Stanford Essay: If you’re applying to Stanford, you’ve got some work ahead of you. What do I mean? While most colleges will have anywhere from 1-4 supplemental essay prompts you’ll write in addition to the Common App essay, Stanford asks for more than four supplemental essay prompts (see below).
On top of that, Stanford has the lowest acceptance rate of any college in the US at 4.3% (and probably lower if you take athletes and legacy students into account).
So you’ll want to make the most of these supplemental essay opportunities. To this end, I put together a guide that covers each of the eleven Stanford supplemental essay prompts and how to answer them.
Stanford Essay Examples
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 1
Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150 words)
This is your classic 150-word essay. You’ll find an in-depth step-by-step guide at this link, with specific advice for the 150-word format (plus some great examples) towards the end. I recommend using that post to guide you as you’re writing.
But if you want to see the short version, here’s what to do:
- Go to your Common App activities list and pick 2-3 possible topics.
- Then, go through the Best Extracurricular Activity Brainstorm I’ve Ever Seen (AKA BEABIES exercise), either mentally or by filling out the chart. This will help you decide which topic might yield the most content for your essay. If you’re unsure, maybe do a simple outline for two different topics.
- Write a draft! You can either choose a bit from each BEABIES column or focus on the columns you ended up filling in the most.
Pro-tip: Be careful about writing about an activity you’ve already shared a lot about elsewhere on your application. If you’ve already written about the most important extracurricular activity in your main Common App personal statement or any of the other Stanford supplemental essays, for example, consider writing about your 2nd or 3rd most important activity.
This essay is your chance to say “Hey, there’s this other cool thing I’ve spent some time doing that I haven’t told you guys about yet.”
Here’s a nice example essay for this prompt:
Stanford Supplemental Essay Prompt
Regular Dog: $1.49. Jimmy’s Famous: $1.89. Twenty-five cents for cheese. Bologna’s out. Milkshake machine’s broken. Refill sweet tea.
As a cashier at Jimmy’s Hot Dogs, I was everything but the cook. After day one, my hair stood straight and old southern ladies sympathetically asked oh honey, is it your first shift? I wanted to cry.
But, an hour before closing, Nondis, the cook, checked the register. He smiled and said “Luci Lou, you the best.” Stress forgotten, we danced around the kitchen in celebration, talking about his brothers in Greece, World Cup soccer, and grilled fish.
After that, I didn’t feel alone. I had Nondis. I had the regulars. And I had the southern ladies to back me up. Jimmy’s taught me to value the people that make a job worthwhile. To focus on the positive when there’s soccer to be watched and perfectly grilled fish to be eaten. (150 words)
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 2
What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed? (50 words)
Think moment for this one. Some students try to go too broad/big with this (i.e. World War II or The Renaissance–what, like, all of it?). Instead, pick a really specific moment and say why you wish you were there.
Pro-tip: Don’t say “Big Bang” or anything related to dropping the atomic bomb, unless you’re going to surprise us with your explanation (AKA your “so what?”), as these tend to be pretty common choices for students.
Also, you can have some fun with this. Here’s a great example:
I want to watch George Washington go shopping. I have an obsession with presidential trivia, and the ivory-gummed general is far and away my favorite. Great leaders aren’t necessarily defined by their moments under pressure; sometimes tiny decisions are most telling–like knickers or pantaloons?
Here’s another nice example response to this prompt:
I wish I was in the studio the day Norman Rockwell finished “Triple Self-Portrait.” I would love to have gotten a chance to ask him about capturing America at a specific time in history and what he thought it might look like in the future.
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 3
What five words best describe you? (10-word limit)
Don’t choose any of what you imagine might be the Top 50 adjectives that students are using (i.e. passionate, hard-working, dedicated, etc.). Also, you can choose words that aren’t adjectives but still describe you (i.e. “Mulan” or “Scientist”). Some students choose to create a mini sentence i.e. “Serene, affable, Amazon, kaleidoscopic, night-owl.”
Here are some great examples:
Unapologetically sarcastic. Fashionably questionable. Hungry.
