College Supplemental Essay Prompts: What 40 Top Schools Actually Ask

1. Strong communities are sustained by traditions. Boston College's annual calendar is marked with both long-standing and newer traditions that help shape our community. Tell us about a meaningful tradition in your family or community. Why is it important to you, and how does it bring people together or strengthen the bonds of those who participate?

   Community and identity400 words

2. The late BC theology professor, Father Michael Himes, argued that a university is not a place to which you go, but instead, a "rigorous and sustained conversation about the great questions of human existence, among the widest possible circle of the best possible conversation partners." Who has been your most meaningful conversation partner, and what profound questions have you considered together?

   Academic interest / why this major400 words

3. In her July 2009 Ted Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story," Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warned viewers against assigning people a "single story" through assumptions about their nationality, appearance, or background. Discuss a time when someone defined you by a single story. What challenges did this present and how did you overcome them?

   Challenge and growth400 words

4. Boston College's Jesuit mission highlights "the three Be's": be attentive, be reflective, be loving - core to Jesuit education (see A Pocket Guide to Jesuit Education). If you could add a fourth "Be," what would it be and why? How would this new value support your personal development and enrich the BC community?

   What you will contribute400 words

5. One goal of a Jesuit education is to prepare students to serve the Common Good. Human-Centered Engineering at Boston College integrates technical knowledge, creativity, and a humanistic perspective to address societal challenges and opportunities. What societal problems are important to you and how will you use your HCE education to solve them?

   Academic interest / why this major400 wordsoptional

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 by re-fetching BC's official admission apply page (raw HTML inspected). Page section is explicitly headed "Supplemental Questions 2026-27", confirming 2026-27 is the newest published cycle. Official instructions verbatim: "We would like to get a better sense of you. Please respond to one of the first four prompts below (400 word limit). Students applying to the Human Centered Engineering major should respond to Prompt #5 instead." Prompts 1-4 are a choose-ONE-of-four set (all listed, required=true; applicant answers exactly one, 400 words). Prompt 5 is labeled on the page "Human-Centered Engineering (HCE) Applicants only" and is answered by HCE-major applicants INSTEAD of prompts 1-4 (required=false because conditional, but mandatory for HCE applicants; same 400-word limit). Correction applied during verification: prompt 4 verbatim includes the parenthetical "(see A Pocket Guide to Jesuit Education)", which the earlier collection had omitted; restored. All other prompt wordings matched the official page verbatim (curly quotes normalized to straight; whitespace normalized). The writing supplement is submitted via Common App; no other essays (no separate honors/scholarship/portfolio prompts) are part of it. Common App personal statement excluded. GradGPT was a locator/cross-check only.

Source: www.bc.edu

1. Reflect on a social or community issue that deeply resonates with you. Why is it important to you, and how have you been involved in addressing or raising awareness about it?

   Community and identity300 words

2. What about being a student at BU most excites you? How do you hope to contribute to our campus community?

   Why this school300 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04. BU requires ONE supplemental essay (300 words or less); applicants CHOOSE ONE of the two prompts (both marked required=true per the choose-N convention). Cycle stays 2025-26: BU has not officially published a 2026-27 rollover as of July 4, 2026. BU's own site does not print the prompts (first-year page only references Common App essays; the dedicated essays page returns 404), the Common App explore page lists no writing details, and the 2026-27 Common App writing supplement opens Aug 1. GradGPT (updated ~June 26, 2026) already labels these identical prompts 2026-27; AdmissionSight's URL says 2026-27 but its body text still says 2025-2026. No wording change expected. Verbatim wording, 300-word limit, and choose-1-of-2 structure cross-verified identical across CollegeEssayAdvisors, CollegeEssayGuy, GradGPT, and AdmissionSight. Prompts are framed by BU's founding-principles preamble (education in service of the wider community, value of diversity, engagement with Boston and the world). Excluded: Common App personal statement; Kilachand Honors College supplement (600 words, choose one of two); Trustee Scholarship essay (600 words, choose one of two). Prompt 2 is a why_us/contribution hybrid; categorized why_us since it leads with what excites you about BU.

Source: www.bu.edu

1. Brown's Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might pursue them at Brown.

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

2. Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community.

   Community and identity250 words

3. Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. Students find contentment, satisfaction, and meaning in daily interactions and major discoveries. Whether big or small, mundane or spectacular, tell us about something that brings you joy.

   Other250 words

4. What three words best describe you?

   Short answers3 words

5. If you could teach a class on any one thing, whether academic or otherwise, what would it be?

   Creative and quirky100 words

6. In one sentence, Why Brown?

   Why this school50 words

FACT-CHECKED 2026-07-04 directly against Brown's official How to Apply page. RECENCY CONFIRMED: the official page still states verbatim "Questions specific to Brown, including our essays for the 2025-2026 application cycle" with no 2026-2027 mention anywhere, so 2026-27 prompts are NOT yet released; PrepMaven's 2026-27 guide confirms "Brown has not yet released its supplemental essay prompts for the upcoming application cycle (they will by August 1)". Third-party guides titled 2026-27 (GradGPT, CollegeEssayGrader) are unofficial carryovers of these same prompts. ACCURACY CONFIRMED: all six prompts verbatim-match the official page. The three main essays each carry a 200-250 word range; wordLimit records the 250 max. The three very short answers (3/100/50 words) are part of the required first-year supplement; official page: "First-year and transfer applicants are also asked to reflect briefly on each of the very short answer questions below." Excluded per collection scope: Common App personal statement, PLME and Brown-RISD (BRDD) program-specific essays, and Brown's optional video introduction (not a writing prompt). Brown has reused these exact prompts for several cycles, so the eventual 2026-27 supplement is likely identical, but re-verify after ~August 1, 2026.

See Brown University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admission.brown.edu

1. Caltech has a rigorous core curriculum and students don't declare a major until the end of their first year. However, some students arrive knowing which academic fields and areas already most excite them, or which novel fields and areas they most want to explore. If you had to choose an area of interest or two today, what would you choose? Why did you choose your proposed area of interest? If you

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

2. Regardless of your STEM interest listed above, take this opportunity to nerd out and talk to us about whatever STEM rabbit hole you have found yourself falling into. Be as specific or broad as you would like.

   Academic interest / why this major150 words

3. [STEM Experiences, select one of two] Tell us how you initially found your interest and passion for science or for a particular STEM topic, and how you have pursued or developed your interest or passion over the last few years.

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

4. [STEM Experiences, select one of two] Tell us about a meaningful STEM-related experience from the last few years and share how and why it inspired your curiosity.

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

5. The creativity, inventiveness, and innovation of Caltech's students, faculty, and researchers have won Nobel Prizes and put rovers on Mars. But Techers also innovate in smaller-scale ways everyday, from imagining new ways to design solar cells or how to 3D-print dorm decor, to cooking up new recipes in the kitchen. How have you been a creator, inventor, or innovator in your own life?

   Activities and experience200 words

6. [Short answer, choose two of four] What is an interest or hobby you do for fun, and why does it bring you joy?

   Activities and experience250 words

7. [Short answer, choose two of four] If you could teach a class on any topic or concept, what would it be and why?

   Creative and quirky250 words

8. [Short answer, choose two of four] What is a core piece of your identity or being that shapes how you view and/or interact with the world?

   Community and identity250 words

9. [Short answer, choose two of four] What is a concept that blew your mind or baffled you when you first encountered it?

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

10. OPTIONAL: Have you had any extenuating circumstances (such as limited course selection or disruptions), that have affected your coursework, but that are not described elsewhere in your application? If so, tell us about them here.

    Otheroptional

Adversarially re-verified against the official page (raw HTML fetched 2026-07-04): still headed "Fall 2026 Supplemental Application Essays," i.e., the 2025-26 cycle (fall 2026 entry). The page states questions "change annually... published in the summer"; no Fall 2027 page exists on admissions.caltech.edu yet, so 2026-27 prompts are unpublished (aggregators labeled "2026-27" show identical prompts). All prompt texts verbatim-match the official page. CHOOSE RULES: STEM Experiences = answer exactly ONE of the two bracketed options; Short answers = answer exactly TWO of the four bracketed options, "answer both in 250 words or less" combined (official: "Two Essay Boxes, each with Min:1 Max: 249 words" - the 250 shown per option is the combined total for the two chosen). Stated word minimums: prompt 1 min 100, prompt 2 min 50 (max 150), each STEM Experience option min 100 (max 200), Creativity min 100 (max 200). Prompt 1 trimmed at exactly 400 chars; full ending reads "...If you selected 'other', what topics are you interested in pursuing?" and the page inserts an aside after the first question: "*Note that you are under no obligation to follow this choice if admitted." Optional extenuating-circumstances prompt has no word limit stated on the official page. Page also says all Fall 2026 applicants must review Caltech's guidelines on the ethical use of AI before submitting essays. Corrections vs prior data: Creativity in Action recategorized other -> activity; removed unverifiable "~249-word box" claim for the optional prompt. Excluded: Common App personal statement; no other first-year program-specific extras.

Source: www.admissions.caltech.edu

1. Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration that's developed over time - what passion or inspiration led you to choose this area of study?

   Academic interest / why this major300 words

2. Many students pursue college for a specific degree, career opportunity or personal goal. Whichever it may be, learning will be critical to achieve your ultimate goal. As you think ahead to the process of learning during your college years, how will you define a successful college experience?

   Other300 words

3. Consider your application as a whole. What do you personally want to emphasize about your application for the admission committee's consideration? Highlight something that's important to you or something you haven't had a chance to share. Tell us, don't show us (no websites please).

