What Colleges Require Admission Essays? And Which Ones Require Supplemental Essays?

What Colleges Require Admission Essays? And Which Ones Require Supplemental Essays? The following materials may be required of some students where applicable. If you have questions, please contact the Office of Admissions at to speak with an admissions counselor. You must report your entire academic record, including all college credit earned. Get several people to read it and write their comments down. It is worthwhile to seek out someone in the field, perhaps a professor who has read such essays before. Such coursework must be detailed on your admissions application, and you must submit official transcripts documenting the coursework. Generally, you should plan to submit your essay in conjunction with your admissions application. Please find information below to assist you in completing your application for admission and address frequently asked questions. These optional materials will be accepted as part of the application if a student chooses to submit them. Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation, organization, or anything else. For help getting started, see our handout on brainstorming. The priority deadline offers students the opportunity to receive their admission decision up to one month earlier. All completed applications received by November 1 will receive an admission decision by February 1, which may include a deferred decision to March 1 . ACT or SAT test scores are not required for the Fall 2021 admissions application. You may want to start by just getting somethingâ€"anythingâ€"on paper. Think about the questions we asked above and the prompt for the essay, and then write for 15 or 30 minutes without stopping. What do you want your audience to know after reading your essay? Focus on singular moments or activitiesâ€"pick the ones that stand out. It’s no jokeâ€"you’d be right to think that after working their way through a big pile of essays, the people reading yours could use a good laugh. You know next to nothing about who will read it, let alone their senses of humor. You don’t want a college to think you are too focused on education and that you can’t have fun. Applicants may choose to submit either the ACT or SAT as part of their admissions application. When provided, ACT and/or SAT scores will continue to serve as just one of the many factors considered in our review of a student’s application. There is an online resource for frequently asked questions regarding submitting standardized test scores. Students may also contact the Office of Admissions at with additional questions. The optional information below is NOT required for admissions consideration, but will be considered as part of the student’s application for admission if submitted. But they also need to know you will be taking your education seriously. One simple joke at the start or end of your essay is more than enough. Find what is specific to you about the ideas that generated those platitudes and express them more directly. It’s probably much more personal than any of the papers you have written for class because it’s about you, not World War II or planaria. The key is to get more than one point of view, and then compare these with your own. Remember, you are the one best equipped to judge how accurately you are representing yourself. For tips on putting this advice to good use, see our handout on getting feedback. Find the most relevant, memorable, concrete statements and focus in on them. Eliminate any generalizations or platitudes (“I’m a people person”, “Doctors save lives”, or “Mr. Calleson’s classes changed my life”), or anything that could be cut and pasted into anyone else’s application.