Bubbly, Conscientious, Articulate, Philosophical, Non-conforming
Playful Nocturnal Pikachu. Collaborative aesthete.
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 4
When the choice is yours, what do you read, listen to, or watch? (50 words)
While some students pick one specific thing and emphasize a related value (e.g. I love listening to my grandfather tell stories of what it was like growing up in Bulgaria), my favorite answers to this question show variety.
Here’s a nice example:
Philosophical Discussions on YouTube: Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson (for his emphasis on taking personal responsibility, rather than his political views), Bret Weinstein, Richard Dawkins
P
sychology Texts: Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Music: Elton John, Drake, The Beatles,
Here’s another:
Debate reading: The Economist, The New York Times, NPR News, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post
Fun: Revisionist History, StreetPin, Unurth, Epicurious, 50 watts, Golem13, La Boite verte, The Onion, Humans of New York, TedX, Writer Unboxed, Brain Pickings
And one more, because why not:
Thinking, Fast and Slow—spellbinding thought experiments sparked my interest in neuroeconomics
Ella Minnow Pea—funny sesquipedalian depictions of a serious topic: censorship
And Then There Were None—I just love mysteries
Bridge of Spies—love the adrenaline rush from watching diplomatic conflicts unfurl
Jascha Heifetz—Violin G.O.A.T.; never erred in concert!
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 5
Name one thing you are looking forward to experiencing at Stanford. (50 words)
Treat this like a one-item “Why us” essay.
The quick version for how to write this : Skip to the Cornell essay and consider how any one of the four things he’s mentioned would be a beautiful thing to pick to write for a 50-word essay. Pick something unique to Stanford, and is also maybe academic or related to an extracurricular activity that might help you stand out (i.e. The Stanford Storytelling project, for example, if you’re interested in podcasting).
Oh, and probably don’t mention Stanford’s roundabouts or jumping in fountains. These have been written about many, many times, and don’t say much about why you’d make a great fit for the school.
Here’s a nice example essay for this prompt:
I am most excited to attend classes with professors who are already heroes of mine. I am a TED Talk nerd, so getting to study Biological Engineering with Manu Prakash, of “A 50-cent Microscope That Folds Like Origami” fame would be awe-inspiring.
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 6
Imagine you had an extra hour in the day — how would you spend that time? (50 words)
This is another chance to show another side of yourself. Read this guide so you get a sense of what’s possible on shorter answers like these.
Pro-tip: Don’t say “sleep.” Almost everyone else writes that. In fact, brainstorm 8-10 things that you think other students might say in their essay and don’t write about those in yours. Note that you can also have some fun this one.
Here’s a nice example:
One thing I NEED to do is read the original screenplay for Star Wars in the Green library. While I fell in love with Stanford because of its amazing students and faculty, my Stanford experience would be incomplete without geeking out over the nerd’s holy bible.
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 7
The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning. (250 words)
Get specific with what the idea is. (In my experience, a very particular idea tends to work better than experience.)
If possible, clarify what the idea is in the first 50 words (some students wait too long to clarify and the essay feels vague as a result, as we’re not sure what to focus on).
Consider using this another opportunity to share a part of yourself you have yet to share.
Connect the idea, as abstract as it may be, back to something personal. Many students keep the essay focused outwardly (on ideas) and as a result, the essay feels abstract and swimmy. (Yes, that’s a technical term.)
Here’s a nice example essay for this prompt:
What’s more probable: dying from a shark attack, or dying from falling airplane parts? Surprisingly, the answer is falling airplane parts. But why does our intuition point us towards shark attacks?
The answer lies in the availability heuristic, or the WYSIATI (“what you see is all there is”) rule, which describes how our minds evaluate decisions based on how easily we can think of examples to support both sides.
From Jaws to YouTube surfer videos, we have all likely heard of a horrific shark attack, and by WYSIATI, the ease with which we conjure up that memory leads us to assign a greater probability.
