Why Do So Many Strong Liberal Arts Colleges Not Have Supplemental Essays?

[Anonymous]

I think it reflects modern realities. Does it really matter if ChatGPT produces 2 essays vs 5? Personally I think the days of essays is going to be over soon.

[Anonymous]

I think all of the reasons cited above. First, SLACS are able to spend more than 1 minute to read the letters and application than larger schools that receive 100,000+ applications. The ones that care about fit or a certain institutional priority do have supplemental essays. Colgate comes to mind (due 2 weeks after Common App deadline). And places like Colby have been playing the climb the rankings game to drum up more applications aka "increasing access" or removing barrier by eliminating application fee and having no supplemental essays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:they have a common app essay, grades, test scores, 3 LORs. getting a recycled 'why us' essay shouldn't move the needle.

But this is not unique to LACs. There are a few that don't require them, that's true. It's also true that CWRU doesn't have them. Nor Northeastern. Nor UConn or UVM. Not Tulane. Not Clemson, Alabama, LSU. Not Indiana, Iowa or Minnesota. Not Bing. Not Ohio State.

I don't know about most of the others but UVM does have supplementals.

As for Northeastern, they set the example! Eliminate essays as a way to increase apps and decrease admissions rate, making yourself look more selective.

Also, most schools require 1 letter of recommendation. Or zero. Almost none require 2. Few even allow 3.

"Why us" essays absolutely move the needle at SLACs. I have worked in admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Their admissions counselors are very, very good at analyzing applications and determining fit. They know what they're looking for. How you present via the activities list and essay coupled with teacher recommendations is hugely important.

You think Colby's AOs are better than most of the other NESCAC schools, which do have supplementals? Sorry, not convincing.

[Anonymous]

They already have the common app essays and recs. Most importantly, they spend more time with your application and really look at it. They don’t need more. Ironically, the larger elite schools with a ridiculous number of essays, however short, only look at them, really, if you are amongst the 20% who are actually being considered for admission (80% have almost no chance of admission, aren’t really looked at, and had to suffer the additional indignity of wasting time on additional essays — borderline abusive).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they have a common app essay, grades, test scores, 3 LORs. getting a recycled 'why us' essay shouldn't move the needle.

But this is not unique to LACs. There are a few that don't require them, that's true. It's also true that CWRU doesn't have them. Nor Northeastern. Nor UConn or UVM. Not Tulane. Not Clemson, Alabama, LSU. Not Indiana, Iowa or Minnesota. Not Bing. Not Ohio State.

I don't know about most of the others but UVM does have supplementals.

As for Northeastern, they set the example! Eliminate essays as a way to increase apps and decrease admissions rate, making yourself look more selective.

Also, most schools require 1 letter of recommendation. Or zero. Almost none require 2. Few even allow 3.

"Why us" essays absolutely move the needle at SLACs. I have worked in admissions.

most SLACs require two teacher and one guidance counselor. that's three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they have a common app essay, grades, test scores, 3 LORs. getting a recycled 'why us' essay shouldn't move the needle.

But this is not unique to LACs. There are a few that don't require them, that's true. It's also true that CWRU doesn't have them. Nor Northeastern. Nor UConn or UVM. Not Tulane. Not Clemson, Alabama, LSU. Not Indiana, Iowa or Minnesota. Not Bing. Not Ohio State.

I don't know about most of the others but UVM does have supplementals.

As for Northeastern, they set the example! Eliminate essays as a way to increase apps and decrease admissions rate, making yourself look more selective.

Also, most schools require 1 letter of recommendation. Or zero. Almost none require 2. Few even allow 3.

"Why us" essays absolutely move the needle at SLACs. I have worked in admissions.

then you're being played. kids - and their coaches and GPT - write these why us essays based on what the internet tells them to do. some colleges want you to find a teacher you've never heard of and shout them out (It's been a dream of mine to take Dr Feelgood's class Adventures in Physics since I was a toddler). some colleges want rizz. go online and find out what they want and serve it to them. that's not a great system

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they have a common app essay, grades, test scores, 3 LORs. getting a recycled 'why us' essay shouldn't move the needle.

But this is not unique to LACs. There are a few that don't require them, that's true. It's also true that CWRU doesn't have them. Nor Northeastern. Nor UConn or UVM. Not Tulane. Not Clemson, Alabama, LSU. Not Indiana, Iowa or Minnesota. Not Bing. Not Ohio State.

I don't know about most of the others but UVM does have supplementals.

As for Northeastern, they set the example! Eliminate essays as a way to increase apps and decrease admissions rate, making yourself look more selective.

Also, most schools require 1 letter of recommendation. Or zero. Almost none require 2. Few even allow 3.

"Why us" essays absolutely move the needle at SLACs. I have worked in admissions.

zero letters? three kids - 30+ applications. never heard of zero letters of LOR. what school is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At research universities, they often admit to a particular school and consider your intended major, thus the Why Major? type of supplemental essay may be helpful in their evaluation. In contrast, SLACs don't require declaration of major often until sophomore year, and the whole idea of a SLAC is exploration of many different subject areas, so perhaps they are less concerned about intended major and thus don't need a special essay on it. As for Why Us? supplementals, they ask you to list your contacts with the school; you can list up to 10 contacts and so it's easy for them to see if the applicant is highly interested in their school without a Why Us? essay. Finally, perhaps they just consider the 650 word Common App personal statement a sufficient essay, and don't need more.