   Other300 words

Verified July 4, 2026. AUTHORITATIVE SOURCE: CMU's official Admission Consideration page (cmu.edu/admission/admission/admission-consideration, live July 2026) lists all three Common App Writing Supplement short-answer prompts verbatim, including the 'Tell us, don't show us (no websites please).' sentence in prompt 3, and states responses 'shouldn't exceed 300 words each.' The requirements page confirms the supplement consists of three short-answer questions (all required). Wording matches both sources explicitly labeled 2026-27 (GradGPT, AdmissionSight) and is unchanged from 2025-26 (College Essay Guy, Top Tier Admissions, Ivy Coach). Common App itself reopens Aug 1, 2026, but the official live page confirms current-cycle wording. Prompt 2 (define a successful college experience) is not school-specific, so it is categorized 'other' rather than why_us; prompt 3 is an open-ended emphasize/additional-info prompt ('other'). Excluded: Common App personal statement and program-specific extras (College of Fine Arts / BXA portfolio, audition, pre-screen requirements). Minor typography note: the dash in prompt 1 ('over time - what passion') renders as en/em dash depending on source; text otherwise character-exact.

See Carnegie Mellon University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: www.cmu.edu

No school-specific writing supplement this cycle. The main application essay and activities list carry the writing for this school.

VERIFIED July 2026 for the 2026-27 cycle: Case Western Reserve has NO school-specific supplemental essays or short answers for general first-year admission; the only required writing is the Common App/Coalition personal statement (excluded per instructions). Confirmed live on the official CWRU Application Requirements page (lists only the Common App/Coalition essay plus non-essay enhancements) and cross-checked against AdmissionSight's guide explicitly labeled 2026-2027, College Essay Guy (updated 6/18/2026), and CollegeVine. Correctly EXCLUDED as program-specific: Pre-Professional Scholars Program (PPSP, conditional admission to medicine/dentistry, ~1% admit rate) requires two extra essays, verified verbatim: (1) 750-word 'Describe an event, achievement, or experience of which you are particularly proud but that will not show up on a resume...' and (2) 250-500-word why-this-profession essay. Also excluded as non-essay: the Arts Supplement (portfolio/media), required only for music majors and Arts Achievement Scholarship applicants, optional for others. The '26-27 Secondary Application Questions' page on case.edu is the med school MD secondary, not undergrad. No 2026-27 rollover added any general prompts; the longstanding no-supplement policy holds.

Source: case.edu

1. List a selection of texts, resources and outlets that have contributed to your intellectual development outside of academic courses, including but not limited to books, journals, websites, podcasts, essays, plays, presentations, videos, museums and other content that you enjoy.

   Creative and quirky100 words

2. Tell us about an aspect of your life so far or your lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia's multidimensional and collaborative environment.

   Community and identity150 words

3. At Columbia, students representing a wide range of perspectives are invited to live and learn together. In such a community, questions and debates naturally arise. Please describe a time when you did not agree with someone and discuss how you engaged with them and what you took away from the interaction.

   Challenge and growth150 words

4. In college/university, students are often challenged in ways that they could not anticipate. Please describe a situation in which you have navigated through adversity and discuss how you changed as a result.

   Challenge and growth150 words

5. Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia.

   Why this school150 words

6. What attracts you to your preferred areas of study at Columbia College or Columbia Engineering?

   Academic interest / why this major150 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 by fetching the official Columbia page directly (WebFetch was 403-blocked; retrieved via curl). The official page still heads "2025-2026 Columbia-Specific Questions" and states "Updated Thursday, July 31, 2025", the 2026-27 version is NOT yet published, so 2025-26 is correctly the newest official cycle per the recency rule. Aggregators labeling these prompts "2026-27" (GradGPT, AdmissionSight, PrepMaven) show identical wording, so no cycle mixing occurred. All 6 prompts verified verbatim against the official page; HTML contains exactly 6 question entries (no missing/extra prompts). Word limits confirmed: 100-word list question + five 150-word short answers; all required of every first-year applicant. Page quirk: official instructions say "each of the six short answer questions" at 150 words though only five 150-word questions follow the list question (leftover typo on Columbia's page). List question categorized as creative per the favorites-list rule; disagreement and adversity prompts as challenge_growth. Excluded: Common App personal statement and program-specific materials (Combined Plan, supplementary portfolios).

See Columbia University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu

1. Why are you drawn to studying the major you have selected and specifically, why do you want to pursue this major at Cornell CALS? You should share how your current interests, related experiences, and/or goals influenced your choice. (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)

   Academic interest / why this major500 words

2. How do your interests directly connect with your intended major at the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP)? Why architecture (B.Arch), art (BFA), or urban and regional studies (URS)? B. Arch applicants, please provide an example of how a creative project or passion sparks your motivation to pursue a 5-year professional degree program.

   Academic interest / why this major650 words

3. At the College of Arts and Sciences, curiosity will be your guide. Discuss how your passion for learning is shaping your academic journey, and what areas of study or majors excite you and why. Your response should convey how your interests align with the College, and how you would take advantage of the opportunities and curriculum in Arts and Sciences.

   Academic interest / why this major650 words

4. Why are you interested in studying policy, and why do you want to pursue this major at Cornell's Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy? You should share how your current interests, related experiences, and/or goals have influenced your choice of policy major.

   Academic interest / why this major650 words

5. What kind of a business student are you? Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should convey how your interests align with the school to which you are applying within the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

   Academic interest / why this major650 words

6. Fundamentally, engineering is the application of math, science, and technology to solve complex problems. Why do you want to study engineering? (Cornell David A. Duffield College of Engineering, long essay 1)

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

7. Why do you think you would love to study at Cornell Engineering? (Cornell David A. Duffield College of Engineering, long essay 2)

   Why this school200 words

8. What brings you joy? (Cornell Engineering short answer 1)

   Creative and quirky100 words

9. What do you believe you will contribute to the Cornell Engineering community beyond what you've already detailed in your application? What unique voice will you bring? (Cornell Engineering short answer 2)

   What you will contribute100 words

10. What is one activity, club, team, organization, work/volunteer experience or family responsibility that is especially meaningful to you? Please briefly tell us about its significance for you. (Cornell Engineering short answer 3)

    Activities and experience100 words

11. What is one award you have received or achievement you have attained that has meant the most to you? Please briefly describe its importance to you. (Cornell Engineering short answer 4)

    Other100 words

12. Identify a challenge in your greater community or in the career/industry in which you are interested. Share how the CHE education, your CHE major of choice, as well as the breadth of CHE majors, will help you address that challenge. (College of Human Ecology)

    Academic interest / why this major600 words

13. Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should show us that your interests align with the ILR School. (School of Industrial and Labor Relations)

    Academic interest / why this major650 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against the raw HTML of Cornell's official prompts page, which is live for Fall 2027 entry (2026-27 cycle); corroborated by a third-party 2026-2027 guide. Cornell states there will be NO university-wide essay question for Fall 2027 applicants; the supplement is solely the essay(s) for the one undergraduate college/school the student applies to. Each prompt is required ONLY for applicants to that college/school (required=true in that conditional sense); Engineering applicants complete all 6 Engineering items (2 long at 200 words, 4 short at 100 words). All word limits and wording character-checked: CALS question, Arts & Sciences, Brooks, Human Ecology question, ILR, and all 6 Engineering items are verbatim exact (Brooks final period added; official page puts it after the word-limit parenthetical). Trims per the 400-char rule, all clean sentence-boundary prefixes of the official text: AAP (620 chars official) omits the BFA/URS applicant guidance sentences; SC Johnson Business (467 chars official) omits the final parenthetical naming the Dyson School and Nolan School of Hotel Administration; CALS omits its 2-sentence contextual intro about direct entry into one of 20 majors; Human Ecology omits the parenthetical pointer to essay tips. Engineering's official name on the page is "Cornell David A. Duffield College of Engineering." Excluded: Common App personal statement and program-specific requirements (e.g., AAP portfolio, Hotel optional interview).

See Cornell University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.cornell.edu

1. As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class of 2030, what aspects of the college's academic program, community, and/or campus environment attract your interest? How is Dartmouth a good fit for you?

   Why this school100 words

2. There is a Quaker saying: Let your life speak. Describe the environment in which you were raised and the impact it has had on the person you are today.

   Community and identity250 words

3. "Be yourself," Oscar Wilde advised. "Everyone else is taken." Introduce yourself.

   Community and identity250 words

4. What excites you?

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

5. Labor leader and civil rights activist Dolores Huerta recommended a life of purpose. "We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things," she said. "That is what we are put on the earth for." In what ways do you hope to make, or are you already making, an impact? Why? How?

   What you will contribute250 words

6. In an Instagram post, best-selling British author Matt Haig cheered the impact of reading. "A good novel is the best invention humans have ever created for imagining other lives," he wrote. How have you experienced such insight from reading? What did you read and how did it alter the way you understand yourself and others?

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

7. The social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees have been the focus of Dame Jane Goodall's research for decades. Her understanding of animal behavior prompted the English primatologist to see a lesson for human communities as well: "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right." Channel Dame Goodall: Tell us abou

   Challenge and growth250 words

8. Celebrate your nerdy side.

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

9. "It's not easy being green…" was the frequent refrain of Kermit the Frog. How has difference been a part of your life, and how have you embraced it as part of your identity, outlook, or sense of purpose?

