2025-26 Supplemental Essay Guide

How to Approach Supplemental Essays

If you’re gearing up for college applications this year, you’ll have to write not only a 650-word Common App essay, but also a separate set of essays for each school you’re applying to. These essays — known as supplemental essays — count just as much, and the prompts are determined by the individual schools.

After years of working with students, we’ve found that it’s generally a good idea to start with the 650-word essay, and then move on to the supplementals. This is because you’ll probably find the Common App essay extremely challenging, since it will be the first time you’ll ever write a personal essay. Once you’re done, you’ll be in excellent shape to get cracking on the supplementals — and you’ll be surprised at how efficiently you get through them with all the new skills you’ve developed.

That’s not to say the supplementals are easy, however! They require great care and attention, and you’ll have to do a lot of them. Still, the college supplemental essays are much more focused than the personal essay, and you’ll probably be relieved to be given such clear prompts.

Each school adopts a different approach to the supplemental essay, and the prompts range from predictable (“Why do you want to attend our school?” “How will your experiences help us shape and grow our diverse community?” “Can you describe your most important extracurricular activity?”) to quirky (“If you could choose to be raised by robots, dinosaurs, or aliens, who would you pick?”). 

It’s also important to note that elite schools make you write a whole series of supplemental essays. One school asks you to answer 3 short questions (50 words maximum for each) and then 3 essays (250 words maximum for each); another asks you to write 5 short essays (100 words maximum for each). So you’ll be writing a lot of essays, but the upside is that there’s significant overlap in the prompts (e.g. many schools ask for “community” essays), and you’ll be able to reuse your materials for multiple schools.

As we’ve said many times before, college admissions are becoming increasingly competitive, and if you’re a top student, the college essay is your one chance to distinguish yourself from other applicants. It may seem like a lot of work to write all these supplemental essays, but if you take the process seriously, you’ll grow a lot and improve your writing skills — all while giving yourself a much better chance of getting into a top institution.

Why you should work with us on your supplemental essays

We treat the supplementals as an opportunity to help you think through your past experiences and come up with the most effective responses for individual schools, making you stand out in the application process. If you work with us, you won’t simply be checking a box when you submit your supplementals; you’ll be highlighting your strengths in a way that makes admissions officers stop and take notice. With over a decade of experience helping students with supplemental essays, we’re in the best position to help. Here’s a link to our one-on-one coaching, or you can contact us by filling out this form!