Helpful info on all the “other” stuff you’ll consider as you apply to Stanford (and other schools)

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty here, a few helpful resources for the non-supplement parts of your application:

• Personal essay: you need a stellar Personal Statement for Stanford (as for many colleges). Here’s how to write a great personal essay. 
• Activities list: here’s how to write your activities so they really impress. 
• Common App or Coalition App: Stanford accepts both. We have a guide for acing everything to do with writing your Common App application. 
• Applying early or regular: Stanford offers “Restrictive Early Action” as well as “Regular Decision.” Read our guide to early/regular decision — it's a great overview of this decision at any school.  
• Note: Stanford is not test-optional. 
• How they’ll grade you: Finally, here’s a great essay on how highly-selective schools actually grade you — and why it means that your essays (and other non-academics) carry more power than you might think. 

Alright, let’s move on to the actual supplemental questions. 

BTW, here’s our guidance for approaching any college supplement + here’s where you can find our guides for almost every college’s supplements. 

Create a map of your best “experiences” before you start answering any short essay or question

You’ve got a lot of small little spaces to write in with Stanford. That means a lot of pitfalls:

• You don’t want to get into “let me show them who I am” mode and forget that the point of these essays is to demonstrate your potential to succeed in college and beyond. 
• You don’t want to repeat yourself.
• You want to show new aspects of your potential to succeed with every new answer. (That’s the same point we made above, just rephrased).

Therefore, you need a plan. 

Here’s one, fun way to go about this: Take out a sheet of paper and write your name in a big bubble in the center. Next, draw some slightly smaller, connecting bubbles for some of the main aspects of your identity — such as culture, family, professional goals, extracurriculars, and niche interests. From there, elaborate on each aspect, adding additional bubbles for experiences or memories. 

Note: Those experiences will each ideally form the basis of one short essay or question. As you develop those questions, start thinking about which of the 5 Traits That Colleges Look For each experience demonstrated in you. (The traits are: Drive, Initiative, Intellectual Curiosity, Contribution, and Diversity of Experiences.) 

The more you write with the traits in mind, the more you’ll add details that impress your admissions officers — and stay away from details that don’t add value.

When you’re done, your bubble map may look something like this:

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This map will help you quickly find material for many of the supplemental essays. It will also help you make sure you don't repeat yourself — you want each answer to reveal a new, important facet of your identity. Finally, your map will help you tie your essays to larger themes about yourself — you want them to create a cohesive whole when taken together, rather than seem like a listing of disparate and scattered interests.

Got your map handy? Let's dive into the actual prompts!

Don’t take our examples too seriously — there are many “right” ways to answer Stanford’s prompts

Quick interruption: at Prompt, we’re on the record as being against modeling yourself on influencers, New York Times college essay writers, and, really, anyone who isn’t you.

On the other hand, we know that you want concrete examples of what our brilliant but (we’ll admit it) abstract advice can actually look like in practice. So, we’re illustrating with some made-up examples.

Please read them with a big grain of salt. You can have a different writing style. You can go a million other directions. And if the example sounds too impressive, it just might be — the example is usually loosely based on a real example, but still fictional. You’re working with reality, and that can be harder.

With that caveat out of the way, back to our regularly scheduled programming. 

How to ace the 5 short answers: use each space strategically for the 5 traits and the rest of your application

For each of these five questions, your answer is limited to 50 words. Let’s start with the first 3: 

(1) What is the most significant challenge that society faces today? 

(2) How did you spend your last two summers? 

(3) What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed? 

For these three, Stanford wants to get a sense of what matters to you and see how you relate to the world. What are your most deeply-held values? More importantly, how have you acted upon them? How will your values and interests contribute to your success in college and the world?

[1] Societal short answer: While it’s okay to start with a broad societal challenge, push yourself to get specific in your response. For example, if you're passionate about the environment, write about specific actions you’ve taken toward helping the planet. This could be small – even a research paper that you wrote, or a small action you take in your everyday life. 

You want to stay away from vague “feelings” and “passions,” and focus on concrete actions that show your potential to impact the world. 

