How to Write College Supplemental Essays

The secret sauce to a great supplemental essay is to know the school. Colleges care about yield, so we want to convince them that you will say yes if admitted. A generic supplemental essay will make the admissions officer suspect you either applied on a whim or weren't interested enough in the school to bother getting to know it. Do you understand the school’s graduation requirements? Are all undergraduate applications in the same school, or do they have specialized schools (eg Business, Education, Engineering)? Have you spoken to any students about campus life? Before writing, we’ll work with you to gather answers to these questions and more.

Avoiding platitudes like, “I just knew as soon as I stepped foot on campus” and “I always imagined myself attending Yale” and “Who wouldn’t want to go to Harvard?” and “My dream is to live in NYC,” we will get specific.

Together, we’ll identify one or more majors and minors that track with your activities and classes. We will explicitly make the connection in the supplement between your interests and the school’s offerings. For example, we’ll look at the classes offered and find some that match your story, or we will identify a professor working on research that resonates with your interests. Remember you are not bound to this academic track in college, but presenting a plan is better than saying, “I have no idea.” Colleges also want to know how you will contribute to their campus, so we’ll look at the clubs and extracurriculars and explain your interest in them. 

Here are some examples of successful supplements to Duke, Yale, USC, and Brown. Remember, without the Activities Section, Additional Information, and Personal Statement, these do not tell a full story!