S2E24: How to Write Great College Admissions Supplement Essays
In this episode, Thomas Caleel delves into the world of college supplements and supplemental essays.
LISTEN NOW
In this episode, your host, Thomas Caleel, delves into the world of college supplements and supplemental essays.
With the approaching November 1 deadline for early action and early decision applications, Thomas aims to ease concerns and provide a roadmap for success in tackling these critical components of the college application process.
Key Highlights
Understanding the Significance of Supplements: Supplements are an essential part of your college application, offering schools the chance to convey their values and interests to prospective students. Careful reading and research are vital when responding to supplement questions.
Planning Ahead for Interactive Supplements: Some schools have interactive supplements, meaning your choice of major or academic interest can trigger specific essay prompts. Avoid last-minute panic by indicating your academic interest early and considering all potential essay prompts.
Honesty and Alignment: Be honest about your academic interests and goals. Ensure your chosen major aligns with your extracurricular activities and experiences, as inconsistencies may raise questions.
Crafting Effective Essays: Supplemental essays typically revolve around why you want to study at a particular school and how you intend to contribute to the community. Avoid generic responses and instead focus on your unique experiences, interests, and how they relate to the school's offerings.
Short Answers and Lists: Don't overthink short answer questions or lists. Use them to showcase your genuine interests, hobbies, and quirks. Avoid trying to conform to perceived expectations and instead be yourself.
Conclusion:
College supplements and supplemental essays are crucial elements of the application process. Start early, thoroughly research each school's values and offerings, and craft authentic responses that reflect your unique personality and goals.
Remember, this process is an opportunity to show how you'll contribute to the school's community and make your mark on campus. Best of luck as you navigate this important step in your college journey!
About Thomas
Thomas is a parent and alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania. After earning his MBA at the Wharton School in 2003, he moved to Silicon Valley. For three years, he was director of admissions and financial aid at Wharton School. He worked closely with admissions professionals, students, alumni, and professors to create the best possible MBA class.
Thomas has been an entrepreneur his entire life in the fields of finance, agriculture, wellness, and sporting goods. As the founder of Global Education Opportunities, he works with diverse and underserved communities to help them become successful college students. Thomas started the podcast Admittedly because he is passionate about demystifying the application process for parents and applicants.
Related Links
Apply to be a guest: www.thomascaleel.com/apply-for-podcast
Follow Admittedly on Social Media
TikTok: @admittedlypodcast
Instagram: @admittedlypodcast
-
Welcome to the admittedly podcast. I'm your host, Thomas Caleel. And today we're talking about supplements and supplement essays. This is a topic of a lot of concern. Right now I'm getting a lot of messages with questions about it, I would like to talk you through the process a little bit, and hopefully, alleviate some concerns, and help you figure out a roadmap for success. Now, we're talking about the Common Application and the common application, you have the main common application, you have your essays there, we've talked about that quite a bit.
But then you add schools and those schools will each usually have their own supplement. Some of the supplements can be extraordinarily brief, they might ask you your major, they might ask you a few questions just about what you intend to study, whether will you enroll in the fall where you live on campus, and they may not have any essays, great, they're going to ask you to assign your recommenders are going to ask you to waive and sign the FERPA release. And just a few details there.
So what's very important to remember when you're thinking about the supplements is that the supplement is the opportunity for the school to convey their values and their interest to you as a student. So you want to read the questions very, very carefully, and you want to do your research. Now, I'm going to do a separate podcast on how we've spoken about recommenders. And how to assign them. But we're going to talk about that later. For today, we're really going to focus on the kind of nuts and bolts of the supplements.
So ideally, you've gone in you've put you've made your school list, you've put your school's into your supplement list. And of course, you can change that along the way. But for right now we're going to look at that school or those schools that you're looking at for early action, or early decision because of the November deadline that's coming up. You want to start you want to look at that and you want to go in early, do not leave this until the last minute, you want to go in and you want to start indicating your area of academic interest, potential major, or majors. And the reason it's very important to get in and do this early is that a lot of the schools may have interactive supplements. So if you select one major, a certain essay prompt may pop up. If for example, you choose a major in the College of Arts and Sciences, if you choose a major in the business school or in the School of Engineering or the School of Nursing, for example, a different essay prompt might pop up.
