smith college supplemental essays

Smith College 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Decision: Nov 15

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 15

You Have: 

Smith College 2023-24 Application Essay Question Explanations

The Requirements: One essay of 250 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s):   Community

Smith has a unique housing system, where students of all class years live together in 41 different houses. With our Residential Curriculum, students will become critically aware global neighbors, exploring their self-identity by living in community, engaging in reflection and challenging their own beliefs.

What personal experiences, background or abilities would you bring to this residential environment to share with your neighbors and what would you hope your neighbors would share with you (250 words).

Admissions wants to invite students to campus who are eager to meet new people, explore their identities, exchange ideas, and contribute to their inclusive community. To determine if you are a good fit, they want to hear a story about (1) what has shaped you and how those experiences will impact the way you interact with the Smith residential community and (2) what you hope to learn from your peers. Maybe you want to write about your experience moving around the country as a military kid and how attending a new school every couple of years forced you to step outside your comfort zone and make new friends, regardless of what region of the country you were in. How will you bring that same social fearlessness with you to Smith? Perhaps you hope your neighbors will introduce you to new ideas, worldviews, and TikTok dances. To ace this response, show admissions that you’re eager to not only make your mark in their diverse, inclusive community, but also grow and develop as a result of your time there.

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Smith College

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Smith College’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Additional info essay.

Smith has a unique housing system, where students of all class years live together in 41 different houses. With our Residential Curriculum, students will become critically aware global neighbors, exploring their self-identity by living in community, engaging in reflection and challenging their own beliefs. What personal experiences, background or abilities would you bring to this residential environment to share with your neighbors and what would you hope your neighbors would share with you?*

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

How to Get Into Smith Guide

How to get into smith—general information.

Smith College is a private women’s college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. Founded in 1871 , it stands today as one of the largest liberal arts colleges dedicated to women in the US. Smith’s 147-acre campus is home to approximately 2,100 undergrads whose interests span over 50 different areas of study.

In this How to get Into Smith guide we’ll cover:

• The average Smith College GPA
• The importance of Smith College SAT scores
• Interpreting the Smith College acceptance rate
• Smith College admissions requirements
• Writing an effective Smith College supplemental essay
• Acing the Smith College interview, and much more about the Smith College application process! 

Wondering how to get into Smith? You might find yourself researching the Smith College GPA or Smith College acceptance rate. Rather than worrying about these figures, focus on what you have complete control over: your Smith College application. To maximize your chances of impressing the Smith College admissions team, take time to compile your Smith College application materials. This means writing a strong Smith College supplemental essay and preparing for your Smith College interview.

Figuring out how to get into Smith takes strategy. We can help. CollegeAdvisor.com’s network of 300+ Admissions Experts (and former admissions officers) includes graduates from some of the country’s top schools. Want to maximize your Smith admissions odds?  Create your free account or schedule a free advising consultation by calling (844) 343-6272. 

How to get into Smith

If Smith College is on your list, you’d probably like to know how to get into Smith. Firstly, understand that Smith College admissions use a holistic approach to evaluate applicants. This means that no singular component will make or break your Smith College application. Instead, Smith focuses on accepting the whole student rather than just a statistic. 

Smith College admissions counselors will review your whole Smith College application: your high school transcript, Smith College GPA, and your Smith College supplemental essay. With its optional components—the Smith College interview and arts supplement—Smith invites applicants to provide further context about who they are.

As you put together your Smith College application, you may get caught up in questions like “How to get into Smith?” or “How can I compete with the Smith College acceptance rate?”

Instead, consider these questions: 

• Do I demonstrate my ability to successfully manage a rigorous curriculum? 
• Have I conveyed how I think and what I care about? 
• Do I show what kind of community member, classmate, roommate and teammate I would be at Smith? 

By answering these questions, you’ll set yourself up for success in Smith’s vibrant community of learners—this is really how to get into Smith!

For more tips on how to make your Smith College application stand out, check out this article . 

Is it hard to get into Smith?

With a low Smith College acceptance rate and a high average Smith College GPA, you might feel unsure about how to get into Smith. As with any selective school, it is important to keep these statistics in mind. However, don’t let them steal your confidence . Yes, your Smith College application will face strong competition. However, Smith College admissions looks for women whose value lies beyond numbers. 

So, don’t let the Smith College acceptance rate scare you. With a carefully crafted Smith College application and a strong Smith College interview, you can increase your chances of getting in.

Continue reading this “how to get into Smith” guide to learn more about the Smith College GPA, the guidance on Smith College SAT scores and ACT scores, the Smith College acceptance rate, and what you need to get started on your Smith College application.

What is the average GPA needed for Smith?