   Community and identity250 words

10. The Mindy Kaling Theater Lab will be an exciting new addition to Dartmouth's Hopkins Center for the Arts. "It's a place where you can fail," the actor/producer and Dartmouth alumna said when her gift was announced. "You can try things out, fail, and then revamp and rework things… A thing can be bad on its journey to becoming good." Share a story of failure, trial runs, revamping, reworking, or jou

    Challenge and growth250 words

Adversarially verified against the official page fetched live 2026-07-04: it still shows the Class of 2030 (2025-26 cycle) prompts, stamped 'Updated July 29, 2025'. The 2026-27 / Class of 2031 prompts are NOT yet published (the page historically rolls over in late July); searches for Class of 2031 prompts return nothing official, and a GradGPT page labeled '2026-27' merely relabels the Class of 2030 set. So 2025-26 is correctly recorded as the newest published cycle. All 10 prompt texts were diffed character-for-character against the official HTML; the only deviation was typographic (curly quotes in the prior draft vs straight double quotes on the official page), now corrected to match the source exactly. Structure verified: 3 essays total. Prompt 1 (why_us, 100 words or fewer) is required of all. Prompts 2-3 (Quaker saying / Oscar Wilde) are a required CHOOSE-ONE pair at 250 words. Prompts 4-10 (What excites you / Huerta / Haig / Goodall / nerdy side / Kermit / Kaling) are a required CHOOSE-ONE-OF-SEVEN set at 250 words; all options are marked required=true per the choose-N convention, but an applicant writes only 3 essays total. Two options exceed 400 chars and are trimmed to exactly the first 400 chars (verified): Goodall (full length 575) continues '...Tell us about a moment when you engaged in a difficult conversation or encountered someone with an opinion or perspective that was different from your own. How did you find common ground?'; Kaling (full length 425) continues '...or journeying from bad to good.' One category corrected: 'Celebrate your nerdy side.' moved from creative to why_major (it solicits intellectual curiosity/passion, which the taxonomy assigns to why_major; 'creative' is reserved for prompts whose task itself is quirky, e.g. UChicago-style). Excluded as non-essay items: Common App personal statement, optional peer recommendation, and optional arts/other supplemental materials.

See Dartmouth College’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.dartmouth.edu

1. What is your impression of Duke as a university and community, and why do you believe it is a good match for your goals, values, and interests? If there is something specific that attracts you to our academic offerings in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences or the Pratt School of Engineering, or to our co-curricular opportunities, feel free to include that, too.

   Why this school250 words

2. We believe a wide range of viewpoints and experiences is essential to maintaining Duke’s vibrant living and learning community. Please share anything in this context that might help us better understand you and your potential contributions to Duke.

   Community and identity250 wordsoptional

3. Meaningful dialogue often involves respectful disagreement. Provide an example of a difference of opinion you’ve had with someone you care about. What did you learn from it?

   Challenge and growth250 wordsoptional

4. What’s the last thing that you’ve been really excited about?

   Creative and quirky250 wordsoptional

5. Duke recently launched an initiative “to bring together Duke experts across all disciplines who are advancing artificial intelligence (AI) research, addressing the most pressing ethical challenges posed by AI, and shaping the future of AI in the classroom” (ai.duke.edu). Tell us about a situation when you would or would not choose to use AI (when possible and permitted). What shapes your thinking?

   Other250 wordsoptional

VERIFIED against raw HTML of admissions.duke.edu/apply/ fetched 2026-07-04. Recency: although the page header says it shows "the 2026-27 admission cycle requirements and deadlines," the SHORT-ESSAY PROMPTS section states verbatim: "The following question was required of all first-year applicants during the 2025-26 application cycle (250-word limit). Short-answer questions for the 2026-27 application cycle have not yet been finalized." Web search (2026-07-04) found no 2026-27 Duke prompts published anywhere; third-party pages titled "2026-27" recycle the 2025-26 prompts. So 2025-26 is the newest published cycle; re-check around mid-August when the Common App opens. Accuracy: all five prompts confirmed character-for-character against the official page (curly punctuation preserved; AI prompt is exactly 400 chars, untrimmed). Structure confirmed: one required 250-word question plus four optional questions; official preamble: "We want to emphasize that the following questions are optional. We invite you to answer one of the four if you believe that doing so will add something meaningful that is not already addressed elsewhere in your application. (250-word limit)", i.e., answer AT MOST ONE optional prompt, only if it adds something new. Excluded: Common App personal statement, transfer essays, optional Arts Supplement and Glimpse video (non-essay). Duke Chronicle article corroborates the 2025-26 prompt set including the new AI prompt. Original collected data was fully accurate; only notes/punctuation refined.

See Duke University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.duke.edu

1. What academic areas are you interested in exploring at Emory University and why?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

2. Emory University has a strong commitment to building community. Tell us about a community that you have been part of where your personal participation helped to change or shape the community for the better.

   Community and identity150 words

3. Reflect on a personal experience where you intentionally expanded your cultural awareness.

   Community and identity150 words

4. Emory University's unique mission calls for service to humanity. Share how you might personally contribute to this mission of service to humanity.

   What you will contribute150 words

5. In a scholarly community, differing ideas often collide before they converge. How do you personally navigate disagreement in a way that promotes progress and deepens meaningful dialogue?

   Challenge and growth150 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against Emory's official admission blog. 2026-27 prompts NOT yet released: Emory announces short answer questions each July (2022-23 through 2025-26 all posted in July; 2025-26 posted July 10, 2025), but as of today the blog's newest post is June 12, 2026 (waitlist update), an on-site search returns no 2026-27 short answer post, and the predictable URL blog.emoryadmission.com/2026/07/emorys-short-answer-questions-2026-27/ 404s. The 2026-27 release is likely imminent (mid-July per pattern); re-check then. Aggregators (GradGPT, AdmissionSight) label these same prompts 2026-27 without an official source; treated as unverified relabeling. All 5 prompt texts verified verbatim against the July 10, 2025 official post. Structure: two essays total. Prompt 1 (academic interests) is required of all applicants, 200 words stated as recommended length. Prompts 2-5 are the four Getting to Know You options; applicants answer exactly ONE in 150 words (all four recorded and flagged required because one from the set is mandatory; each individual option is not). Excluded: Common App personal statement and program-specific extras (e.g., Emory Scholars). The Emory College vs Oxford College choice is a preference selection, not an essay. Note: apply.emory.edu still links to an outdated 2024-25 blog post, so the blog, not the apply page, is the canonical prompt source.

See Emory University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: blog.emoryadmission.com

1. Please elaborate on any special talents or skills you would like to highlight.

   Other250 words

2. Briefly discuss the significance to you of the school or summer activity in which you have been most involved. (Approximately one-half page, single-spaced)

   Activities and experience

3. As Georgetown is a diverse community, the Admissions Committee would like to know more about you in your own words. Please submit a brief personal or creative essay which you feel best describes you and reflects on your personal background and individual experiences, skills, and talents. (Approximately one page, single-spaced)

   Community and identity

4. Founded in 1789, the Georgetown College of Arts & Sciences is committed to the Jesuit traditions of an integrated education and of productive research in the natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. Describe your interest in studying at College of Arts & Sciences. Applicants interested in the sciences, mathematics, or languages are encouraged to make specific reference to ...

   Academic interest / why this major

5. Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service was founded more than a century ago to prepare generations of leaders with the foundational skills to address global issues. Describe your primary motivations for studying international affairs at Georgetown University and dedicating your undergraduate studies toward a future in global service.

   Academic interest / why this major

6. Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business provides graduates with essential global, ethical, analytical, financial, and diverse perspectives on the economies of our nation and the world. Describe your primary motivations for studying business at Georgetown University.

   Academic interest / why this major

7. Georgetown University's School of Nursing is committed to the formation of ethical, empathetic, and transformational nursing leaders. Describe the factors that have influenced your interest in studying Nursing at Georgetown University.

   Academic interest / why this major

8. Georgetown University's School of Health was founded to advance the health and well-being of people locally, nationally, and globally through innovative research, the delivery of interdisciplinary education, and transformative engagement of communities. Describe the factors that influenced your interest in studying health care at Georgetown University, specifically addressing your intended ...

   Academic interest / why this major

9. For nearly 50 years, Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy has equipped leaders and changemakers with the interdisciplinary skills to address local, national, and global policy problems. Undergraduate public policy students at Georgetown will have the unique opportunity to live and study on two campuses, spending their first two years immersed on the Hilltop, before ...

   Academic interest / why this major

10. Through this joint program between the College of Arts & Sciences and the Earth Commons Institute, you'll explore theories and practical skills in the classroom, in the field, and around the world, and put it all together to make a difference. Describe your primary motivations for studying environment and sustainability at Georgetown University to effect positive change in the world.

    Academic interest / why this major

FACT-CHECKED 2026-07-04. 2026-27 cycle (Class of 2031, fall 2027 entry) verified as newest: official first-year page confirms the Class of 2031 application with the Georgetown Application open now and Common App available Aug 1, 2026; the 2026-27 Georgetown app opened June 18, 2026 (Carnegie Prep), and this is Georgetown's FIRST Common App cycle, a 3-year pilot (The Hoya/Ivy Coach). Official pages confirm a required Writing Supplement but keep prompt text inside the portal, so wording was cross-verified across GradGPT (2026-27) plus CollegeVine, AdmissionSight, Selective Admissions, College Essay Guy, Top Tier Admissions, and College Essay Advisors; 2026-27 sources show wording carried over unchanged from 2025-26. Prompts 1-3 (talents 250 words; activity approx one-half page single-spaced; personal/creative approx one page single-spaced) are required of ALL applicants; the seven school-specific essays (approx one page single-spaced each) are required=true but each applicant writes exactly ONE, matching their chosen school (College of Arts & Sciences, SFS, McDonough, Nursing, Health, McCourt Public Policy, Earth Commons Environment & Sustainability). Lengths are page-based, not word counts; only the talents short answer has a word limit. Corrections vs prior draft: (a) A&S prompt reads "studying at College of Arts & Sciences" (not "studying in the"), per CEG/Top Tier/CollegeVine/AdmissionSight; (b) Earth Commons prompt verbatim opens "Through this joint program between the College of Arts & Sciences and the Earth Commons Institute..." and includes "and put it all together to make a difference" (prior draft paraphrased); (c) McCourt uses serial comma "local, national, and global" per the two sources quoting it verbatim. Truncated tails (>400 chars): A&S ends "...specific reference to their choice of major."; Health ends "...your intended related major: Global Health, Health Care Management & Policy, or Human Science."; McCourt continues "...before completing the second half of their time at Georgetown on the Capitol Campus, immersed in the policy world. Describe your primary motivations for studying public policy at Georgetown University and dedicating your undergraduate studies toward a future related to public service." Guide variants: "towards a future in global service" (CEG) vs "toward" (majority, used here); stale pages still show pre-2024 personal-essay wording "your own background, identity, skills, and talents", superseded by "personal background and individual experiences, skills, and talents" (confirmed by CollegeVine, Selective Admissions, AdmissionSight, CEA; used here). Nursing school renamed Berkley School of Nursing in fall 2025 ($25M Berkley family gift; georgetown.edu news confirmed), but prompt text still reads "School of Nursing". Excluded: Common App 650-word personal statement and optional arts materials; exact rendering of the supplement inside the Common App is only observable after Aug 1, 2026.

