What do the 2024-25 supplemental essay prompts really mean, and how should you approach them? CEA's experts are here to break them all down.
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When our students dig into the college application process, they are often surprised to encounter not only the main Common Application’s personal statement, but also a host of supplemental essay questions. These assignments are often school-specific writing prompts for which a student must also craft thoughtful, well-written replies.
Supplemental essays are often more focused than the Common App assignment, though they vary in length and scope. Their prompts tackle subjects that range from deeper explorations of a student’s background to their collegiate and academic interests.
We often encourage our students to nail down their personal statement topic first, then ask them to approach their supplemental essays in priority order, according to submission deadlines. Many schools will offer prompts that are similar in theme and content to one another (for example, many institutions now ask about a student’s most important activity), so it is helpful for students to gather and review all supplemental questions before beginning the brainstorm process to see where they might naturally overlap.
Elite institutions often have extensive supplemental sections, as do some honors programs, so students should keep this in mind as they hunt for their essay questions and map out their plan of attack.
All supplemental essays should be given the same time and care as the main Common Application essay. These supplements not only are an excellent opportunity to show a school both your competence and level of devotion to their institution, but also offer opportunities to paint some personality into your application. So embrace supplements, use your unique voice, and show these schools what you’re made of!
It really depends. Typically, the more competitive the university, the more arduous the supplemental essay requirements. Most top universities ask for at least three supplemental essays, but some only require one short essay.
The most common supplemental essay topics are:
Just like with the Common App personal statement, you’re going to want to write authentically about yourself while addressing all parts of each supplemental essay prompt. Many schools want to better understand how you see yourself contributing to their campus community and/or diversity and inclusion efforts along with how you hope to use your education to achieve your goals. So, be honest and forward-thinking, and don’t forget to customize each supplemental essay so it’s specific to each school you’re submitting to. That means doing research and weaving information into your essays that demonstrates the amount of time and thought you’ve put into your application.
We have a few successful supplemental essay examples in our Free Resources section.
Each admissions department has their own process for reviewing applications, and some admissions committees put more weight on supplemental essays than others, but all admissions departments that offer applicants the opportunity to pen additional essays are doing so for a reason: to better understand the applicant and compare similarly qualified candidates. It’s in the applicant’s best interest to not only provide admissions with as much information regarding their candidacy as possible, but also go the extra mile. At highly competitive institutions, admissions officers are looking for reasons to remove students from the applicant pool—don’t let poorly written or (*gulp*) incomplete supplemental essays work against you!
Absolutely not. Please do not reuse content from your Common App essay in your supplements. Although it’s possible for you to expand upon an idea, activity, or community that you mention in your Common App essay in your supplements, you should never recycle content or any phrasing word for word.
Start by reading through all the prompts. Next, jot down ideas that come to your mind (no matter how silly they may seem!). Everyone has a story to tell, and we’re willing to bet you’re more interesting than you think. Give yourself plenty of time to consider different topics and revise, revise, revise! Also, our handy dandy Supplemental Essay Guides are sure to help you on your writing journey.
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