The Ultimate Guide to Writing College Supplemental Essays
What are supplemental essays? Our top tips for writing supplemental essays that move the needle on your admissions decisions.
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Supplemental essays are a key component of any good college admissions strategy. These small but powerful essays are a great way to differentiate yourself, particularly at competitive schools. This blog dives into what they are, how they differ from your personal essay, and how to write them well.
What is a supplemental essay?
A supplemental essay is an additional essay that colleges ask applicants to write alongside their personal statement. These essays usually respond to specific prompts that reflect a school's values, interests, or expectations. Colleges use supplemental essays to gather more personalized information about an applicant beyond grades and test scores, allowing students to showcase how they align with the institution’s academic programs, culture, and community.
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What is the difference between a personal essay and a supplemental essay?
A personal essay and a supplemental essay have different purposes in the college admissions process and each have a unique focus. The personal essay is not tied to any specific school and the topics are often decided by the Common Application or its alternative, the Coalition application. Supplemental essays, on the other hand, are school-specific, often asking applicants to answer targeted questions or prompts related to that particular institution.
The primary purpose of the personal essay is to allow the applicant to share something significant about themselves, their experiences, and their personal or intellectual journey. It is more general and focuses on who you are as a person. Typically, this essay provides an opportunity to communicate your character, values, and how past experiences have shaped you. It can touch on personal growth, challenges, aspirations, and passions.
Conversely, supplemental essays help admissions officers understand why you want to attend that school, how your academic and personal goals align with what the institution offers, and how you will contribute to their campus community. For example, many schools ask "Why this college?", where you are expected to demonstrate knowledge about the school and how it fits into your academic goals. Supplemental essays can also explore your academic interests, potential majors, or specific aspects of your identity.
What should I write my supplemental essay about?
Your supplemental essay should effectively address the prompt provided by the school and tie into the overall ethos, or theme, of your application. You should use the supplemental essay strategically and tailor your response to each school and program. It should reflect your genuine interest in the college, and highlight how you fit with their programs, culture, and values.
How long does it take to finish a supplemental essay?
How long it takes to finish a supplemental essay varies widely. How confident you are in what you are writing, how easy it is for you to write, and how long you want to give yourself to proofread and make edits all determine how long it takes to write a supplemental essay. That being said, supplemental essays are generally short (250 words or less) and a first draft can typically be written in 20-30 minutes. It is the refining process that makes the process longer, as well as the total number of supplemental essays you need to write.
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What Are the Different Types of Supplemental Essays?
There are many different topics - and even formats - of supplemental essays: far too many to list them all! Below we cover a few of the most common and what colleges are looking to see in each.
1. "Why Us?" Essays
- Purpose : Schools like Cornell and Penn use these essays to assess applicants’ knowledge of the institution’s unique resources and culture. This prompts students to demonstrate genuine interest in the school’s specific programs and values.
- What Colleges Seek : Admissions readers look for evidence that the applicant has researched their institution and can articulate a specific fit, including majors, faculty, clubs, and research opportunities. Authenticity, specificity, and alignment with the institution's ethos are key.
2. Intellectual Curiosity or Academic Passion Essays
- Purpose : Universities often request essays that reveal a student’s passion for a subject area, like public health, environmental science, or data science.
- What Colleges Seek : Schools like UChicago encourage unique, thought-provoking approaches, pushing students to demonstrate an inquisitive, critical-thinking mindset. Admissions officers assess how the student's curiosity translates into research, community projects, or in-depth self-study, seeing it as a precursor to academic contributions on campus.
3. Community Impact or Service Essays
- Purpose : Prompts related to community service and impact ask students to detail their contributions to their local or school communities, illustrating their awareness and proactive involvement in societal issues.
- What Colleges Seek : Colleges value stories that highlight students’ proactive problem-solving, empathy, and long-term commitment. This demonstrates a capacity for leadership and a civic-minded approach to challenges that will benefit the campus community.
4. Identity and Perspective Essays
- Purpose : Many top schools ask about applicants' personal backgrounds, often phrased as questions about their identities or unique viewpoints.
- What Colleges Seek : Admissions committees evaluate how students’ identities inform their values and perspectives. For example, writing on “identity” at a reach school like Penn might require an introspective, nuanced answer that showcases critical thought rather than a straightforward description of heritage.
5. Video Supplements
- Purpose : Video essays or supplements are a newer trend where students are asked to answer a prompt via a short, recorded video. These formats offer admissions committees a chance to observe a student’s personality, passion, and communication skills directly. Brown University has become particularly known for its requirement of a video supplement.
- What Colleges Seek : Schools use video supplements to assess applicants’ engagement and authenticity, giving them insight into their character and enthusiasm in a way that written essays can’t always capture. The videos also allow students to add a new dimension to their application narrative, such as creative flair or humor, as well as real-time responses to potentially unrehearsed questions.
Do colleges really look at supplemental essays?