See Georgetown University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: uadmissions.georgetown.edu

1. Why do you want to study your chosen major, and why do you want to study that major at Georgia Tech?

   Academic interest / why this major300 words

CYCLE CORRECTED from 2026-27 to 2025-26. Prompt verified verbatim on the official page (admission.gatech.edu/first-year/personal-essays), which presents it as "Georgia Tech Short-Answer Question (max 300 words)" and states both it and the Common App personal essay are required of all applicants. Georgia Tech has exactly one school-specific supplemental essay. Recency check: as of 2026-07-04 the official page still reads "Below are the Georgia Tech essay questions for 2026 applications", text unchanged since July 2025 per Wayback snapshots (2025-07-23, 2025-11-01, 2026-02-13, 2026-05-14 all identical), so "2026" denotes Fall 2026 entry, i.e. the 2025-26 cycle; GT has NOT yet published a 2026-27 (Fall 2027 entry) version. No GT admission blog announcement of 2026-27 essays exists; third-party "2026-27" guides (Cosmic, GradGPT, AdmissionSight) repeat this same prompt but are anticipatory, not an official release. The prompt is very likely to carry over unchanged (identical since the 2024-25 cycle), but the original claim "unchanged year over year" is overstated: it changed between 2023-24 ("Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech?") and 2024-25. Re-check after GT's annual page rollover (historically July-August, around the Aug 1 application opening). Hybrid why-major/why-us question; categorized why_major since academic interest is the primary frame. Excluded as non-school-specific: Common App personal statement (choose 1 of 7, required) and the optional Common App Responsibilities and Circumstances / Additional Information sections. No other school-specific essays (Stamps President's Scholars materials are post-application, invitation-only).

Source: admission.gatech.edu

1. Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a student body with a diversity of perspectives and experiences. How will the life experiences that shaped who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?

   What you will contribute150 words

2. Describe a time when you strongly disagreed with someone about an idea or issue. How did you communicate or engage with this person? What did you learn from this experience?

   Challenge and growth150 words

3. Briefly describe any of your extracurricular activities, employment experience, travel, or family responsibilities that have shaped who you are.

   Activities and experience150 words

4. How do you hope to use your Harvard education in the future?

   Other150 words

5. Top 3 things your roommates might like to know about you.

   Creative and quirky150 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against Harvard's official Application Tips page: all five prompt texts match verbatim, each capped at 150 words, all five required. Harvard's official FAQ ("What is included in the Harvard supplement?") independently confirms five required 150-word short answers. RECENCY: 2026-27 prompts are NOT yet officially released; Harvard typically rolls prompts over around August 1, and PrepMaven's guide (updated 2026-06-17) explicitly confirms Harvard has not yet updated for the new cycle. Aggregator pages titled "2026-2027" (AdmissionSight, GradGPT, Rostrumedu) are speculatively recycling the 2025-26 prompts, not reporting an official release, so cycle remains 2025-26. Excludes the Common App personal statement and Harvard's optional additional-information section; no program-specific/honors supplements. Prompt 1 blends diversity-of-experience with contribution; categorized as contribution since the direct ask is how you will contribute to Harvard. Prompt 4 (future use of education) has no exact taxonomy match, so categorized as other.

See Harvard University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: college.harvard.edu

1. Over the past 150 years, every monumental discovery at Hopkins has started with a first step: The first draft by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. A prototype that led to a life-changing medical invention. The first pitch that launched a new startup venture. As we commemorate the university's sesquicentennial, 150 years since its founding, we continue to celebrate first steps just as much as final ac

   Challenge and growth350 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against the official page (apply.jhu.edu/how-to-apply/application-deadlines-requirements/): heading still reads "2025-2026 Supplemental Essay Prompt" with 2025-26 deadlines (ED I Nov 1, 2025; ED II and RD Jan 2, 2026) and the page states "Updated dates are made public in August each year," so 2026-27 prompts are NOT yet officially published; cycle correctly recorded as 2025-26. Aggregators labeled 2026-27 (GradGPT, AdmissionSight) show this same sesquicentennial prompt but are not official confirmation; expect official rollover in August 2026. JHU has exactly ONE required supplemental essay (350-word limit). Prompt text verified verbatim from the official page and trimmed to exactly the first 400 chars per schema (prior data had a 405-char trim); full text continues: "...final achievements. Tell us about an important first in your life, big or small, that has shaped you (350-word limit)." Excluded: Common App/Coalition personal statement (not school-specific). BME applicants must list Biomedical Engineering as first-choice major but there is no separate essay. Category challenge_growth confirmed: the ask ("an important first...that has shaped you") is a personal growth/reflection essay.

See Johns Hopkins University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: apply.jhu.edu

1. What field of study appeals to you the most right now? (Note: Applicants select from a drop-down list.) Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you.

   Academic interest / why this major100 words

2. We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it.

   Activities and experience150 words

3. While some reach their goals following well-trodden paths, others blaze their own trails achieving the unexpected. In what ways have you done something different than what was expected in your educational journey?

   Challenge and growth225 words

4. MIT brings people with diverse backgrounds together to collaborate, from tackling the world's biggest challenges to lending a helping hand. Describe one way you have collaborated with others to learn from them, with them, or contribute to your community together.

   What you will contribute225 words

5. How did you manage a situation or challenge that you didn't expect? What did you learn from it?

   Challenge and growth225 words

6. No application can meet the needs of every individual. If there is significant information that you were not able to include elsewhere in the application, you may include it here.

   Other350 wordsoptional

FACT-CHECKED 2026-07-04 against MIT's official essays page, fetched live: it still explicitly says "For the 2025-2026 application, we're asking these short answer essay questions", the 2026-27 prompts are NOT yet published (MIT's own MyMIT application opens in August; MIT does not use the Common App or Coalition App, so these 5 short essays plus the optional additional-info box are the full writing supplement and there is no Common App personal statement). Aggregator pages titled "2026-2027" (AdmissionSight, collegeessay.org, Rostrum) show wording identical to the official 2025-26 set and do not claim MIT confirmation, i.e., relabeled carryovers; so 2025-26 is correctly recorded as the newest published cycle. All 5 required prompts verified VERBATIM against the official page, including the inline "(Note: Applicants select from a drop-down list.)" which appears on MIT's page. Word limits: the official page states only "approximately 100-200 words each"; the recorded per-prompt maximums (100/150/225/225/225, and 350 for the optional additional-info box) are the actual application text-box limits per College Essay Guy's 2025-26 guide, re-verified this check. Correction made during fact-check: additional-info prompt text trimmed to its verbatim application wording (a non-verbatim descriptive annotation was removed). Excluded as non-essay form fields: the activities list (up to 4 activities, ~40 words each), the optional 100-word family-information box ("If you have additional information about your family that you think is important for us to know, please include it here.", a background form field not listed on MIT's essays page), and optional creative portfolios (program-specific extra).

See Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: mitadmissions.org

1. We are looking for students who want to be bridge builders, students who can connect people, groups, and ideas to span divides, foster understanding, and promote collaboration within a dynamic, interconnected, and vibrant global academic community. We are eager for you to tell us how your experiences have helped you understand what qualities and efforts are needed to bridge divides so that people c

   Community and identity250 wordsoptional

ADVERSARIALLY VERIFIED 2026-07-04. CYCLE CONFIRMED 2025-26: NYU has NOT released 2026-27 prompts; the official MEET NYU guide is still titled "Your Guide to the 2025-26 NYU Supplemental Essay Question" (verified via current search index; page is Cloudflare-blocked to fetchers, direct curl returns a challenge page) and NYU's companion article is still "Inside the 2025-2026 NYU Common Application". The 2026-27 Common App opens Aug 1. Aggregator "2026-27" labels are speculative and mutually contradictory: AdmissionSight carries the bridge-builders prompt over, while Rostrum's "2026-27" page shows NYU's RETIRED 2023-24 quote-selection prompt ("peacemakers, changemakers, global citizens..." with Heumann/Ifill/Lang Lang/Marin/Swift quotes), a stale page; a search-engine summary claiming a "new 2026-27 quotes prompt" traces to it and is FALSE. Ignore it unless NYU itself announces a change. PROMPT DETAILS: exactly ONE OPTIONAL supplemental essay, max 250 words, no "Why NYU". Optional status confirmed on the official page ("an optional component of the first-year Common Application... completely optional"); College Essay Guy's summary mislabeling it "required" was rejected. Verbatim framing paragraph confirmed via exact-phrase match on meet.nyu.edu and College Essay Advisors' full quote; the text field is programmatically verified as exactly the first 400 chars of the 434-char paragraph, which ends "...so that people can better learn and work together." Applicants may then answer ONE OR MORE of three sub-questions in the single essay: (1) "Tell us about a time you encountered a perspective different from your own. What did you learn, about yourself, the other person, or the world?" (2) "Tell us about an experience you've had working with others who have different backgrounds or perspectives. What challenges did your group face? Did you overcome them, and if so, how? What role did you try to play in helping people to work together, and what did you learn from your efforts?" (3) "Tell us about someone you've observed who does a particularly good job helping people think or work together. How does this person set the stage for common exploration or work? How do they react when difficulties or dissensions arise?" EXCLUDED: MLK Scholars Program prompt (scholarship/program-specific) and the Common App personal statement. Category community_identity per taxonomy (perspective/diversity).

Source: meet.nyu.edu

No school-specific writing supplement this cycle. The main application essay and activities list carry the writing for this school.

