal, am intrigued by positive psychology, and love to smile! My friends don’t understand how I’m always optimistic, but it’s simple. So much is out of my control—the past, other people’s actions, the President’s stance on climate change—but I can always control my attitude. Realizing this changed my life. So could four years in a community that values happiness like I do.
Notice: this essay is short, sweet, and to the point (it has to be, since it’s exactly 100 words). But most importantly, it focuses on community at Dartmouth.
In addition, it also connects to the student’s core values and experiences (the journal, their attitude).
Writing this essay doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require a very specific approach.
When everything has to come together perfectly like it does here, we recommend working with one of our experienced college essay coaches, the majority of whom come from Ivy League schools themselves.
In the meantime, download over 50 sample essays for free below!
How to Write Dartmouth’s Second Essay
As you can probably tell by the prompts, this essay question really wants you to reflect on who you are and your background.
We do want to warn you: the “introduce yourself” prompt often gives students a lot of trouble. It can be very easy to fall into the trap of being generic or cliche when trying to tell someone “who you are.”
Plus, your Common App essay should already be telling the admissions officers who you are. In a sense, this particular essay prompt sets you up to fail.
Because of that, we recommend going for the first essay option here: talk about your community and environment.
It’s also a good idea because, as we pointed out above, Dartmouth really values community!
Use Dartmouth’s second essay as a chance to show how your background–religious, cultural, or anything else–has influenced your ability and desire to contribute to a large and diverse college community.
How to Write Dartmouth’s Third Essay
As you can tell by the prompts, Dartmouth’s third essay is a bit of a wild card one, with lots of different, unusual prompts.
There’s no universal “right” prompt to respond to for everyone here. But you need to approach your choice of prompt tactically.
Your goal is to use these supplemental essay prompts to show the Dartmouth admissions committee different, positive aspects of who you are and what you’ve accomplished.
So, don’t start by picking the most interesting prompt. Start by thinking about what story you want to tell, or what side of yourself you want to show.
For example, if your Common App essay and first two supplementals already tell Dartmouth admissions officers about your identity, your love for community, and your main extracurricular pursuit, think about how this third essay can complement those.
An easy way to go would be to use this essay to discuss your academic or intellectual interests (the prompt “celebrate your nerdy side” works well for this).
Not only is this something crucial to convey to the college you’re applying to, but it will also likely save you a lot of work.
You’ll already need to write supplementals about your academic interests or major choice for other colleges, so you can modify and reuse that supplemental for Dartmouth here.
Because all the Dartmouth essays are so short, you won’t have time to launch into an extended narrative like you did in your Common App essay.
But the same rules still apply! To sum up:
Make sure your essay is introspective. Whatever story you tell, be sure that it shows you thinking critically about your life and your place in the world.
Use your own voice. Read your Dartmouth supplemental aloud: does it sound like you? If not, it’s time to edit it.
Be honest. Vulnerability can work wonders in these essays. Dartmouth has made it very clear that they’re interested in risk-takers, and this supplemental essay is your best chance to show it.
Don’t be generic or cliche. This can be rephrased more bluntly: don’t be boring.
This advice is simple in theory, difficult to execute. Think about how many essays Dartmouth admissions officers read.
Are you 100% sure that your essays stand out? That your essays are totally different from everyone else’s?
A good way to tell? Work with a college essay expert who’s read many of these essays and can give you an outside perspective on your writing.
Below, find over 50 other memorable, unique supplementals that got students accepted into elite schools like Ivies. There’s no better resource to use as you start your own Dartmouth supplemental essays!
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Dartmouth and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Dartmouth.
Most people don’t really know what colleges like Dartmouth actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing sample essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Dartmouth before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor!
Last year, Columbia admitted a scant 4.23% of applicants, which means that if Columbia is your dream school, your application needs to be perfect to stand a chance!
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays.
It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works. We've also summarized that expertise in our Ultimate Guide to College Supplemental Essays.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Columbia supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools–including real essays that got students admitted into Columbia!
Currently, Columbia has 6 required supplemental essays, although the first is actually just a list.
Here all of the essays, prompts, and word counts for Columbia’s supplementals:
List a selection of texts, resources and outlets that have contributed to your intellectual development outside of academic courses, including but not limited to books, journals, websites, podcasts, essays, plays, presentations, videos, museums and other content that you enjoy. (100 words or fewer)
Tell us about an aspect of your life so far or your lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia’s multidimensional and collaborative environment. (150 words or fewer)
At Columbia, students representing a wide range of perspectives are invited to live and learn together. In such a community, questions and debates naturally arise. Please describe a time when you did not agree with someone and discuss how you engaged with them and what you took away from the interaction. (150 words or fewer)
In college/university, students are often challenged in ways that they could not anticipate. Please describe a situation in which you have navigated through adversity and discuss how you changed as a result. (150 words or fewer)
Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. (150 words or fewer)
What attracts you to your preferred areas of study at Columbia College or Columbia Engineering? (150 words or fewer)
Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach each of these supplemental essay prompts, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.