Colleges definitely look at supplemental essays. Since the personal essay is a multipurpose essay often used for all or most of the schools to which a student is applying, the supplemental essay(s) gives admissions officers the chance to really understand why a student is interested in a specific program or school. They are particularly important as a differentiator for highly selective schools and programs, since many applicants will have strong grades and test scores. The supplemental essay is where you can emphasize unique experiences, perspectives, and academic interests that align with the college’s programs.
Supplemental Essays in 2024
When will the supplemental essay prompts for 2024-2025 be released.
The 2024-2025 supplemental essay prompts were released over the summer of 2024 and can be found in the Common Application portal under the “Writing Supplement” Section (sometimes called “Other” or “Additional Essay”) for each school to which you are applying.
When Do Schools Release Supplemental Essays?
Supplemental Essay prompts are officially released on Aug 1 each year for the Common Application. Individual schools may choose to release their supplemental essays slightly earlier in July or later in August. Schools change their supplemental essays frequently so make sure you are using the correct prompts for your admissions cycle before beginning.
Colleges Without Supplemental Essays
Not all colleges choose to use supplemental essays ( here’s a nice list) . In some cases the supplemental essays are optional. If your school does not require supplemental essays but offers them, it is definitely advantageous to complete them.
How To Write A Supplemental Essay: 7 Tips For A Good Essay
To write a strong supplemental essay, our Director of College Admissions, John Morgenelli, Jr., shares his top tips based on the BluePrint Method he developed and his insights from years in the college admissions space.
- Understand the Ethos of the Essay. The ethos is the core message or character of your essay. It should align with the prompt and strategically reflect your application narrative. Before writing, ask yourself: What message am I trying to convey through this essay? Your ethos should make clear your values, interests, and the role you would play at the university. Each supplemental essay should contribute to your overall narrative, complementing other parts of your application.
- Tailor Your Response to Each School. Each college has its own unique culture and expectations, so it’s crucial to tailor your responses accordingly. Schools often ask for essays about why you want to attend or how you would contribute to their community. Research the specific programs, faculty, and opportunities that align with your goals, and reflect those details in your essay. Show that you’ve done your homework and understand how you fit into the school’s environment.
- Be Specific and Personal. Avoid vague or overly general answers. Use concrete examples from your experiences to illustrate your points. If you’re discussing a future academic interest, describe specific engagements or research projects you've been involved with that align with the program you’re applying to. Personalizing your response by connecting it to your own narrative makes your essay more authentic and engaging.
- Be Creative and Thought-Provoking. Especially for reach schools, it’s important to stand out with creativity and originality. When choosing prompts or topics, consider those that allow you to showcase your unique perspective. Approach the essay in an unexpected way—avoid clichés and predictable answers. Think of creative ways to address the prompt, like challenging an assumption or posing an intriguing question.
- Use an Intellectual and Strategic Tone. Admissions committees are looking for critical thinkers. Even in personal essays, demonstrate depth of thought by explaining why your experiences or interests matter in the broader context of your future goals. Don’t just state facts—reflect on them and discuss how they have shaped your intellectual journey and potential contributions to the college.
- Create a Coherent Narrative Across Essays. Each supplemental essay should serve a purpose within your overall application, contributing to a cohesive narrative. If one essay focuses on your academic interests, another might highlight your leadership or community involvement. Together, they should paint a full picture of who you are and what you will bring to the school.
- Be Honest, but Strategic. While authenticity is important, your essays should also be strategic. Focus on the aspects of your personality and experience that best align with the program and the ethos of the school. If you’re not sure which qualities to highlight, consider what the school values most (e.g., intellectual curiosity, leadership, collaboration) and emphasize those traits in your essays.
By following these strategies, you can craft supplemental essays that not only stand out but also complement your overall application narrative, making you a more compelling candidate.
If you’re concerned about the strength of your supplemental essays, or have yet to craft an overall application strategy, consider working with Ivy Tutors Network. We offer college essay coaching , college admissions coaching , and our trademarked BluePrint plan to help you achieve your college admissions goals.
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The Most Popular College Essay Prompts for 2024-2025
With the 2024-2025 college admissions cycle in full swing and now that all of America’s highly selective universities have released their supplemental essay prompts , let’s analyze the most popular types of essay questions asked of applicants to the Class of 2029. So here goes!
The Most Common Supplemental Essay Prompts for 2024-2025
While there are many supplemental essay prompts across the highly selective universities for the 2024-2025 admissions cycle, we at Ivy Coach have distinguished four prompts as the ones that pop up the most. These four types of supplemental essays are as follows:
1. The Why College Essay Prompt
Most of America’s elite universities ask applicants why they wish to attend their institutions. Why do they ask this question? Because America’s elite universities are a tad insecure, and they’re trying to control their yields (or the percentage of accepted students who choose to enroll). Asking students why they wish to attend is a proven way of measuring a student’s Demonstrated Interest — or the likelihood they’ll matriculate.
