Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, is a historically women’s liberal arts college. It’s a part of the Seven Sisters schools (Barnard College, Bryn Mawr College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and Wellesley College are still women's colleges. Vassar is co-ed and Radcliffe was absorbed by Harvard) and the Five College Consortium ( Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst). Lotta school names, we know. Mount Holyoke has a 38% acceptance rate and a technically optional supplement. Frequent readers of the blog know there is no such thing as optional.

Their supplement has changed from last year’s (despite them telling us it would be “exactly the same” when we called them in June and July…), so we’ve updated our guide to help you write the best essays possible. Let’s dive in.

Submission of the Writing Supplement is OPTIONAL.

Please select one of the two prompts below. Your essay should be between 250-400 words.

Again, not optional!

What unique characteristic about Mount Holyoke makes you interested in attending?

A classic why essay! Figure out what you want to major in first, because you have to declare a major for the sake of this essay (and all your applications tbh). Pick something that fits the academic niche you’ve built over high school, and don’t be afraid to get specific. Use this to write an origin story, a.k.a. how you developed this interest. Next up, research the upper level classes for the major you’re interested in. Only upper level – anyone can take Intro to English or Spanish 1 at any school. Also, pick classes that are unique to Mount Holyoke, things that you could not easily take at other schools. Explain why this class fits into your niche and helps you meet your goals.

Same thing with a professor. Look at the department you want to be in and see what kind of research they’re doing and who leads it. See who teaches those classes you were interested in and pitch yourself as their research assistant. Next, dive into extracurriculars that you would want to do (and try to draw a throughline from what you did in HS to what you want to do at Mount Holyoke) and talk about how those help you meet your goals. You can also talk about the location or the Five Colleges Consortium or any of the other things that make Mount Holyoke unique.

Early bird or night owl? Sweet or savory? Go out or stay in? Or choose your own "this or that" scenario and make your case!

Fun questions! We don’t always love them for students but if you’re the kind of person who wants to go to Mount Holyoke, you might. Our biggest tip for essays like this is to pick something unique and not use the ones suggested. Maybe it’s Brontë sisters, or different Birkenstock shapes, or Greta Gerwig movies. If you have a story surrounding it, even better. You could even break form and write it like a debate between you and a friend. It’s a fun question, so have fun with it.

And there you have it, the Mount Holyoke supplements. If you’re reading these and don’t like the vibe of the last question, Mount Holyoke might not be for you. Supplemental questions tell us as much about the college as your answers tell them about you, so make sure it’s a good fit.

If you want help with your Mount Holyoke supplemental essays, or with any other school’s application, reach out to us today.