We’ll also be taking a look at real sample essays that got students admitted to Columbia and breaking down what allowed them to succeed.
As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!
Below, we’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools (including Columbia). You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.
How to Write Columbia’s First Essay: List of Texts
This essay matters much more than people think! It gives Columbia admissions officers an insight into how seriously you take your reading and thinking.
It also will show them how mature and self-aware you are, which is the real test of this supplemental essay.
If you pick books, podcasts, or sources that are too basic, it’ll signal that you’re not a deep or unique thinker. For example, if all your books are things typically assigned in school readings, it’ll be clear you don’t read much on your own.
At the same time, if you pick texts that are generally known–by adults, by college admissions officers, by undergraduates–to be associated with a certain worldview or subculture, that might be held against you.
To pick an extreme example: if you pick a number of texts that are often recommended or read by people with intolerant tendencies, that might send a red flag to admissions officers.
Of course, this can be more subtle as well: it can often be hard to tell whether the texts you’re putting on your list might convey something you don’t intend. This is a great area to check with someone who has some more perspective–like one of our essay tutors!
Beyond that, however, we suggest making sure that the texts you pick are nuanced, interesting, and correspond to the broader picture you want to paint of yourself.
When everything has to come together perfectly like it does here, we recommend working with one of our experienced college essay coaches, the majority of whom come from Ivy League schools themselves.
In the meantime, download over 50 sample essays for free below!
How to Write Columbia’s Second Essay: Community
As you can probably tell by the prompts, this essay question really wants you to reflect on who you are and your background.
The good news is that you don’t have to write about a particular identity for this essay to be effective!
In fact, one of the best ways to approach this Columbia supplemental is by writing about a meaningful community you’re involved with.
That could mean a number of things: it could be a religious or identity-based community. But it could just as easily be a community you’re part of through sports, extracurriculars, or your interests.
The key to this essay is to show Columbia how you’ve been a good community member, and how you’ll be a good community member at Columbia.
Use Columbia’s second essay as a chance to show how your background–religious, cultural, or anything else–has influenced your ability and desire to contribute to a large and diverse college community.
Below, check out a real, successful essay one of our tutors wrote to get admitted to Columbia!
One of my favorite authors, Cheryl Strayed, gave a TED Talk in which she discussed the concept of "radical sincerity" — being true and sincere to yourself and others. This is something I try to practice in my everyday life. I believe that kindness, sincerity, and gratitude are all muscles that must be used in order to be strengthened. I try to bring all of these traits to my interactions with others, especially when we have different viewpoints. I believe Columbia would be a great place for me to both strengthen these attributes in myself and continue to learn them from others.
I've had the chance to practice interacting with a wide variety of people and opinions through my school's social advocacy club. We make it a priority to hear all voices in a discussion while still ensuring that people's identities are respected. This has certainly allowed me to practice empathizing with others and trying to understand their perspectives. I feel that my time in this club has made me a more open-minded and thoughtful person and prepared me well for an even more diverse collegiate setting.
And below, you can find over 50 more: these are real supplemental essays, written by our tutors when they applied and were accepted to Ivy League universities!
How to Write Columbia's Third Essay: Disagreement
This essay prompt asks you to consider a time you disagreed with someone. Several schools have prompts like this, and ultimately, admissions officers ask this question for two main reasons.
The first is to see whether you’re a person who can productively deal with people who have different views for you.
The second is to see if if you’re able to write about potentially complex issues in a mature, self-aware way. Below, see our three tips for approaching this essay.
For this essay, you’ll want to tread carefully. Naturally, these “difficult conversation” prompts tend to invite essays about political or social issues. That's fine, but you also want to be mindful of any highly controversial, hot-button stances.
Don’t come off arrogant
Many of us have strong beliefs about current issues. If that’s the case for you, that’s a good thing! Elite universities like passionate students.
But you need to avoid sounding like someone who is arrogant, cocky, or incapable of listening to others’ viewpoints. Remember: this is one of the key things Columbia admissions officers are looking out for. Even if they might agree with you on the issue you discuss, they’re making sure you’re able to be productive and civil in difficult situations.
This is more difficult than you might think. Many students believe that they’re coming off as passionate or dedicated when, in reality, their essay makes them sound intolerant, angry, or arrogant.
Don’t be a pushover
There’s a flip side to that coin: you also don’t want to be someone who has no firm convictions.