Once you’ve started researching how to get into Smith, one of the first things you might ask about is the average Smith College GPA. 

The school’s holistic review process means you don’t need to meet a minimum Smith College GPA to be considered by Smith College admissions. However, students with successful Smith College applications tend to have strong high school GPAs. For the Class of 2025, 74% of enrolled students had a 4.0 GPA.

The average Smith College SAT scores and ACT scores are also high. In the Class of 2025, 34% of enrolled students chose to submit Smith College SAT scores, and 20% submitted ACT scores. Of those students, the middle 50% of Smith College SAT scores were 1390-1510, while the middle 50% of ACT scores were 31-34.

The average Smith College GPA and other academic statistics can seem daunting. However, remember that the strength of your Smith College application does not come from meeting the average Smith College GPA or  Smith College SAT scores alone. Instead, it comes from your ability to maximize each part of the Smith College application. This includes your academic record, teacher recommendations, Smith College supplemental essay, and Smith College interview.

By having a balanced “how to get into Smith” strategy like this, you’ll show your commitment to Smith’s values of audacity, agency and authenticity. In doing so, you’ll craft the strongest Smith College application possible. 

Want more tips? Check out CollegeAdvisor’s other resources on mastering your GPA and standardized tests .

What does the Smith application require?

When considering how to get into Smith, it is important to start your Smith College application well before your chosen deadline. Smith offers three decision plans : Early Decision I (November 15), Early Decision II (January 1), and Regular Decision (January 15). No matter which deadline you’ve chosen, your Smith College application will need to include these materials :

• The Coalition Application or Common Application
• Smith College Supplemental Essay
• Secondary School Report (including official high school transcript)
• Counselor Recommendation
• Two Teacher Evaluation Forms
• Midyear Report
• Early Decision Agreement (if applicable)

If you are a U.S. Citizen or U.S. Permanent Resident, Smith College SAT scores or ACT scores are optional. If you are an international citizen, Smith College SAT scores or ACT scores are required. 

The Smith College application also includes an optional Smith College interview with an admissions counselor. Note that if you are a woman of nontraditional college age applying to be an Ada Comstock Scholar, the Smith College interview is required. Although optional for standard applications, Smith College admissions indicate that the interview is just as important as your extracurricular activities. So, if you can, make the Smith College interview a part of your ‘how to get into Smith’ plan!

If you decide to complete a Smith College interview, do so before the deadline for your chosen application cycle (ED I by November 15, ED II by December 22, and RD by January 15). 

Finally, as you prepare for your Smith College interview, check out this article on “Ten Tips for a Great College Interview” from Smith College admissions.

What is the Smith College acceptance rate?

You shouldn’t become too preoccupied with the Smith College acceptance rate. However, it’s a good figure to have in your mind as you craft your “how to get into Smith” strategy. 

According to U.S. News, the 2020 Smith College acceptance rate stands at 37% . This percentage includes ED I, ED II, and Regular Decision applicants. Given the high average Smith College GPA and strong Smith College SAT scores and ACT scores, you should craft an application sure to impress Smith College admissions.

If Smith is your top-choice school, keep in mind that the Smith College acceptance rate for Early Decision is 57% . So, it may work to your advantage to select one of the earlier deadlines.

For more guidance on how to factor the Smith College acceptance rate into your ‘how to get into Smith’ plan, check out our article on college acceptance rates and the admissions process .

What extracurriculars does Smith look for?

As you put together your “how to get into Smith” plan, it’s important to look beyond the Smith College GPA and test scores.  Smith College admissions look closely at your extracurricular activities, too. This part of your Smith College application is important because it showcases your passions, involvement, and dedication beyond the classroom.

Rather than a list overflowing with surface-level engagement, Smith values those extracurriculars that demonstrate quality of involvement . This can look different for each activity, from independently mastering a new skill to effectively leading a sports team. Whatever your activities are, make sure you give them the opportunity to shine as part of your Smith College application. You should also highlight them in your Smith College supplemental essay.

Some students have artistic passions they can’t convey in the standard Smith College application. If this sounds like you, Smith invites you to submit an optional art supplement before February 1.  Keep in mind that they only accept submissions in music, visual art, and dance. If your interests stretch into another area, talk about them in other areas!

How to write a Smith supplemental essay 

Part of your “how to get into Smith” plan will be completing the Smith College supplemental essay. In addition to your personal statement, this essay lets you show Smith College admissions who you are.

Here is the 2021-2022 Smith College supplemental essay prompt:

Music means so many things to so many people. It can bring us joy, inspire us, validate us or heal us. Please tell us about a song or piece of music that is particularly meaningful to you and why. Please include the name of the song/piece and the artist (200 words).