VERIFIED July 2026 against the live official Required Materials and First-Year Applicants pages: Northeastern has NO school-specific writing supplement. It requires only the Common App or Coalition personal statement (excluded per instructions). The official pages governing the opening 2026-27 cycle list no supplemental essays or short-answer questions, and no announcement of a new 2026-27 supplement was found; 2025-26 trackers (Ivy Coach, Top Tier, TKG, Huntington News) confirm the longstanding policy. Correctly excluded as program-specific: applicants to the College of Arts, Media and Design who submit the optional creative portfolio include a 500-word personal statement with that portfolio. The optional resume upload is not an essay; third-party mentions of an 'optional essay' refer to the Common App additional-information section, not a Northeastern prompt.

Source: admissions.northeastern.edu

1. We want to be sure we're considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background (your identity, your school setting, your community, your household, etc.) have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern's community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise?

   Community and identity300 words

2. Painting "The Rock" is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression, students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call "Purple Pride"), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?

   Creative and quirky200 wordsoptional

3. Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or co

   Academic interest / why this major200 wordsoptional

4. Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.

   What you will contribute200 wordsoptional

5. Northwestern's location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?

   Why this school200 wordsoptional

6. Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern's classrooms and around our campus?

   Community and identity200 wordsoptional

Fact-checked 2026-07-04 against the raw HTML of Northwestern's official requirements page: the section is still headed "Northwestern 2025-26 First-Year Writing Supplements" and references building "Northwestern's Class of 2030" (fall 2026 entry), so no official 2026-27 rollover exists yet; aggregators labeling these same prompts "2026-27" (AdmissionSight, GradGPT) are not official, and the official Writing Supplements FAQ is even staler (still says 2024-25). Cycle recorded as 2025-26 per the recency rule. Structure: 1 required prompt, 300 words or fewer, required for all Common App and Coalition-with-Scoir applicants but OPTIONAL for QuestBridge applicants; plus 5 optional prompts of which applicants should answer AT LEAST ONE and NO MORE THAN TWO, officially "fewer than 200 words per question"; no single optional prompt is individually mandatory, so each is required=false. All six prompts verified verbatim against the official page (typographic curly quotes normalized to straight). The interdisciplinary-class prompt is 412 characters and was trimmed to its first 400 characters per schema (trimmed mid-phrase at "...classmates or co"; full sentence ends "Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?"). Excluded: Common App personal statement (Northwestern no longer requires it), the 2025-26 transfer supplement (background prompt + "Please share with us why you would like to transfer to Northwestern.", both required, 300 words each), and program-specific extras (e.g., Bienen music auditions). Verified the former standalone writing-supplements URL (admissions.northwestern.edu/apply/writing-supplements.html) returns 404.

See Northwestern University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.northwestern.edu

No school-specific writing supplement this cycle. The main application essay and activities list carry the writing for this school.

VERIFIED July 2026 against OSU's official Common App requirements page (live for the opening 2026-27 cycle): Ohio State has NO school-specific supplemental essays or short-answer writing prompts for general first-year applicants; only the Common App personal statement (one of the Common App's annual prompts) is required. OSU's member questions are all non-essay items: preferred admission plan (EA Nov 1 / RD), fee-waiver codes, planned major, pre-professional interest, alternate regional campus (Ohio residents), and SSN for aid. This is a stable multi-year policy (also no supplement in 2025-26 and prior cycles per CollegeVine and NextAdmit), not a not-yet-released gap. EXCLUDED per rules: the optional Morrill Scholarship Program essay (350-500 words, on preparation to be an active Morrill Scholar via scholarship/leadership/civic engagement; scholarship-specific), and the separate University Honors & Scholars and Stamps Eminence Scholarship applications (program-specific).

Source: undergrad.osu.edu

1. As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (For A.B. degree or undecided applicants)

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

2. Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. (For B.S.E. degree applicants)

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

3. Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. As a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. What lessons have you learned in life thus far? What

   Community and identity500 words

4. Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals?

   What you will contribute250 words

5. What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?

   Short answers50 words

6. What brings you joy?

   Short answers50 words

7. What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?

   Short answers50 words

FACT-CHECKED 2026-07-04 against the official page (admission.princeton.edu/apply/princeton-specific-questions), which explicitly states 'Below you will find the questions for the 2025-26 application cycle.' Princeton has NOT released 2026-27 prompts; new prompts historically drop around August 1, so re-verify after ~Aug 1, 2026 (third-party '2026-27'-titled guides like GradGPT/PrepMaven/AdmissionSight are SEO retitles still showing this same set). All prompt wording, word limits (250/250/500/250/50/50/50), and required flags verbatim-verified, including B.S.E. punctuation ('experiences in or exposure to engineering'). The two academic-interest prompts are alternatives: applicants answer exactly ONE based on degree track (A.B./undecided vs B.S.E.); both listed and marked required; the trailing '(For A.B. degree...)' / '(For B.S.E. degree applicants)' parentheticals are editorial annotations mirroring the page's section headers, not prompt sentences. The 500-word community prompt text is trimmed at 400 chars per schema; full prompt ends: 'What lessons have you learned in life thus far? What will your classmates learn from you? In short, how has your lived experience shaped you?' More About You instructions: 'Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!' Excluded: Common App personal statement, required Graded Written Paper (document submission, not an essay prompt), and optional Arts Supplement.

See Princeton University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admission.princeton.edu

1. Please explain why you wish to study in the academic areas you selected.

   Academic interest / why this major150 words

2. Based upon your exploration of Rice University, what elements of the Rice experience appeal to you?

   Why this school150 words

3. The Residential College System is at the heart of Rice student life and is heavily influenced by the particular cultural traditions and unique life experiences each student brings. What life experiences and/or unique perspectives are you looking forward to sharing with fellow Owls in the residential college system?

   What you will contribute500 words

4. Rice is strengthened by its diverse community of learning and discovery that produces leaders and change agents across the spectrum of human endeavor. What perspectives shaped by your background, experiences, upbringing, and/or cultural identity inspire you to join our community of change agents at Rice?

   Community and identity500 words

5. One of Rice's long-standing traditions is "The Box," a question on our application where we ask all of our applicants to share an image of something that appeals to them. The Box gives you the opportunity to present us with an image that shares something about yourself, your interests or what is meaningful to you.

   Creative and quirky

FACT-CHECKED 2026-07-04 against the raw HTML of the official page (admission.rice.edu/apply/first-year-domestic-applicants). RECENCY: official heading is still verbatim "Essay Prompts (2025-2026)"; no 2026-27 rollover has been published. A third-party page (GradGPT) labels these prompts "2026-27" but its wording is identical to the official 2025-26 prompts, so it is a relabel, not a new cycle; cycle recorded as 2025-26. All prompt texts verified verbatim; 150/150/500/500 word limits confirmed. CHOOSE-ONE RULE: the two 500-word prompts (residential college / community of change agents) sit under one official instruction, "Please respond to one of the following prompts to explore how you will contribute to the Rice community:"; both are listed and marked required because one of the pair must be answered, but applicants answer only ONE. "The Box" is a required image question asked of all applicants (including QuestBridge): a two-dimensional image uploaded via the Common App or the Rice Admission Student Portal; it is "not used for evaluative purposes"; wordLimit null because it is an image upload, not a written essay. EXCLUDED (verified present on the same page): Common App personal statement; Rice School of Architecture program-specific extras (required creative portfolio plus two required 250-word architecture essays); Shepherd School of Music extra materials (auditions/music submissions, not essays); optional Department of Art portfolio. QuestBridge applicants use identical prompts except the choose-one 500-word prompt 3 is marked "(optional)" for them.

See Rice University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admission.rice.edu

1. The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning.

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

2. Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate, and us, get to know you better.

   Creative and quirky250 words

3. Please describe what aspects of your life experiences, interests and character would help you make a distinctive contribution as an undergraduate to Stanford University.

   What you will contribute250 words

4. What is the most significant challenge that society faces today?

   Short answers50 words

5. How did you spend your last two summers?

   Activities and experience50 words

6. What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?

   Short answers50 words

7. Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities, a job you hold, or responsibilities you have for your family.

   Activities and experience50 words

8. List five things that are important to you.

   Creative and quirky50 words

Re-verified 2026-07-04 against the official Stanford page (admission.stanford.edu/apply/first-year/apply.html). RECENCY: 2026-27 prompts are NOT yet published; the official page was last updated Oct 1, 2025 (2025-26 cycle) and states the application and Stanford Questions become available in early August each year, so the 2026-27 supplement should appear around Aug 1, 2026. Used 2025-26, the newest published cycle. ACCURACY: the three long essays are verbatim from the official page, each required with a 100-word minimum and 250-word maximum (wordLimit records the max). The official page says applicants answer "several short questions (limit 50 words each)" but does not enumerate them; the five 50-word short questions were confirmed identically by College Essay Guy and Ivy Coach for 2025-26. collegeessaygrader.com's "2026-2027" list swaps one short question ("Name one thing you are looking forward to experiencing at Stanford" for "List five things that are important to you"); it conflicts with all other sources and is an unofficial projection, so it was not used. Excluded: Common App personal statement; no program-specific extra writing prompts (optional arts portfolio is not a writing supplement).

See Stanford University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admission.stanford.edu

1. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt or one of your own design.

   Other650 words

2. Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major?

   Academic interest / why this major300 words

3. Think of all the activities, both in and outside of school, that you have been involved with during high school. Which one are you most proud of and why?

   Activities and experience300 words

4. Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance.