For example, many student responses to this kind of supplemental essay question end by simply saying that “the truth is somewhere in the middle” or “you have to respect everyone’s opinion.”
While that’s better than coming off intolerant, it still isn’t great. If your essay is about you immediately changing your beliefs because someone argues with you, you might come off as someone who doesn’t care much about anything.
It’s a really, really tough line to walk. That’s why we always recommend working with one of our college essay experts, who can guide you away from giving the wrong impression in your supplemental essays.
Some issues are better avoided
If you're going to take a strong stance on an issue in this essay, you need to make sure your viewpoint isn’t extreme enough to alienate admissions officers. Is the political or social belief you’re expressing here the kind of thing that Columbia admissions officers would find distasteful or concerning?
If so, you’re at risk for sinking your application then and there. If you’re not sure, then you need to do more research first.
Do all of the above, and you’ll have the third of Columbia’s supplemental essays locked down tight–plus, you’ll have a great template for any other schools that ask the same question.
How to Write Columbia’s Fourth Essay: Obstacle
This essay prompt is quite straightforward: what obstacles, challenges, or adversity have you overcome, and how?
When thinking about what essay topic to focus on for this essay, consider a few things:
What experience allows you to tell the best story?
Is the challenge you’re describing unique to you?
Is there meaningful growth that happened as a result of the adversity you describe?
How does the story you tell here connect to the rest of your application narrative?
Once you settle on the right story to tell, you should follow our usual advice for writing compelling essays:
Tell a story
Use your own voice
Be honest
Don’t be generic
It isn’t always to do all four–especially if you’re not an experienced writer.
A good way to tell your essay is doing all four of these things? Work with a college essay expert who’s read many of these essays and can give you an outside perspective on your writing.
Below, find over 50 real supplementals that got students accepted into elite schools like Princeton, Yale, and Columbia. There’s no better resource to use as you start your own Columbia supplemental essays!
How to Write Columbia’s Fifth Essay: Why Columbia
The fifth supplemental essay prompt from Columbia is a classic essay type that we’ve written a lot about. Below, we’ll summarize our advice from our post on the “Why this College?” essay, then offer some Columbia-specific tips before looking at a real example.
The tricky bit is that while usually these essays have a word count of around 250, Columbia only gives you 150 words to make your case. That’s not a lot!
The analogy we like to use is that you can approach this essay a bit like a first date: you want to show why the two of you (you and the college) are a good match.
A lot of students just start by talking about how great the school they’re applying to is, but that’s the wrong move. Columbia already knows it’s hot stuff (they rejected over 95% of applicants, remember?).
What they want to know is why you are such a good fit for their offerings and culture, and vice versa.
So, we recommend tackling this essay in two steps:
Step 1: Research unique offerings
This first step is key. Research what Columbia offers that other universities do not.
And note: because Columbia has a separate question about academic offerings (the last prompt), you should not mention courses or academic offerings in your response to this question.
So, what should you focus on?
The best answer is likely community or student life! But you can feel free to write about any specific element of the Columbia experience that speaks to your story.
So, when answering this question, be sure to focus primarily on why their community is a good fit for you, and vice versa. Our real sample essay below does a great job of showing this in action!
Step 2: Link to your story
People usually do step 1, but many forget to do this second step. It’s not enough to show that you did your research into Columbia’s offerings.
You need to show that Columbia’s offerings actually speak to your interests, capabilities, and goals.
So, for every specific aspect of Columbia you mention, you need to connect it back to something you’ve already done or some existing passion of yours.
Quality over quantity is the rule here. Instead of listing 5 specific programs at Columbia you like, list 2, but go on to explain how each one speaks to the experiences you’ve already had or the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Below, take a look at a real response to this prompt that got one of our tutors admitted to Columbia:
What draws me to Columbia is its dichotomy. Columbia focuses on a traditional core curriculum, and yet is located in New York, one of the most modern and evolving cities in the world. That isn't to say that the core curriculum is inherently old-fashioned, but to highlight the contrast between convention and exploration. Columbia's respect for tradition in its core curriculum is an approach that many schools have dismissed, to the harm of their students' development.
I'm in the minority at my high school for valuing the course requirements of secondary education. Most people don't enjoy being "forced" to take classes they don't enjoy —instead, they prefer to continue strengthening already well-developed passions. I have a high appreciation for the concept of a core curriculum, because I want to continue working on all of my academic skills, both strengths and weaknesses.
And alongside the draw of Columbia's curriculum itself is the thrum of New York City. I would feel incredibly lucky to learn in such an electric environment. I find it's impossible not to feel inspired to pursue my education and open my mind when surrounded by a campus and city full of people striving to do the same.
How to Write Columbia’s Sixth Essay: Why This Major
Columbia’s sixth and final essay prompt is a classic “why major” essay, on which we’ve written a comprehensive guide here: How to Write the "Why Major" Essay.
