51 schools.
98 prompts.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. Share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

Amherst asks you to respond to one of several quotations from members of its own faculty and alumni about learning, difference, and inquiry.

Barnard asks what draws you to a women's college in New York City, and how you would use both the college and the city.

BC offers a rotating set of prompts on themes of conversation across difference, moral formation, and what you want to do with your education.

What about being a student at Boston University most excites you, and how would you take advantage of the city and the university?

Bowdoin asks you to respond to a line from 'The Offer of the College,' its statement about what an education is for.

Brown's Open Curriculum allows students to explore broadly while also diving deeply into their academic pursuits. Tell us about any academic interests that excite you, and how you might use the Open Curriculum to pursue them.

Students entering Brown often find that making their home on College Hill naturally invites reflection on where they came from. Share how an aspect of your growing up has inspired or challenged you, and what unique contributions this might allow you to make to the Brown community.

Brown students care deeply about their work and the world around them. What brings you joy?

Describe your interest in STEM, including how you have explored it beyond the classroom and what you hope to pursue at Caltech.

Tell us about something you do or care about outside of academics, and what it gives you.

Describe a time you took an unconventional approach to a technical or scientific problem.

Most students choose their intended major or area of study based on a passion or inspiration developed over time. Tell us about the experiences that led you to choose your specific program.

Describe how you have used your time outside of academics, and what it has taught you.

Case Western asks about your academic interests and why its programs fit them.

Colgate asks a set of short questions about what you would bring to campus and what you hope to find there.

List the titles of print or digital publications, websites, podcasts, or other media you read or engage with regularly.

What attracts you to Columbia specifically, and how will you make use of the university's resources and offerings?

In college you will encounter environments different from the ones you know. Tell us about an aspect of your own perspective or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia's diverse and collaborative community.

We all contribute to, and are influenced by, the communities that are meaningful to us. Share how you have been shaped by one of the communities you belong to.

Each Cornell undergraduate college asks its own question about why you are applying to that college and that major. Answer for the specific college on your application.

As you seek admission to Dartmouth's Class, what aspects of the college's academic program, community, or campus environment attract your interest?

Dartmouth offers a rotating set of short prompts drawn from quotations, questions from its own community, and invitations to describe your curiosity. Choose the one you have a real answer to.

What is your sense of Duke as a university and a community, and why do you consider it a good match for you?

Duke offers several optional short prompts on perspective, identity, beliefs you have changed, and experiences of difference. Choose up to two that you have something real to say about.

What academic areas or aspects of Emory's community are you drawn to, and why?

Emory offers a rotating set of short, playful prompts about what you find fun, what you have changed your mind about, and what you would teach others.

Write a brief essay describing yourself as a person and a student, so that the reader knows you beyond your record.

Each Georgetown school asks why you are applying to that school in particular. Answer for the specific school on your application.

Why do you want to study your chosen major specifically at Georgia Tech?

Briefly describe an intellectual experience that was important to you.

Describe a time when you strongly disagreed with someone about an idea or issue. How did you communicate or engage with this person? What did you learn from the experience?

Top three things your roommates might like to know about you.

How has your life experience contributed to your personal story, your character, and your goals, and how would you contribute to the Hopkins community?

What field of study appeals to you the most right now? Tell us more about why this field of study at MIT appeals to you.

We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it.

Describe one way you have collaborated with people who are different from you to contribute to your community.

Tell us about a significant challenge you've faced or something that didn't go according to plan that you feel comfortable sharing. How did you manage the situation?

Middlebury asks what specifically draws you to the college, and offers short prompts about your intellectual and personal interests.

NYU asks about a perspective, identity, or experience of yours and how it would contribute to a global university community.

What draws you to Northeastern's experiential model, and how would you use co-op and global opportunities?

Painting 'Purple Pride' is a Northwestern tradition. What draws you to Northwestern specifically, and how would you take advantage of its opportunities?

Northwestern asks short responses about communities you belong to and how you would engage with campus life. Answer the ones you can answer concretely.

Pomona asks short questions about what you have changed your mind about, what you do for fun, and what community means to you.

Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you.

Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects with these ideals.

What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?

Please explain why you wish to study in the academic areas you selected.

Based on your exploration of Rice, what elements of the Rice experience appeal to you?

Rice asks for an image that says something about you, in place of words. Choose something that needs no caption.

Rutgers invites an optional essay about your academic interests, any circumstances that affected your record, or anything else you want the committee to know.

Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate get to know you better.

The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning.

Tell us about something that is meaningful to you, and why.

Swarthmore asks how your background shapes what you would bring to its community, and what academic curiosity you want to pursue.

It's cool to love learning. What excites your intellectual curiosity?

Tufts offers a rotating set of open prompts about how you have grown, what you would want your college community to know, and what you do for fun.

Describe an example of your leadership experience in which you have positively influenced others, helped resolve disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time.

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

What would you say is your greatest talent or skill? How have you developed and demonstrated that talent over time?

Describe how you have taken advantage of a significant educational opportunity or worked to overcome an educational barrier you have faced.

Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?

Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

What have you done to make your school or your community a better place?

Beyond what has already been shared in your application, what do you believe makes you a strong candidate for admission to the University of California?

How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

Choose one of UChicago's famously unusual prompts for the year, or invent your own question and answer it. The point is inventiveness, not correctness.

Explain your interest in the major you selected and describe how you have recently explored or developed this interest.

Everyone belongs to many different communities and groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it.

Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate college or school to which you are applying, and how that curriculum supports your interests.

UNC asks two short essays drawn from a rotating set about what you would like to learn more about, how you have made an impact, and who you would want to talk to.

What excites you about the University of Notre Dame, and how do you see yourself in this community?

Notre Dame asks several short prompts about your values, your community, and what you would want people to know about you.

Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge.

How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective, and how your experiences and perspective will help shape Penn.

Considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected, describe how you intend to explore your academic and intellectual interests at Penn.

Describe yourself in three words, then answer USC's set of short-answer questions about your favorites, your dream job, and what you are looking forward to.

USC believes that one learns best when interacting with people of different backgrounds and experiences. Describe an aspect of yourself, and what you would bring to a class discussion.

UT Austin asks short answers about why you chose your major, how you have shown leadership, and what makes you unique.

Answer the prompt for the specific UVA school to which you are applying, about what you want to study and why.

UVA offers a rotating set of short prompts about community, curiosity, and what you would bring to Grounds. Pick one and be specific.

Tell us why you decided to apply to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, what you intend to study, and what else you would like us to know about you.

Vanderbilt asks you to briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences, or describe a person who has influenced you.

Villanova offers a rotating set of prompts about community, an unpopular opinion you hold, and what you would say to your first-year self.

Wake Forest asks a distinctive set of short questions: books you have read, a list of your top five, what you would do with an extra hour, and how you would use your education in service of others.

Tell us about the academic and community elements of WashU that led you to apply.

When choosing a college, you will find reasons to attend and reasons not to attend. Tell us why you think Wellesley is a good match for you.

William & Mary invites an optional essay about anything that would help the committee understand you better.

Williams asks about a tutorial you would want to take, a place where you learn best, or a topic you would want to discuss with one other student and a professor.

Students at Yale have plenty of time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Tell us about your engagement with a topic or idea that excites you. Why are you drawn to it?

What is it about Yale that has led you to apply?

Reflect on a community you are part of and your role within it.