COMMON APP: Essays and More Essays

One of the biggest changes – and challenges - in this year’s Common App is the location of individual colleges’ additional essays. Last year, if a college required additional essays, you could easily find them in the college’s Writing Supplement. If a college didn’t require additional essays, then no Writing Supplement appeared for that college. Simple! And to simplify further, Common App’s Dashboard indicated which of your selected colleges required a Writing Supplement. Not so simple this year….

For the 2014-2015 Common Application, more than half of the 551 member colleges have additional essay requirements. Colleges have the option to insert additional essay questions in either or both the Writing Supplement and the Questions Page. And since every college has a Questions Page, the presence of that page isn’t necessarily indicative of additional required essays. From confusion to chaos: the Common App Dashboard, where you track your overall application progress, indicates the presence of a college’s Writing Supplement, but not if the college has additional essays on its Questions Page.

Let me almost eliminate the confusion for you! Below you’ll find a list of Common App colleges that have additional essays – along with where you can find them! Keep in mind, however, that you must submit the Common Application along with the extra essays at the same time for colleges whose essays are on their Questions Page.

On the other hand, for colleges whose essays are in their Writing Supplement, you will submit the Common Application first and the Writing Supplement afterwards, giving you more time to complete the extra essays. (But don’t procrastinate! Aim to submit your Supplement within a week of submitting the Common App to that college.)

Please note that the way colleges label their questions on the Questions Page is not consistent. So don’t be surprised when essay questions show up in areas labeled “Granola” or “Academics” or even the more obvious “Essay Questions.”

Finally, we come to the “stealth,” or hidden essays. Tricky tricky. To quote my Virginia colleague Nancy Griesemer, some colleges use “triggers” to prompt these additional essays. That is, an additional essay question will pop up on the screen as a result of your answer to a particular question. For example, for some test-optional colleges, stealth essay questions appear only if you first indicate that you’re not sending your scores for consideration in the application process. Other stealth essay questions pop up as a result of your response to a question about your intended major. Like Houdini, Common App can make an essay magically appear where previously there had been none.

One last helpful hint: Subscribe to CollegeEssayOrganizer.com and you’ll be provided with a list of all essays for all of your colleges. Presto!

Of the 551 member colleges, 139 include additional essay questions on their Questions Page, 127 put their extra essays in their Writing Supplement, and 19 colleges put them in both places!