The key to answering this supplemental prompt about your intended area of study is to answer three key questions:
What specifically are you interested in?
Why, using specific details from your life, are you interested in that subject?
How, using the specific resources available at Columbia, will you pursue that subject?
If you’ve already written a Why Major essay for another school, you should be able to save a lot of time by reusing the basic structure of that essay, and simply replacing the school-specific portions.
If you don’t already have a template, here’s what it should look like:
Start with a brief anecdote from your life or academic question that interests you.
The anecdote should show where your interest comes from, the moment you realized you wished to pursue this subject, or simply dramatize an important learning experience related to your chosen field of study.
You can use this portion of the template for any school that asks a Why Major supplemental.
Use that anecdote to launch into a discussion of why the subject matter interests you/why you want to pursue it as a major.
Whatever your major, you need to convincingly convey your passion for a particular subject to the admissions officers at Columbia.
Do so, and they’ll be far more likely to see you as someone who will seriously pursue your interests–which is, of course, what they’re looking for.
As with the anecdote, you can reuse this portion of the essay for any school with a similar prompt.
Explain how you’ll use specific resources at Columbia to pursue your academic interests.
This is the school-specific portion of the essay, which you’ll have to modify for every school you apply to. And the first step here is research: identify specific, unique offerings of Columbia University that you hope to take advantage of.
Your best friend here will be the departmental website of the program/major to which you’re applying. Invest time in exploring that website: you’ll find all the information you need about curriculum, research, and work opportunities there.
Then, you’ll take this specific information and focus on 1-2 key points at the end of the essay, favoring depth over breadth. Don’t just rattle off the first 10 things you see on the website: pick just a couple and spend a few sentences on each, explaining how the particular resource aligns with your academic interests and goals.
Some great things to focus on would be:
Research programs
Work/internship/coop opportunities
Unique curricular offerings
Unusual minors or specializations
Service learning opportunities
Thesis/honors opportunities
Take a look below for a real sample essay written in response to this prompt! And, if you want to work with a college essay expert like the one who wrote this essay, contact us.
I've been a voracious reader my entire life. Some of my earliest memories include lying on my bedroom floor listening to audiobooks; my absolute favorite was Matilda, because I related to her as a nerdy child. My theatre company performs a Shakespeare play each spring, which exposed me to his works at a very young age and has led me to explore storytelling from a performance perspective as well. This adaptable quality of literature — how stories can be told in diverse formats such as movies, plays, and albums — has always interested me, and I enjoy exploring its many facets.
I believe digging deeply into stories can improve empathy, sharpen critical thinking, and even shape personality. Books and characters have had a powerful influence on my development: who would I be without the courage of Hermione (Harry Potter) or the kindness of Meg March (Little Women)? Given the influence literature has had on my life, I would also like the opportunity to share it with others as an English professor.
Through Columbia's English courses, I could both strengthen my knowledge of English and learn from the incredible faculty who I one day hope to emulate.
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Columbia and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Columbia.
Most people don’t really know what colleges like Columbia actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing sample essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Columbia before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor!
Last year, Vanderbilt only admitted a tiny 2.8% of students who applied during their regular decision round. Out of over 48,000 applicants, fewer than 1,400 were admitted, which makes Vanderbilt more competitive than some Ivy League schools!
If Vanderbilt is on your college list, you can’t leave any part of your application to chance.
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays for Vanderbilt and other hyper-selective universities! We've also summarized that expertise in our Ultimate Guide to College Supplemental Essays.
It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools, including many schools with acceptance rates even lower than 10% or 5%, like Princeton, Yale, and Harvard.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the Vanderbilt supplemental essay for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for the most selective US universities!
Good news! For this admissions cycle, Vanderbilt has only 1 supplemental essay prompt.
Here’s the prompt, quoted directly from Vanderbilt’s website:
Vanderbilt University’s motto, Crescere aude, is Latin for “dare to grow.” In your response, reflect on how one or more aspects of your identity, culture, or background has played a role in your personal growth, and how it will contribute to our campus community as you dare to grow at Vanderbilt.
Below, we’ll dive deep into how to approach this supplemental essay, laying out the tips, tricks, and strategies to help your essay stand out from thousands of others.
As you read on, we’ll often be encouraging you to spend time looking through as many real supplemental essays for Ivy League schools as possible. Writing is easiest when you have a model!
We’ve collected over 50 real supplemental essays that got students accepted to Ivy+ schools. Many of those essays are similar to the one you’ll have to write for Vanderbilt!
You can download that collection for free by clicking the link below.
Vanderbilt Supplemental Essay Word Limit
Believe it or not, this is a tricky question to answer.
