Back in 1975 when the Common App was first launched, it was truly a common application. Students filled out a form, wrote a short piece on a favorite extracurricular activity, and then their 650-word essay.
Over time, colleges started asking for supplemental essays as a way to get to know more about their applicants, make distinctions amongst a high-achieving applicant pool, and to better assess who was seriously interested in the school. Today, most colleges have two to four supplemental questions (long essays, short responses, lists) in addition to what’s being asked on the Common Application. So, applying to colleges is far from streamlined. We are almost back to where we were before the Common Application – different essays for different schools. But……
MOST but not ALL.
WHY?
There are still nearly 400 schools that accept the Common Application who don’t have additional supplements. That’s many good schools that don’t require supplemental essays and rely solely on the Common Application. So why don’t they ask any supplemental questions? Most likely, the decision falls into one of the following:
- A desire to increase accessibility and attract more applicants. An application with lots of additional essays will deter students who lack the time to work on them. Essentially – get more kids to apply!
- A much-more straightforward admissions process that is based primarily on scores, class rank, and GPA. Data drives these schools vs getting to know the candidates.
Whatever your reason for seeking a school that doesn’t require additional supplemental essays, we’ve got you covered.
SAMPLE LIBERAL ARTS SCHOOLS WITHOUT SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS
- Albion College
- Allegheny College
- Beloit College
- Coe College (personal essay optional for students who meet Coe’s minimum academic standards)
- Colby College
- Connecticut College
- DePauw University
- Drew University (applicants who select certain Specialty/Dual Degree programs will be required to complete an additional writing question)
- Farleigh Dickinson
- Furman University
- Gettysburg College
- Goucher College
- Grinnell College
- Hanover College
- Hollins University
- Hope College
- Juniata College
- Kent State
- Kenyon College
- Middlebury College
- Muhlenberg College
- Ripon College (optional personal statement)
- Sewanee—University of the South
- Siena College (option to submit a graded paper in place of an essay on Siena application)
- Skidmore College
- Spelman College (additional essay for Honors program)
- St. John’s University (essay for Pharmacy program or if not submitting testing scores)
- St. Lawrence University
- Susquehanna University
- Wesleyan University (international students will be required to complete a writing prompt, depending on answers to some questions)
SAMPLE UNIVERSITIES WITHOUT SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS
- Case Western Reserve University (Pre-Professional Scholars program requires additional writing questions)
- Clemson University
- DePaul University
- Drexel University (essay for Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and custom-designed majors)
- Fordham University (For 2020-2021, there will be a COVID-19 question)
- Miami University—Oxford
- New Jersey Institute of Technology (Albert Dorman Honors College has an essay requirement)
- Northeastern University
- Ohio State University (Honors, Scholars, Morrill Scholarship Program and some majors have additional essay requirements)
- Seton Hall University
- Stevens Institute of Technology (Accelerated Medicine program has an additional writing question)
- Stony Brook University (Honors College, University Scholars, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), Scholars for Medicine and Scholars for Dental Medicine have additional essay requirements)
- SUNY Binghamton University (depending on answers to some questions, a writing question may be required)
- SUNY Buffalo (depending on answers to some questions, a writing question may be required)
- University of Alabama
- University of Arkansas
- University of Colorado -Denver
- University of Connecticut
- University of Dayton
- University of Delaware (supplemental essay required for Honors Program)
- University of Denver
- University of Iowa (supplemental essays for certain programs of study)
- University of Minnesota (depending on answers to some questions, a writing question may be required)
- University of Nebraska—Lincoln (personal statement required to be considered for leadership and diversity scholarships)
- University of New Hampshire
- University of the Pacific
- University of Pittsburgh (In lieu of an essay or personal statement, interested applicants are asked to answer short answer questions. Specific questions required for Pitt Honors admission.)
- University of St. Thomas (essays recommended, but not required)
- University of Vermont (optional essay questions available as part of application process)
ESSAY GUIDANCE
Whether your list of schools requires supplemental essays or not, or if you’re still working on your Common Application essay – we’re here to help you share your voice, your vision and your true scholarly selves to college admissions officers and can help you craft compelling essays.
“T was accepted early decision to Boston College! Thank you so, so much for all of the help and guidance that you provided us over the past 6 months. I can’t imagine there are many (if any!) people out there who are better than you at what you do! Thank you for your patience, prompt replies, and for keeping T on track! We are very grateful to have found you and worked with you!”
– D.M., Essay Guidance Program parent
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