A Strong Sample Supplemental Essay for College Applications

A Strong Sample Supplemental Essay for College Applications Most college applicants fail to put adequate time into a supplemental college essay. The Common Applications personal essay allows a student to write a single essay for multiple colleges. The supplemental college essay, however, needs to be different for every application. Thus, its tempting to dash off a generic and vague piece that can be used at multiple schools, resulting in a  weak essay. Dont make this mistake. The sample supplemental college essay below was written for Oberlin. The essay prompt reads, Given your interests, values, and goals, explain why Oberlin College will help you grow (as a student and a person) during your undergraduate years. The question asked here is typical of many supplemental essays. Essentially, the admissions folks want to know why their school is of particular interest to you. Sample Supplemental Essay I visited 18 colleges over the past year, yet Oberlin is the one place that most spoke to my interests. Early in my college search I learned that I prefer a liberal arts college to a larger university. The collaboration between the faculty and undergraduate students, the sense of community, and the flexible, interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum are all important to me. Also, my high school experience was greatly enriched by the diversity of the student body, and I am impressed by Oberlin’s rich history and its current efforts connected to inclusiveness and equality. To say the least, I’d be proud to say I attended the first coeducational college in the country. I plan to major in Environmental Studies at Oberlin. After my campus tour, I took some extra time to visit the Adam Joseph Lewis Center. It’s an amazing space and the students I chatted with spoke highly of their professors. I became truly interested in issues of sustainability during my volunteer work in the Hudson River Valley, and everything I’ve learned about Oberlin makes it seem the ideal place for me to continue exploring and building upon those interests. I am also impressed by Oberlin’s Creativity and Leadership Project. I’ve been a bit of an entrepreneur ever since second grade when I made a dollar producing and performing The Runaway Bunny for my extended family. I’m drawn to a program that supports the move from classroom learning to creative hands-on, real-world applications. Finally, as the rest of my application clearly demonstrates, music is an important part of my life. I’ve been playing the trumpet since fourth grade, and I hope to continue performing and developing my skills throughout college. What better place than Oberlin to do so? With more performances than days in the year and a large group of talented musicians in the Conservatory of Music, Oberlin is an ideal place for exploring my love of both music and the environment. A Critique of the Supplemental Essay To understand the strength of the essay, we must first look at the prompt: the admissions officers at Oberlin want you to explain why Oberlin College will help you grow. This sounds straightforward, but be careful. Youre not being asked to explain how  college  will help you grow, but how  Oberlin  will help you grow. The essay needs to include specific information about  Oberlin College. The sample essay certainly succeeds on this front. Lets look at why. The first paragraph makes several important points. First of all, we learn that the applicant has visited Oberlin. This may not seem like a big deal, but youd be surprised how many students apply to a large number of colleges based on nothing but the schools reputations. Also, the student notes that she wants to go to a  liberal arts college, not a larger  university. This information isnt really specific to Oberlin, but it does show that she has thought about the options available to her. The final point in this first paragraph gets more specific- the applicant is familiar with Oberlin and knows the schools socially progressive history.The second paragraph is really the heart of this essay- the applicant wants to major in Environmental Studies, and she is clearly impressed with the program at Oberlin. She has visited the Environmental Studies building, and she knows of some of the unique opportunities offered at Oberlin. She has even talked with Oberlin students. This paragraph cant help but make a favorable impression on the admissions folks- the applicant is drawn to Oberlin and she clearly knows exactly  why  she likes Oberlin. The final paragraph adds another important dimension to the application. Not only does the student find the Environmental Studies program attractive, but her love of music makes Oberlin an even better match. Oberlin has a top-rated music program, so the applicants dual love of music and Environmental Studies makes Oberlin a natural match for her. Admissions officers cant help but feel that Oberlin is a great match for this applicant. She knows the school well, and her interests and goals line up perfectly with Oberlins strengths. This short essay will certainly be a positive piece of her application. As you write your own supplemental essays, be sure to avoid  common supplemental essay mistakes and make your essay specific to the university to give it more  strength.