Don’t Sweat the Supp Stuff: Advice for Crafting Your Supplemental Essay
It can feel daunting to choose what to write about in your college application essays. How do you sum up the complex, dynamic individual you are with such limited space?
The short answer: You can’t. But that’s OK.
The goal of your application is not to share every detail of your multifaceted life. Rather, the process allows you to share your story with the admissions committee about what makes you a strong match for the institution. Each piece of the application reveals something about your academic experiences and personal journey that shows us how you might contribute to the Hopkins community.
In some ways, the essays help tie together the rest of the application. They offer space for you to tell stories that represent the most important parts of your identity, which provide context for other components of the application.
Let’s zero in on the supplemental essay .
The supplemental essay portion of the application is specific to each school. Each institution has intentionally crafted a question (or multiple) to help determine whether a student might be a good match. We look for individuals who share Hopkins’ institutional values but will also bring unique experiences and perspectives to the community.
Below is the supplemental essay prompt for students applying for entry to Hopkins in the fall of 2025:
How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives, or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins? (350-word limit)
Picture your life in college. What does your community look like? Which aspects of your identity are most important for you to develop and nurture?
Now jot down some thoughts about experiences or parts of your identity that have had a significant effect on your life. Maybe it’s a hobby you love, a cultural tradition, or an instance when you discovered something new about yourself.
Once you have a list, think about how each of these will continue to play a role in your college life. Choose one to focus on and spend some time building it out.
Keep in mind this essay is not an exercise in “tell us everything you know about Hopkins.” While it’s important for the admissions committee to see you’ve done your research and understand what Hopkins has to offer, simply listing what you hope to pursue on campus is only half of the puzzle. Be sure to connect the dots by explaining why you wish to pursue those things, and how they’ll help you remain connected to and grow in your identity.
If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas or crafting your essay, reach out to your school counselor or an English teacher. They can help you brainstorm and ensure your piece is answering the prompt in a meaningful way.
Happy writing!
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How to Write the Johns Hopkins University Essay 2024-2025
Johns Hopkins University has just one supplemental essay, which all applicants are required to respond to. However, while other schools you’re applying to may have more supplements, you want to make sure you dedicate enough time to this essay, as Hopkins is one of the most competitive schools in the country, especially for students interested in medicine.
In this post, we’ll break down how to brainstorm for and actually write your Hopkins essay, as well as common mistakes you want to be sure to avoid.
Read these Johns Hopkins essay examples to inspire your writing.
Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essay Prompt
How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives or skills—and what you want to pursue at hopkins (350 words).
Brainstorming Your Topic
This prompt is a version of the common Diversity Essay , with the added layer of explicitly connecting your identity to one of your goals for your time at Hopkins.
The first thing to note is that the way colleges factor race into their admissions processes is different after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in June 2023.
Colleges can still consider race on an individual level, however, so if you would like to respond to this prompt by talking about how your racial background has impacted you, you are welcome to do so.
You are also welcome to write about a wide range of other aspects of your identity; an individual is more than just their race, gender, sexuality, and other attributes that typically come to mind when you hear the word “diversity.” We are also shaped by the communities we’re in, the hobbies we enjoy, our interests, and so on. So, if you are having a hard time coming up with a topic for this prompt, shift to that line of thinking. Here are some examples of less traditional topics that could work:
- The people you see every day while walking your dog before school
- A group sea kayaking trip you did one summer
- Your passion for the color purple
The main requirement for your topic is that it has “contributed to your personal story,” per Hopkins’ request. There is one other thing you want to consider, though. Namely, can you connect this aspect of your identity to one of your goals for Hopkins?
Note that this connection doesn’t have to be direct. If your parents immigrated to the United States from Korea, you don’t have to write about wanting to do research on international migration with Professor Erin Chung. You can, of course, if you genuinely are interested in that line of research. But the connection you make can also be more nuanced.
For example, say that some of your relatives still in Korea don’t speak English, but you have developed a relationship with them through visits to museums and famous architectural sites, as you have a shared love of art. These experiences have shown you the unifying power of art, which is a phenomenon you’d like to explore more through Hopkins’ Renaissance Art History study abroad program in Florence.
