Haverford is a leading small liberal arts college outside of Philadelphia. They are known for offering an intensive learning environment that encourages both exploration and excellence. There are just under 1,500 students, and 98% live on campus. This, combined with a student-run and authored Honor Code, contribute to a tight-knit community that prioritizes togetherness, mutual support, and also mutual challenge. Students at Haverford aim to always be raising the bar. This starts before they are even accepted. That rate of admission at Haverford for the Class of 2029 was 13.3%.
The college officially enacted a test-optional policy in 2022 after a COVID-influenced pilot period. This doesn’t mean that you can write off the SAT and ACT, though. A little over half of the accepted and enrolling students for the Class of 2029 submitted scores, so they can play an important role in underlining an otherwise strong application. For Haverford, a strong score to submit would be an SAT:EBR of 740+, SAT:Math of 730+, or an ACT of 34 or 35.
In this post, we’ll be digging into how to spotlight the parts of you that can’t be summed up in a number. More specifically, we’re looking at the supplement. Below we’ll break down each piece of the Haverford supplement, guiding you through writing your best response to each.
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While we understand that not having to write a supplement can be convenient, the Haverford supplement is actually our dream. We love that they give you two compact places to share who you are. At only 150-200 words, you have to make every word count, but you also have room for a few stylistic elements and flourishes. So, let’s get into it.
PROMPT 1
Tell us about a topic or issue that sparks your curiosity and gets you intellectually excited. How do you hope to engage with this topic or issue at Haverford? (Please limit your response to 150-200 words.)
We absolutely love this type of question. Any question that invites you to explore curiosity or creativity is exciting to us. The key to a strong answer, though, is to not necessarily go with the ‘obvious’ choice. You should not write about what you want to study at Haverford here, or, at least, not in a direct way. By this we mean that if you want to study anthropology you shouldn’t write about how anthropology sparks your interest.
Instead, dig in. What is it about anthropology that excites you? Then, dig deeper—what is an example of that in the world that absolutely fascinates you. Illustrate it in a vivid scene before mapping that onto an offering at Haverford, like a professor with particular expertise in the subject or a course that could answer all of your questions.
The most important thing about this supplement isn’t including a bunch of details about the connection to Haverford, though. Rather, it’s making the reader as excited as you are about what you are excited to learn more about. They should leave this supplement smiling and able to envision you in the classroom.
PROMPT 2
We have highlighted for you some of the values that shape the Haverford community. What are some of the values you seek in your next community? How do Haverford’s values, as demonstrated through our Honor Code, resonate with you?
As you think about how to answer this question, you might draw from how you have been influenced by other communities you have been a part of, experiences you may have had within your communities, or opportunities you have had to shape or even change your communities. (Please limit your response to 150-200 words.)
First, it is super important to read the Haverford Honor Code and mission statement. Haverford is a small liberal arts school with its own special way of doing things. Allowing students to govern themselves, in many ways, and to set expectations for each other, shows immense trust and confidence in the students they accept.
So, in brainstorming for this prompt, we encourage our students to look for an experience from a community they are part of that has shaped them. This should be a recent experience, within the last two years, and should highlight you working alongside other people to reach a common goal.
In your response you’ll be telling this story, and mapping it onto one of the Haverford ‘themes’: academic freedom, student agency, community, and leadership and engagement. While it may hit on more than one of these simply by virtue of the story, focus your work on just one. You only have 200 words, and it’s already a lot to fit into that amount of space.
And remember, you need to talk about Haverford directly, not only about your experiences thus far in life. Point out a community or group at Haverford that you could tap into to continue in the same vein as your main story.
As you work on your Haverford supplement, remember that they want to know that you truly want them — especially if you are not applying early. Students who apply to small liberal arts schools tend to have region-centric lists that often, and very much mistakenly, treat the schools as interchangeable. But they aren’t. As we advise our students, each school has an identity and fierce pride in what they offer. For Haverford, this is even more true. Given their unique student-led Honor System, Haverford wants to know that you aren’t applying to them on a whim. They want to really feel like they matter to you, and that you can see yourself there.
Applying to college is personal. That may seem obvious, but we want to emphasize that it isn’t copy-and-paste. As you work on your Haverford application, don’t follow any advice blindly. Make it work for you, or get in touch. We craft student-specific strategies that personal by design.
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