Sowmya

The supplemental essays are an essential part of your college application as they help the Admission Committee get to know you better as a person. Although Santa Clara University takes a holistic approach to assessing applications (we look at GPA, extracurriculars, essays, etc.), we want to provide you with a better understanding of how to answer these questions in particular to strengthen your overall application.

Facts: 

• SCU’s Admission Committee on average reads over 1,500 applications in a year.
• Most admission readers average between 6 to 8 minutes on each application

Supplemental Essay #1: 

At Santa Clara University, we value our diverse and inclusive community. Our campus learning environment is enriched by the lived experiences of people from different backgrounds. What people, places, events, or circumstances have shaped the individual you are today and how you could contribute to our community? (150- 300 words)

First and foremost, notice the word count. 150-300 words is just over half a page, leaving little room for fluff in your writing. Focus on writing qualitatively and focusing on one topic rather than quantitatively to meet the 300-word limit. Here are a couple of do’s and don'ts for this question:

Do:

• Choose a topic that is exciting and meaningful to you personally 
• Think less about what might appeal to the admission committee and more about what matters to you. Genuine passion and interest translate better on the page than you realize.
• If something doesn’t come to mind right away, jot down some ideas for each category (people, places, events, or circumstances) and choose one that has the most substance
• Focus on the “how you could contribute to our community” part of the question
• The admission committee wants to see you picturing yourself on SCU’s campus and making a difference - we want to see what you have specifically done to diversity yourself and give back to your community

Don’t:

• People: It may be tempting to write about someone you know closely like family or friends, but those can be difficult to tie back to yourself
• If your parents shaped you, then talk about it, but make sure the majority of your writing is focused on yourself
• Places: Vacations are a popular topic! Don’t talk about a vacation you took but rather a place you visited that may have some cultural or meaningful significance to you
• Events: Do not talk about academic college programs you attended over the summer
• This doesn’t tell us anything about you

Supplemental Essay #2:

At Santa Clara University, we push our students to be creative, be challenged, and be the solution. Think about an ethical dilemma that you care about that our society is currently facing. This can be something happening in your local community or more globally. How can an SCU education help you prepare for and address this challenge? (150-300 words)

This question may be a bit more challenging, so let us break it down for you. An “ethical dilemma” is not the equivalent of deciding between saving 1 person or 100 people. Rather, it is anything you see in your community or the larger society that you deem unequal, unfair, or potentially unethical in the future that can be improved on. 

Choose a topic that matters to you.

Do:

• Explain the issue in less than ¼ of the word count
• The rest should be your solutions to the issue and what you can/will do to help
• Focus on the approach and be forward-looking
• We want to see what you plan on doing once come to SCU, so discuss specific resources we offer that will aid in addressing your dilemma of choice 
• Be Specific!
• Talk about the solutions you could implement and how they would translate to the SCU campus

Don't:

• Outside research on your topic 
• This is not a research project - focus more on what SCU can do to help you address this issue rather than facts and statistics
• Overthink it!
• There is no one right answer to this question, so choose a topic that you are passionate about