Although this connection may not be one your reader was expecting, it works, as you explain it in a clear, easy-to-follow way. Plus, this essay is on the longer side for a supplement. You have 350 words at your disposal, so you have plenty of space to draw more sophisticated connections.
Tips for Writing Your Essay
If you have done your brainstorming well, writing the actual essay should be pretty straightforward: you want to describe the aspect of your identity you’re focusing on, and then connect it to the goal you’ve chosen to highlight. As just noted above, you have room to work with, so there’s no need to rush anything.
The only real rule here is that the connection you’re drawing is explained clearly. For a rather extreme example, if you just said “I have family in Korea, which makes me want to study abroad in Florence,” your reader would have no idea what you’re talking about. So, just make sure you’re able to articulate the link you see, so admissions officers understand how we got from A to B.
If you’re having a hard time with that, maybe take a step back from your essay, and come back the next day with a clear head. Sometimes, spending too much time on an essay will bog you down, and make it hard to see where to go next.
If you’re still having trouble the next day, you might want to return to the brainstorming stage, and either focus on a different aspect of your identity, or connect it to a different goal you have for college. There’s no shame in hitting rewind. Most students do at some point in their essay-writing process, as even topics that seem perfect at first can prove to be not quite right once you start trying to actually write about them.
Finally, like with any college essay, your writing will be stronger if you show, rather than tell. That means you want to rely on specific anecdotes and experiences to support your points, as that will make your essay more engaging. You can compare the two approaches below:
Telling: “I have quite a few family members still in Korea. Most of them live in Seoul, but some of them live in more remote areas.”
Showing: “I press my nose against the car window to get one last look at the glittering skyscrapers of Seoul, before my dad turns onto the winding, tree-lined road which leads to my uncle’s house.”
The information communicated is basically the same, but the showing approach paints us a picture, rather than reading us a list of facts like the telling approach. Because we are immersed in the student’s story, we feel much closer to them, and the whole point of college essays is to get admissions officers to understand who you are.
Mistakes to Avoid
The biggest potential pitfall here is answering the second half of the prompt (the “how your life experience…contributed to what you want to pursue at Hopkins” part) in a way that isn’t specific enough to Hopkins. This subset of the prompt is essentially a mini “Why This College?” essay, which means you don’t want to just share a goal you have for college in general, but rather something you hope to achieve at Hopkins specifically.
The examples above show the level of specificity you want to get to. Contrast those examples with vague versions of the same goals: “At Hopkins, I hope to research migration from Asia,” or “At Hopkins, I hope to do a study abroad program that will allow me to pursue my interest in art.” These goals would be fine to share with a family member at Thanksgiving, but for Hopkins admissions officers, they’re too general, as these are things you could do in some form at plenty of other schools around the country.
By going a level deeper, to a particular professor who does the kind of research you’re interested in, and a particular program that will allow you to study art, you show Hopkins admissions officers that you’ve really done your homework on their school, which gives them confidence you’re ready to hit the ground running when you arrive on campus.
If you’re not sure about how to get to this level of specificity, hop onto Hopkins’ website, and skim their course offerings, faculty directory, study abroad programs, club pages, and so on. Odds are, you’ll see something there that aligns with the general goal you’ve identified for yourself, which will take you from the big picture to the narrower focus you want.
Where to Get Your Johns Hopkins Essay Edited
Do you want feedback on your Johns Hopkins essay? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.
Need feedback faster? Get a free, nearly-instantaneous essay review from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!
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- How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples
How to Write a Diversity Essay | Tips & Examples
Published on November 1, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on May 31, 2023.
Table of contents
What is a diversity essay, identify how you will enrich the campus community, share stories about your lived experience, explain how your background or identity has affected your life, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.
Diversity essays ask students to highlight an important aspect of their identity, background, culture, experience, viewpoints, beliefs, skills, passions, goals, etc.
Diversity essays can come in many forms. Some scholarships are offered specifically for students who come from an underrepresented background or identity in higher education. At highly competitive schools, supplemental diversity essays require students to address how they will enhance the student body with a unique perspective, identity, or background.
