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2023-2024 UPenn Writing Supplememnt
Prompt 1: Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!) (150-200 words) Be clever here. Choose someone wisely. Please,...
2023-2024 Common Application Essay Prompts
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be...
College Essay Q & A
Q: How do I know when to start writing my essay? A: Only after you have put so much thought into what you want to say, and have identified a story from your life you just can't stop thinking about, are you ready to start writing.
Columbia University Goes Permanently Test Option
In a move that, quite frankly, surprised everyone, Columbia University is the first Ivy League school to go permanently test optional. While the other Ivys and the rest of the Top 20 (minus M.I.T. which reinstated the SAT/ACT last year) are test optional for the next...
College Essay Q&A
Q: What three components make for a great personal statement? A: 1. An original story: Write about an experience you had, one which quite possibly could only have happened to you. 2. Ensure that this story says something about who you are and what you aspire to be. 3....
College Essay Q&A
Q: What makes a college supplement essay effective? A: Knowing the school, articulating what you want from it, and good writing.
2022-2023 NYU Supplement Essay
NYU changed their prompt this year. I sort of liked the Why NYU, it gave applicants a chance to express interest in whatever school they were applying to. This new prompt is generic, and very much in line with what many other schools are doing. The theme: diversity....
2022-2023 Stanford Supplement Essays
The 2022-2023 Stanford supplement is live. Full disclosure, it's high time Stanford changed their prompts. These are years and years old and applicants deserve a shot at showing more of themselves. But until then - here they are: The Stanford community is deeply...
2024-2025 Brown Supplement Essays
The quest for college admission is often referred to as the 'application process' — a term that might suggest a standard, formulaic set of steps. However, understated under the rubric of ‘process’ is the custom nature of the college application itself, a dossier...
2022-2023 Princeton Supplement Essays
Princeton Supplement In addition to the Common Application or QuestBridge Application, Princeton University requires the Princeton Supplement. Below you will find the supplemental questions for the 2021-22 application cycle. You submit the Supplement online through...