Update January 28, 2016- The Common Application has announced that the 2016-2017 personal statement essay prompts will be the same as the 2015-2016 prompts.
Juniors should write essays the summer after junior year.
The Common Application went live on August 1st so many rising seniors started filling in their apps. As soon as they
added a college, most were able to see additional writing requirements and supplements. These are in addition to the one Common App essay that goes to all of the colleges on the Common App. These additional writing supplements are specific to a school and can be short answer questions such as “Why do you want to major in ____?” to long essays asking students why they want to attend this particular college.
These additional writing supplements are very important for college admissions, so answers should be researched, well-thought out and always proofread by a professional. Here are the additional requirements for the Common App for Class of 2015:
| University | Extra Prompt Requirements |
|---|---|
| Adelphi University New | None |
| Albion College | None |
| Agnes Scott College New | 4 prompts |
| Allegheny College | None |
| American University | 2 optional prompts |
| Amherst College | 1 prompt (175 words), choice of second prompt (300 words) or graded writing sample |
| Assumption College | 1 prompt (125 words) |
| Austin College | 1 prompt |
| Babson College | 1 prompt (unspecified), choice of second prompt (500 words) or 1 minute video |
| Bard College | 1 prompt |
| Barnard College | 3 prompts (250 words each) |
| Bates College | 1 prompt (1-2 paragraphs) |
| Beloit College New | None |
| Bennington College | 5 prompts (1 unspecified, 250 words for others) |
| Bentley University | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| Boston College New | 1 prompt (400 words) |
| Boston University | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| Bowdoin College | 2 prompts (140 characters, 250 words) |
| Brandeis University | 1 graded analytical paper required if test flexible option selected |
| Brown University | 4 prompts (1 x 150 words, 3 x 100 words) |
| Bryn Mawr College | 2 prompts (100 words, 1 unspecified) |
| Bucknell University | None |
| Butler University | None |
| California Lutheran University | 2 prompts (250 words each) |
| California Institute of Technology | 3 prompts (600 chars, 2 x 200 words) |
| Carleton College | 2 prompts (250 words, 150 words) |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 2 prompts (1 page single-spaced,other unspecified) |
| Case Western Reserve University | None |
| Centre College | 1 prompt |
| Chapman University | Not available |
| Claremont McKenna College | 1 prompt (200 words) |
| Clark University | None |
| Colby College | None |
| Colgate University | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| College of St. Benedict | None |
| College of the Atlantic | 2 prompts |
| College of the Holy Cross | None |
| College of William and Mary | 1 prompt (500 words) |
| College of Wooster | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| Colorado College New | 2 prompts (500 words each) |
| Colorado State University – Ft. Collins | None |
| Columbia University | 6 prompts (5×150, 1×300 words) |
| Concordia University – Irvine | None |
| Connecticut College | None |
| Cornell College | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| Cornell University | None |
| Creighton University | 1 prompt |
| Dartmouth College | 1 prompt (1 page) |
| Davidson College | 2 prompts (250-300 words, 200 words) |
| Denison University | Not available |
| DePauw University | None |
| Dickinson College | 1 prompt, strongly recommended for early decision candidates, optional but recommended for others |
| Drexel University | None |
| Duke University | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| Earlham College | Not available |
| Emerson College | Not available |
| Emory University (Emory) | 1 prompt (500 words) |
| Emory University (Oxford) | 1 prompt (500 words) |
| Fairfield University | None |
| Fordham University | None |
| Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering | 2 prompts (300 words, 500 words) |
| Franklin and Marshall | 2 prompts (150 words, 100 words) |
| Furman University | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| George Washington University | Not available |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | 3 prompts (150 words) |
| Gettysburg College | None |
| Gonzaga University | 1 prompt (50-300 words) |
| Goucher College | 2 prompts (10 words, 100 words) |
| Grinnell College | None |
| Guilford College | None |
| Gustavus Adolphus College New | None |
| Hamilton College | 1 prompt, optional but strongly encouraged (250 words) |
| Hampshire College | 1 academic paper (3-10 pages), 2 prompts (300 words minimum) |
| Harvard University | 1 prompt, 1 optional additional essay |
| Harvey Mudd College | 2 prompts (500 words) |
| Haverford College | 2 prompts (150 words, 250 words) |
| Hawaii Pacific University | None |
| Hendrix College | 3 prompts |
| Hillsdale College | 2 prompts (250 words each) |
| Hobart and William Smith Colleges | None |
| Ithaca College | 1 prompt, 1 optional essay |
| Johns Hopkins University | 1 prompt (300-500 words) |
| Juniata College | None |
| Kalamazoo College | 2 prompts (1 unspecified, 500 words for other) |
| Kenyon College | None |
| Knox College | 1 prompt (100-300 words) |
| Lafayette College | 1 prompt (20-200 words), 1 optional (20-200 words) |
| Lawrence University | 1 prompt (47 words) |
| Lehigh University | 2 prompts (250-350 words, 150-250 words) |
| Lewis and Clark College | 1 prompt (1 paragraph) |
| Loyola Marymount University | 2 prompts (1 unspecified, 500-1,000 words for other) |
| Luther College | None |