Creative prompts like this can be intimidating because they give you the freedom to share something personal about yourself that may not feel directly related to your education. However, you should still take your response as seriously as you would a more formal essay.

Smith’s Tips for a Great College Essay explains your goal perfectly: “to convince admissions officers…that you would be a good match for their college.” Even though the prompt is asking you about a meaningful piece of music, your answer should also convey something about why you would be a valuable member of Smith’s campus.

Finding inspiration

If you are wondering how to draw that connection, look to Smith’s mission and values for inspiration. Smith is dedicated to educating women who will become engaged global citizens. They do this by creating a learning environment that celebrates and explores critical thought, creativity, and the complexity of human experiences and world cultures.

Don’t just pick a song because you like the way it sounds. Consider the lyrics, why they resonate with you, the setting you first heard it, or what the song reminds you of. Maybe it connects to a certain part of your identity or a perspective that helps shape the way you see the world. Whatever the connection, make sure it is meaningful and clearly articulated. Your reader should appreciate what this song means to you while learning something about who you are.

Finally, when crafting your Smith College supplemental essay, you might find these top tips useful. 

Will Smith review my social media accounts?

Smith College admissions does not review social media as part of their holistic evaluation process. So, don’t feel like you need to factor your social media accounts into your “how to get into Smith” plan. However, even though they don’t make a point of reviewing social media accounts, you should still be conscious of what you post.

Remember, anything you post to the internet becomes public information. If Smith College admissions became aware of a concerning post or piece of content you shared, it could impact their decision about your Smith College application. As a good rule of thumb, don’t post anything online you wouldn’t want a future professor or employer to see.

Is Smith the school for me?

Before you start thinking about how to get into Smith, you consider whether Smith College is the school for you. Knowing that Smith is a good fit will keep you motivated throughout the process. You will be inspired to write the best Smith College supplemental essay you can and to prepare for your Smith College interview.

A big part of your decision process will be deciding whether a women’s college is right for you. A small, women’s liberal arts college is a very specific type of learning environment. At Smith, you’ll be in a tight-knit, intimate community that is known to empower women to achieve their greatest potential. 

An education at Smith will be unlike an education at a larger or co-ed institution. Take some time to explore everything Smith has to offer, from academics to student clubs & organizations to equity & inclusion initiatives . If you are still undecided, check out CollegeAdvisor’s page on Smith College . Our page can help you learn more about what the school has to offer.

Additional tips to get into Smith

As you finalize your ‘how to get into Smith’ strategy, take note of the following final tips. 

Consider your application holistically

Smith College admissions will evaluate your application as a whole. This means, you should use this mindset when putting together your Smith College application. Rather than getting hung up on one thing, focus on highlighting your strengths. For example, if you feel like your high school transcript doesn’t compare to the average Smith College GPA, express what you have accomplished in your personal statement. Also, use your Smith College supplemental essay to better highlight strengths and experiences.  

Prepare for your interview

If you’ve researched how to get into Smith, you know that completing a Smith College interview is an important part of that plan. Especially if you get nervous during these types of situations, make sure you set aside time to prepare for your interview . Think about how you might answer questions about your extracurriculars, academic history, your interest in Smith, and what you hope to get out of a college experience.

Take time on your essays

Aside from the content of your essays, your personal statement and Smith College supplemental essay will be evaluated for writing style, sentence construction, fluidity, and voice as well as grammar, spelling, and punctuation. So, as you work on your essays, make sure you take the time to choose a topic that you feel confident writing about. Then, make sure you draft, edit, revise, and proofread your essays before you submit them. 

This guide was written by Stefanie Tedards. If you want to know how to get into Smith, we’ve got you covered. CollegeAdvisor.com’s network of 300+ Admissions Experts (and former admissions officers) includes graduates from many top schools. Create your free  account  or  schedule a free advising consultation  by calling (844) 576-0953. (844) 343-6272.

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2 Awesome Smith College Essay Examples

What’s covered:, essay example 1, essay example 2, where to get feedback on your essay .

Sophie Alina , an expert advisor from CollegeVine advising, provided commentary on this post. Advisors offer one-on-one guidance on everything from essays to test prep to financial aid. If you want help writing your essays or feedback on drafts, check out CollegeVine advising to book a consultation with Sophie Alina or any of our skilled advisors. 

Smith College is liberal arts women’s college in Massachusetts. It is one of the Seven Sisters colleges, which is a group of highly selective and historically women’s colleges in the Northeast. As a member of the Five Colleges Consortium, students at Smith also have the opportunity to enroll in courses and participate in extracurriculars through the other colleges in the consortium. Since Smith is a moderately selective college, it’s important to write strong essays so your application stands out. 