In the Common Application and applications for several other colleges, some main essay prompts ask about how your background, identity, or experience has affected you.
Why schools want a diversity essay
Many universities believe a student body representing different perspectives, beliefs, identities, and backgrounds will enhance the campus learning and community experience.
Admissions officers are interested in hearing about how your unique background, identity, beliefs, culture, or characteristics will enrich the campus community.
Through the diversity essay, admissions officers want students to articulate the following:
- What makes them different from other applicants
- Stories related to their background, identity, or experience
- How their unique lived experience has affected their outlook, activities, and goals
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Think about what aspects of your identity or background make you unique, and choose one that has significantly impacted your life.
For some students, it may be easy to identify what sets them apart from their peers. But if you’re having trouble identifying what makes you different from other applicants, consider your life from an outsider’s perspective. Don’t presume your lived experiences are normal or boring just because you’re used to them.
Some examples of identities or experiences that you might write about include the following:
- Race/ethnicity
- Gender identity
- Sexual orientation
- Nationality
- Socioeconomic status
- Immigration background
- Religion/belief system
- Place of residence
- Family circumstances
- Extracurricular activities related to diversity
Include vulnerable, authentic stories about your lived experiences. Maintain focus on your experience rather than going into too much detail comparing yourself to others or describing their experiences.
Keep the focus on you
Tell a story about how your background, identity, or experience has impacted you. While you can briefly mention another person’s experience to provide context, be sure to keep the essay focused on you. Admissions officers are mostly interested in learning about your lived experience, not anyone else’s.
When I was a baby, my grandmother took me in, even though that meant postponing her retirement and continuing to work full-time at the local hairdresser. Even working every shift she could, she never missed a single school play or soccer game.
She and I had a really special bond, even creating our own special language to leave each other secret notes and messages. She always pushed me to succeed in school, and celebrated every academic achievement like it was worthy of a Nobel Prize. Every month, any leftover tip money she received at work went to a special 509 savings plan for my college education.
When I was in the 10th grade, my grandmother was diagnosed with ALS. We didn’t have health insurance, and what began with quitting soccer eventually led to dropping out of school as her condition worsened. In between her doctor’s appointments, keeping the house tidy, and keeping her comfortable, I took advantage of those few free moments to study for the GED.
In school pictures at Raleigh Elementary School, you could immediately spot me as “that Asian girl.” At lunch, I used to bring leftover fun see noodles, but after my classmates remarked how they smelled disgusting, I begged my mom to make a “regular” lunch of sliced bread, mayonnaise, and deli meat.
Although born and raised in North Carolina, I felt a cultural obligation to learn my “mother tongue” and reconnect with my “homeland.” After two years of all-day Saturday Chinese school, I finally visited Beijing for the first time, expecting I would finally belong. While my face initially assured locals of my Chinese identity, the moment I spoke, my cover was blown. My Chinese was littered with tonal errors, and I was instantly labeled as an “ABC,” American-born Chinese.
I felt culturally homeless.
Speak from your own experience
Highlight your actions, difficulties, and feelings rather than comparing yourself to others. While it may be tempting to write about how you have been more or less fortunate than those around you, keep the focus on you and your unique experiences, as shown below.
I began to despair when the FAFSA website once again filled with red error messages.
I had been at the local library for hours and hadn’t even been able to finish the form, much less the other to-do items for my application.
I am the first person in my family to even consider going to college. My parents work two jobs each, but even then, it’s sometimes very hard to make ends meet. Rather than playing soccer or competing in speech and debate, I help my family by taking care of my younger siblings after school and on the weekends.
“We only speak one language here. Speak proper English!” roared a store owner when I had attempted to buy bread and accidentally used the wrong preposition.
In middle school, I had relentlessly studied English grammar textbooks and received the highest marks.
Leaving Seoul was hard, but living in West Orange, New Jersey was much harder一especially navigating everyday communication with Americans.
After sharing relevant personal stories, make sure to provide insight into how your lived experience has influenced your perspective, activities, and goals. You should also explain how your background led you to apply to this university and why you’re a good fit.