   Challenge and growth300 wordsoptional

Verified against the official UT Austin essays page (raw HTML fetched 2026-07-04). Fixed one verbatim error: official essay prompt has no comma before "or one of your own design". Cycle: the official page carries no year stamp, but these are the prompts in force as the 2026-27 cycle opens (Aug 1, 2026); 2026-27 aggregator guides (GradGPT, AdmissionSight 2026-2027) list identical prompts, unchanged from 2025-26, so no cycle-mixing risk. Essay is 500-650 words (recorded as 650 max) with topic of choice; for Common App applicants the Common App personal essay fulfills it ("The Common App personal essay will complete the UT Austin essay requirement"), ApplyTexas applicants write it in ApplyTexas. Short answers are capped at 40 lines, about 250-300 words each (recorded as 300); page confirms first two required, circumstances prompt listed under "Optional Prompt". The activity prompt appears on-page with guidance: "(Guidance for students: This can include an extracurricular activity, a club/organization, volunteer activity, work or a family responsibility.)", recorded here as the question only. The activity prompt's em-dashes are UT's own verbatim punctuation. Excluded: transfer Topic A/Topic D, architecture/nursing major-specific items, Fine Arts portfolios/auditions, honors and scholarship prompts.

Source: admissions.utexas.edu

1. Please describe how you have learned about and engaged with Tufts during your college search process (75-150 words).

   Why this school150 words

2. (School of Arts and Sciences applicants) Tell us about one of your favorite school assignments in the past two years. What was the assignment and why did you enjoy it?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

3. (School of Engineering applicants) Tell us about an engineering or science-related project that you have helped build, design, create, or iterate in the past two years. What was the project and what was your role?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

4. (Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program applicants) Tell us more about a specific piece in your portfolio. What were the ideas you intended to explore, and how did those ideas inform the process of making the piece?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

5. (Combined Degree (BFA+BA/BS) program applicants) Tell us more about a specific piece in your portfolio. How did an academic course, project, or interest inspire the ideas that you explored in this piece? Or, how did making this piece influence your academic interests?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

Adversarially verified 2026-07-04 against the raw HTML of the official page (admissions.tufts.edu/apply/short-answer-questions/), headed "Short Answer Prompts for the Class of 2031" (fall 2027 entry = 2026-27 cycle), so this is the newest published cycle. /apply/essay-questions/ 301-redirects to that same page; no separate essay page and no optional or additional prompts exist. Every applicant answers exactly TWO required short answers: Prompt 1 (universal) and ONE of the four Prompt 2 variants determined by intended school/program, so no applicant writes all five listed prompts. Corrections vs. prior draft: (1) Prompt 1 made verbatim, the official sentence has the word range in-sentence with no period before the parenthetical; (2) BFA program label aligned to the page's "Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program" (draft said "SMFA"); (3) BFA and Combined Degree portfolio prompts recategorized from creative to why_major since they probe the applicant's intended field and academic interests (taxonomy reserves creative for quirky UChicago-style prompts), matching the parallel A&S and Engineering variants. Parenthetical applicant-group prefixes are editorial labels (using the page's program names), not prompt wording. Word limits recorded as stated maximums; minimums are 75 (Prompt 1) and 100 (Prompt 2). Each variant is introduced on the page as "are required to answer the following question in 100-200 words." Common App personal statement excluded (applies via Common App or Coalition by Scoir). Page verbatim: "Tufts Admissions strongly discourages the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) for writing college admissions essays and short answer responses."

Source: admissions.tufts.edu

No school-specific writing supplement this cycle. The main application essay and activities list carry the writing for this school.

VERIFIED 2026-07-04: Tulane has NO supplemental essay for the 2026-27 cycle. On May 22, 2026, Tulane announced via its official admissions Instagram (documented in the College Confidential thread) that it eliminated its only supplement, the optional "Why Tulane?" community essay (2025-26 version: "Describe why you are interested in joining the Tulane community...", 50-250 words, optional per College Essay Guy). Commentators (JRA Educational Consulting June 9, 2026; Forbes July 2, 2026; Applerouth) attribute the broader trend (Tulane, UGA, UVA, UW dropping supplements) to AI-polished responses and the essays' declining influence on decisions; schools' own statements emphasize reducing applicant stress. Tulane's official apply page and FAQ list no essay prompts; applicants submit only the Common App personal statement (excluded per rules). Program-specific extras (honors, scholarships, portfolios) also excluded.

Source: admission.tulane.edu

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

   Activities and experience350 wordsoptional

2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

   Creative and quirky350 wordsoptional

3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

   Other350 wordsoptional

4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

   Challenge and growth350 wordsoptional

5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

   Challenge and growth350 wordsoptional

6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

   Academic interest / why this major350 wordsoptional

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

   What you will contribute350 wordsoptional

8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

   Other350 wordsoptional

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against the official UC admissions PIQ page (live for the 2026-27 cycle; UC app for fall 2027 entry opens Aug 1, 2026, filing period Oct 1-Nov 30, 2026) and UC Berkeley's own admissions PIQ page. All 8 first-year Personal Insight Questions match the official wording verbatim and are unchanged from 2025-26. UC Berkeley does not use the Common App/Coalition; its "supplement" = the systemwide UC Personal Insight Questions. CHOOSE-4 RULE (mandatory): first-year applicants must answer EXACTLY 4 of these 8 questions, max 350 words each; no single question is individually mandatory, so each prompt is marked required=false here even though answering 4 total is required. All questions are weighted equally in review. These are first-year (freshman) PIQs; transfer applicants have a different set (1 required transfer prompt + choose 3 of 7). Correction from prior data: required flags flipped from true to false to reflect that applicants choose which 4 to answer (per UC Berkeley's page, no mandatory question for freshmen). Excluded: Common App personal statement (N/A for UC) and program-specific extras (e.g., scholarship or major-specific questions).

See University of California, Berkeley’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admission.universityofcalifornia.edu

1. Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes or contributed to group efforts over time.

   Activities and experience350 words

2. Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

   Creative and quirky350 words

3. What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

   Activities and experience350 words

4. Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

   Challenge and growth350 words

5. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

   Challenge and growth350 words

6. Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

   Academic interest / why this major350 words

7. What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

   What you will contribute350 words

8. Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admissions to the University of California?

   Other350 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against the official UC Personal Insight Questions page and UCLA's PIQ page: all 8 prompts match verbatim (including "helped resolve disputes" with no "to", and "admissions to the University of California" in PIQ 8). UCLA does not use the Common App; its supplement is the UC application's 8 first-year Personal Insight Questions (PIQs). Freshman applicants must answer exactly 4 of the 8 (choose-4 rule; all questions given equal consideration); all 8 are recorded here and marked required=true by convention for choose-N sets, so treat the set (any 4), not each prompt, as required. Max 350 words per response. Recency confirmed: the official UC/UCLA PIQ pages are evergreen, the PIQs are unchanged for the 2026-27 cycle (fall 2027 entry; UC filing period Oct 1 - Nov 30, 2026), and multiple 2026-2027 guides plus the live UC page confirm no changes announced. Excluded: transfer-applicant PIQ set (1 required transfer prompt + 3 of 7), Common App personal statement (N/A for UC), and UCLA major-specific supplemental applications (e.g., arts portfolios) submitted directly to departments.

See University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admission.universityofcalifornia.edu

1. How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

   Why this school

2. Food for thought: How do thoughts eat?

   Creative and quirky

3. The James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, utilized origami-inspired techniques to compactly store and deploy its sunshield in space. Choose an artistic practice and use its principles to propose an elegant solution to a problem.

   Creative and quirky

4. Sometimes metaphors get mixed up. For one reason or another, one could say, “we'll burn that bridge when we get there” or “the world is your china shop”. Make up your own mixed metaphor. Explain how it could make sense, be understood, or even applied.

   Creative and quirky

5. The Olympics have long celebrated the pinnacle of human athletic achievement. But what if they expanded to honor the mundane? Imagine a new Olympic event built around an everyday activity like speed dishwashing or competitive grocery bagging. How is it scored, officiated, and judged? Why is it a worthy addition?

   Creative and quirky

6. AI: Allen Iverson. NASA, or the North American Saxophone Alliance. Share a potentially confounding, comedic, or captivating example of MIA (Mistaken Identity of Acronym) and tell us its backstory.

   Creative and quirky

7. And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun!

   Creative and quirky

FACT-CHECKED 2026-07-04. Cycle 2026-27 CONFIRMED as newest published: the official page's video is captioned "Introducing the 2026-2027 essay prompts" and prompt attributions credit students through the Class of 2030; independent aggregator (College Essay Mentor) states these prompts are confirmed for the 2026-27 cycle. Verification method: /apply/uchicago-supplemental-essay-questions 301-redirects to canonical /apply/essay/, a client-rendered Gatsby/Contentful app; prompt text was extracted character-exact from the site's own route payload (/page-data/apply/essay/page-data.json, path "/apply/essay/") and cross-checked word-for-word against the aggregator. STRUCTURE: prompt 1 = "Question 1" card with subtitle "(Required)" (Why UChicago, required of all applicants); prompts 2-7 fall under the page header "Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose one)", the Extended Essay is required but the applicant writes EXACTLY ONE of the six options, so all six carry required=true per the choose-N convention (an applicant submits 2 essays total, not 7). Corrections vs prior collection: removed collector-added label prefixes ("Question 1 (Required):", "Question 2, Extended Essay Option N (choose one of six):") so text fields are strictly verbatim; this also fixed the prior mid-word 400-char truncation of the final option (full official text is 394 chars, now complete, ending "...take a little risk, and have fun!"); restored official curly quotation marks in the mixed-metaphor option. WORD LIMITS: none stated anywhere on the official prompts page (wordLimit=null throughout); aggregator ranges (300-600 / 500-700) are unofficial and excluded. CMS quirk: the final (choose-your-own-adventure) card's cardTitle field literally reads "Essay Option 7" while its styleId is "essay-option-6"; only six options exist and it is the sixth. Attribution bylines omitted from prompt text: Opt 1 "Inspired by Ernest Leong, Class of 2026"; Opt 2 Akhil Korra, Class of 2028; Opt 3 Julia Nieberg, Class of 2029; Opt 4 Ewan Smith, Class of 2028; Opt 5 Jeeho Byun, Class of 2030; adventure option has no attribution. Excluded: Common App personal statement, optional 2-minute video profile, and optional arts/research supplements (not writing prompts); no program-specific essays.