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized.

Prompt: Music means so many things to so many people. It can bring us joy, inspire us, validate us or heal us. Please tell us about a song or piece of music that is particularly meaningful to you and why. Please include the name of the song/piece and the artist.

Standing in line at a Hayley Kiyoko concert, I knew I was surrounded by girls who had a shared experience with me. Not a single person in the concert hall was heterosexual. That was confirmed a girl asked me, “So, how did you discover our lesbian Jesus?” (a playful nickname fans gave Hayley). I meekly responded that one day, the music video for “Girls Like Girls” showed up in a YouTube sidebar, and the rest was history. Before I came out to my family, I remember feeling impassioned when my father said, “why don’t lesbians just wait for the right man?”. I marched around my house, blasting the chorus at full volume from my phone’s speakers: Girls like girls like boys do, nothing new! The girl told me in response that she found comfort in Hayley’s music when her strict east Asian parents refused to accept her sexuality. “Girls Like Girls” is an anthem of empowerment, and after standing in a concert hall with 2,000 other fans proudly waving small rainbow flags, it became a song that offered a feeling of safety and made me feel comfortable in my sexuality.

What This Essay Did Well 

The writer connects music to a song that brought them joy, safety, and empowerment. By including several images (the concert, the conversation with the other girl, the marching around the house), the writer gives the readers rich visuals which help the reader connect to the story. 

With the first sentence, the author has us wondering– what’s the shared experience here? By  separating the second sentence from the first (“Not a single person in the concert hall was heterosexual”), the writer brings your eye towards one of the big ideas of this essay: community.  The writer then includes a play on words (“our Savior Jesus”) with “our lesbian Jesus,” connecting Hayley’s identity as a lesbian to her role as a liberator and empowerment for this student (“lesbian” was also usually capitalized in several Google search results). The writer also cleverly includes a quote from the song, with an exclamation mark, to further highlight their defiance and the contrast of their beliefs to their father’s views. 

What Could Be Improved 

The quote, “So, how did you discover our lesbian Jesus?” could have been included at the beginning of this essay. It’s an intriguing quote, has a clever play on words, and could have led to the writer’s reminiscences about seeing the video on the YouTube sidebar. I would also have separated “The rest was history” into its own sentence or at least with a semicolon to add more import to this idea of the video as the origin story. 

I would have also suggested separating the story about marching around the house into a second, following paragraph. Subtracting the details about the other girl would have allowed the writer to focus more on their own experience– what was their father’s response to the writer’s coming out? How did this response relate to a lyric in the song, if it did? And then how did the song buoy the writer if the response from their father wasn’t the same as they had hoped? It’s important in essays to think about how you can talk about yourself – other details may be interesting, but remember, it’s your story! 

The Lumineers’ “Sleep on the Floor” plays as I run down Franklin Street on the beautiful, sixty-degree autumn day. 

The indie-folk vibe of the song reminds me of my cousins, sister, and I as we trudged through the rapid, chilly water of the Saco River earlier this summer. We sat on the rocks in the middle of the river, and the warm air juxtaposed my freezing legs. I smiled, remembering us singing this song by the water.

“Take all of our savings out. ‘Cause if we don’t leave this town, we might never make it out.”

“We should hike the Appalachian trail sometime in our lives,” I say. Grace agrees. We love short hikes, but perhaps we should expand our horizons. Hiking the Appalachian would be challenging, but if we trained and researched, we could accomplish this. 

“Sleep on the Floor” inspires me to explore my passions: hiking, running, cooking, and math. While running, I love listening to my music, talking with friends, and processing my thoughts. Often, I think about my future. I want to run a marathon, be a teacher, travel, and be a mother. Music helps me think about and get excited for what my future entails. 

What The Essay Did Well 

The writer gives us so many details about the experiences here – the day is “autumn,” the temperature is sixty degrees, and the water of the Saco River is “chilly.” Details about seasons, temperature, color, and feeling can enrich the essay. I can almost see the writer and their cousin, just hanging out and dreaming. 

By including dialogue, the writer also lends their literal voice to the essay; first, this creates an inherent visual similarity with the quote, juxtaposing the dialogue with the quote effectively. Secondly, this also creates a way for the writer to connect with the reader– the reader can “hear” the voice of the writer. (However, the quotes don’t exactly line up in sentiment, though we’ll get to that a little later). 

The writer could spend a lot more time talking about how the song relates to adventures the writer has already taken. Where are places the writer has gone? What are hikes they have done, runs they have completed, roles they have played in their lives? One of the biggest things I see with students is talking about what they want to do, without talking about how this relates to things that they have done. Adding more details about what this writer has already done could strengthen this essay significantly. 

