Common App Extra Essay Requirements (2016-17)

Editorial team Aug 11, 2016 · 2 min read
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commonapplogoThe Common App for 2016-17 is now live, and we've just wrapped up our analysis of the real number of short answer/essay prompts required for each school.  If you've been through this process before, you know that just because a school lacks a writing supplement doesn't mean there are no additional essays to complete.  Many schools in fact simply embed these prompts in the main application itself.

This post summarizes the prompts required for 200+ Common Application schools in our coverage universe.  Our definition of a prompt is a question that requires more than a one word or one sentence answer.  It's not perfect, but it should help you gauge the amount of writing you'll need to get through over the next few months.  It'll also help you identify schools that you can apply to without the need for extra essays!

Click on Continue Reading for the list.




Common Application Extra Prompt Requirements by School (2016-17)


College Kickstart LLC

InstitutionExtra Short Answer/Essay Prompts
Beloit CollegeNone
Boston College1 prompt (400 words)
Bucknell University1 prompt (250 words)
Bucknell University - Engineering1 prompt (250 words)
Bucknell University - Management1 prompt (250 words)
Butler University1 prompt (100 words)
Carleton College1 prompt (300 words) + 1 optional (250 words)
College of CharlestonOptional + 2 prompts (1 x 350 words, 1 x 400 words) + 1 prompt for Honors (650 words)
Colorado College1 prompt (300 words)
Dickinson College1 optional (150 words)
Furman UniversityNone
Goucher College1 prompt (100 words)
Harvey Mudd College2 prompts (1 x 500 words, 1 x 100 words)
Kenyon CollegeNone
Middlebury CollegeNone
Millsaps CollegeOptional
Northwestern UniversityOptional base + 1 prompt (300 words) + 2 optional (200 words)
Oberlin CollegeNone
Quinnipiac UniversityBase only; 1 prompt (250 words) for healthcare field applicants
Tulane University1 optional (250 words)
University of Texas - Austin2 prompts (2 x 300 words) + 1 optional (250 words) + additional Honors College prompts depending on program
Whitman CollegeNone
Berry College1 optional (500 words)
Washington & Jefferson CollegeOptional
Bucknell University - Arts & Sciences1 prompt (250 words)
Bethel University - MNOptional base + 2 prompts (1000 words)