You’ll probably be writing a lot of supplemental essays during your application process. Some schools even require three, four, or more essays, so it’s important to know how to brainstorm them quickly.
In this post, I’ll walk you through some quick strategies for finding supplemental essay topics that stand out.
What’s the purpose of a supplemental essay?
Before we get into how to brainstorm a supplemental essay, I want to review what the purpose of supplemental essays is to begin with.
Supplemental essays are the essays you submit in addition to your personal statement. While your personal statement goes to all schools you apply to, your supplemental essays are school-specific.
Not all schools have supplemental essays. When they do, they tend to be shorter than your personal statement and more specific in their prompts. They're basically the school's chance to ask you more detailed questions and get to know you better.
These essays are really valuable because they give admissions officers more reasons to say “yes” to your application.
When you write your supplemental essays, think about your job as building a case for why you and the school are the perfect match.
Now, let’s go step-by-step through the supplemental brainstorming process.
Step 1: Read the Prompt
Every supplemental essay is based on a prompt. They usually fit into broad categories like "why us," diversity, community, academic interest, or "why this major." The first thing you need to do when brainstorming any supplemental essay is to figure out which type of prompt you're dealing with.
Take a look at this USC supplemental essay prompt: "Describe how you plan to pursue your academic interests and why you want to explore them at USC specifically. Please feel free to address your first- and second-choice major selections." It's clear that this prompt is about an academic interest. It also asks you to talk about your chosen majors and why USC is the best place for you to study them.
As you can probably tell, prompts are really important to supplemental essays. If you misunderstand or overlook parts of the prompt, you can send admissions officers the wrong message—that you haven’t taken the time to read and respond to the prompt carefully.
Step 2: Do School Research
Next on your brainstorming to-do list is focused school research. Since your goal is to show a strong fit between the school and the school, you need to know information about why the school is a good match for you. To do this effectively, you'll need to refer to specific characteristics of the school you're applying to.
Avoid surface-level comments like "I like USC because of the weather." Instead, research details like resources in the department, faculty, courses, programs, philosophical approaches, etc., that show real alignment between your interests and the school’s offerings.
As you’re researching, also keep in mind the concept of demonstrated interest. Many colleges track demonstrated interest, so engaging in activities like virtual or in-person campus visits, attending college fairs, and opening their emails can show that you're excited about the school. This commitment to understanding the college can not only show admissions officers that you’re serious about the school, but the activities can also give you valuable material to include in your supplemental essays.
