Tag: Stanford Supplemental Essay

Ladies and Gentleman: Start Your Essays. The Prompts for 2019-2020 are Rolling Out.

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Below is a list of Prompts Available Now. The Common Application has just opened as I write this; I have been posting for weeks on prompts as they appeared in various locations from admissions blogs to the Coalition Application, which tends to post prompts earlier. All of the prompts below are ready to write, right now, and if you click on my links, I have written detailed analysis on most of the prompts below. Read on, and for World Class Essay Development and Editing Support: Contact Me.

And now, here they are:

2019-2020 College Application Essay Prompts: Ready to Write, Right Now

Stanford University–Same prompts as last year. It’s been a decade since Stanford did any serious tinkering with their supplemental essays. The short answers they do tinker with year-to-year.

Click here for your Stanford Supplementals for 2019-2020

And Here is A Discussion of The Stanford Roommate Essay

Also see my next post, Welcome to the Jungle, for more on the Stanford essays.

Princeton University–I have broken my discussion of the Princeton Supplemental Essays into two parts–click the link you need for the discussion you want:

Part 1–How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Essays for 2019-2020

Part 2–How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Engineering Essay for 2019-2020

How to Write the Yale University Essays:

Click here for Part 1 of 3 Parts: The Yale Short Responses, and the Application Portals, Explained.

How to Write the Harvard “Additional” Application Essays:

Harvard Supplement for 2019-2020

How to Write the Brown University Essays for 2019-2020–Click Here:

Brown Supplemental Essays for 2019-2020

Tips and Links for Writing the Dartmouth University Essays for 2019-2020: Click Here:

Dartmouth Supplemental Essays for 2019-2020

The University of Texas, Austin–definitely some changes from last year, the new prompts confirmed by a posting for counselors. UT uses its own Texas portal.

Prompts for 2019-2020 U Texas linked Here. More discussion and analysis on these coming soon, so y’all come on back in a week or two.

Boston College Essay Prompts–and How to Write Them–Linked Here:

BC 2020. This includes an extended discussion on writing about a book or work of art, as well as themes for Catholic and specifically Jesuit universities like B.C. and Georgetown.

The University of Virginia–up on their website as “they turn their attention” from those who have accepted to “current juniors,” known at this point as rising seniors. Congratulations, by the way, Rising Seniors. Uses the Common Application Portal. Click to check it out:

UV prompts for 2019-2020 linked Here.

The University of Chicago--continues to offer a menu of wild and whacky essay prompts for your second essay; the first essay is a pretty standard-issue why you want to go to school x essay. Uses the Common Application Portal. I analyze their two supplemental essays in separate links:

Click here for: University of Chicago Prompt 1, 2019-2020

Click here for: University of Chicago Prompt 2, 2019-2020

The University of California–confirmed in their admissions packet for counselors for 2019-2020. Uses its own UC portal, accessing all 8 UC campuses with one application.

UC Prompts linked Here.

Harvey Mudd College– Uses the Common Application portal as well as the Coalition Application.

HMC Prompts Linked Here.

Georgia Tech--Uses the Common Application portal. I start my analysis of GT’s prompts featuring an interview with G.T.’s excellent Dean of Admissions, Rick Scott.

GT Prompts and Rick Scott interview linked Here.

The University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign–confirmed by two counseling contacts at U-C. University of Illinois campuses uses its own application portal.

Urbana-Champaign Prompts linked Here.

The Common Application Essay Prompts are unchanged for 2019-2020.

Again, see my Welcome to the Jungle Post for links to the Common App and its Prompts

2019-2020 Coalition Application Essay Prompts–If you are not familiar with the Coalition Application, it is a competitor to the Common Application. Universities tend to offer both when they do use the Coalition Application portal, so it is worth looking at the Coalition essay prompts to see if they allow you to better leverage your topic ideas (usually looking for less overlap between essays).

The Coalition Essay Prompts are linked Here, along with a comparison of the two sites.

Go to the next post for more links-–Welcome to the Jungle.

And Contact Me for World-Class Application Essay Development and Editing and Focused, Results-Oriented College Application Advising:

Contact Me.

Stanford Application Essays for 2013-2014

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Update as of July 8th, 2015–Stanford has been using the same three short answer prompts since 2011, but this is no absolute guarantee that they will not change one or more of them this year.  Feel free to read my posts on Stanford, but remember that until they go live officially ca. August 1st, with the opening of the Common App website for 2015-2016.   Until then, or until I can confirm and post this year’s prompts separately, you should tread carefully.  The Common App and other current prompts offer enough to do without risking wasted time in the event that, say, the Cardinal drops its letter to a roommate prompt.  Okay, you have been warned–read on and click away to your heart’s content.

 The Cardinal updated their application essay page on July 16th, 2013, by inserting the new Common Application essays and parameters, but still have the same  supplemental essay prompts that they used last year . . . and the year before that.  It’s deja-deja-vu again.  At least Stanford’s supplemental prompts offer many applicants the  latitude to write a more interesting essay than the Common App does–see my recent posts on the Common App for more on that, in the Archive.

I will post  the  Stanford Supplemental Essay prompts below this short introduction, and  below those prompts, I will provide links to what I wrote about Stanford last year and related links with ideas and suggestions for  essays and essay topics which would fit these prompts, which, in addition to the now infamous roommate letter prompt (Dude, a letter in this day and age?), ask you to address an intellectual topic and also to discuss something you care about. I will include below links to posts on how to write about intellectual experiences, in particular if these experiences involved a book, as well as links to posts on writing about  problems (which could work if one of them is the something you care about).  Be aware that  if you are reading this post on my public site, The College App Jungle, not all of the information will be fully available.  My private blog contains all material in full, available for a subscription of $15, good through April, 2014.  See the bottom of this post for information on how to get a subscription.

I will add one more thing:  I really like Stanford prompts 1 and 3, and I am going to be writing a long post soon on a topic that could be used for prompt 3, a problem that almost nobody writes about.  Stay tuned.

And now:  The game is afoot!  On to the Stanford prompts for 2013-2014.

Stanford Essay Prompts

Essays

We want to hear your individual voice in your writing. Write essays that reflect who you are; use specific concrete details and write in a natural style. Begin work on these essays early, and feel free to ask your parents, teachers and friends to provide constructive feedback. Ask if the essay’s tone sounds like your voice. If those closest to you do not believe your essay captures who you are, we will not be able to recognize what is distinctive about you. While asking for feedback is suggested, do not enlist hired assistance in the writing of your essays.

The Stanford Writing Supplement Short Essays

Candidates respond to all three essay topics using at least 250 words, but not exceeding the space provided.

  1. Stanford students possess intellectual vitality. Reflect on an idea or experience that has been important to your intellectual development.
  2. Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—know you better.
  3. What matters to you, and why?

Note that, in recent years, the limit has been 2,000 characters, so a bit under 350 words.  Pretty short, in other words, so you need to write efficiently.  I would set 300 words as your target for a rough draft.

Links:  

Writing to the Stanford Prompts. (This post was on the same topics, last year.  Analyzes the prompts and some approaches to them)

Writing About an Intellectual Interest. (Includes link that introduces writing about books.  This is an excerpt; part of this post is only available via paid subscription)

Writing about What Matters to You if What Matters to You Involves Saving Anything from a Nearby Tree to the World.

More Tips on Writing about What Matters to You if What Matters to You Involves Saving Anything from a Nearby Tree to the World.