Common App Member College	Where You’ll Find Their Extra Essays
Adelphi University	Writing Supplement only
Agnes Scott College	Member Questions only
Albany College of Pharmacy	Member Questions only
Albion College	Member Questions only
Alma College	Member Questions only
American Jewish University	Member Questions only
American University	Writing Supplement only
Amherst College	Writing Supplement only
Arcadia University	Writing Supplement only
Assumption College	Member Questions only
Austin College	Member Questions only
Babson College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Baldwin Wallace University	Writing Supplement only
Bard College Berlin	Member Questions only
Barnard College	Writing Supplement only
Bates College	Writing Supplement only
Belmont University	Writing Supplement only
Bennington College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Bentley University	Writing Supplement only
Bethany College	Member Questions only
Boston College	Writing Supplement only
Boston University	Member Questions only
Bowdoin College	Member Questions only
Brandeis University	Writing Supplement only
Brown University	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Bryant University	Writing Supplement only
Bryn Mawr College	Writing Supplement only
Bucknell University	Member Questions only
California College of the Arts	Member Questions only
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)	Member Questions only
Calvin College	Member Questions only
Carleton College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Carnegie Mellon University	Writing Supplement only
Case Western Reserve University	Member Questions only
Cedar Crest College	Writing Supplement only
Centenary College (Louisiana)	Writing Supplement only
Centenary College (NJ)	Member Questions only
Centre College	Member Questions only
Chapman University	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Chatham University	Writing Supplement only
Christian Brothers University	Member Questions only
Christopher Newport University	Member Questions only
Claremont McKenna College	Member Questions only
Clark University	Member Questions only
Coe College	Member Questions only
Colby-Sawyer College	Member Questions only
Colgate University	Writing Supplement only
College of the Atlantic	Member Questions only
College of Wooster	Member Questions only
Colorado College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Colorado State University	Member Questions only
Columbia University	Writing Supplement only
Connecticut College	Member Questions only
Cornell College	Writing Supplement only
Cornell University	Writing Supplement only
Creighton University	Member Questions only
Dartmouth College	Writing Supplement only
Davidson College	Writing Supplement only
Delaware Valley College	Member Questions only
Denison University	Member Questions only
DePaul University	Writing Supplement only
Dickinson College	Writing Supplement only
Dominican University of California	Writing Supplement only
Drew University	Member Questions only
Drexel University	Writing Supplement only
Duke University	Writing Supplement only
Earlham College	Member Questions only
Elizabethtown College	Writing Supplement only
Elms College	Writing Supplement only
Emerson College	Writing Supplement only
Emory University	Member Questions only
Eugene Lang College - The New School	Writing Supplement only
Fairfield University	Member Questions only
Fisk University	Writing Supplement only
Flagler College	Writing Supplement only
Fontbonne University	Writing Supplement only
Franklin and Marshall College	Member Questions only
Franklin University Switzerland	Writing Supplement only
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering	Member Questions only
Furman University	Member Questions only
George Fox University	Member Questions only
Georgia Institute of Technology	Member Questions only
Georgia State University	Member Questions only
Gonzaga University	Member Questions only
Goucher College	Member Questions only
Green Mountain College	Writing Supplement only
Hamilton College	Member Questions only
Hamline University (MN)	Member Questions only
Hampshire College	Writing Supplement only
Harvard College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Harvey Mudd College	Member Questions only
Haverford College	Writing Supplement only
Hawai'i Pacific University	Member Questions only
Hendrix College	Member Questions only
Heythrop College, University of London	Member Questions only
High Point University	Member Questions only
Hillsdale College	Member Questions only
Hobart & William Smith Colleges	Member Questions only
Hofstra University	Writing Supplement only
Hult International Business School	Writing Supplement only
Illinois Institute of Technology	Member Questions only
Illinois Wesleyan University	Member Questions only
Immaculata University	Writing Supplement only
Institute of International Education (IIE)	Writing Supplement only
Ithaca College	Member Questions only
Jacobs University Bremen	Writing Supplement only
John Cabot University in Rome	Member Questions only
Johns Hopkins University	Writing Supplement only
Kalamazoo College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Keele University	Member Questions only
King's College London	Member Questions only
Knox College	Member Questions only
La Roche College	Writing Supplement only
Lafayette College	Writing Supplement only
Lake Erie College	Writing Supplement only
Lake Forest College	Member Questions only
Lasell College	Writing Supplement only
Lawrence University	Member Questions only
Lehigh University	Writing Supplement only
Lewis & Clark College	Member Questions only
Linfield College	Member Questions only
List College (JTS)	Writing Supplement only
Loyola Marymount University	Member Questions only
Loyola University Maryland	Member Questions only
Lyndon State College	Writing Supplement only
Macalester College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Marist College	Writing Supplement only
Marlboro College	Member Questions only
Marquette University	Writing Supplement only
Maryville University of St. Louis	Writing Supplement only
Massachusetts College Of Pharmacy	Writing Supplement only
McDaniel College	Writing Supplement only
Meredith College	Member Questions only
Miami University (Ohio)	Member Questions only
Mills College	Member Questions only
MODUL University Vienna	Writing Supplement only
Monmouth University	Writing Supplement only
Moravian College	Member Questions only
Mount Holyoke College	Writing Supplement only
Naropa University	Member Questions only
Nazareth College	Member Questions only
New Jersey Institute of Technology	Member Questions only
New York Institute of Technology (NYIT)	Writing Supplement only
New York University	Writing Supplement only
