College admissions data

Supplemental essays, 2026-27

The supplemental prompts for 47 colleges, each quoted from the college’s own page, with how many words the set takes and a plan for writing it. Checked on November 5, 2026.

Every college’s prompts and word count

CollegePromptsWords to writeAdmissions data
Cornell supplemental essays17550 to 800 wordsGPA and SAT
Yale supplemental essays8705 wordsGPA and SAT
Stanford supplemental essays81,000 wordsGPA and SAT
UPenn supplemental essays16600 wordsGPA and SAT
Harvard supplemental essays5750 wordsGPA and SAT
Columbia supplemental essays6850 wordsGPA and SAT
Brown supplemental essays8800 wordsGPA and SAT
Princeton supplemental essays71,150 wordsGPA and SAT
University of Michigan supplemental essays2850 wordsGPA and SAT
Northwestern supplemental essays6500 wordsGPA and SAT
MIT supplemental essays81,000 wordsGPA and SAT
Duke supplemental essays6500 wordsGPA and SAT
UIUC supplemental essays5300 wordsGPA and SAT
Carnegie Mellon supplemental essays3900 wordsGPA and SAT
Johns Hopkins supplemental essays1350 wordsGPA and SAT
UChicago supplemental essays7No hard limitGPA and SAT
WashU supplemental essays2250 wordsGPA and SAT
Dartmouth supplemental essays9600 wordsGPA and SAT
Purdue supplemental essays7500 wordsGPA and SAT
Rice supplemental essays7800 wordsGPA and SAT
UT Austin supplemental essays3600 wordsGPA and SAT
University of Washington supplemental essays3None requiredGPA and SAT
Emory supplemental essays5350 wordsGPA and SAT
Tufts supplemental essays5350 wordsGPA and SAT
University of Wisconsin-Madison supplemental essays2650 wordsGPA and SAT
Georgetown supplemental essays101,650 wordsGPA and SAT
Caltech supplemental essays8950 wordsGPA and SAT
Amherst supplemental essays5350 wordsGPA and SAT
UMass Amherst supplemental essays4300 wordsGPA and SAT
Boston College supplemental essays5400 wordsGPA and SAT
Notre Dame supplemental essays5350 wordsGPA and SAT
Swarthmore supplemental essays3500 wordsGPA and SAT
Pomona supplemental essays4400 wordsGPA and SAT
Arizona State supplemental essays3None requiredGPA and SAT
Virginia Tech supplemental essays4480 wordsGPA and SAT
Stony Brook supplemental essays3None requiredGPA and SAT
University of Rochester supplemental essays1250 wordsGPA and SAT
Harvey Mudd supplemental essays2750 wordsGPA and SAT
Barnard supplemental essays2300 wordsGPA and SAT
Villanova supplemental essays5250 wordsGPA and SAT
Wake Forest supplemental essays5100 wordsGPA and SAT
University of Arizona supplemental essays3None requiredGPA and SAT
University of Richmond supplemental essays3650 wordsGPA and SAT
University of Oregon supplemental essays5500 wordsGPA and SAT
Washington and Lee supplemental essays5None requiredGPA and SAT
Clemson supplemental essays3None requiredGPA and SAT
Babson supplemental essays2750 wordsGPA and SAT

Words to write counts what every applicant writes, with each choose-one group counted once at its limit; a range means the essay depends on the school inside the university you apply to. “None required” means the prompts are optional or belong to an honors college or program. A college has a page when at least one of its own prompts is quoted in full with a limit the college states, and it has two or more quoted prompts, or one required prompt and a published AI statement.

No supplement of their own this cycle

These colleges ask for the main application essay and no writing of their own (some add an honors or program essay). Each links to its admissions data.

The UC campuses: one shared set of questions

The University of California campuses have no campus essays. Every applicant answers four of the eight Personal Insight Questions on the UC application, and the same answers go to every campus. That is why these campuses have no page of their own here. Where your school sends students, campus by campus, is on UC acceptance rates by high school.

Writing we could not quote in full

These colleges ask for something, but their own pages do not print every prompt with a limit, or the whole supplement is a single question with nothing else to say about it here. Check the wording inside the application.

Not yet checked against an official page

For these colleges the prompts could only be found secondhand on November 5, 2026, so we do not print them.

USC, UVA, Boston University, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, University of Pittsburgh, Fordham, University of Florida, George Washington, Texas A&M, Wesleyan, San Jose State, Colgate, William & Mary, Florida State, Santa Clara, Vassar, Lehigh, Syracuse, University of Toronto, University of Vermont, Brandeis, Smith, Hamilton, Cal Poly Pomona, University at Buffalo, UCL, McGill, Oxford, Carleton, WPI, Kenyon, University of South Florida, Haverford, Loyola Marymount, Stevens, Howard, Mount Holyoke, King's College London, University of South Carolina, SMU, St Andrews, University of Edinburgh, Oregon State, Clark University, DePaul, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of Illinois Chicago, Hofstra, Miami University (Ohio).

Prompts are quoted as each college printed them, and colleges can revise a prompt during a cycle, so confirm the wording in your application before you submit. Aristo Scholars is not affiliated with any college listed.

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