Include your outlook, actions, and goals
Conclude your essay with an insight about how your background or identity has affected your outlook, actions, and goals. You should include specific actions and activities that you have done as a result of your insight.
One night, before the midnight premiere of Avengers: Endgame , I stopped by my best friend Maria’s house. Her mother prepared tamales, churros, and Mexican hot chocolate, packing them all neatly in an Igloo lunch box. As we sat in the line snaking around the AMC theater, I thought back to when Maria and I took salsa classes together and when we belted out Selena’s “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” at karaoke. In that moment, as I munched on a chicken tamale, I realized how much I admired the beauty, complexity, and joy in Maria’s culture but had suppressed and devalued my own.
The following semester, I joined Model UN. Since then, I have learned how to proudly represent other countries and have gained cultural perspectives other than my own. I now understand that all cultures, including my own, are equal. I still struggle with small triggers, like when I go through airport security and feel a suspicious glance toward me, or when I feel self-conscious for bringing kabsa to school lunch. But in the future, I hope to study and work in international relations to continue learning about other cultures and impart a positive impression of Saudi culture to the world.
The smell of the early morning dew and the welcoming whinnies of my family’s horses are some of my most treasured childhood memories. To this day, our farm remains so rural that we do not have broadband access, and we’re too far away from the closest town for the postal service to reach us.
Going to school regularly was always a struggle: between the unceasing demands of the farm and our lack of connectivity, it was hard to keep up with my studies. Despite being a voracious reader, avid amateur chemist, and active participant in the classroom, emergencies and unforeseen events at the farm meant that I had a lot of unexcused absences.
Although it had challenges, my upbringing taught me resilience, the value of hard work, and the importance of family. Staying up all night to watch a foal being born, successfully saving the animals from a minor fire, and finding ways to soothe a nervous mare afraid of thunder have led to an unbreakable family bond.
Our farm is my family’s birthright and our livelihood, and I am eager to learn how to ensure the farm’s financial and technological success for future generations. In college, I am looking forward to joining a chapter of Future Farmers of America and studying agricultural business to carry my family’s legacy forward.
Tailor your answer to the university
After explaining how your identity or background will enrich the university’s existing student body, you can mention the university organizations, groups, or courses in which you’re interested.
Maybe a larger public school setting will allow you to broaden your community, or a small liberal arts college has a specialized program that will give you space to discover your voice and identity. Perhaps this particular university has an active affinity group you’d like to join.
Demonstrating how a university’s specific programs or clubs are relevant to you can show that you’ve done your research and would be a great addition to the university.
At the University of Michigan Engineering, I want to study engineering not only to emulate my mother’s achievements and strength, but also to forge my own path as an engineer with disabilities. I appreciate the University of Michigan’s long-standing dedication to supporting students with disabilities in ways ranging from accessible housing to assistive technology. At the University of Michigan Engineering, I want to receive a top-notch education and use it to inspire others to strive for their best, regardless of their circumstances.
If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.
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In addition to your main college essay , some schools and scholarships may ask for a supplementary essay focused on an aspect of your identity or background. This is sometimes called a diversity essay .
Many universities believe a student body composed of different perspectives, beliefs, identities, and backgrounds will enhance the campus learning and community experience.
Admissions officers are interested in hearing about how your unique background, identity, beliefs, culture, or characteristics will enrich the campus community, which is why they assign a diversity essay .
To write an effective diversity essay , include vulnerable, authentic stories about your unique identity, background, or perspective. Provide insight into how your lived experience has influenced your outlook, activities, and goals. If relevant, you should also mention how your background has led you to apply for this university and why you’re a good fit.
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How to Write Supplemental Essays About Identity and Background
Last year, on the back of the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative action, many colleges adopted other methods of assessing students’ racial and ethnic identities. One way that schools provide students with the opportunity to talk about race—and other aspects of their identity—is through supplemental essays about their background. While numerous colleges have asked such questions in previous years, others have recently introduced prompts that allow you to elaborate on your identity further.