The sentiment expressed in the song is also about leaving the town now, because otherwise they’ll get stuck. While the author does talk about leaving their town to do the Appalachian trail and explore their passions, the writer does not discuss the sentiment evident in the cited lyric about how these adventures are necessary because otherwise the writer will get stuck. If you’re using a song lyric in an essay to represent you/your dreams/your past, I would ensure a close alignment between the song and the story that you are telling. 

Want feedback like this on your Smith College essays before you submit? We offer expert essay review by advisors who have helped students get into their dream schools. You can book a review with an expert to receive notes on your topic, grammar, and essay structure to make your essay stand out to admissions officers.

Haven’t started writing your essay yet? Advisors on CollegeVine also offer expert college counseling packages . You can purchase a package to get one-on-one guidance on any aspect of the college application process, including brainstorming and writing essays.

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A Record-Breaking Admission Season

News of Note

Smith’s newest class was chosen from the largest applicant pool in the college’s history

Published March 28, 2023

Members of the Smith College class of 2027—who began receiving their acceptance letters last week—already have one notable distinction to their credit: They were chosen from the largest and most diverse applicant pool in Smith’s history.

According to Joanna May, vice president for enrollment, Smith received 9,868 applications for the class of 2027, reflecting a 36 percent increase over last year. Also of note: a 51 percent increase in international students, a 43 percent increase in students of color, and a 40 percent bump in students applying from outside of the Northeast and New England regions.

Smith’s admit rate—a measure of the college’s selectivity—dropped to 19 percent, which is down from 23 percent in 2022 and 30 percent in 2021.

“We are thrilled with the diversity of the applicant pool as well as the number of students interested in attending Smith,” May said.

She added, “We were impressed not only with the academic talent and extracurricular passions of the admitted class, but also with each student's distinctive fit with Smith. They showed qualities common in all Smithies—intellectual curiosity, confidence, a commitment to social justice, deep commitment to their communities, broad and inclusive worldviews, and great capacity for leadership.” 

Some of the increase in applications can be attributed to factors like reshaping the college’s financial aid program, May said. “Last year, we eliminated loans from financial aid packages and replaced them with grants from the college,” she said. “We are one of a small number of schools who meet students’ full need and do so without loans, and we were the first women’s college to take that step.”

When announcing the no-loans policy last fall, Smith College President Kathleen McCartney noted, “Eliminating loans from financial aid packages will enable Smith to recruit and enroll the best students, regardless of family resources, and enable future alums to begin their careers or continue their studies with their debts greatly reduced or eliminated.”

This was also the first year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that Office of Admission staff resumed travel within the United States and met with potential applicants and their families in a variety of in-person events and virtual programs, May said. Though international travel has not resumed at pre-pandemic levels, the admission office has increased its virtual outreach to international populations. In addition, Smith joined several new joint travel groups with other colleges, visiting Florida with Bates, Oberlin, Occidental, and Davidson colleges and leading virtual presentations with Brandeis and Boston universities, as well as the University of Vermont and Bates, Spelman and Scripps colleges.

Conversations during on-the-road encounters with prospective students gave admission staff the opportunity to convey more about Smith’s distinctive characteristics, including the open curriculum, the natural beauty of the campus, the new Neilson Library, outstanding research facilities, and Smith’s own origin story as a women’s college. “We have a unique story to tell,” May said.

Likewise, new initiatives and policy changes to make a Smith education more accessible to all eligible students, along with efforts to streamline the application process, resonated with prospective students.

Specifically, Smith eliminated the requirement that students respond to the college’s separate supplemental questions that asked for short essay responses. Applicants are still required to submit one essay through the Common or Coalition Application. To make the financial aid application process more accessible for families, the college eliminated the Smith Application for Financial Aid and now requires only the FAFSA and CSS Profile, which are required by most private colleges.

Smith is looking forward to its new partnership with QuestBridge , a national nonprofit organization that connects high-achieving low-income students to financial aid and scholarships at highly selective colleges, May said. The class of 2028 will include the first group of students admitted through the program.

This year, the college expects to enroll 630 new students. Admitted students have until May 1 to respond to Smith’s offers of admission to the class of 2027. Until then, the admission office hosts on-campus events, inviting accepted students and their families to the college, so they may meet current students, tour the campus, connect with faculty and administrators, and learn about all that Smith has to offer. 

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Our Analysis of the 2023-2024 Supplemental Essay Prompts

This year's batch of supplemental essay prompts was released on august 1st. here's what those prompts reveal about the changing priorities at colleges and universities..

