Welcome back to Izzy’s Amateur Guide to the College Application Process. Today we are going over some of the common prompts for supplemental essays. Supplemental essay? What’s that? Supplemental essays are additional, college-specific writing prompts or essays that you are required to complete in addition to the personal statement. Not all colleges will ask you to write additional essays but you want to be prepared as you will only get the prompts around August 1st, give or take a week depending on the school. So let’s break down some of the classic supplemental essay prompts.
- Why us?: One of the most common prompts is the why us prompt. Lots of schools incorporate this prompt into their application, usually with more flourish, but ultimately asking why you want to go to this school. Best advice I can give is to do your research. This brief essay should be well researched and be tailored to that specific school. Don’t talk about something that you can just as easily copy and paste and submit for a different school. Like if you plan to apply to an ivy league, don’t talk about how you love the old architecture or the rigorous curriculum. Find some unique program at their school that you are interested in. For example, when I applied to RPI, I mentioned a specific academic club and class that I was interested to take part in, one that only that school has, and I was accepted with scholarship. Take away: Do your research and be specific/ unique to that school.
- Why major? The second most common essay prompt is the why major prompt. This tends to also be combined with the why us prompt. Example: Georgia Tech prompt this year was “Why do you want to study your chosen major and why do you want to study your major at Georgia Tech?” The “why major” is as easy as it sounds. The approach that worked for me was to tell it as a story. There is always a story behind every choice you make, so embellish this tale to create your major essay. For the prompt above, I told a tale of loving space and robotics from a young age which led me to wanting to become an engineer to work on the missions to mars and the moon. Take away: Tell a story. Be clear in explaining why this major.
- Extra on Extracurricular: A lot of colleges will ask you to elaborate on an extracurricular activity that you take part in. It could be a brief essay where they just want you to elaborate, or it could be a big one about the activities significance or meaning to you. Really just depends on the school. Tips for picking an activity: My best advice when it comes to selecting one is 1. Pick the activity you love the most. You will have a lot more to say and be more inclined to write a well throughout, meaningful piece. 2. Pick an activity you have done for a while. Don’t pick the mock trial team you joined for a month just because you want to be a lawyer and you think it will look good (unless that month was the best month of your life). Pick a team or club that you have many stories to tell about. Bonus points if you held a leadership position is any club or team. Always a nice contribution. Another piece of advice is the same for your personal statement, tell a story where you learn a lesson or gained something from this activity. For example: Write about Rock Rivalry and how you worked with people you never would have worked with, leadership, teamwork, blah blah you get it. Take away: Pick an activity you love or have done for a while. Learn something from the activity.
- Community: The last one I am going to cover today is the community essay. Whether you realize it or not, you are a part of many different communities. School, sports, clubs, interests, heritage and more are all considered communities you might be a member of. This topic has a lot of variability in what the question will ask. A prompt I had was “Share how you have been shaped by a community” and “Describe one way you have collaborated with others to contribute to your community together.” So this paragraph is more of a warning to expect something about a community. The best advice I have is to be creative and unique in picking a community. Rock Rivalry is a very niche activity the East Rockaway Community does. Maybe you cosplay or play a very unheard of sport, game or instrument. The more different and unique your community, the more you will stand out and be remembered. Admissions people read thousands of essays, so you don’t want to blend in by writing about well known communities like the “Football Community” or a “Theater Community”. Take away: Be niche and answer the question it asks.
Applying to colleges and universities has a lot of parts and things to do. The best way to do it all is to manage your time wisely. Don’t wait till the last minute to write your supplemental essays. Give yourself time to finish a draft and get help from your counselor or an English teacher. There are people here to help so time manage and use it. Remember! You got this! It’s a short stressful process but you can do it. You will end up where you are meant to be so just go for it, give it your all, and most of all: be you.
