Are supplemental essays overwhelming you? Are you applying to a million schools and each prompt asks you to write something different? Are you unsure of where to start?
Here are my top three tips for writing supplemental essays.
- Look at the college’s website! I know this one may sound simple, but if you really look at their website, you will find tons of useful information. Go read the page about your intended major. See what they are highlighting about that program. Anything stand out to you? Does a certain course look interesting? Do they offer undergraduate research opportunities? What about student organizations? What makes this college unique? You don’t want to write about how you are excited to go to any college. You want to write about how you are excited to go to this specific college.
- Think about your own experiences. What makes you a good fit for this school? Many supplemental essays are about what you want to study and why you think College X is the right place for you to do it. So, why is College X the right place for you? Does this college take a practical approach to their curriculum and you love hands-on experiences? Great! Does this college have humanities requirements for STEM students, and you are a STEM student who loves literature? This might be the right school for you!
- There are a few pitfalls that you want to make sure you avoid. Don’t write about the weather or the beautiful campus. Don’t write about how you are excited that College X has an engineering department; almost every university in the country has an engineering department. Don’t plagiarize the website. Researching the website is a great idea, but copying and pasting a sentence from the website is not. Finally, don’t miss a part of the prompt. Read the prompt carefully and answer every part of the question.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, be specific about yourself, your experiences, and the school, and I’m sure your supplemental essays will be great!