Newberry College	Writing Supplement only
Northland College	Member Questions only
Northwestern University	Writing Supplement only
Northwestern University in Qatar	Writing Supplement only
Oberlin College	Writing Supplement only
Occidental College	Member Questions only
Oglethorpe University	Writing Supplement only
Otterbein University	Member Questions only
Pace University	Member Questions only
Pacific University Oregon	Member Questions only
Pepperdine University	Member Questions only
Philadelphia University	Member Questions only
Pitzer College	Writing Supplement only
Pomona College	Member Questions only
Presbyterian College	Writing Supplement only
Prescott College	Writing Supplement only
Princeton University	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Providence College	Member Questions only
Purdue University	Member Questions only
Quinnipiac University	Member Questions only
Reed College	Writing Supplement only
Regis College	Writing Supplement only
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Writing Supplement only
Rhode Island School of Design	Writing Supplement only
Rice University	Writing Supplement only
Richard Stockton College of NJ	Writing Supplement only
Richmond (London)	Writing Supplement only
Riga Business School	Member Questions only
Roanoke College	Member Questions only
Roberts Wesleyan College	Member Questions only
Rowan University	Member Questions only
Saint Anselm College	Member Questions only
Saint Mary's College of California	Member Questions only
Saint Michael's College	Member Questions only
Saint Peter's University	Writing Supplement only
Salem College	Member Questions only
Salve Regina University	Member Questions only
Santa Clara University	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Sarah Lawrence College	Member Questions only
School of the Art Institute of Chicago	Member Questions only
Scripps College	Member Questions only
Seattle Pacific University	Member Questions only
Seattle University	Member Questions only
Seton Hall University	Member Questions only
Siena College	Writing Supplement only
Sierra Nevada College	Writing Supplement only
Simmons College	Writing Supplement only
Smith College	Writing Supplement only
Soka University of America	Writing Supplement only
Southern Methodist University	Writing Supplement only
Spelman College	Writing Supplement only
Springfield College	Writing Supplement only
St. Bonaventure University	Writing Supplement only
St. Edward's University	Member Questions only
St. John's College (MD)	Writing Supplement only
St. John's College (NM)	Writing Supplement only
St. Louis College of Pharmacy	Member Questions only
St. Mary's College of Maryland	Member Questions only
St. Olaf College	Writing Supplement only
Stanford University	Member Questions only
Sterling College	Writing Supplement only
Stetson University	Writing Supplement only
Stevens Institute of Technology	Writing Supplement only
Stevenson University	Member Questions only
Stonehill College	Member Questions only
SUNY College of Environmental Science	Member Questions only
SUNY New Paltz	Writing Supplement only
SUNY Purchase College	Writing Supplement only
SUNY Stony Brook University	Writing Supplement only
Swarthmore College	Member Questions only
Syracuse University	Member Questions only
Texas Christian University	Member Questions only
The American University of Paris	Member Questions only
The College of New Rochelle	Writing Supplement only
The College of William & Mary	Member Questions only
The George Washington University	Writing Supplement only
The Ohio State University	Member Questions only
The University of Oklahoma	Writing Supplement only
Transylvania University	Writing Supplement only
Trinity Christian College	Member Questions only
Tufts University	Writing Supplement only
Union College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
University of Aberdeen	Member Questions only
University of Birmingham England	Member Questions only
University of Bristol	Member Questions only
University of Chicago	Writing Supplement only
University of Cincinnati	Member Questions only
University of Colorado Boulder	Writing Supplement only
University of Connecticut	Writing Supplement only
University of Dallas	Member Questions only
University of Delaware	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
University of Evansville	Writing Supplement only
University of Illinois at Chicago	Member Questions only
University of Kentucky	Member Questions only
University of Mary Washington	Member Questions only
University of Maryland, Baltimore County	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth	Writing Supplement only
University of Michigan	Member Questions only
University of North Carolina Asheville	Member Questions only
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	Member Questions only
University of North Carolina at Wilmington	Member Questions only
University of Notre Dame	Writing Supplement only
University of Pennsylvania	Writing Supplement only
University of Portland	Member Questions only
University of Puget Sound	Writing Supplement only
University of Redlands	Member Questions only
University of Rhode Island	Writing Supplement only
University of Richmond	Writing Supplement only
University of Rochester	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
University of Saint Joseph	Writing Supplement only
University of San Diego	Member Questions only
University of Southern California	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
University of St Andrews	Writing Supplement only
University of Stirling	Member Questions only
University of Strathclyde	Member Questions only
University of Virginia	Writing Supplement only
Ursinus College	Writing Supplement only
Vanderbilt University	Member Questions only
Vassar College	Writing Supplement only
Vesalius College	Member Questions only
Villanova University	Writing Supplement only
Virginia Commonwealth University	Member Questions only
Wabash College	Writing Supplement only
Wagner College	Member Questions only
Wake Forest University	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Warren Wilson College	Writing Supplement only
Washington and Lee University	Writing Supplement only
Wellesley College	Writing Supplement only
Wesleyan University	Writing Supplement only
Westmont College	Member Questions only
Wheaton College	Member Questions only
Wheeling Jesuit University	Writing Supplement only
Whitman College	Writing Supplement only
Whittier College	Writing Supplement only
Williams College	Member Questions & Writing Supplement
Wilson College	Writing Supplement only
Wofford College	Member Questions only
Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Member Questions only
Yale University	Member Questions only
Yale-NUS College	Writing Supplement only