And every year, we get students panicking a few days before the deadline, because he said oh my gosh, I'm going in to have to fill out this to finalize this supplement. And this whole new essay popped up or a series of essays popped up. And now they've got you know, several 200 - 250 word essays that they need to write in very short order. And that's just poor planning. So get ahead of that, get that done early. Think carefully about things like if the school has different campuses, right? Don't just click things and think, yes, I want to be on this campus. But if I'm admitted to a different campus, that changes the order of my preference, because if you commit yourself, for example, to attending a school and you mark a campus you're not interested in, they may well put you there. And you don't want to be facing a situation where you're saying, You know what, I want to go to this university on this campus, not on this other campus.
But now I'm committed there, putting you in a bad situation. And we'd rather avoid that upfront. Be honest, be honest about what you want. You've been thinking about this very carefully, especially as you're picking your major. I've spoken about this before. You can't hide in an application if they see a list of economics and extracurricular activities, and you're saying you want to be a journalism major, that's a very, very hard sell, you're going to have to contort yourself, that's not saying that you didn't have an epiphany, let's say summer between junior and senior year. But it's really going to be incumbent on you to explain that.
So then they'll probably ask you questions about family members that may or may not have attended and different schools are dealing with that differently. And then we're going to move on to many times essays. Now. I'm going to speak in generalities here. Every school is unique and different in their approach. But generally, they will ask you two types of questions. Sometimes these will be separate questions. And sometimes this will be all in one question. But they're going to ask you, why do you want to study at our school? Right? What do you bring to the community and what do you hope to get from the community? And then how did you develop your academic interest? How have you evidenced it, and how will you take advantage of what's available at our school to further your growth?
So the important thing to remember here is that if you are giving a broad general answer about the school or the university, you're way too high level, right Do not be parroting back things that you read on the website or things you see in a brochure, I think I'm dating myself there, I'm not even sure that most schools do brochures anymore. But in general, we're not talking about the university as a whole. If you look at a university, that's the University of Michigan, which is a massive organization with dozens of schools, and many, many majors and minors and concentrations. And so making a broad statement about the University of Michigan does not serve you well, right? Because what they're really interested in is your particular experience, they're reaching out to you. And they're saying, Okay, how will you contribute to our community? What does community mean? It can mean anything you need it or want it to mean, it could be something a community that you identify with. Right? race, gender, orientation, social, and economic background, all of those things. It could be a sport, an art, it can be anything, generally, community means outside of academics.
So what they want to say she is okay, you're an involved, interesting person. So how do you plan on bringing that and continuing that when you're at our school, because they want students who come and yes, study very hard, but also are part of the social and community fabric of the university. There are so many ways to get involved, right? So what I always tell people is, you want to look at things that you're currently doing, right? Because ideally, you really enjoy them. And so you want to look at ways you can remain involved in some activities. At school. If you're an athlete, it's fine to say, Look, I am a really good soccer player.
But I'm not good enough to play for the university. But I would like to play in a club League, you might look at continuing your involvement, music or theater, you might be interested in Greek life, you might be interested in outdoor clubs and activities. So you know, various affiliate groups, identity groups. And so these are things that you want to talk about there. And again, not on broad high levels really looking at specifically to you. Okay, now when we talk about that, right, it's also good. If you have the room to put in one or two things you want to try that are new, right? It needs to make sense. Don't just pick something out of thin air and don't go through the catalog and try and find the oddest weirdest club possible and join it.
But it should be something you're genuinely excited about. And I've talked about this before on other platforms. But you know, I have had students who have said, for example, look, I grew up in a country where, for example, women are not allowed to participate in sports. And I would really love to try crew, I'd love to try rowing because it's so far out of my realm of understanding and my comfort zone and unlike anything that I would ever have the opportunity to do at home. And so I want to do that I want that camaraderie, I want that teamwork, it's just gonna be clubbed, it's gonna be fun with me hard work, right?