When students respond to Why College essay prompts and fill their answers with names of professors or classes or generic sentences that can apply to virtually any school in America, they’ve fallen through the trap door of effectively proving to the school that they’d attend if admitted. Admissions officers don’t want to waste offers of admission on students who — no matter how well qualified — have no intention of enrolling. It’s why a student can get into Harvard University but be denied to Cornell University. Harvard, we at Ivy Coach have long argued, is the only school that truly doesn’t care about Demonstrated Interest because Harvard knows students wish to attend. When a school’s yield is over 84% , as it was for the Class of 2027, they have that luxury!
Top Colleges with Why College Essay Prompts
The following elite universities have versions of Why College essay prompts. Some of these prompts are worded differently than others, but they’re all essentially asking the same question:
2. The Why Major Essay Prompt
Many of America’s top colleges ask why students wish to major in the disciplines they’ve selected on the application. They want to understand the origin story of a student’s chief academic interest. Too often, applicants set this origin story during their childhoods when it would behoove them to set it during their high school years.
Top Colleges with Why Major Essay Prompts
The following elite universities have versions of Why Major essay prompts. Some of these prompts are worded differently than others, but they’re all essentially asking the same question:
3. The Why College/Why Major Hybrid Essay Prompt
Many of America’s top colleges ask an essay with essentially two parts: Why Major and Why College. Thus, their essay should include the origin story of their interest in their chosen field and specifics about the program at the school that only apply to this particular institution.
Top Colleges with Why College/Why Major Hybrid Essay Prompts
The following elite universities have versions of Why College/Why Major hybrid essay prompts. Some of these prompts are worded differently than others, but they’re all essentially asking the same question:
4. The Community/Background Essay Prompt
In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision to outlaw Affirmative Action , many of America’s elite universities added this prompt to their supplements this year. The prompt capitalizes on Chief Justice John Roberts ’ own words in the majority opinion banning the consideration of race in admissions decision-making.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”
The schools that ask this prompt offer all applicants a chance to tell their stories. But by focusing on candidates’ backgrounds, it’s also an opportunity for underrepresented minority applicants to write about their race so these schools can continue to admit diverse classes.
Top Colleges with Community/Background Essay Prompts
The following elite universities have versions of Community/Background essay prompts. Some of these prompts are worded differently than others, but they’re all essentially asking the same question:
Two Schools We Praised Last Year for Their Supplemental Essay Prompts
While many elite universities included a community/background question on their supplements this admissions cycle, none included the word “race” in the language of their questions.
After all, with these questions, America’s elite schools are capitalizing on the loophole penned by Chief Justice Roberts in the majority opinion outlawing Affirmative Action. They want to walk a fine line between continuing to admit a diverse class without facing litigation for not obeying the Supreme Court’s decision.
Last year, two highly selective universities bucked the trend and dared include the word “race” in their community/background questions: Johns Hopkins University and Rice University. In the world of college admissions, for bucking the trend and staring the Supreme Court right in the eyes, we said last year that these schools were deserving of Profiles in Courage . Interestingly, this year, both schools removed any mention of the word race in their essay prompts.
A School Again Deserving of Criticism for a Supplemental Essay Prompt
On the opposite end of the Profiles in Courage spectrum, we wish to shame the University of Virginia for again asking what we at Ivy Coach have deemed the most outrageously inappropriate supplemental essay prompt on any of America’s elite college applications That optional prompt, the same as last year’s, is as follows:
If you have a personal or historic connection with UVA, and if you’d like to share how your experience of this connection has prepared you to contribute to the university, please share your thoughts here. Such relationships might include, but are not limited to, being a child of someone who graduated from or works for UVA, a descendant of ancestors who labored at UVA, or a participant in UVA programs.
While UVA’s admissions committee may defend asking this question with the misguided argument that it’s optional , that’s nonsense . UVA’s admissions committee is giving more space to mostly privileged students — the children of alumni and students who attended fancy shmancy UVA summer programs . As such, most students will choose not to answer the essay.
But that’s a mistake because any essay that’s optional in elite college admissions should not be considered optional . Instead, it’s an opportunity for an applicant to make their case for admission, to tell their story. How dare UVA’s admissions committee give extra space for legacy applicants and students who attended fancy schmancy UVA summer programs!
Get with the times, UVA! Legacy admission is slowly on the way out, especially after the SCOTUS ruling outlawing Affirmative Action. Yet, your institution — a public flagship, no less — is seemingly doubling down on legacy status. Your founder, Thomas Jefferson, didn’t write our Declaration of Independence from an aristocracy so you could perpetuate a ruling class in our American meritocracy. Shame on UVA!
All that said, we encourage every applicant to respond to this 100-word question. You don’t need to be a legacy. You don’t need to have attended a UVA summer camp. Just fill the essay with Why UVA specifics. Treat it as a typical Why College essay. Regretfully, we just suspect most students will think the essay doesn’t apply to them — through no fault of their own — and leave it blank.
Ivy Coach’s Assistance with College Essays
If you’re looking to optimize your case for admission to America’s highly selective universities by submitting essays that inspire admissions officers to root for you, fill out Ivy Coach ’s complimentary consultation form , and we’ll be in touch to outline our college admissions counseling services for applicants to the Class of 2029.
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