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Supplemental essay prompts 2026-27

40 selective colleges' supplemental questions, copied word for word from each college's own admissions site, with what every question asks and how to answer it. 114 of the questions have a full guide of their own.

40 colleges169 questionsChecked October 2026

Pick a college to see its questions, the word limits, who has to answer what, and a guide to each prompt. When you have drafts, the supplemental essay grader reviews all of one college's answers in one report: a checklist and a readiness verdict for each, and a note on every sentence. It never writes them for you.

Free first reviewCheck your supplements →½ token per college after your free review

Colleges A to Z

Amherst College3 questions · you write 1350 wordsBarnard College2 questions · you write 250 words · 200-250 wordsBoston College5 questions · by school400 wordsBowdoin College2 questions · all optional250 wordsBrown University4 questions · you write 4150-250 words · 100-150 wordsCalifornia Institute of Technology8 questions · you write 5150-200 words · 200 words · 100-150 wordsCarnegie Mellon University3 questions · you write 3300 wordsClaremont McKenna College2 questions · you write 2no set limitColumbia University6 questions · you write 6100 words · 150 wordsCornell University15 questions · by school650 words · 350 words · 200 wordsDartmouth College9 questions · you write 3100 words · 250 wordsDavidson College2 questions · you write 2250-300 wordsDuke University5 questions · you write 2250 wordsFordham University3 questions · all optional300 wordsGrinnell College1 question · all optional200-450 wordsHarvard University5 questions · you write 5150 wordsHarvey Mudd College2 questions · you write 2500 words · 250 wordsUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign5 questions · by school150 wordsJohns Hopkins University1 question · you write 1350 wordsMacalester College2 questions · all optionalno set limitUniversity of Michigan2 questions · you write 2100-300 words · 100-550 wordsNorthwestern University6 questions · you write 1300 words · 200 wordsUniversity of Notre Dame5 questions · you write 3150 words · 50-100 wordsOccidental College1 question · all optional250 wordsUniversity of Pennsylvania6 questions · by school50-200 wordsPrinceton University7 questions · by school250 words · 400-500 words · 50 wordsPurdue University3 questions · you write 2250 wordsRice University4 questions · you write 3150 words · 500 wordsStanford University8 questions · you write 83-50 words · 100-250 wordsSwarthmore College2 questions · you write 2250 wordsTufts University5 questions · by school75-150 words · 100-200 wordsUniversity of Chicago7 questions · you write 2no set limitThe University of Texas at Austin3 questions · you write 2300 wordsUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison1 question · you write 1no set limitVanderbilt University1 question · you write 1250 wordsVillanova University5 questions · you write 1250 wordsWashington and Lee University5 questions · all optional250 wordsWake Forest University5 questions · you write 1100 words · no set limit · 150 wordsWellesley College1 question · you write 1250-400 wordsYale University7 questions · you write 5200 words · 200 characters · 400 words

Popular colleges with no supplemental essay this year

Each checked on the college's own site. For these, your Common App personal essay does all the work, so it is worth a second review.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
UNC removed its two short-answer questions from the 2026-27 application. The Common App personal essay is the only essay. Source
Georgia Institute of Technology
First-year applicants complete one of the Common App essay prompts; there is no Georgia Tech essay. Source
Northeastern University
Northeastern has no writing supplement and no "why Northeastern" question. Source
University of Georgia
For Fall 2027 UGA requires only the Common App personal essay; its second (book) essay is gone. Source
Middlebury College
Middlebury does not require a supplemental essay (and the application is free from 2026-27). Source
University of Maryland
First-year applicants answer one of the Common App essay prompts; there is no separate Maryland essay. Source

Writing the personal essay instead? Check your Common App essay or read how to write a college essay.

Guides by kind of question

Why this collegeHow to write the "Why this college" essay25 questions of this kind belowWhy this major or schoolHow to write the "Why this major" essay28 questions of this kind belowCommunityHow to write the community essay16 questions of this kind belowBackground and identityHow to write the diversity essay25 questions of this kind belowDisagreement and dialogueWriting about a belief you questioned10 questions of this kind belowActivityHow to write the activity essay7 questions of this kind belowIntellectual curiosityWriting about a topic that captivates you21 questions of this kind belowShort answerHow to write short answer questions13 questions of this kind below

Planning a dozen supplements? Start with how to plan your supplemental essays, and check every limit with the word counter.