Vanderbilt’s admissions website tells students to respond in around 250 words.
But, if you access the writing prompt through your Common App portal, you’ll notice that the minimum word count is 200 and the maximum word count is 400.
So, you actually have a lot of flexibility!
Should you write a 400 word response to the Vanderbilt supplemental essay question, even though they say “around 250 words?”
Maybe. The key consideration is the quality of the story you’re telling (more on that below).
If your essay is engaging, specific, and unique, Vanderbilt admissions officers won’t mind reading an extra 100 words or so.
After all, they deliberately allow for a response of up to 400 words!
Read on below for guidance on how to draft a successful Vanderbilt supplemental response.
And, before you start writing, check out our collection of over 50 real supplemental essays that got students into Princeton, Harvard, and other schools with acceptance rates under 10%.
First, it’s important to understand what Vanderbilt admissions officers want to learn about you by assigning this prompt.
You should think of this as a prompt that has two parts.
The first is to discuss an important element of your community, identity or background. That can be defined as broadly as you like: your race/ethnicity, the neighborhood you grew up in, a club you’re involved in, or any other element of who you are can work here!
The second part of this essay is really a “Why Us?” essay, where the school asks you to discuss how you’ll connect with their community if admitted. We’ve actually written a full guide on this kind of essay that you can read here, which includes real Ivy League examples.
The first paragraph, whenever possible, should be eye-catching and specific to you. Tell a story or anecdote that sets the stage for who you are and how you view community.
Think of this as a creative writing exercise: can you show a crucial moment that shaped how you see your identity? Or perhaps a particularly impactful moment where you were involved with a community-focused initiative?
Your essay will always be stronger if it starts with a story!
Take a look at some of the sample essays below, which got students into Harvard, Yale, and more. Notice how the writers start off their essays to hook in admissions readers!
Connect that story to your values
It’s not enough to tell an incredible story to have an incredible supplemental essay. You need to combine that storytelling with an introspective reflection on what you believe, value, or hope to achieve.
Remember that community is crucial for this Vanderbilt prompt. They don’t just want to hear about you; they want to see why you would be a great person to have on campus for four years.
So, as you tell your story, begin teasing out what it says about you.
Perhaps being involved with Habitat for Humanity has shaped how you view your obligations to those around you.
Or, perhaps, growing up with English as a second language has made you really conscious of different barriers to becoming a member of a community.
In either case, those are the sorts of connections to develop as you tell your story!
Connect your story and values to Vanderbilt
Now that you’ve shown who you are and what you value, you need to show how that makes you a good fit for Vanderbilt’s community!
That means doing research: what does community look like at Vanderbilt? What aspects of community do they seem to stress on campus? What clubs, service opportunities, or initiatives at Vanderbilt would you want to be involved with, and why?
All these are the kinds of questions you might want to explore in a significant portion of your supplemental essay response.
Think of all this as naturally flowing: your story leads to your values, and your values lead you to Vanderbilt!
For real examples of how this plays out in the most successful supplemental essays, take a look at the collection below, which has over 50 essays that got students into schools like Princeton and Harvard!
Use your own voice!
This one has more to do with style, but many people don’t really give this much thought.
Since we’re really in the world of storytelling here, you shouldn’t be writing this like a school essay.
The best test: if you read this essay aloud, it should sound like a slightly elevated version of the way you normally speak or tell stories.
So, you don’t want this essay full of slang, but you also definitely don’t want it full of words you got from a thesaurus or big transitions like “nevertheless.”
Write directly and honestly! If you’re unsure whether your essay sounds natural, one of our experienced college essay tutors can help. Because they’ve read and coached so many essays, they can tell you write away if your essay sounds like every other one!
Don’t be generic or cliche!
Nothing sinks an essay faster than it being boring or cliche!
If you’re writing a sentence that one thousand other students could have written, that’s a problem–because odds are, they already have. And, odds are, Vanderbilt admissions officers have had to read a lot of them.
Rule number 4 can be rephrased more bluntly: don’t be boring.
For over 50 real examples of successful supplemental essays written by our star college essay tutors, click the link below. You can be confident that these essays are good models: they got students accepted into the most selective universities in the US!
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for Vanderbilt and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like Vanderbilt.
Most people don’t really know what college admissions officers actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing real essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services here, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and Yale before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor.
Last year, the University of Chicago admitted under 5% of applicants, which means that if University of Chicago is your dream school, your application needs to be unbelievably impressive!
If you know anything about applying to University of Chicago, you may already know that they’re famous (or infamous) for having very atypical supplemental essays–in fact, they pride themselves on the weirdness of their prompts!
Fortunately, at PrepMaven, we’ve helped thousands of students craft compelling college application essays. We've also summarized that expertise in our Ultimate Guide to College Supplemental Essays.
