Supplemental essays provide students an opportunity to show colleges what you’re really made of: your personality, interests, passions, and future goals. Each college wants to know as much about you as possible, to determine if you are college ready and a good fit for their school. A first step is to clearly state your chosen course of study in order to build the essay around how each college will prepare you for that career path.
Focus on the following suggestions to construct a one-of-a-kind essay:
- Clearly and concisely answer exactly what the prompts are asking.
- Click here for a review of the supplemental essay prompts.
- Research each college you are applying to and make a list of specifics: courses, opportunities, professors, special programs like sports, dance, music…, that would enhance your college experience and put you on your path to meet your goals.
- Demonstrate how you fit with each college.
- Infuse essays with your own unique voice.
- Tailor the supplemental essays to each individual school’s vision, values, and opportunities.
Your essay should: showcase what makes you unique, share personal information about your background, and focus on academic or extracurricular interests. Schools want to know who you are and why you want to attend there.
Here are some detailed strategies to build a stand-out essay:
- Identify your future goals—what or who you hope to become.
- Clearly state your academic interests and demonstrate how each college ‘s curriculum matches your pursuits.
- Look at a few specifics about each college you’re applying to and note how each one of those offers coursework in the field you want to pursue.
- Build a general framework in answering the prompt then, for each college applying to, create a separate block of added copy with specific references to that college.
- To customize: insert something relevant and personal about each particular college. If you visited, reference something you learned from a tour guide, admissions officer, student, or professor? If you couldn’t visit, reference information you learned from some online research that peaked your interest. Is there a particular class you’ve heard of that’s legendary on campus? A tradition at the school? An alumna/alumnus of the college whose work has inspired you?
Making an impression is ultimately your goal. College admissions receive thousands of applications with common and supplemental essays. You want your application to stand out. Sharing relevant details about yourself and demonstrating your interest in each college are key strategies to composing a stellar supplemental essay.
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