| Macalester College | 2 prompts (1 unspecified, 250-500 words for other) |
| Marquette University | None |
| Menlo College | None |
| Middlebury College | None |
| Miami University – Oxford | None |
| Mills College | 2 prompts (1 unspecified, 250 words for other) |
| Millsaps College | None |
| Mount Holyoke College | Not available |
| Mount St. Marys University | Not available |
| Muhlenberg College | None |
| New York University | 1 prompt (400 words) |
| North Carolina State | Not available |
| Northeastern University | None |
| Northwestern University | 1 prompt, optional but HIGHLY recommended |
| Notre Dame de Namur University | None |
| Oberlin College | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| Occidental College | 4 prompts (1 x 128 words, 3 x 175 words) |
| Ohio State University – Columbus | None |
| Pepperdine University | 2 prompts (50-300 words each) |
| Pitzer College | 1 prompt (650 words) |
| Pomona College | 1 prompt |
| Princeton University | Not available |
| Providence College | 1 optional prompt (250 words) |
| Purdue University | 3 prompts (1 unspecified, 2 x 100 words) |
| Reed College | Not available |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Not available |
| Rhodes College | None |
| Rice University | 3 prompts ( 2 x 150 words, 250 words) |
| Roger Williams University | None |
| St. Lawrence University | None |
| Saint Anselm | 1 prompt (100 words) |
| Saint Johns College – MD | 4 prompts (1 unspecified, 1 x 100 words, 2 x 250 words minimum). A fifth prompt is optional (250 words) |
| Saint Johns College – NM | 4 prompts (1 unspecified, 1 x 100 words, 2 x 250 words minimum). A fifth prompt is optional (250 words) |
| Saint Johns University – MN | None |
| Saint Louis University | None |
| Saint Michaels College | 1 prompt |
| Saint Olaf College | 1 prompt (100 words), optional essay for scholarships |
| Salve Regina University | Not available |
| Santa Clara University | 3 prompts (2 x 150 words, 1 x 150-300 words) |
| Sarah Lawrence College | 1 prompt (250-500 words), 1 graded analytical paper recommended |
| Scripps College | 2 prompts (200 words, 150-300 words) |
| Sewanee: The University of the South | None |
| Skidmore College | None |
| Smith College | 1 prompt (200 words) |
| Soka University of America | 2 prompts (500-750 words each) |
| Southern Methodist University | 2 prompts (250 words each) |
| Southwestern University | None |
| Spelman College | None |
| St. Marys College of California | 2 prompts (50-300 words for one, 150-500 words for other) |
| St. Marys College of Maryland New | 1 prompt |
| Stanford University | 8 short answer (50 words), 3 prompts (1 x 100-250 words, 2 x 250 words) |
| State University of New York – Binghamton | None |
| State University of New York – Geneseo | Not available |
| State University of New York – Environmental Science and Forestry | 1 prompt |
| State University of New York – Stony Brook | None |
| Stonehill College | None |
| Suffolk University | None |
| Swarthmore College | 1 prompt (150-250 words) |
| Syracuse University | 2 prompts (250 words each) |
| Texas Christian University | 2 prompts (100 words each) |
| The College of New Jersey | None |
| Transylvania University | 2 prompts |
| Trinity College | 1 prompt (250-650 words) |
| Tufts University | 3 prompts (1 x 50-100 words, 2 x 200-250 words) |
| Tulane University | 1 prompt (unspecified length), 1 optional prompt (50-1,000 words) |
| Union College | None |
| University of Chicago | 2 prompts (1 unspecified, 1-2 pages for other) plus 1 optional prompt |
| University of Colorado – Boulder | 1 prompt |
| University of Connecticut – Storrs | None |
| University of Dayton | None |
| University of Delaware | Not available |
| University of Denver | None |
| University of La Verne | None |
| University of Maine | None |
| University of Maryland – College Park | None |
| University of Massachusetts – Amherst | Not available |
| University of Massachusetts – Lowell | None |
| University of Miami | None |
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | 3 prompts (100 words, 250 words, 500 words) |
| University of New Hampshire | None |
| University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill | 1 prompt (400-500 words) |
| University of Notre Dame | 3 prompts (150-200 words each) |
| University of Pennsylvania | 1 prompt (400-650 words) |
| University of Puget Sound | None |
| University of Rhode Island | None |
| University of Redlands | 2 prompts |
| University of Richmond | 1 prompt (650 words) |
| University of Rochester | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| University of San Diego | 2 prompts |
| University of San Francisco | 1 prompt (150 words) |
| University of Southern California | 2 prompts (250 words) |
| University of Tennessee – Knoxville | 2 prompts |
| University of the Pacific New | None |
| University of Vermont | None |
| University of Virginia New | 2 prompts (250 words each) |
| Vanderbilt University | 1 prompt |
| Vassar College | 2 prompts (350 words each) |
| Villanova University | 1 prompt (1 page, double spaced) |
| Wabash College | None |
| Wake Forest University | 7 prompts (1 unspecified, 1 x 100-300 words, 4 x 75-150 words, top 10 list) |
| Washington and Lee College | Not available |
| Washington University at St. Louis | None |
| Wellesley College | 1 prompt |
| Wesleyan University | None |
| Wheaton College – MA | 2 prompts (200 words, 300 words) |
| Whitman College | 1 prompt (250 words) |
| Whittier College | 1 prompt |
| Willamette University | None |
| Williams College | 1 optional prompt (300 words) |
| Wofford College | 2 prompts |
| Woodbury University | Not available |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | 1 prompt |
| Yale University | Not available |
