Haverford is a liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It used to be a quaker school but is no longer religious. The school is small with around 1400 undergrads. Notably, all of their students live on campus all 4 years. They are part of the Tri-College Consortium and The Quaker Consortium. These are partnerships that allow Haverford students to take courses at Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, and the University of Pennsylvania. Their acceptance rate is around 18%. Haverford’s supplement is unique and it pays to read it carefully.

Carleton College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, a small town about 45 minutes outside of Minneapolis. Carleton offers 33 majors and 37 minors but is especially known for its undergraduate teaching program. Their acceptance rate hit a new low this year of 16.5%. Their supplement only has one question and they let you choose between 3 prompts. Let’s break them down.

Harvey Mudd is a private college in Claremont, California. The College is focused on science and engineering and is a super small school. When we say small, we mean small. It usually has just under 1000 undergrads. They offer 10 engineering, science, and mathematics-based majors and a core curriculum that also includes humanities classes. They are part of the Claremont Colleges, a consortium that includes Pomona College, Scripps College, Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Pitzer College. Students at these universities can take classes and access opportunities across these 5 campuses. Harvey Mudd has about a 10% acceptance rate. Their supplement is 2 questions and an optional upload. Let’s break it down.

Swarthmore is a private liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, which is practically a suburb of Philadelphia. While the school was originally Quaker, it is no longer religious. Swarthmore is part of the Tri-College Consortium and the Quaker Consortium. These connections allow Swarthmore students to take classes at Bryn Mawr College, Haverford, and the University of Pennsylvania. This is a huge opportunity for those who want a liberal arts education but access to more classes across local universities. Swarthmore’s acceptance rate is usually around 9%. Their supplement is only one question and they give you three prompts to choose from.

Brandeis University is a private research university located just outside of Boston in Waltham, MA. The school is named after Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice, and the school has a strong secular Jewish identity. Popular majors at Brandeis include Biology, Economics, and Public Policy. Brandeis’ acceptance rate floats in the 30-35% range, so writing a great supplement will be key to helping you stand out.

Bard College is a small (read: like 2,000) private liberal arts college in the hamlet of Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. Yes, it’s in a hamlet. Yeah, we didn’t know that was still a thing either. Bard’s most popular programs include the social sciences, English, and performing arts and they’re known for super small classes. Famous alumni include the band Steely Dan, Chevy Chase, Adam Connover, and Ronan Farrow.

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public land-grant research university. It was founded when Wisconsin became a state. They do a lot of research and have a ton of undergrad majors. With 33,506 undergraduate students, Madison is on the large side. Their acceptance rate is around 60% however, that varies for in and out-of-state applicants. Their supplement is only one question and it’s one that we’ve seen again and again. So we wanted to give our tips and tricks about how to approach the University of Wisconsin–Madison supplemental essay.

Tufts University is a private research university in Massachusetts. It is on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, which probably doesn’t mean much to you unless you are from Massachusetts - It’s right outside of Boston. Tufts was founded in 1852 by Christian universalists, however, it is no longer a religious school. They have some great and out-of-the-box programs such as Tufts Civic Semester. They have three undergrad schools School of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering, and School of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts. SMFA, however, is in Downtown Boston. Tufts had a record low acceptance rate last year at just 9%. Their supplement is only 2 questions, but the second has multiple prompts, so let’s break it down.

Vassar is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York. The school used to be a Women’s college, but, was the first women's college in the country to become coeducational in 1969. Men now make up around 45% of the undergraduate population. Vassar prides itself on its broad liberal arts education and classes that teach students how to think and not what to think. Vassar is on the smaller side with around 2500 students. Their acceptance rate is about 20%. Vassar’s supplemental materials are largely optional (more on that later,) however one question is required. Let’s break down what Vassar asks you and how we would tackle it.

The University of Maryland, sometimes called UMD, is a public land-grant research university located in College Park, Maryland. Maryland has great academics and is part of the Big Ten Conference. UMD has about 30,000 undergrads, 12 colleges/schools, and more than 90 majors for undergraduates. UMD has about a 40% acceptance rate, however, this can change for in-state vs. out-of-state applicants.

Rice, technically William Marsh Rice University, is a private research university in Houston Texas. Rice’s sprawling campus is right next to Houston’s Museum District. The University has many excellent science programs which include some lesser trodden paths like artificial heart research and space science. Rice’s acceptance rate hit a record low last year at about 9%. With that in mind, let’s break down the ins and out of the Rice supplement.

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill is a public research university. It is one of the oldest public universities in the US and boasts over 70 courses of study. The school has a largely suburban campus and has about 20,000 undergraduate students. Since it is a public school, the acceptance rate for instate students is much higher than its out-of-state acceptance rate. The in-state acceptance rate is about 42% while the out-of-state rate is only about 10%. Their supplement isn’t too long, but there are a lot of questions (thankfully, most of them are short answers.) This is our advice on how to tackle UNC’s supplement.

Wake Forest is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are known for their strong liberal arts program. Wake Forest also has a large Greek system and strong sports programs for a midsized school. Wake Forest has about a 25% acceptance rate. Their supplement is one of the more creative supplements out there but also asks some standard questions. The first trick of the Wake Forest Supplement is that not all the writing prompts are under the section titled “Writing.”

Emory is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. While it was founded by Methodist Episcopal Church in the 1800s, they are not very religious today. You don’t need to be methodist to go and the school has a wide range of religious communities on campus including Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and interfaith. Emory’s acceptance rate is around 13%. Emory has two distinct academic pathways for freshmen, Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Oxford College.

Boston College is a private Jesuit research university in Boston, well technically Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. While the school is Jesuit, you do not need to be religious. That being said, many students are Catholic and the campus does look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame might live there. They approach education by “educating a person as a whole.” The College has 4 undergraduate schools including a popular business and management school. BC is a midsized school with about 9,000 undergrads. It has an acceptance rate is around 19%. There supplement only has one question and it gives you options on what to write it about. So let's get into the ones we would choose, skip, and how to approach the BC supplement.