Thanks to the perceived essay loophole Chief Justice Roberts’ Supreme Court decision language created—establishing that students can write about racial identity when tied to other experiences and characteristics—there has been much speculation that colleges would scramble to add diversity-related questions to their applications. Now that the Common App has reset for 2023-24, we can see colleges’ new supplemental questions. Did this bear out? So far, we’d say: yes. Yes it did. Here are a few overall trends and changes we’re noticing in the 2023-2024 supplemental essay prompts.

An increase in DEIB-related essays

This comes as no surprise. It’s important to note that many colleges already had prompts that asked students to reflect on their identities, on their communities, or on how they would contribute to diverse campuses; schools like Duke, Michigan, and Syracuse have included questions like this on their supplements for years now. But other schools have made notable changes since June’s decision: University of Miami, for example, replaced their question about the ibis (which, admittedly, we are not terribly sad to see go); American University scrapped their “why AU?”; and UVA retooled the essay questions they had only just retooled last year (even though UVA’s Dean J admitted she really liked last year’s version).

Here are the new versions of those schools’ supplemental essay questions:

University of Miami

“Located within one of the most dynamic cities in the world, the University of Miami is a distinctive community with a variety of cultures, traditions, histories, languages, and backgrounds. The University of Miami is a values-based and purpose-driven postsecondary institution that embraces diversity and inclusivity in all its forms and strives to create a culture of belonging, where every person feels valued and has an opportunity to contribute. Please describe how your unique experiences, challenges overcome, or skills acquired would contribute to our distinctive University community.” (max 250 words)

American University

“At American University, Inclusive Excellence is a cornerstone of the academic experience for our students, and we deeply value the learning that is inspired by the diversity of backgrounds and life experiences that all our community members bring with them. Please share why you would like to join this community.” (max 150 words)

All Applicants (300 words or less):

“What about your background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA?”

(…and read more about UVA’s new legacy-based optional question here ).

More choice for students

Many colleges who have introduced new questions have included these questions as one of several choices. BU, for example, introduced a new question—“Reflect on a social or community issue that deeply resonates with you. Why is it important to you, and how have you been involved in addressing or raising awareness about it?”—but kept their classic “Why BU?” as an alternative option. Offering prompt choices—which schools like Tufts, Boston College, Villanova, Emory, and University of Richmond have done for quite some time—allows for students to write about their identities if they wish and on their own terms.

…Except at Harvard

As one of the defendants in the Supreme Court case, Harvard has lots of eyes on its post-SCOTUS decision making. Its response to the decision? Eliminating the previous optional (er, “optional”) essay and instituting five required essays. Very Harvard of them. And yes, one of them is directly about diversity:

“Harvard has long recognized the importance of enrolling a diverse student body. How will the life experiences that shape who you are today enable you to contribute to Harvard?”

Less emphasis on “why us?” essays

While this isn’t true everywhere, we saw a few surprising changes at some “why us?” stalwarts. Perhaps most notably, Tulane’s “why us?” essay—which, for many years, famously had an 800-word limit—is now a mere 250. And while last year Tulane had three different robust supplemental essay questions, now it’s just the one. Truly, our jaws are on the floor (yes, at this time of year, this counts as Very Exciting News. We essay editors don’t get out much in August). Equally shocking: no “why Indiana?” question for Indiana University in Bloomington. In fact, no supplement at all! That’s one way to lower the barrier to entry and boost application numbers (just ask Northeastern).

For tips on how to tackle these essay questions, check out our College Essay Hub . And if you’re looking for more in-depth, one-on-one support, reach out to our college admissions team!

Caroline Hertz

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Ross Douthat

What i’d assign to today’s college students.

By Ross Douthat

Opinion Columnist

My weekend column used this season of campus protest as an opportunity to discuss the evolution of Columbia’s core curriculum, whose readings on contemporary politics, I argued, usefully distill the core of contemporary progressivism while leaving a great deal else by the wayside.

I included some examples of ideas and writers that the present Columbia syllabus leaves out, but I wanted to give a little more attention to the question of what a supplement to the progressive approach would look like. If you were trying to bring a great-books program all the way up to the present and you wanted to widen the ideological aperture beyond Columbia’s progressive focus, what would you have your students read?

One answer is that the very idea of being up-to-date is a mistake because readings oriented explicitly to the present are everywhere in education and the point of a core curriculum is to stand a little bit apart, to connect you to the riches of the past — riches that have been sifted in a way that just isn’t possible with the publications and arguments of the past few generations.

I have some sympathy with this idea: If I were designing a core humanities program for high school students (not that I’ve ever thought about this or anything), my strong impulse would be to just hit “stop” at World War II or 1965 and decline to make any judgment on what will be remembered as the great books of the recent past and present.