Learning about WYSIATI evolved the way I communicate my ideas. When I first started the debate, I over-focused on comparing statistics at the expense of clearly communicating larger arguments. WYSIATI taught me that a more effective approach involves weaving in memorable images like that of a horrific shark attack.
This past summer, when debating whether labeling environmental activists as “eco-terrorists” is justified, my opponents cited dozens of crimes associated with activists from 1995-2002.
With my knowledge of WYSIATI, I looked past the numbers and searched for more memorable, image-based examples and discovered that most of the so-called terrorist acts were actually “pie-ings”: environmental groups throwing pies to protest.
So, instead of responding with only numbers, I declared that “the only thing that could make pie-ings terrorist acts is if the activists didn’t know how to make a good key lime pie!”
Much clearer. And perhaps, a little bit funnier.
Nice, right?
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 8
Virtually all of Stanford’s undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate — and us — know you better. (250 words)
I have an entirely separate blog post on this.
Here’s a nice example essay for the Stanford roommate essay:
3:13AM
Hiya roomie! Please forgive the email at this late hour—my energy levels are directly proportional to how late it gets.
I figured I’d introduce myself before we meet at NSO. Here are some cool (I hope) things about me:
First off, true to my mountainous heritage, I’m quite outdoorsy, having spent many weekends trekking around state parks. I can’t wait to explore these uncharted waters—wanna join me on a trip later this week to SLAC?
I should warn you beforehand: I explore at an unusually zippy pace and tend to perk up at minor disturbances. That’s because a bluebird day in my state can change into a roaring thunderstorm within just a few minutes, turning Fourteener hikers into lightning rods, so I’ve learned to always be on the lookout.
Oh, and no matter what I’m doing, there’s always music in the background. You’ll notice that I have profound kinetic responses to melodies, which come in the form of flailing my arms during the climactic moments of symphonies. I guess music really does move me!
What kind of songs do you like? I love to recreate radio music with my violin—feel free to request a song anytime, and I promise I’ll give it my best effort!
Lastly, I must share that there are things I will miss as I leave home. Most of all, I will miss biking with my sister around the neighborhood. So, hopefully, you won’t mind my daily family FaceTimes after each day’s festivities!
See you soon!
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essay 9
Tell us about something meaningful to you and why. (250 words)
Here’s your chance to show your heart. Maybe it’s a value you hold dear (see example below) or something you’ve not yet gone deep on elsewhere in your application. But make sure you say specifically what the Thing is that’s meaningful to you. I’ll often see students keep the Thing vague (as with the “intellectual idea” essay above) and I feel foggy as I read it.
You can pinpoint the thing at the beginning, middle, or end, but my favorite essays are ones that I can come away from and say, “Oh, X is meaningful to this student.”
Here’s a nice example essay for this prompt:
As a child, I was a Monopoly Champion. After all, I did as I was taught—use every tactic possible to bankrupt my opponents into surrender.
Granted, Monopoly is a game whose ostensible purpose is to create and hold monopolies, but I have realized through my experiences in the Texas mathematical community that life is a bit more complex.
A significant issue for mathematical competitions is asymmetric access to study resources. Schools do not share study materials so that they can preserve their competitive edge. This behavior carries serious implications including student discouragement.
After another school swept regionals when I was in sixth grade, many of my peers, seeing the shiny study booklets in the hands of the winning team, quit the activity. Asymmetrical access to resources turns the original goal of fostering interest in mathematics on its head by discouraging students, ultimately having toxic effects for the community.
Since ninth grade, I have worked to combat this problem by co-founding the San Antonio Math Club, a non-profit organization that works to provide equal access to resources by holding free monthly meetings where students from all over the state can get together and discuss challenging problems.
Don’t get me wrong—I love to win. But I believe that some players can’t begin with $8000 while other players begin with $1500, and through endeavors like the San Antonio Math Club, I strive to maintain the sustainability of the game so that everyone will play again without fear of bankruptcy.
Because to me, equity matters.
That’s the best example you can have anywhere. I am always entitled to give you nothing but the best. Do well to also share this article with your friends.
StudentsandScholarship Team.
Be the first to comment