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How to Write W&L's Curious Mind Essay

How your curious mind works, through something you spend a lot of time thinking or learning about.

250 wordsOptional: answer up to 1 of 4Intellectual curiosity2026-27
Washington and Lee University's wording, checked October 26, 2026
“Reveal to us how your curious mind works by sharing something you spend considerable time thinking or learning about.”

How to approach it

  1. 1Show the path your thinking takes, step by step.
  2. 2The prompt asks how your mind works. The topic is the vehicle and your process is the subject.
  3. 3It does not need to be academic. Considerable time is the only requirement the prompt sets.

A structure that works

One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.

  1. 1The thing you keep thinking about, introduced through a specific question.
  2. 2How you chase it: what you read, build, ask or test.
  3. 3A wrong turn or surprise along the way.
  4. 4What you are still trying to work out.

Where the 250 words go

PartWords
The moment or exampleabout 100
What it shows or changedabout 90
Why it matters, or what you bringabout 60

Mistakes to avoid

  • Describing a topic instead of your thinking.
  • An encyclopedia entry on the topic.

The checklist our grader uses for this question

When you check your W&L answers, this answer is read against these 5 areas. Each comes back Met, Partly or Missing with a quote from your draft as evidence, and together with the 250 words limit they set its readiness verdict.

AreaWhat a reader looks for
Answers the questionThe opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered.
One specific ideaIt names one specific topic, question or idea early, narrower than a whole subject.
Evidence you pursue itIt shows what the applicant read, built, asked or tried on their own, beyond required class work.
Your own thinkingThe reader sees how the applicant's mind works on it: a connection, an opinion, a question still open.
W&L's askIt does every part of what W&L's question asks, in the college's own terms.

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Questions

How long is W&L's "Option 3: how your curious mind works" essay?

Up to 250 words.

Is it required?

Optional: answer up to 1 of 4. W&L's full set of questions is on the W&L supplemental essays page.

Can I reuse an essay from another college for this prompt?

You can start from material you have, but rewrite it for W&L's exact wording: answer every part of this question, and cut what it does not ask for.

Can Statementory write or improve my answer?

We never write or rewrite it: colleges ask you to affirm your essays are your own work. Our checker reviews it against the checklist on this page, quotes your own words, and asks the questions only you can answer.

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