The Five Types of Supplemental Essays

   Last week, a college friend reached out to me to get some advice on her daughter’s college application. The student was stuck thinking about how to answer a particular supplemental essay. After a few moments of investigation and conversation, I was able to provide both mother and daughter some context and direction about how to approach answering this particular essay. Fingers crossed that my advice works out, and my advice helps this student get admitted to the school where she applied.
 
   That conversation had me thinking that this might be a good topic for this month’s blogpost. In addition to the Common App personal statement, supplemental essays are another written portion of a college application submitted by an applicant. Supplementary essays play a very important function in the overall adjudication of an application. I would even argue that over the past few years, the responses applicants give in the supplemental essays may carry even more weight in an admissions decision than the 650-word personal statement. Supplemental essays serve as the gatekeeper questions in a college application. They help admissions officers determine just how well of a fit an applicant will be at their school.
           
   Supplemental essays also serve to give a fuller picture of an applicant; one that grades, test scores, and an activities list cannot provide. Supplemental essays allow admission officers to learn about a student from their own words. They can also reveal just how much research a student has put into understanding a particular college and/or program, as some supplemental essay questions will ask applicants to directly address that so admission officers can know if the applicants themselves have done the work to determine if they themselves are a good fit for the school or not.
 
   Most supplemental questions can be grouped into one of five categories: the “why this college” essay; the academic interest essay; the extracurricular interest essay; the short answer essay; and the community/cultural fit essay. Let us review each one of the five categories, understand what each type of question is asking, and discuss the best way to answer it.
 
THE “WHY THIS COLLEGE” ESSAY
   When it comes to lists of globally top-ranked institutions of higher learning, the US has more than its fair share of colleges and universities that rank near the top of such lists. Because of this, most American schools have the privilege of asking this question of its applicants: why do you want to attend school here? American schools–particularly selective ones–receive applications from all over the world. It is one of many reasons why admit rates at these schools have been on the decline over the past decade.
 
   In short, in order to be considered for admission, you must tell these schools exactly why you believe–among all other applicants–-that you will be a great fit for their program. In the responses, admissions officers are looking to see which applicants have done their homework and know what their particular school has to offer. Admissions officers are also seeking to know how much an applicant knows themselves and if their core values, passions, and interests align with the school’s core values, resources, and program offerings. If students are not able to demonstrate that in a “why this college” supplemental essay in a substantive way, chances are high that the applicant will not be offered a spot in the incoming freshman class.
 
   Here’s an example of how the “why this college” question may come into play and how admissions officers may think about it. A couple of years ago, I worked with a client who was outstanding in many respects. In fact, she was admitted to Stanford University through its Restricted Early Action round. She went on to apply to a number of other top-tier colleges, Princeton University being one of them. What made this candidate so spectacular was her early commitment to pursuing a STEM-related professional career. In fact, before she graduated high school, she had already published three peer-reviewed articles on STEM-related subject matter–one of which was promoted on the Center for Disease Control website. An amazingly impressive STEM-student if there ever was one.
 
   When this student received her Regular Decision responses, she was accepted to every top school on her list…except Princeton. Her mother called me, confused, as to why every school on her daughter’s application list said yes, but Princeton had said no. I explained to the mother that while I wasn’t in the room when the admissions officers at Princeton made their deliberations, I could make a pretty good guess as to why her daughter was declined admission.
 
   Princeton University is known for many things, but being the strongest STEM-focused school among the most elite programs in the country is not one of them. I surmised that, more than likely, even with her impressive accomplishments, her daughter was not able to answer the “why Princeton” question to the admissions committee’s satisfaction. It was a question I put to the student myself before assisting her with putting together the application. The response the student submitted to this question was quite compelling, but again, more than likely demonstrated to the admissions committee that her academic interests were not uniquely aligned with Princeton’s academic priorities, programs, and resources.
 
   The takeaway from this story is that it does not matter how strong an applicant is in many respects, if the student cannot answer the “why this college” question in a way that demonstrates unique alignment, then the student’s chances of being admitted drop considerably, regardless of grades, test scores, activities or recommendations.
 
THE ACADEMIC INTEREST ESSAY
   The academic interest supplemental essay question is a fairly standard question selective programs ask their applicants to answer. Admission officers want to know not only more about an applicant’s intended area of study, but why it is of interest to the applicant and how that interest was explored during the high school years.
 
   That said, there does not necessarily need to be a correlation between an applicant’s academic interest and the applicant’s choice of major. At times, students may be undecided about the choice of major at the time of applying to college or they may have two or three competing academic interests they wish to explore in college before making a final decision. Regardless, students should approach the academic interest question from a few angles.
 
   First, applicants should use the academic interest question to let admission officers know why they are passionate about a particular subject matter. Was it because they found a particular class engaging? Was there a life circumstance that brought the academic interest into sharp focus? Getting clarity on the why will help admission officers understand an applicant’s academic interests from a more personal context.
 