It doesn’t hurt that many of our expert tutors have been admitted to elite schools like Princeton, University of Chicago, and Harvard themselves, and so they know exactly what works.
In this guide, we’ll break down how to write the University of Chicago supplemental essays for the upcoming admissions cycle, explaining how to maximize your chances of acceptance.
As you read on, check out our free resource linked below: it contains real, successful examples of supplemental essays written for Ivies and other top schools–including a real essay that got a student admitted into University of Chicago!
Jump to section: University of Chicago’s 2026-2027 Essay Prompts How to Write University of Chicago’s First Essay: “Why Us?” How to Write University of Chicago’s Second Essay Real University of Chicago Supplemental Essay Analysis Next steps
University of Chicago’s 2026-2027 Essay Prompts
For this admissions cycle, University of Chicago has 2 required supplemental essays.
The first essay gives you the following prompt:
How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.
That’s a classic “Why us?” supplemental essay prompt, one you’ll see many times through your college application process.
While University of Chicago does not have a word limit on their essays, they recommend 300-600 words for this first essay.
In fact, if you’re writing according to our guidelines for the "Why us" essay type, you’ll probably already have a template that you can use to save yourself lots of work on this essay.
Alas, that’s not the case for University of Chicago’s second supplemental, which is both longer and weirder. Here, you’ll have to choose one of six options:
Essay Option 1
Food for thought: How do thoughts eat?
- Inspired by Ernest Leong, Class of 2026.
Essay Option 2
The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, utilized origami-inspired techniques to compactly store and deploy its sunshield in space. Choose an artistic practice and use its principles to propose an elegant solution to a problem.
-Inspired by Akhil Korra, Class of 2028
Essay Option 3
Sometimes metaphors get mixed up. For one reason or another, one could say, “we'll burn that bridge when we get there” or “the world is your china shop”. Make up your own mixed metaphor. Explain how it could make sense, be understood, or even applied.
-Inspired by Julia Nieberg, Class of 2029
Essay Option 4
The Olympics have long celebrated the pinnacle of human athletic achievement. But what if they expanded to honor the mundane? Imagine a new Olympic event built around an everyday activity like speed dishwashing or competitive grocery bagging. How is it scored, officiated, and judged? Why is it a worthy addition?
-Inspired by Ewan Smith, Class of 2028
Essay Option 5
AI: Allen Iverson. NASA, or the North American Saxophone Alliance. Share a potentially confounding, comedic, or captivating example of MIA (Mistaken Identity of Acronym) and tell us its backstory.
-Inspired by Jeeho Byun, Class of 2030
Essay Option 6
And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun!
As you can tell, there’s no standard way to approach these essays… You’re going to have to set aside the time to craft a new, original essay in response to one of these prompts.
As with the first essay, there’s no strict word limit: instead, University of Chicago’s FAQ page suggests between 500 and 700 words. That means this essay will likely be about as long as your Common App personal statement!
Read on for guidance about how to tackle the University of Chicago supplemental essays, and download the 50+ Real Sample Essays That Worked below for inspiration!
How to Write University of Chicago’s First Essay: “Why Us?”
The first supplemental essay prompt from University of Chicago is a classic essay type that we’ve written a lot about in our guide to the “Why this College?” essay.
The analogy we like to use is that you can approach this essay a bit like a first date: you want to show why the two of you (you and the college) are a good match.
A lot of students just start by talking about how great the school they’re applying to is, but that’s the wrong move. University of Chicago already knows it’s hot stuff (they rejected over 90% of applicants, remember?).
What they want to know is why you are such a good fit for their offerings and culture, and vice versa.
So, we recommend tackling this essay in three steps:
Step 1: Research unique offerings
This first step is key. Research what University of Chicago offers that other universities do not.
This could be a lot of things:
Specific research lab
A professor whose class you want to take
Rare majors/minors/concentrations/courses
Unique work or service programs
A particular curriculum design that speaks to your interests
With all of these, the key is uniqueness. Pick things that really set University of Chicago apart, so they know you’re serious about attending.
Step 2: Link to your story
People usually do step 1, but many forget to do this second step. It’s not enough to show that you did your research into University of Chicago’s offerings.
You need to show that these offerings actually speak to your interests, capabilities, and goals.
So, for every specific aspect of University of Chicago you mention, you need to connect it back to something you’ve already done or some existing passion of yours.
Quality over quantity is the rule here. Instead of listing 5 specific programs at University of Chicago you like, list 2, but go on to explain how each one speaks to the experiences you’ve already had or the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Step 3: Create a frame for your essay
Because this essay is as much about you as it is about University of Chicago, you can create an introduction and conclusion (a “frame”) that you tweak only slightly for multiple schools.
