Washington and Lee University's wording, checked October 26, 2026“W&L’s mission statement focuses on preparing graduates for lifelong learning in a global and diverse society. Engaging with faculty, staff, and classmates with diverse identities, experiences, and perspectives is an essential component of our education. Recognizing that diversity takes many forms, what diverse aspect would you bring to W&L?”
How to approach it
- 1Choose the aspect and show it in action.
- 2The prompt says diversity takes many forms. Experience, place, belief, work and circumstance all count.
- 3W&L ties the question to learning in a global and diverse society, so show the aspect at work in a conversation or a class.
A structure that works
One way to shape this answer. It describes moves, not sentences: the words have to be yours.
- 1The aspect you would bring, defined in your own terms.
- 2A scene that shows it shaping how you think or act.
- 3How it would affect your conversations with classmates and faculty at W&L.
- 4What you hope to learn from people whose experience differs from yours.
Where the 250 words go
| Part | Words |
|---|---|
| The moment or example | about 100 |
| What it shows or changed | about 90 |
| Why it matters, or what you bring | about 60 |
Mistakes to avoid
- A label with no story.
- Describing the aspect without saying what you would bring.
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.
| Area | What a reader looks for |
|---|---|
| Answers the question | The opening sentences answer what was asked, plainly, before background or a hook; every part of a multi-part question is answered. |
| One lived experience | It focuses on one specific aspect of the applicant's life or background, shown through a moment or detail, not a list of labels. |
| How it shaped you | It shows how that experience changed what the applicant thinks, does or notices, with evidence rather than a claim. |
| What classmates will gain | It makes clear what the applicant would bring to conversations, classes or campus life because of it. |
| W&L's ask | It connects the answer to W&L's community and does every part of what W&L's question asks. |
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Questions
More on W&L and this kind of question
- Harvard: Life experiences you will contribute · 150 words
- Yale: Essay: your personal experience · 400 words
- Princeton: Your voice: lived experience · 400-500 words
- Columbia: Your lived experience · 150 words
- Brown: An aspect of your growing up · 150-250 words
- Dartmouth: Let your life speak · 250 words