Supplemental essays

Supplemental essays tailored to each school.

Some schools require five or more extra essays. Each one is a chance to show a college exactly why you fit, and too many students treat them as an afterthought.

Why supplements matter

The Common App essay tells every school who you are. Supplemental essays answer a different question: why this school, and why you belong there. When you work with Write to Fit, the student does the writing: every idea, every sentence, every word. The point of writing isn't to be slick. It's to show the schools where you'll thrive exactly why you belong there, and why they want you.

The supplemental essays I help with

• “Why us” essays: specific, researched reasons a school is right for you, and what you'll bring to it.
• Community essays: the people and places that shaped you, and how you'll show up on campus.
• Short answers: making every word count when you only have a few sentences.
• Additional information and special circumstances: explaining context clearly and in your own voice.

How we work

Supplemental essays depend on how many schools a student is applying to, so we map them out together in the free consultation. Then we plan which stories go where, so the whole application tells one coherent story without repeating itself. As with the Common App essay, the student writes every word. I coach with honest, specific feedback until each essay sounds like the student and speaks directly to the school.

Working on the main essay too? See Common App essay coaching. For free advice, read my guides to writing the “Why this college” essay and the UC Personal Insight Questions.

Planning the regular decision wave? See regular decision essays: a plan for November through January.

Questions families ask