Here are a few questions posed by colleges about students’ identity:
- A defining element of the Babson experience is learning and thriving in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives and interests. Please share something about your background, lived experiences, or viewpoint(s) that speaks to how you will contribute to and learn from Babson’s collaborative community. (250 words)
- What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA ? Feel free to write about any past experience or part of your background that has shaped your perspective and will be a source of strength, including but not limited to those related to your community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender, or other aspects of your background that are important to you. (300 words)
- We believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community. (250 words – Optional)
- Vanderbilt University’ s motto, Crescere aude, is Latin for “dare to grow.” In your response, reflect on how one or more aspects of your identity, culture, or background has played a role in your personal growth, and how it will contribute to our campus community as you dare to grow at Vanderbilt. (250 words – new for the 2024-25 cycle)
Most of these prompts are new for the 2023-24 admissions cycle. However, you’ll notice that not all directly address race. If race is intertwined with the challenges you have faced in high school, you can elaborate on your experience—whether you had to fight for your seat at the table or you faced race-based prejudice —and talk about how you overcame this obstacle. If it’s a crucial part of your journey and personal growth, you should definitely write about it.
With terminology such as Babson’s “something about your background, lived experiences, or viewpoint(s),” colleges have made these questions open-ended. UVA has listed categories such as “community, upbringing, educational environment, race, gender,” and indicated that applicants can go beyond those categories if they choose. You can write about any aspect of your identity that is a defining part of who you are, whether that’s your race, gender, religion, sexuality, geographic location, or socioeconomic background. For Vanderbilt, the question asks for an aspect of your “ identity, culture, or background” and specifically one that has impacted your personal growth.
Consider what you want colleges to know about you. Supplemental essays provide further context to your application. So, no matter what you write about your background, your response should help admissions officers understand where you come from, what experiences have been meaningful to you, and how you’ll contribute to the diversity of the campus community. Don’t just mention what your background is—talk about how it has shaped you and your perspective.
Remember that admissions officers read responses by students from a very wide variety of backgrounds. Think about different lived experiences you’ve had and the communities you belong to—and what matters to you—and use those considerations to decide what you’ll write.
If the prompt about identity or background is optional, such as Duke’s, consider whether or not you should write it. If there are aspects of your identity (such as race, religion, or sexual orientation) that have shaped you and who you are in meaningful ways, you should definitely include the essay. However, if that part of you isn’t something that has been formative or impactful and you don’t have enough to say about it, you don’t need to write that essay. As a general rule, if you wouldn’t have written it before the Supreme Court case, you shouldn’t feel pressured to write it now.
Supplemental essays help determine your fit for a college campus, and essays on identity are no exception. If you’re writing a supplemental essay about an identity or background, discuss a part of you that hasn’t come up in detail in the rest of your application. Use the identity response to help admissions officers understand the unique perspective you can bring to their college.
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Who… are…you? How to write the identity supplement.
In Alice in Wonderland , when the Caterpillar persists in asking “Who… Are…. You?,” Alice stumbles and cannot reply. It’s a good thing that Alice isn’t applying to college, because some form of an essay asking about you (and your identity and/or perspective) is an ever-more-popular supplement question. These are hard! It is important to tackle these identity questions with honesty and authenticity, and without prejudice, stereotype, or cliche. Sometimes these questions will simply ask about your identity, sometimes they will ask instead of how you have responded to a situation where your perspective was different than someone else’s. Either way, it is important to have a sense of yourself – and who you are – in order to discuss how you have interacted in situations marked by differences in perspective. It’s a tall order!
Note: these supplements range in length but tend to be fairly “mid-sized” in the 150-250 word limits.
Example Identity Questions :
- Penn: At Penn, learning and growth happens outside of the classroom, too. How will you explore the community at Penn? Consider how this community will help shape your perspective and identity, and how your identity and perspective will help shape this community.
- Georgetown: As Georgetown is a diverse community, the Admissions Committee would like to know more about you in your own words. Please submit a brief essay, either personal or creative, which you feel best describes you.
- Princeton: At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future?
