Colorado College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colorado College is known for their innovative “Block Plan,” in which students take one class for three and a half weeks, and then have almost five days off between blocks. Their acceptance rate in 2020 was 13.5%, and they only have one supplemental question. Shocking no one, it asks about the Block Plan. We’ve covered Colorado College before, but the questions have changed from last year. Let’s dive in.
Why do you wish to attend Colorado College and how would the Block Plan serve your educational goals? (no more than 200 words)
This is essentially the standard “why X college” essay, and we have a pretty tried-and-true way of tackling it. First, you want to identify what you want to study. Even if you’re undeclared in real life, in the Common App you must declare a major. Keep that in mind while you decide on what will be your origin story. If you want to study geology, maybe you were influenced by a trip to the Grand Canyon as a child, or you used to bother all your friends with your rock collection at show and tell. Whatever that story is, connect it to what you want to study. Have a distinct beginning, middle, and end, and use details to flesh the story out. This section will end with the declaration of your major.
Next, your job is to convince Colorado College why Colorado College is the only place you can go to school. Look up a class (upper level only, every school has Rocks 101) and a professor that you’d want to study with. Talk about how utilizing the Block Plan is integral to your major -- so maybe you want to take GY335 - Geochemistry of the Rock Cycle, because being able to go out and collect specimens and study them intently for almost a month is basically a dream come true for you. Go into detail about how their system best fits your personal academic goals, and how that focus will help you. You only have two hundred words to work with here, so be direct but don’t skimp on details.
End briefly with a sentence or two that sums up what you’ve told them, proofread, edit down to those two-hundred words, and proofread again. Let’s dive into the next supplement.
Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (250 words)
Long time readers of the blog, you may know what we’re gonna suggest for this one. Ding ding ding! That’s right, a story. You’ve already told Colorado College what your activities are, but the activities section doesn’t allow for a lot of expansion or detail. We recommend choosing one of those activities that you care deeply about -- and discussing work experience, if you have it, is often the best way to go. While you might be dominant on the court or the field, sports will be written about by a lot of students for this essay. Try to pick one of your more niche interests or an experience that shows a newer side of you.
You want to highlight some of your best traits and how they shined in the activity you pick, so maybe you tell the story of the day you became assistant manager at the mini golf place. Maybe tell a story about one of your toughest days at work or volunteering, how you overcame or solved a problem that day. You could tell a story about teamwork, or creative problem solving, or about how you learned how to use power tools that day. Using a story here will highlight not only what you got out of the experience, but what your club/job/volunteer org got from you being a part of it. Use a strong beginning, middle, and end to fully tell the story. Fill it with details so we feel like we’re at that Habitat build with you, or under the fluorescents of the store in the mall where you filled your weekends.
250 words is pretty short, so you may have to edit down your draft a few times to get it right at that limit. Make sure to proofread for grammar and clarity. You’ve got this.
If you’re having a hard time with your Common App essay or the supplements, feel free to reach out to us for one on one help.