I’m not advocating for a Why Us essay because I think they are largely made-up crap the student thinks the college wants to hear, but it’s totally different from a list of contacts. My kid has almost no contacts with any school they are considering, but could still tell you why they are interested in each school.

[Anonymous]

Pitt requires zero letters - obv not SLAC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At research universities, they often admit to a particular school and consider your intended major, thus the Why Major? type of supplemental essay may be helpful in their evaluation. In contrast, SLACs don't require declaration of major often until sophomore year, and the whole idea of a SLAC is exploration of many different subject areas, so perhaps they are less concerned about intended major and thus don't need a special essay on it. As for Why Us? supplementals, they ask you to list your contacts with the school; you can list up to 10 contacts and so it's easy for them to see if the applicant is highly interested in their school without a Why Us? essay. Finally, perhaps they just consider the 650 word Common App personal statement a sufficient essay, and don't need more.

I’m not advocating for a Why Us essay because I think they are largely made-up crap the student thinks the college wants to hear, but it’s totally different from a list of contacts. My kid has almost no contacts with any school they are considering, but could still tell you why they are interested in each school.

The why us thing does not matter — ample opportunity to make the why us clear in the common app essays. You need to change the common app essays a little for each school though.

[Anonymous]

my kid wrote a different version of their common app essay for williams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they have a common app essay, grades, test scores, 3 LORs. getting a recycled 'why us' essay shouldn't move the needle.

But this is not unique to LACs. There are a few that don't require them, that's true. It's also true that CWRU doesn't have them. Nor Northeastern. Nor UConn or UVM. Not Tulane. Not Clemson, Alabama, LSU. Not Indiana, Iowa or Minnesota. Not Bing. Not Ohio State.

I don't know about most of the others but UVM does have supplementals.

As for Northeastern, they set the example! Eliminate essays as a way to increase apps and decrease admissions rate, making yourself look more selective.

Also, most schools require 1 letter of recommendation. Or zero. Almost none require 2. Few even allow 3.

"Why us" essays absolutely move the needle at SLACs. I have worked in admissions.

most SLACs require two teacher and one guidance counselor. that's three.

Guidance counselor letter is not considered a LOR

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:they have a common app essay, grades, test scores, 3 LORs. getting a recycled 'why us' essay shouldn't move the needle.

But this is not unique to LACs. There are a few that don't require them, that's true. It's also true that CWRU doesn't have them. Nor Northeastern. Nor UConn or UVM. Not Tulane. Not Clemson, Alabama, LSU. Not Indiana, Iowa or Minnesota. Not Bing. Not Ohio State.

I don't know about most of the others but UVM does have supplementals.

As for Northeastern, they set the example! Eliminate essays as a way to increase apps and decrease admissions rate, making yourself look more selective.

Also, most schools require 1 letter of recommendation. Or zero. Almost none require 2. Few even allow 3.

"Why us" essays absolutely move the needle at SLACs. I have worked in admissions.

then you're being played. kids - and their coaches and GPT - write these why us essays based on what the internet tells them to do. some colleges want you to find a teacher you've never heard of and shout them out (It's been a dream of mine to take Dr Feelgood's class Adventures in Physics since I was a toddler). some colleges want rizz. go online and find out what they want and serve it to them. that's not a great system

Oy. I am not unaware of the strategies used to answer the question. I am saying that they move the needle. At large schools , students can choose different paths but at SLACs there are more limited options academically and culture-wise. Supplementals/Why Us essays are a way of ensuring that a student knows what she's getting into or that a student has done her homework. They are a way of neutralizing yield risks. A clear-cut example is Colorado College which has an unusual block system. You need to show that you understand/accept/desire the block system and the only way to do that is in the supplemental essay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm suprised by how many liberal arts schools are Common App only - no supplemental essays at all. Schools like Williams, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Hamilton, Colby, and Bates.

Any idea why? Is it simply an attempt to boost the overall number of applications and therefore their selectivity rate?

DH and I both went to big universities. But we both assumed one of the upsides of small liberal arts schools is that they're tight-knit communities of highly engaged students.

To create that culture, wouldn't schools want more information from applicants than their GPA/test scores and their bare-bones list of ECs on the Common App?

At a minimum, why skip the short "Why College X?" essay? Or the "Tell us about your academic interests (or lessons learned from your community) and how you plan to pursue/apply them at College X?" like so many of the other schools out there? Even the big state schools like UMD, Wisconsin, Maryland etc. include supplementals.

OP, the vast majority of SLAC's have one or more supplementals. They care a lot about the fit. Of course, the ones that do not are trying to increase applications. Some of them even waive application fees. Colby is now one of the "most selective" colleges because of it.

Schools that have none: Williams, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Hamilton, Colby, and Bates.