And so it's perfectly fine for you to find something new, and demonstrate interest there. But don't make it a contest, right? Make it genuine. The next important essay is the academic essay. This can be a separate essay. And like I said, it could just be they might just ask you, why do you want to study at our university? And if they asked you that, you're going to have to take that word count and balance it between, you know, extracurricular community involvement, and academics. What they want to see is okay. You say you want to study biology? How did you discover a love for biology? How have you evidence that classes, extracurricular activities, and summer activities? And what is it about our particular school that interests you? So if you're interested, for example, in the biology of insect populations. Okay, you might look for a professor or two that studies that there might be a particular collection in the museum, there might be a conference that's held, there might be cross-pollination.
And as I use that term, intentionally with other departments across the university, with maybe anthropology or food science, where everybody is looking at this in terms of a connected ecosystem. And so what you really want to do, again, is talk about this is about an n of one, this is 100%. About you. So if you're going to a school that has a great engineering department, but your interest is in sculpture or biology, you don't need to talk about the engineering department, right? You really want to drill down and talk about that aspect of the academic journey that appeals to you.
And I really also encourage you to dig deep Get into that course catalog, see yourself there. So I had a student reach out to me the other day about architecture, right? Where's the best place to study architecture? And so we really needed to kind of step back and say, and I had to say this student, okay, well, what do you mean by architecture? There are schools that study, for example, the theory of architecture, right architecture as a construct architecture in history, and architecture as a driver of social development and growth and change. And then there are other schools that get very technical in terms of drawing and creating portfolios and building models. And so really, you need to step back and look at what that experience looks like, Do you want an architecture program that is more theoretical? Do you want one that is more studio-based, each school is going to be very different in that so if you're applying to a school that has a more theoretical approach, and you really want a hands-on studio experience, you're going to be immensely disappointed.
And as you write the essay, you're really not going to connect with the reader, because the reader is going to say, this is a cut-and-paste essay, and this student really doesn't know us. Speaking of cutting and pasting, do not cut and paste essays. And with the supplements, this is so important. Slow down, take your time, and read these questions carefully. The school is communicating values to you the school is really looking and saying, Okay, this is what matters to us. Now, tell us if and why, and how it matters to you. If you look at NYU this year, they're debuting a new for example, in the USA, that gives you several prompts to choose from from NYU speakers going to give you two very specific points of reference on this one. Number one, I would probably suggest, don't pick Taylor Swift's quote, It's so tempting.
And it's actually really a great quote. But so many applicants are going to answer that quote, that's going to be very hard to stand out. They also give you the option to develop your own quote, but it's such a short essay, that burning 50 to 75 words, laying out the quote, and putting it in context, to me is a waste, you can get your point across very well with the other quotes. So I encourage you to take advantage of that. The supplement essays might also be a place for you to talk about your identity if you haven't done so already, it's a good way to indicate to the schools that look, you know, identify as Native American. And this is what I've been involved in previously, that's cross-referenced, obviously, to the activities list. And you actually have a particular strength with this community or particularly strong affiliated group there. And that's something that really draws me to the school. So don't be afraid to be deeply personal.
In fact, I encourage it and show that inner connection between your journey, your academic journey, and what the school is able to offer. I often tell my students to be selfish, this is a chance for you to be selfish, and just say really, like, this is what I'm bringing. But this is what I want from this experience in schools like that they like to see that you're aware that I'm coming here for this experience.
And I intend to be yes open-minded, but also intensely focused on my goals, and my journey. Now, some schools will have short answer questions. And these ranges, you know, Stanford, for example, will have answers that are maybe 50 to 100 words. USC might have very, very short answers. Colombia has a famous list of questions. And I think that it's important to have fun with these. Don't overthink them. I see too many people, especially on Columbia's list, and they'll say, tell us about books, you're reading films you've watched and you know, art exhibitions that you've gone to or performances that you've gone to. And they start building this real thing and they're talking about Dostoevsky and Faulkner, and Virginia Woolf and you can say, okay, oh, great literature, right. All great works.
But then This is your chance to really round you out. So yes, you can put some heavy reading on there if you really enjoy it, but also talk about the things you do in your spare time, right? What are the websites that you visit for fun? What are books articles or media sources that you visit to just expand your mind? You know, let your mind relax, learn something new. What have you gone to what movies do you like to see? You know, it can be it can be an animated movie, it can be a very heavy drama, it can be a winner in the best foreign film competition. It doesn't really matter, right? So don't overthink this, what they're really looking for is what makes you.