   Next, the academic interest question should be answered with respect to how the school’s resources will help advance the applicant’s interest in developing an academic passion. Is there a lab or department that has produced research aligned with the applicant’s academic interests? Does the school have a notable faculty member that specializes in what an applicant wishes to study? And lastly, applicants should be able to describe how pursuing a particular academic interest will help them achieve their professional goals.
 
THE EXTRACURRICULAR INTEREST ESSAY
   The extracurricular supplemental essay question allows applicants to elaborate on one or more extracurricular activities in depth. This may include elaborating on an activity listed on the application or another activity that is not mentioned elsewhere in the application. Again, what admission officers want to know about is why an applicant chose to pursue a particular activity, among other things.
 
   With the extracurricular activities supplemental essay, it is an opportunity for an applicant to share how a particular activity has shaped them and/or their worldview. For example, how did playing on the football team help an applicant better understand conflict and collaboration? How did playing the piano for twelve years develop an applicant’s creative instincts and discipline? How did participating in a science fair boost an applicant’s confidence and strengthen their understanding of how the scientific method works?
 
   The extracurricular activities supplemental essay is also an opportunity for an applicant to share if they plan to pursue the same or similar extracurricular activities in college. However, this can be a bit tricky. Applicants should make sure they do their homework to know if an extracurricular activity they are passionate about is even offered at the college of their choice. It will be a red flag to an admissions committee if an applicant expresses their intent to pursue a particular activity in college and the college doesn’t offer it. It may seem pretty obvious, but it would be surprising to know the number of times I have had to ask my clients to double-check this on their applications.
 
   Remember: admission officers are looking for an applicant’s alignment with the school’s offerings. When answering the extracurricular activity question–as with the other supplemental essays–applicants should make sure their responses demonstrate such alignment.
 
THE SHORT ANSWER ESSAY
   With the short answer supplemental essays–if one can even call the responses “essays”–admissions officers are seeking both brevity and brilliance. These prompts usually ask students to respond to a supplemental question in as few as 25 words or as much as 100 words. What possibly can an admissions committee glean about an applicant from such short responses.
 
   Plenty, I would argue. Short answer essays allow applicants to demonstrate a few things. Applicants can demonstrate their efficiency with language: how can one get across a complex idea in as few words as possible. Short answer essays also serve to challenge applicants to demonstrate how creative they can be in their responses. Short answer essays are also an opportunity to get a quick-hit sense of an applicant’s personality. Is the short answer more serious in tone? Humorous? Sarcastic?
 
   Using short answers to highlight personal qualities comes down to the word choice and the word order. This is where understanding syntax and diction will help an applicant’s responses stand out from the rest. Regardless of how an applicant chooses to approach tackling a short answer supplemental essay, the response must be given as much care and thought as a 400- or 500-word essay.
 
THE COMMUNITY/CULTURAL FIT ESSAY
   Admission officers want to know how well applicants are going to play in the campus sandbox. The community essay question gives applicants an opportunity to share with the admissions committee their experiences in community: how they see themselves in relation to a particular community and how particular communities have shaped their thinking and world view.
 
   There are a few ways applicants may be asked to approach this question. They may be asked explicitly how they personally define community and what communities have profoundly shaped their life experience. They may be asked about what it means to belong to a particular community and share that story. Applicants may also be asked to think about their future college community and what role they intend to play in that community once on campus, be it the college community as a whole or a specific subset.
 
   Oftentimes, applicants will see the word “diversity” present within a community essay question. Since the SCOTUS decision that repealed the use of race as a factor in adjudicating a college applicant, this has been a more common occurrence. In the majority opinion of Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College and SFFA v. University of North Carolina, college applicants were given some wiggle room; applicants could discuss their race–among other things–in college essay questions in the context of community. Many colleges used this “loophole” in the opinion to revise their supplemental essays and, based on the wording, invited applicants to highlight their racial backgrounds in their responses to the community essay question. This paradigm shift in supplemental essay questions has allowed colleges, for the most part, to maintain the levels of diversity on campus they enjoyed before SFFA.
 
   Community essay questions also served to help determine if applicants will be a cultural fit for the institution. As with any organization, college communities operate on a set of shared values. Those shared values are the basis by which the culture of a college rests. Through the community essay, applicants may be asked to address how they believe they will fit into a college’s particular campus culture. For example, some programs operate on an honor code; applicants would need to demonstrate how honor has been a core value they have expressed during their high school years. Other programs value opposition of thought, justice, or service to others. Applicants’ responses should demonstrate they are not only aligned with these values, but how they intend to express these values once on campus.
 
SUMMARY
   The most important thing for college applicants to do when responding to the supplemental essay questions is to prepare for them as much as they did for the Common App personal statement. Applicants should not let shorter word count limits hinder them from telling complete and compelling stories with their responses.
 
   Also, be sure to answer the specific question being asked and do not swerve off on tangents. Be bold, be brief, and be brilliant. Compelling and effective supplemental essay responses may mean the difference between being accepted to a college or denied an offer of admission.
 
   Good luck!