The first paragraph, whenever possible, should be eye-catching and specific to you. Tell a story or anecdote that sets the stage for what your interests/goals are!
Are you going to apply to these schools as a Math major? Well, then you might want to start the essays with a short description of the moment you fell in love with math, or with what burning questions drive you to pursue it in college.
Then, dive into all those good University of Chicago specifics you’ve been researching, connecting them back to your own life.
Finally, use a conclusion that ties back to your introduction. Keep it really short, but keep it about you! Great ideas here would be to talk about how the college will serve your long term goals, or how you hope to contribute to its community.
The good news is you can easily reuse the frame anytime a school asks “why us?”
We’ll cover the second, harder, University of Chicago supplemental below. In the meantime, download our collection of over 50 real supplemental essays below, which also include many examples of the “Why this school?” essay!
How to Write University of Chicago’s Second Essay
As you can tell by the prompts, this essay is really a wildcard one–often the hardest kind of college supplemental essay to write!
Our advice? Take risks, get creative, and treat this as an opportunity to tell an extended story.
The same holds true for this University of Chicago supplemental, and that’s how you should decide which University of Chicago supplemental prompt to pick.
We can’t stress that latter point enough: first, come up with an interesting anecdote from your life that hasn’t been showcased elsewhere in your college application.
Then, pick the UChicago essay prompt that allows you to tell the anecdote.
At the end of the day, admissions officers don’t care what prompt you choose. They’ll only care about how interesting the final result is. So, pick a story first, then pick a prompt.
Once you’ve got the right story, what does it need to do to impress college admissions officers?
Specifically for UChicago, here’s what you want to do:
Make sure your essay is introspective
Whatever story you tell, be sure that it shows you thinking critically about your life and your place in the world.
Introspective just means that as University of Chicago admissions officers read your essay, they can see you engaging in a process of self-reflection, considering your experiences, values, and goals.
Use your own voice
A big problem in college essays, whether supplemental essays or personal statements, is that many students try to sound like someone they’re not.
To put it bluntly: don’t treat this like an essay for school. Don’t get out the thesaurus, don’t start throwing around words like “plethora” and “nevertheless.”
Read your University of Chicago supplemental aloud: does it sound like you? If not, it’s time to edit it.
We know this can sound vague, but you can see great examples of what we mean by “voice” in the sample University of Chicago essay below, and in our collection of over 50 Supplemental Essays that Worked for schools like Princeton, Harvard, and University of Chicago !
Be honest
Vulnerability can work wonders in this essay. University of Chicago has made it very clear that they’re interested in risk-takers, and this supplemental essay is your best chance to show it.
Instead of writing what you think they want to hear, write the truth, even if it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes, admitting something about yourself that might not put you in the best light can actually be a strong, advantageous move in college admissions.
Of course, it’s a big risk: we recommend working with a trusted college essay expert to make sure you’re not being a little too honest.
Don’t be generic or cliche
Nothing sinks an essay faster than it being boring or cliche. That’s especially true for University of Chicago, where the prompt is designed to help you avoid those things.
If you’re writing a sentence that 1000 other students could have written, that’s a problem–because odds are, they already have. And, odds are, University of Chicago admissions officers have had to read a lot of them.
Rule number 4 can be rephrased more bluntly: don’t be boring.
For an example of an essay that does all these things (and more), read on below for a recent example of a University of Chicago supplemental that got its writer an acceptance letter!
Real University of Chicago Supplemental Essay Analysis
Below, we’ll give you a supplemental essay written by one of our tutors that earned them admission into University of Chicago recently!
We’ll then offer a short breakdown of what allows it to work. Here’s the essay:
Prompt: Dog and Cat. Coffee and Tea. Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. Everyone knowsthere are two types of people in the world. What are they?
There are two types of people in the world.
The first type of person opened University of Chicago’s list of essays and found one that spoke to them. Maybe they knew exactly which vestigial structure they would defend or spell they would create. Regardless, they never had any trouble selecting a prompt; they picked one and ran with it.
And then, there’s my group, the ones who no matter how many times they reread the list, couldn’t pick a single topic. The ones who simultaneously wanted to divide by zero, find X, or compare apples to oranges. The ones who were fascinated by the questions themselves, for whom pondering each question in turn was more interesting than attempting to come to a conclusion about any one of them. The fact is, my group is right. A well-crafted question is so much more than a single essay; it deserves to be a back-and-forth that lasts a min-finity (noun: a very long period of time that seems to pass in a minute due to enjoyment).