But Columbia’s core curriculum, while very much a great-books program in its execution, has also carried, since its inception in 1919, a mandate to address “ the insistent problems of the present .” So one can criticize the ideological narrowness of the contemporary readings while still recognizing that the syllabus is trying to fulfill its academic mandate, not betray it.

Here, then, are four attempts at fulfilling that mandate but with a wider lens. I’m presenting these as potential modules, packaged similarly to the way the current Columbia curriculum packages its modern readings under “anticolonialism,” “race, gender and sexuality” and “climate and futures.” Note that I’m imagining these as supplements to those existing modules; if I were drawing up a complete syllabus, it would include more socialist and feminist and anticolonial perspectives. And obviously if tomorrow Columbia decided to supplement its syllabus along these lines, it could choose (or excerpt from) only a few of the books and essays I’ve listed; I’m just trying to show the range that each module might include.

The Secular and the Sacred

Harvey Cox, “The Secular City”; Philip Rieff, “The Triumph of the Therapeutic”; Tom Wolfe, “The ‘Me’ Decade and the Third Great Awakening”; Christopher Lasch, “The Culture of Narcissism”; Richard John Neuhaus, “The Naked Public Square”; Charles Taylor, “A Secular Age.”

Technology and Its Discontents

C.S. Lewis, “The Abolition of Man”; C.P. Snow, “The Two Cultures”; Marshall McLuhan, “Understanding Media”; Neil Postman, “Amusing Ourselves to Death”; Jaron Lanier, “You Are Not a Gadget”; Sherry Turkle, “Alone Together.”

After the Cold War

Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History?”; Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?”

Community, Solidarity, Inequality

Robert Nisbet, “The Quest for Community”; Michael Young, “The Rise of the Meritocracy”; Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone”; my colleague David Brooks, “Bobos in Paradise”; Lasch, “The Revolt of the Elites.”

You’ll notice that each of these modules includes conservative-leaning writers but none of them are titled “conservatism.” In my column, I mentioned the dearth of representation for the most important nonprogressive political ideologies, meaning especially modern conservatism and neoliberalism, and you could imagine explicitly building a module around that lacuna — with, say, Friedrich Hayek paired with James Burnham or Milton Friedman with Roger Scruton. But I think if you’re trying to grasp the world through a few key texts, it’s better to come at political ideas a bit more from the side, via figures who are less associated with a specific ideology or team. Fukuyama, for example, isn’t exactly an ideologist of neoliberalism, but if you read “The End of History?” (just the original essay , not necessarily the book), you’ll have a pretty good grasp of what the neoliberal era meant.

Finally, I am under no illusions that the Columbia core curriculum or any other attempt at a collegiate canon is actually the place where progressive orthodoxy is forged or soon-to-be protesters discover their ideological beliefs. The Columbia syllabus is interesting as a manifestation of a worldview, not as its origination; the point of origination is much more likely to be what future Ivy Leaguers are assigned in high school and what they’re given by the ambient culture, which could mean anything from social justice extracurriculars to TikTok discourse to young adult fiction.

So if you asked me what I would assign to readers in their late teenage years, generally, to challenge (or at least complicate) progressive groupthink, I might not even start with any of the texts listed above. Instead, I might try to assemble a list of narrative works, mostly novels and some nonfiction, not all of which would be aesthetically notable enough to fit into Columbia’s “literature humanities” syllabus but all of which would help broaden a too-narrow ideological picture of the world.

Here’s one such list, suitable for an enterprising high school senior or college freshman: Aldous Huxley, “Brave New World”; Lewis, “That Hideous Strength”; Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem” and “The White Album”; Ralph Ellison, “Invisible Man”; V.S. Naipaul, “A Bend in the River”; Wolfe, “Radical Chic” and “The Bonfire of the Vanities”; Philip Roth, “American Pastoral”; Michel Houellebecq, “The Elementary Particles”; P.D. James, “The Children of Men.”

That’s enough for now. Get back to me when your favorite students are caught up.

Dwight Garner reads an enfant terrible .

Dan Hitchens attends a disco at the cathedral .

Leah Libresco Sargeant contemplates Schrödinger’s persons.

Stanley Fish advises college administrators.

Ross Barkan and Freddie deBoer consider the uses of book publishing.

Jamie McGregor Smith cannot make me love brutalist church architecture.

