What's 'sup with the supplement?

Or Common Supplement Questions and How To Answer Them

Ahhh, the supplement. The specific questions that each college asks to help them make decisions about you. This can be nerve-wracking, because you want to tailor the answers to fit the school. To effectively write these essays, you must first understand what they’re really asking.

So here’s CollegeApp Chick’s guide to college supplements.

The: Why Us?

EX: Why do you want to attend our school?

What they’re really asking: This question is the most straight-forward of all supplement questions. But don’t fall into the trap of telling them why their school is awesome. They know their school is awesome. They want to know how their school can help you.

How to answer it: Tell them why you are an awesome fit for the school. Talk specifically about things that you want to do as a student there. Give the specific names of clubs you want to join, classes you want to take, professors you want to do research with, traditions you want to participate in. Tell them how letting you attend will enhance their school. Flattering the school is a nice thing, and you should be overwhelmingly positive in this answer, but that’s not the whole essay. Make sure that it is tailor made to you and what you will do in the school. And double, triple, quadruple check that your information is accurate. Don’t talk about a professor that moved schools two years ago, and whatever you do make sure you are spelling the name of the school correctly. Too many people make that silly mistake. Don’t have your “Why I want to go to Hamilton” essay start “Colgate University…”

The: Diversity is a Priority

Ex: Our College is proud of our diversity, please elaborate on a time you felt diversity in your life.

What they’re really asking: Diversity is such a buzz word these days. Every college wants to tout the diversity of their students in their promotional materials. They want to know that A: you’re going to appreciate the diversity that they’ve worked so hard for, and B: You are going to add to the diversity.

How to answer it: If you are actually a diverse student (religiously, ethnically, culturally, geographically) play it up. Talk about how you love sharing family, religious, or cultural traditions with your non-diverse friends.  If you’re a northern student applying in the south tell a funny story about how diversity is in the little things, like trying grits on your visit to their school.
If you’re not diverse at all, talk about appreciating diversity and how you love learning about different cultures. Tell a story about attending a friend’s cultural celebration. Talk about going to dinner at your Indian friend’s house. Talk about visiting a village in South America.  Write about attending a friend’s sibling’s Bar Mitzvah. Assure the school that you’re going to add to the diversity discussion.

The: Outside the Box

EX: Find X. What is your favorite word? What is the warning on your life map? Give us page 205 of your autobiography.

What they’re really asking: This question has two goals. The primary goal is to see how you think, to see how creative you are. The secondary goal is to see if you’re going to make their school a priority. These questions are most often found at competitive schools, liberal arts schools, schools not on the commonapp, and (dare I say it) Ivy level schools that are not Ivys. They use these strange questions so you have to spend the time to write an essay for their school, no recycling allowed. 

How to answer it: Come up with an answer that is true to you. These questions are a great opportunity to show admissions something about you, to make yourself into a 3D person. Make sure that your answer is well thought out.
Two warnings. First of all please avoid clichés. Finding X is not all about the journey. Your favorite word is not achievement, passion, diversity, or excellence. You are more intelligent and creative than that. Also don’t be clever if that means less work. Remember the story of Bob? Using a short clever answer is going to make you look lazy and pretentious. The goal is to show them that their school is a priority. A 10 word essay isn’t going to show that.

The: Open Ended

EX: What about you can’t you fit in 500 words. What else can you tell us about you?

What they’re really asking: Make yourself into a real person for us. Tell us something unusual about yourself. This question is most often found at “quirky” schools.

How to answer it: This is your chance to be creative and a little wacky. This is an excellent chance to show why you would fit in with the school. If you’re good at making online videos, make a vlog about yourself (targeting the points to show why you’ll be a good match for the school). If you’re a dancer, choreograph a song to their fight song or Alma matter. There’s also no shame in writing an essay telling them something about you that isn’t going to show up anywhere else.

Avoid: Collages. So many people think they’re being creative by sending in a collage of themselves and their life. That’s cliché. Don’t do that. Also don’t send in cookies, it looks desperate.

The: Issues and Argument

Ex: Tell us about an issue you’re passionate about.

What they’re really asking: Will you be able to positively add to the discussions in our classrooms? This question wants to see that you can make a two sided, well formulated, and well organized argument. They want to see passion without pigheadedness.

How to answer it: Pick an issue that you really do care about and give your opinion on it. But make sure to A: Give the other side and B: Use facts and avoid logical fallacies. Don’t over use emotional response, you don’t want to be the applicant who made everyone depressed. Show the value of the opposing argument. Also, avoid anything too controversial. If you’re a middle class white girl, don’t argue against affirmative action. There is a forum for that, but this is not it. You don’t want to offend anyone.

Of course there are many different supplements, these are just the most common ones.

The key to a good supplement is to know the goal of the supplement before you write the answer.

If there’s a supplement that you’re not sure how to answer, or what the goal is, feel free to ask or inbox me about it. I’m here to help.