First, I thought I’d write about what’s not easy about pie. I detailed how each Thanksgiving my Dad makes five pies from scratch, using his grandmother’s rolling pin and a crust recipe based on the latest culinary science. I talked about the hip-hop that filled my kitchen, the chimes of measuring spoons, and the occasional whir of an ancient Cuisinart. I wanted to explain why my Dad’s approach to life – that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right—means he won’t eat Dunkin’ Donuts. To me, doing college right entails heated classroom debates over the ethics of gene-editing—the best of which spill over into dinner and late nights—not just partying with my two hundred best friends.
Then, I wanted to explain how math, like history, repeats itself. In my math classes, I’ve spent hours hunched over my desk, furiously proving obscure conjectures. Once I can say ‘Quod Erat Demonstrandum’, I sit up and relish my success for a moment before realizing a more elegant approach exists. Dissatisfied, I reassume my hunched posture and grasp my pencil in pursuit of elegance. This cycle of discovery and discontent continues until my pencil is a stub, my wrists ache, and I realize an hour has passed. I wanted to explain how works of mathematics cannot be truly complete, as more elegant solutions always exist.
But then, I thought of my favorite portal. The white wooden fence wards off the outside world and the giant statue of Paul Bunyan looks down on the lucky few who enter Camp Nebagamon. A sign reading “This Shall Be a Place of Welcome For All” in countless languages hangs at the entrance, affirming acceptance. When boys pass through this gate, they are able to disentangle themselves from technology and the stresses of real-life and truly be a kid. Passing through this portal transformed me into the best version of myself. I wanted to help others see its magic.
The list of potential questions includes just about each one on that list. I explored what a mantis shrimp sees, what makes odd numbers odd, or what a picture wants. Each prompt was an opportunity to highlight a different aspect of my character and explore different ideas. My trouble came in picking which to unpack. I wouldn’t be myself without all of them, and I wouldn’t want to surround myself with people for whom the choice is obvious. More: questions like these shouldn’t be answered by a single person, but as part of an ongoing dialogue between people of different minds. Even then a definitive answer may not be reached. And while some may claim that a 650-word response is more than enough to ‘destroy a question’, in the words of University of Chicago’s famous president Robert Hutchins, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”
So, why does this essay work? Let’s do a quick breakdown:
Clever, unique opening
While the “meta” essay has become overused and cliche, it works for this essay because it addresses the nature of the prompt (“there are two kinds of people”) in an usual, deliberate way.
It’s not being meta for the sake of being meta: it’s trying to say something about the writer by exploring their experience with this specific prompt.
If you read this aloud, it’s clear that you’re reading the writing of one particular person. In other words, it doesn’t sound like someone who’s trying to sound like a “writer.”
It sounds like a real human! All of the small elements–the contractions, the short, experimental sentences, the jokes–come together to make it feel like someone is talking to us.
Trust me, if you’d been reading thousands of application essays, you’d be grateful to the one that actually felt more like a story or a conversation.
It’s introspective
The whole essay is really the student’s thought process, as they evaluate what they want to write about.
But what’s important is that this thought process allows the writer to explore the core aspects of who they are, from their values to their dreams.
The student brings up not only their interests in gene editing and mathematics, but also mentions how they hope to “help others see the magic” of accepting, stress-free places.
It’s not generic
Nobody else could have written this essay, period. Why? Because of the level of specific detail!
From anecdotes about family members to experiences in math classes to hyper specific questions like “what a mantis shrimp sees,” this essay overflows with the particularities of the writer’s perspective.
That goes a long way: if your essay is boring or sounds like a hundred other essays, it’s already dead in the water. The admissions officers at University of Chicago will forget about it (and you!) before they’re even finished reading it.
But an essay like this one sticks with the reader. Whatever their feelings about it, they’re not likely to forget the student who wrote it.
Below, find over 50 other memorable, unique supplementals that got students accepted into elite schools like Ivies. There’s no better resource to use as you start your own University of Chicago supplemental essays!
Next Steps
Once you’re ready to start writing supplemental essays for University of Chicago and your other schools, we have two main pieces of advice.
First: read real, successful sample supplemental essays that helped get students into elite schools like University of Chicago.
Most people don’t really know what schools like UChicago actually want from the supplemental essays, and the best solution is to spend lots of time reviewing sample essays. We’ve collected over 50 of these essays in the free resource below.
Second: get expert help. Whether you’re a brilliant writer or just an okay one, you’ll benefit tremendously from the advice of someone who’s already successfully navigated the high-stakes college application process.
Unfortunately, not all college essay tutors are created equal: picking the right one can be the difference between getting into your dream school or just wasting your money.
That’s why we had our experts come up with the definitive ranking of the 14 Best College Essay Services, evaluating everything from tutor credentials to customer reviews. Check out that list, and make sure you only work with the best.
And when you’re ready to work with our team of college essay experts–who earned admission to elite schools like Princeton and University of Chicago before undergoing a rigorous training process–contact us to get matched with a tutor!