See University of Chicago’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu

1. Please provide more details on your most meaningful commitment outside of the classroom while in high school and explain why it was meaningful. This could be related to an extracurricular activity, work, volunteering, an academic activity, family responsibility, or any other non-classroom activity.

   Activities and experience250 words

2. Do you have any employment or family obligations that limit your participation in extracurricular activities? If so, please describe.

   Activities and experience250 wordsoptional

3. Have you participated in or been assisted in your college preparation and search by programs outside of the classroom, such as Educational Talent Search, Take Stock in Children, Upward Bound, Boys and Girls Club, etc.? Please provide the name of the program, details/benefits of your involvement, and how long your experiences continued.

   Activities and experience250 wordsoptional

4. Is there any additional information or extenuating circumstances the Admissions Committee should know when reviewing your application? If so, please provide more information in less than 250 words.

   Other250 wordsoptional

Fact-checked 2026-07-04; labeled 2025-26 (verified as newest published cycle). Recency: UF's official Common App guide page heading still reads "2025-26 Common App Guide"; College Essay Advisors' 2026-27 guide index still lists UF as a 2025-26 guide; only GradGPT's auto-titled "2026-27" page claims the new cycle with identical prompts and no official citation, so 2026-27 is unconfirmed (change unlikely). UF's official site confirms a required Personal Essay plus UF Supplement short-answer questions but does not publish verbatim wording (it appears inside the Common App member questions); wording cross-verified via College Essay Guy, NextAdmit, College Transitions, CollegeVine, and CEA. Prompt 1 is UF's single required school-specific essay (guides show a 100-250 word range; 250 max) and per guides is also used for scholarship consideration. Prompt 3 wording varies slightly across guides (CEG inserts "If so," before "please provide the name of the program"); prompt 4's trailing sentence "If so, please provide more information in less than 250 words." is quoted by both CEG and NextAdmit and included verbatim. Excluded per instructions: Common App personal statement, Honors Program essay (AI/learning reflection, 150-400 words), and Innovation Academy essay (why IA, 150-300 words), both program-specific. UF accepts no letters of recommendation.

Source: admissions.ufl.edu

1. If You're Applying to a Major: Explain, in detail, an experience you've had in the past 3 to 4 years related to your first-choice major. This can be an experience from an extracurricular activity, in a class you've taken, or through something else.

   Academic interest / why this major150 words

2. If You're Applying to a Major: Describe your personal and/or career goals after graduating from Illinois and how your selected first-choice major will help you achieve them.

   Academic interest / why this major150 words

3. If You're Applying to Our Undeclared Program in the Division of Exploratory Studies: What are your academic interests? Please include 2-3 majors you're considering at Illinois and why.

   Academic interest / why this major150 words

4. If You're Applying to Our Undeclared Program in the Division of Exploratory Studies: What are your future career or academic goals? You may include courses you took in high school and how these impacted your goals.

   Academic interest / why this major150 words

5. If You've Selected a Second-Choice Major (Including Undeclared): Please explain your interest in your second-choice major or your overall academic or career goals.

   Academic interest / why this major150 wordsoptional

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against the official admissions page (raw HTML fetch). Cycle: the official page states verbatim "Following are our writing prompts for first-year students applying for fall 2026 admission," i.e., the 2025-26 cycle is still the newest published; 2026-27 (fall 2027) prompts are not yet live (UIUC historically announces updated prompts in August; leftover page-source comment corroborates the August pattern), so 2025-26 is recorded per the fallback rule. Third-party guides labeled "2026-2027" (e.g., AdmissionSight) list the identical prompts, confirming no new set exists. All 5 prompt texts verified verbatim, including conditional headers. Word guidance is official phrasing "Each response should be approximately 150 words." Prompts are conditional by path: applicants answer 2-3 total. Prompts 1-2 are required for applicants declaring a major; prompts 3-4 are required instead for undeclared (Division of Exploratory Studies) applicants; prompt 5 is required only if a second-choice major is selected (marked required=false since selecting a second choice is itself optional). Excluded: the Common App personal statement (one required essay, applicant's choice from the standard Common App list, 250-650 words) since it is not school-specific, and no other supplemental prompts exist on the page.

Source: www.admissions.illinois.edu

1. At the University of Michigan, we are focused on developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future. In your essay, share with us how you are prepared to contribute to these goals. This could include the people, places, experiences, or aspirations that have shaped your journey and future plans.

   What you will contribute300 words

2. Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate college or school (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests?

   Why this school550 words

Fact-checked 2026-07-04. Cycle stays 2025-26: UMich has NOT published 2026-27 prompts; official Application Changes page (Wayback 2026-06-19) says any 2026-2027 changes will be posted before the app opens Aug 1, and only lists "New for 2025-2026" items. Because admissions.umich.edu 403s automated fetchers, I triggered a fresh Wayback Save Page Now capture of the official Essay Questions page dated 2026-07-04 22:01 UTC (added to sourceUrls); it confirms both prompts verbatim, both required for all applicants, each with a 100-word minimum and maxima of 300 and 550 words. One aggregator summary claims a 500-word max for essay 2; official page says 550. Aggregators previewing 2026-27 (e.g., GradGPT) list identical prompts, so carryover is likely but unconfirmed until Aug 1. Excluded per rules: Common App personal statement (650), Common App optional challenges-and-circumstances question (300, a Common App feature), transfer-applicant essays, and program-specific extras (Honors Program, preferred admission/dual-degree portfolios and auditions).

See University of Michigan’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.umich.edu

No school-specific writing supplement this cycle. The main application essay and activities list carry the writing for this school.

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against two official UNC Admissions pages. The main prompts page (legacy URL slug says 2025-2026 but the live page is titled "Application Prompts for 2026-2027") states verbatim: "We are removing the two short answer questions from our application supplement." A dedicated official announcement page, "Short essays removed from Carolina's 2026-2027 application," corroborates the removal for the 2026-27 first-year cycle (fall 2027 entry) and confirms the remaining components: "The required Common Application essay, extracurricular activities, and additional information sections will continue to be spaces where students share their voice and passions." So UNC has NO school-specific supplemental prompts for 2026-27; the only essay is the Common App personal statement (250-650 words), excluded per instructions. This is a change from 2025-26, when UNC required two 250-word short answers. Third-party corroboration: GradGPT's 2026-27 guide. Program-specific extras (Honors Carolina, scholarships) excluded per instructions. Recency check passed: 2026-27 is the newest published cycle; no re-collection needed.

Source: admissions.unc.edu

1. Briefly share what draws you to the area(s) of study you listed.

   Academic interest / why this major100 words

2. Everyone has different priorities when considering their higher education options and building their college or university list. Tell us about your "non-negotiable" factor(s) when searching for your future college home.

   Why this school150 words

3. How does faith influence the decisions you make?

   Community and identity100 words

4. What is distinctive about your personal experiences and development (eg, family support, culture, disability, personal background, community, etc)? Why are these experiences important to you and how will you enrich the Notre Dame community?

   Community and identity100 words

5. Notre Dame's undergraduate experience is characterized by a collective sense of care for every person. How do you foster service to others in your community?

   What you will contribute100 words

6. What compliment are you most proud of receiving, and why does it mean so much to you?

   Creative and quirky100 words

7. What would you fight for?

   Creative and quirky100 words

Fact-checked 2026-07-04 against the raw HTML of the official ND application-overview page plus Ivy Coach, College Essay Guy, and CollegeVine. RECENCY: 2026-27 prompts NOT yet published; ND writes new short-answer prompts each cycle and releases them with the Aug 1 application, and the official page currently shows the set every tracker labels 2025-26, so cycle stays 2025-26. ACCURACY: all writing-supplement wording verified verbatim on the official page, including the "(eg, ... etc)" punctuation. Structure: (1) required 100-word academics question ("what draws you to the area(s) of study you listed") asked in the Common App Academics/member section, not the writing supplement, so it does not appear on the application-overview page (verbatim per College Essay Guy 2025/2026); (2) one required 150-word short essay ("non-negotiable" factors); (3) short answers where applicants CHOOSE EXACTLY 3 OF 5 options, 50-100 words each (wordLimit=100 = max of range; all 5 marked required=true per the choose-from-list convention since the section itself is mandatory, but only 3 are answered). Excluded: Common App personal statement; no program-specific extras (no honors/scholarship/portfolio prompts).

See University of Notre Dame’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.nd.edu

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!)

   Creative and quirky200 words

2. How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective, and how your experiences and perspective will help shape Penn.

   What you will contribute200 words

3. The flexible structure of The College of Arts and Sciences' curriculum is designed to inspire exploration, foster connections, and help you create a path of study through general education courses and a major. What are you curious about and how would you take advantage of opportunities in the arts and sciences?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

4. Wharton prepares its students to make an impact by applying business methods and economic theory to real-world problems, including economic, political, and social issues. Please reflect on a current issue of importance to you and share how you hope a Wharton education would help you to explore it.

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

5. Penn Engineering prepares its students to become leaders in technology by combining a strong foundation in the natural sciences and mathematics with depth of study in focused disciplinary majors. Please share how you plan to pursue your engineering interests at Penn, particularly within the intended major you selected.