And I think the biggest mistake that many people make in the short answer or list questions is, that they're trying so hard to be what they think the admissions committee wants to see that they failed to be themselves. If this is your, a very great opportunity for you to create a three-dimensional model of yourself, where they say, Okay, we've got the big common FSA, maybe we have additional information as a, we've got an essay, you know, we understand how you want to be involved in the school outside of classes, we see how you're going to be involved academically, but just tell us about yourself as a person, right. And so I think that this is a way to really bring yourself to life to kind of show your quirks to show who you are as a human being. Because, again, we are trying to admit human beings in the admissions process. And so we want people who are fully formed and interesting and could talk about a variety of different topics, right? And this goes to, for example, the famous Stanford roommate essay, right? So tell us about your write a letter to your future roommate.
And I think a lot of people get very caught up here in listing qualities, Oh, I like to listen to this kind of music, and I stay up kind of late. And they're really missing a great opportunity here to talk about themselves as human beings, but also how that relates to the Stanford community. Right. So I'm a jazz pianist. Don't worry, I won't be banging away on the keyboard in the room, I'll have my head headphones on, and I'm going to be using Stanford studio space. I also would love to invite you to come down with me to this restaurant that has open mic night, and they've hosted some of the jazz greats over the years. You know, I'd love to play I'd love you to to hear that. Maybe join me if you play an instrument, right? So this is a way to say look, I understand the community, I understand what makes Palo Alto and Stanford unique for me, and this is my journey through that.
So in short, supplements are a very, very important part of this application process, you need to look at them early, and you need to start filling out the data as soon as possible. This is very, important because it can pop up hidden questions and hidden essays, you do not want that happening as you're trying to submit, scrambling at the last minute when the servers are all crawling a to a halt. You just don't want to do that, right? So go in, and fill that out, please. Then Really take your time. And I understand as you're looking at school websites, they all kind of blur into one big vanilla, you know, conversation about intellectual flexibility, and all these great things that you can do on their campus.
So I really want you to go in and put yourself in the middle of that campus, I want you to save yourself, okay? What kind of social experience do I want? What kind of friends do I want to make? What kind of vibe do I want as I'm walking to my classes? Right? So that's the social part. That's the community part. What do I want my community to look like? So certain international students, for example, will say look, there are great schools in Boston, I love Boston as a city, but honestly, so many students from my home country go there, that it just ends up being a microcosm of home.
And I don't feel like I have the freedom to kind of explore and try things and be myself because I'll be so tied into this social hierarchy and network from back home. Right? Some students will find that comforting, others will find it constricting, and they'll look for different cities or areas where you know, they may not be so surrounded by people that they already know. Likewise, as an international student, do you want to be at a school with a large international population, or a small one, you know, one, or maybe you're more unique and you stand out, or one maybe where there's comfort and security in numbers and you're not feeling like you're just in this, you know, intensely American experience. So put yourself inside that convey that. For those schools that are in large cities, for example, you're allowed to use the city as an aspect of why you want to be at that school.
So, schools in New York City, for example, Wall Street, the performing arts, the food and beverage scene, and the UN. All of these things are critically important to your experience as a student because your professors are going to have relationships there. They're going to help it's going to help you with internships bringing speakers to class, club involvement, all of those things. So don't ignore that. A lot of people will ignore it. And then though a lot of people will lean too heavily into it. And so they'll talk about New York City or Los Angeles. or San Francisco. And that's great. But this is again, not a travelogue. So we want to be very aware of how that interacts with your experience at that particular school. Then moving on to the short answers. Again, have fun, and make sure that it rounds you out. Right? Be aware, however, of what you are putting down, you know, your favorite movie or favorite book. If there is a controversial side to that, you may want to steer clear why.
Because it's a short answer. You don't really have the room to frame why that was important to you. And a reader could take the wrong impression from that. And it would be held against you and we don't want that. Right. So just be aware of that. Beware of podcasts that you're listening to use your best judgment here. But again, try and be as authentic as possible. So I've talked at length about the common application essays. I've talked at length about the Common Application sections. We've got the supplements. We're on the homestretch. We've got a couple of weeks until the November 1 deadline. I wish you well, I invite follow-up questions on our TikTok, or Instagram channels and wish you all the best this fall.