- Brown: Brown’s culture fosters a community in which students challenge the ideas of others and have their ideas challenged in return, promoting a deeper and clearer understanding of the complex issues confronting society. This active engagement in dialogue is as present outside the classroom as it is in academic spaces. Tell us about a time you were challenged by a perspective that differed from your own. How did you respond?
LET'S BREAK DOWN THE ESSENTIAL POINTS YOU NEED TO HIT WHEN RESPONDING TO THIS SUPPLEMENT:
While always important, in these essays it is absolutely essential to speak honestly and with integrity and authenticity. If you feel yourself slipping into any type of stereotype, judgment, or cliche, stop writing and ask a friend to help you talk this through before you write any further.
College celebrates the open mind! If you are discussing a situation where your ideas were challenged by someone who held a different perspective, it is essential that you don’t “win” the whole of this argument. Select a moment where you can illustrate your own growth as a human and a thinker. Celebrate your open mind. You don’t have to fully capitulate to the other perspective, but please select a situation where you came to see the value of the other side – where you recognize humanity in the opposite perspective. No college wants to admit a student who actively celebrates their own closed mindedness.
This is an essay where it is helpful to consider examples and stories where you can emphasize showing something over simply telling something. Make the reader see the situation you are presenting through details and examples. Don’t just stick to vague statements (like “I support everyone in expressing their true inner selves”) because these don’t really mean anything and your readers don’t learn anything new about you.
THINGS TO AVOID:
As with all supplements, avoid cliches and platitudes. Avoid sounding patronizing to your peers (in the story you tell) or to the admissions reader.
Furthermore, if you talk about religion, politics, or money, do so in a way that does not alienate a reader whose views you do not know.
ADDITIONAL TIPS AND TRICKS:
Struggling to think of a story about the difference of perspectives? Think about a moment from a class at school. Have you ever had a respectful, and honest, disagreement with a classmate about an academic topic or issue? Use that story here.
Do not recycle one identity essay into the next. These questions are specific (and different) and there are rarely openings to take one essay and use it for multiple schools.
Do not try to write dialogue. Instead, summarize what you are trying to show.
Elise holds a BA in Political Philosophy from Williams College and an MEd in Administration & Social Policy from Harvard. She has spent the past twenty years working in top-tier independent schools.
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Each offers specific guidance on how to approach a school’s supplemental essay prompts, with example essays and analysis to guide your writing process. After the 2023 Supreme Court decision on race in college admissions, many colleges changed their essay prompts to more directly ask about diversity.
In this guide, learn how to write a great Northwestern supplemental essay prompt with exercises and essay examples to help you along the way.
Below is the supplemental essay prompt for students applying for entry to Hopkins in the fall of 2025: How has your life experience contributed to your personal story—your character, values, perspectives, or skills—and what you want to pursue at Hopkins? (350-word limit) Picture your life in college. What does your community look like?
Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essay Prompt #1. Tell us about an aspect of your identity (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, religion, community, etc.) or a life experience that has shaped you as an individual and how that influenced what you’d like to pursue in college at Hopkins.
In this post, we’ll break down how to brainstorm for and actually write your Hopkins essay, as well as common mistakes you want to be sure to avoid. Read these Johns Hopkins essay examples to inspire your writing. Johns Hopkins Supplemental Essay Prompt
A good diversity essay shows how you will add a unique perspective, identity, or experience to your prospective campus community. You should share stories that demonstrate how your lived experience has shaped your actions, worldview, and goals.
Learn how to impress admissions committees through any type of school-specific supplemental essay prompt plus strategies for tackling essays of various lengths
In addition to the required 650-word long essay, each first-time freshman applicant must submit responses to three supplements: discuss your major, Why Rice and a diversity essay linked to their Residential College System.
If you’re writing a supplemental essay about an identity or background, discuss a part of you that hasn’t come up in detail in the rest of your application. Use the identity response to help admissions officers understand the unique perspective you can bring to their college.
It’s a good thing that Alice isn’t applying to college, because some form of an essay asking about you (and your identity and/or perspective) is an ever-more-popular supplement question. These are hard! It is important to tackle these identity questions with honesty and authenticity, and without prejudice, stereotype, or cliche.