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

6. Penn Nursing intends to meet the health needs of society in a global and multicultural world by preparing its students to impact healthcare by advancing science. Why have you decided to apply to Nursing? Where do you see yourself professionally in the future and how will you contribute to our mission of promoting equity in healthcare?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

Verified against the official Penn page (raw HTML fetched 2026-07-04): heading is still "2025-26 Short Answer and Essay Prompts", so 2025-26 is the newest officially published cycle; aggregators labeled 2026-27 (e.g., GradGPT, CollegeEssayGrader) cite no official source and reuse identical wording, so this record correctly uses 2025-26. All six prompt texts match the official page verbatim (including the thank-you note parenthetical and the Nursing intro sentence). Structure: every first-year applicant writes 3 essays: the 2 university-wide prompts (thank-you note is "only required for first-year applicants"; community prompt is "required for all applicants" including transfers) plus exactly ONE school-specific prompt for the undergraduate school selected (College of Arts and Sciences, Wharton, Engineering, or Nursing); all 4 school variants are listed here and each is required only for applicants to that school. All 6 prompts are officially 150-200 words; wordLimit records the 200-word maximum. Excluded by design: Common App personal statement; transfer essay ("Please explain your reasons for transferring...", 4,150 characters, transfers only); coordinated dual-degree/specialized-program extras (Huntsman: 50-125 word language answer + 400-600 word essay; LSM 400-650; M&T 400-650 + 250; NHCM 400-650; VIPER 400-650; VIC 400-650).

See University of Pennsylvania’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.upenn.edu

1. Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests and why you want to explore them at USC specifically. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections.

   Why this school250 words

2. Starting with the beginning of high school/secondary school, if you have had a gap where you were not enrolled in school during a fall or spring term, please address this gap in your educational history. You do not need to address a summer break.

   Other250 wordsoptional

3. Describe yourself in three words.

   Short answers

4. What is your favorite snack?

   Short answers

5. Best movie of all time

   Short answers

6. Dream job

   Short answers

7. If your life had a theme song, what would it be?

   Short answers

8. Dream trip

   Short answers

9. What TV show will you binge watch next?

   Short answers

10. Which well-known person or fictional character would be your ideal roommate?

    Short answers

11. Favorite book

    Short answers

12. If you could teach a class on any topic, what would it be?

    Short answers

Adversarially re-verified 2026-07-04. RECENCY: cycle stays 2025-26; USC has not officially published 2026-27 prompts. USC's official apply page states the Common App for each cycle opens August 1, so the 2026-27 supplement goes live Aug 1, 2026. Authoritative guides still label these prompts 2025-26 (Ivy Coach explicitly '2025-2026, Class of 2030'; College Essay Guy 2025/2026; CollegeVine, College Essay Advisors, Selective Admissions, TKG likewise); only SEO aggregators (GradGPT, AdmissionSight) pre-label identical prompts as 2026-27, which suggests no change is expected but is not official. ACCURACY: required 250-word essay and all 10 Quick Takes verified verbatim against USC's official admission blog (admissionblog.usc.edu) and cross-checked with Ivy Coach and College Essay Guy; no missing or extra prompts. Quick Takes have CHARACTER limits, not word limits (three-words prompt: 25 characters per word; the other nine: 100 characters each), so wordLimit is null; all Quick Takes are required parts of the application. Gap-term essay is 250 words and applies only if the applicant had a fall/spring enrollment gap (optional). URL correction: admission.usc.edu/apply/first-year-applicants/ is 404; the live official first-year page is admission.usc.edu/apply/first-year-students/ (does not itself list prompts). Excluded per instructions: Common App personal statement and program-specific extras shown only after selecting certain majors: USC Viterbi ('Describe how your contributions to the USC Viterbi student body may be distinct from others', 250 words; plus the NAE Grand Challenges prompt for engineering/CS, 250 words), USC Dornsife ('If you had ten minutes and the attention of a million people, what would your talk be about?', 250 words), and World Bachelor in Business questions.

Source: www.admissionblog.usc.edu

1. Tell us why you would like to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, please include why you are interested in studying the major(s) you have selected. If you selected undecided, please describe your areas of possible academic interest.

   Why this school650 words

2. Each student is unique. Please tell us about the particular life experiences, talents, commitments, and/or interests you will bring to our campus.

   What you will contribute650 words

Verified 2026-07-04 by re-fetching UW-Madison's official essays page (admissions.wisc.edu/essays): both prompts match verbatim, 650-word maximum each with 300-500 words recommended, both required. The official page is evergreen (no cycle-year label); a 2026-27 aggregator (GradGPT) confirms the identical prompts for the 2026-27 cycle, unchanged from prior years. Prompt 1 (why attend + why major) is required for ALL applicants on both platforms; it combines why_us and why_major but is categorized why_us since the attendance question leads. Prompt 2 (unique life experiences/talents you will bring) appears ONLY on the Universities of Wisconsin Application; Common App applicants write a Common App personal-statement essay instead (excluded per instructions). Structure independently confirmed on admissions.wisc.edu/apply-as-a-freshman. No other school-specific short answers; program-specific extras (honors, scholarships, portfolio programs) excluded.

Source: admissions.wisc.edu

1. Vanderbilt University's motto, Crescere aude, is Latin for 'dare to grow.' In your response, reflect on how one or more aspects of your identity, culture, or background has played a role in your personal growth, and how it will contribute to our campus community as you dare to grow at Vanderbilt.

   Community and identity250 words

Verified July 2026 against the official Vanderbilt admissions prompts page: prompt wording matches verbatim, limit is 'approximately 250 words' (Common App text box allows 200-400), and it is Vanderbilt's only school-specific short answer. Official page states the same short answer is required for BOTH first-year and transfer applicants. Prompt is unchanged from 2025-26 and confirmed continuing for 2026-27 by cycle-labeled guides (PrepMaven 2026-2027 and GradGPT 2026-27 quote it verbatim); Vanderbilt's main apply page still shows fall-2026-entry deadlines, but the prompts page is current and the question carries over, so 2026-27 is the correct cycle label. Excluded: Common App/Coalition personal statement (external platform prompts), the transfer-specific personal essay ('reasons for transferring and the objectives you hope to achieve'), and program extras like Blair School of Music portfolio/audition. Category community_identity: core ask is identity/culture/background, with growth and contribution woven in.

See Vanderbilt University’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.vanderbilt.edu

1. Please tell us what you are interested in studying at college and why.

   Academic interest / why this major250 words

VERIFIED against raw HTML of official WashU admissions pages (fetched 2026-07-04). Data is correct for the 2026-27 cycle (fall 2027 entry). The "What's New at WashU" page ("Important updates for fall 2027") states verbatim: "We no longer have an optional writing supplement. However, applicants are still required to submit the Common Application or Coalition Application essay. We also ask for a 250-word response to the question 'Please tell us what you are interested in studying at college and why.'" This eliminates the 2025-26 optional choose-one prompts ("In St. Louis, For St. Louis" and "By Name & Story"). Prompt text and 250-word limit verified verbatim on both the What's New and first-year US applicant pages; the old optional-writing-supplement URL now hosts only the optional 90-second video supplement (no writing prompts). The "Undecided about your academic interest(s)?..." helper sentence from the 2025-26 Common App does NOT appear on the official site (may reappear when the 2026-27 Common App opens Aug 1). Third-party corroboration: Forbes (2026-07-02) reports WashU among schools eliminating supplemental essays this cycle. Minor caveat: the first-year page retains one stale eligibility sentence saying "class entering in fall 2026," but its deadline tables match the fall-2027 cycle (EA new round + EDI due Nov 2; EDII/RD due Jan 4; scholarship priority Dec 16, 2026), confirming rollover. Excluded per rules: Common App/Coalition personal statement (required), optional 90-second video supplement (non-writing), program-specific essays (Beyond Boundaries, joint Business+CS), and the optional Scholarship Writing Supplement (Signature Scholar Programs: Danforth/Ervin/Rodriguez, due Dec 16 via Pathway, plus Nemerov). Other 2026-27 context: Early Action added, demonstrated interest now considered, test-optional unchanged.

See Washington University in St. Louis’s full admissions data and acceptance rate →

Source: admissions.washu.edu

1. Students at Yale have time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.

   Academic interest / why this major

2. Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you and is related to one or more academic areas you selected above. Why are you drawn to it?

   Academic interest / why this major200 words

3. If you could teach any college course, write a book, or create an original piece of art of any kind, what would it be?

   Creative and quirky35 words

4. What is one aspect of yourself that you hope to grow or develop during college?

   Challenge and growth35 words

5. What is something about you that is not included anywhere else in your application?

   Short answers35 words

6. Reflect on a time you discussed an issue important to you with someone holding an opposing view. Why did you find the experience meaningful?

   Challenge and growth400 words

7. Reflect on your membership in a community to which you feel connected. Why is this community meaningful to you? You may define community however you like.

   Community and identity400 words

8. Reflect on an element of your personal experience that you feel will enrich your college. How has it shaped you?

   Community and identity400 words

VERIFIED 2026-07-04 against raw HTML of Yale's official Essay Topics page, which is explicitly labeled 'Review the 2026-2027 essay topics for all applications.' All 8 prompt texts match the page verbatim (character-level diff on extracted HTML text). Structure: (a) Two academic short-answer questions for ALL applicants (Common App, Coalition, QuestBridge): first is a select-up-to-3 academic-areas list (no word limit), second is 200 words or fewer; QuestBridge applicants answer these via the Yale QuestBridge Questionnaire on the Yale Admissions Status Portal. (b) Three 'Short Takes' for Common App/Coalition only, each 'no more than 200 characters (approximately 35 words)', wordLimit recorded as 35 per Yale's own approximation. (c) One essay for Common App/Coalition only: CHOOSE ONE of the three 400-word prompts; all three are recorded and marked required per choose-one convention (the essay itself is mandatory, applicant picks one). Adversarially confirmed the long-standing 125-word 'What is it about Yale that has led you to apply?' (why_us) question is DROPPED this cycle: grep of official page HTML shows zero occurrences of '125', 'led you', or any Why-Yale/drawn-to-Yale replacement prompt; independently corroborated by a June 20, 2026 third-party guide stating Yale 'got rid of the WHY YALE? essay.' A stray search-result claim of a replacement 125-word 'drawn to Yale' prompt was checked and disproven (the only 'drawn' language on the page is 'Why are you drawn to it?' in the 200-word academic question). Excluded: Common App/Coalition personal statement and optional supplementary materials (Visual Art, Dance, Music, Film, STEM research portfolios).

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Source: admissions.yale.edu