With the college application process coming to a close, I think that it is a good idea to share what I have learned about writing supplemental essays. In the past three months, I have written twelve supplemental essays, and I will write nine more by the end of the month. So I have learned a thing or two about what these colleges are looking for.
The hardest supplemental essay you will have to write is the “why us?” essay. This will either greatly strengthen or hinder your application. The biggest thing to take advantage of is specificity. Do research and find what unique traditions the school has, what specific clubs you are interested in, and what specific classes you want to take. Showing a deep understanding of what the school has to offer is going to show the reader that you really are interested in the school. And not only that, but it also shows that you will be an active member of the school’s community. By saying you want to join the intramural sports league or the drone club, it shows genuine interest in the school and provides reasoning as to why you are a good fit for the school. Because it is not just about having the credentials to be admitted it is also about how you fit in the school.
One of the other hardest essays you will write is the “why this major?” essay. This is a crucial essay for not only the school but also for yourself. You genuinely have to want to study what you apply for to write this essay well. And if it is hard for you to write this essay, ask yourself if this is truly the right choice for you. The most important detail you can add is how the specific degree will help you achieve your goals, and why you want to achieve those goals. For example, if you want to do engineering, say I want to study engineering because it will give me the opportunity to pursue a career in robotics. Having this job will let me build medical robots that can ultimately help save lives and I could think of nothing better for me to work on. Provide the reader with a sense of the big picture rather than saying it sounds fun, or you want to do it for the money. If it is truly a degree you want to pursue it should be somewhat easy to write about how it will be a fulfilling career.
Finally, how do you manage the word count? I found the best strategy for keeping to the word limit is to just write. Get all of your ideas down and just let it flow first. After that, reread your essay and find the most important parts. Do not delete anything before having a second reader do the same thing. If the second reader agrees on the important and not so important parts with you then go ahead and delete those parts. Keep in mind what the prompt is asking while editing so that you don’t have any unnecessary fluff. Make sure to be concise in wording and phrasing. “My mom ran out from the house and onto the lawn to see me backing into the wooden mailbox at the end of the driveway” can be turned into “My mom saw me back into our mailbox”. This takes some detail away but if you are really trying to trim your essay down this could be a necessary fix. You could also have the opposite problem where you have too few words. What you need to keep in mind is that it is better to be concise than to add fluff. If all of your important thoughts and ideas are there, then just leave it. It may be more impressive than writing an essay with the same topics that is two hundred more words. The maximum word count is a ceiling, not a target.
I hope that you can take these suggestions into consideration when writing your final college supplementals, and if you’re already done, well lucky you, share them with your friends and family that will be going through the same process in the coming years.