This Week in Decadence

— Eric Goldman, “ Generative A.I. Is Doomed ” Santa Clara University (April 25)

It might be impossible to imagine today, but 1990s regulators often took a deferential and generally hands-off approach to the new technology. This stance was fueled by prevailing concerns that overly aggressive regulatory responses could distort or harm the emergence of this important innovation. As Congress said in 1996, its policy was “to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the internet and other interactive computer services, unfettered by federal or state regulation.” It was a remarkable and exceptional phase of regulator humility. In the mid-1990s, regulators could not anticipate or predict all of the internet’s uses that have emerged over the last three decades — or how those developments have benefited society. Had regulators hard-coded their limited and myopic 1990s conceptions of the internet into law, the internet never could have achieved those outcomes, and I think the world would be poorer for it. But mid-1990s regulators frequently admitted their myopia and unusually chose regulatory forbearance. Generative A.I. will not get a similar reception from regulators. Regulators are intervening now, acting on their unenlightened 2020s conceptions of what generative A.I. does. Because we can’t anticipate what generative A.I. is capable of and how new innovative uses will emerge over time, the interventions taking place today will unavoidably restrict generative A.I.’s potential upside.

Ross Douthat has been an Opinion columnist for The Times since 2009. He is the author, most recently, of “The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery.” @ DouthatNYT • Facebook

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Why students choose Russia as their travel destination

No comments · Posted by Alex Smirnov in Travel

If you are looking for something different but unique and are not satisfied by the traditional offer of tourist destinations, try looking eastward for a moment. We are not talking about the Far East but just east of Europe and a little further than better-known destinations like Venice or Berlin. We invite you to visit Russia and discover interesting facts about Russia that make this country so special.

Today, Russian tourism is on a rise for a variety of reasons, including great food, cultural heritage, and beautiful cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg. Traveling is supposed to be about exploring new things or meeting new people and this country is a tourist gem waiting to be discovered.

1. Cultural Heritage

Russia might be a part of Europe but for most westerners, it is still a mysterious country with a unique mentality that makes them curious. People in Russia seem like warm, emotional souls who like drinking vodka and eating caviar for breakfast which is not far from the truth. This little prejudice doesn’t really summarize their cultural heritage which is vast and colorful.

We could write essays and college papers about Hermitage or Moscow’s Metro which is like a museum in the open. The city of St. Petersburg looks like the capital of some North Pole Kingdom with its castles, boulevards, and winter palaces. Maintaining the beauty of cultural monuments is taken very seriously so each tourist will enjoy a display of east-European architecture and design. We warmly recommend visiting sites like:

* Hermitage Museum * Red Square in Moscow * The Peterhof Palace * Mariinsky Theatre * Saint Isaac’s Cathedral

2. Beautiful Nature

Just like Russian literature, everything in this country comes in big portions and inspires topics and interesting conversations. Huge cities, enormous landscapes, or large meals are just some examples, but traveling is how you get to know a country, not by reading essays or college papers. The most popular thing that students write in their essays on travelling through Russia is it’s frighteningly vast natural wildlife scenery. There are almost fifty national parks across this whole country so take your pick and enjoy connecting with mother nature. One will get plenty of topic ideas to inspire him If he wishes to write an essay after such a mesmerizing trip.

Some of the most beautiful National Parks are:

* Losiny Ostrov * Bashkiriya * Kenozersky * Kalevalsky * Chavash Varmane

3. Education Opportunities

While native Russian might be a little difficult to learn, for those who conquer its basics, there are amazing opportunities to study in Russian college or university. Know that Russia’s education system is quite liberal so if you wondered does Russia have free college, the answer is affirmative. Many exchange student programs are available for those who show interest to study here.

This could be a unique chance to exchange cultural capital and values while reaching your educational goals. Studying in a Russian college is not so different in terms of taking classes and other obligations like writing research papers on various topics. Having paper due assignments might come less often because Russians prefer oral examination or open discussion.

Some of the Top Universities to check out:

* Tomsk Polytechnic University * MISIS University of Science and Technology * Moscow Engineering Physics Institute * HSE University of Economics

4. Having Fun Russian Style

After all those essays, topic ideas, and college papers it is time to have some proper fun. Join your new friends as they take you through local taverns, try domestic cuisine, plus a few shots of national drinks. There are so many examples of traditional hospitality that one will experience on every corner, as he discovers some fabulous wonders of this great country. If one could write summaries about his Russian experience it would definitely include accounts of long nights in Moscow’s inns and nightclubs.

Maybe one of these:

* Propaganda * Pravda Club * Gipsy * City Pub Crawl

These are the Russia facts, but we encourage travelers to explore uncharted territories by hanging out with local people thus learning about their culture and customs. That is the best way to truly understand the heart of its people. Changing scenery is always good for young students as it signals a fresh start in their lives. Maybe visiting this country will refresh your spirit or inspire you to achieve all your educational goals and dreams.

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