Tell Me More: Use Writing Supplements To Strengthen Your College Applications

Tell Me More: Use Writing Supplements To Strengthen Your College Applications

1. Embrace All Supplemental Writing Requirements. Most selective colleges using the Common Application have individual Member Questions and/or Writing Supplements. Colleges that have supplemental essays really want to learn more about you– from you. So give them what they want. Great supplemental essay responses will give admissions officers more reasons to admit you and even give you a scholarship.
2. Each college’s supplemental questions are unique. While all colleges will see your Common Application, only the individual colleges will see your additional responses. So each extra writing assignment isdifferent. Some will have one essay while others will have several. Each question and/or supplement, no matter what it requires you to provide, is another opportunity to provide more valuable information about yourself to the colleges you seek to attend.
3. Length and formats vary. Be prepared to write a variety of supplemental essays from short one-line responses to medium size responses to 650 word essays. No matter what the length, each response is a new chance to tell a different story or message about what you will offer a college. Also some you paste in a box, while others you upload.
4. Read college’s specific essay tips. Most colleges now have a variety of ways to communicate their views on college essays. Some even provide model essays, including,Johns Hopkins University, Carleton College, and Connecticut College. Others give great tips from The University of California Berkeley and Boston University. Read how colleges view the essays on their websites. College specific tips may help you write essays that you engage your admissions readers

5. Be even smarter than the smart writing questions or supplements. Some of your questions will appear based on what you answer in Member Question about particular majors or merit scholarships. Don’t be surprised if an essay disappears if you change your major or select no to a particular program or scholarship. Keep a running track of what you have to write for each prompt based on your Member Question selections.
6. Learn deeply about the personality and reputation of college. Think of what each college values when writing your supplemental essays. If the college is large, and asks a community or diversity question, think how you can make a big campus small. Think how you can enrich a diverse community and how well you can join existing communities. If the college is small, think of ways you can truly engage as a member of an intense learning community. If the college is religious, think of ways you can enrich the spiritual community.
7. Let us help you. All College Application Essays has done the hard work of collecting all the Supplemental Essays for you. We tell you where to find them, what each additional essay prompt requires, and the length and submission format. Use the time we save you writing powerful essays that communicate even more reasons for a college to accept you.
8. Recycle essays and re-use supplemental essays wisely. Remember, each question and/or supplement is separate and belongs to the individual college and you. The colleges do not communicate with each other, so you can use some of your essays over and over again, especially the longer ones and the optional activity statements. For example, you can see a way to use your University of Chicago Supplemental essays as your Boston College Supplement. Yet don’t be careless and cut and paste a college specific essay into the wrong college.
9. Share more core qualities in college “Dating” essays. Many colleges have specific essays prompts geared around why you and the college are a good match. Read the specific wording on these prompts. Some colleges want only academic information while others want an overall essay. Understand that if they have this prompt, they want to know how you will fit into their campuses. They don’t want mere recaps of what they know they offer. Think of how you can engage specifically on their campuses. Some campuses even send these essays out to professors or specific communities to read. Give specific examples from your visits, college fair talks with admissions officers, or emails with professors or current students. Let them picture you on their campuses by literally picturing yourself on their campus. Ultimately, give colleges what they want, a reason to ask you out and ideally propose.
10. Nothing is optional. Some colleges give you some optional essays. Do not ignore these options to offer new information.  Each essay is a chance to share a new reason why you belong on that campus. Of course, don’t force yourself to answer an essay that doesn’t match.