Societal example: 

America has a housing crisis that hurts residents of all income levels (but particularly low-income people), increases homelessness, and harms the environment. As part of an advocacy group, I helped rally support for a new affordable housing project and saw how hard entrenched interests fight to block new housing.

Notes:

• The first sentence shows a deep (if high-level) understanding of the problem.   
• The second shows one action the student has taken to help and learn more. 
• Both sentences show intellectual curiosity, and the second also shows contribution. 

[2] Summer short answer: Connect what you did to your deeper values. Why did you spend your last two summers that way? And don't focus on a job description or program description — focus on your achievements. Again, we want to get really concrete and show the actions you took, which show your potential. 

Summer example: 

Two summers ago, I was a lifeguard at our local pool. I got to know the community and learned sunscreen isn’t optional for my skin. (I also started to get involved in the housing group.) Last summer, I interned for a city councilor, publishing research on our city’s zoning history. 

Notes:

• “I got to know the community,” communicates strongly about the student’s values. 
• Adding the “housing group” sentence gives the reader context for both the previous answer as well as the next sentence. 
• Interning is great, but what did you do? The student finds space to share what they contributed in their summer role.

[3] Historical moment: Relate this back to your deeply-held values. Explain why this would matter to you so much, and maybe, how you hope to make history in a similar (or perhaps opposite) way. This is the hardest short answer because it’s the hardest to write keeping that spotlight pointed on you and your potential to succeed. Try to find a way to show concrete learning or actions you’ve taken that connect to your “historical moment.”

One little tip here is to try to find a less-commonly-known historical moment. In these days of Wikipedia, there’s nothing to stop you from starting with — let’s say — the Gilded Age, then spend some time going down Wikipedia (or other) rabbit holes until you get to the lighting of the New York Times building by Thomas Edison. In other words, something more memorable, unique and specific, so your answer stands out and will better reflect your values.

History example:

In June 1958, Jane Jacobs scored a victory against Robert Moses’s plan to extend Fifth Avenue through Washington Square Park, celebrating with a “ribbon tying” ceremony. I’d love to help celebrate community banding together to make the city better for all. And to see the Village in the 1950s!

Notes:

• The answer is specific and unusual. 
• The answer ties with the interest in housing/zoning issues the student has already discussed. 
• The answer demonstrates intellectual curiosity (learning more about housing/zoning issues) as well as contribution (the value of bringing community together). 

(4) Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities, a job you hold, or responsibilities you have for your family. 

This is a good one to leave for absolute last in your Stanford application. You’ll talk a lot in the other supplements (and even potentially in your personal statement) about your extracurriculars and work/family responsibilities. So you want to be really choosy about which one you expand upon.

Once you have all your topics laid out clearly (maybe even mostly written), think with the 5 traits in mind — what’s missing? Where can I show I was even more remarkable? 

Note that you don’t at all need to pick the most “impressive” activity on your resume. You can go for a more meaningful one, so long as it shows that potential to succeed. Read over our Activities List article for good tips on writing up activities. 

Extracurricular example:

I’ve discussed my reporting, but want to share more about my favorite column: I wrote “Hawkins Voices,” asking five students (sometimes teachers) five light-hearted questions (ex: Were there enough dinosaurs in Jurassic World?). I loved getting more kids’ names into the paper and how it helped grow the paper’s popularity. 

Notes:

• The first part is specific about the students’ achievements and contribution. 
• The second part demonstrates the students’ values of contribution (the value of building community and how this light-hearted undertaking also had a serious purpose of growing the paper’s readership).   

(5) Name one thing you are looking forward to experiencing at Stanford. 

It's important to do your research here. Get to know the Stanford website. Now let your genuine interests guide the one thing you focus on here — a specific academic class? a campus tradition? an academic program? Be sure to tie that back to your values, and your academic or professional ambitions. 

While it’s not 100% relevant, take a look at our “Why Us” article for tips on how to make your “why us” essay well-researched, specific and concrete, and a love letter to the school. 

Stanford-experience example:

Taking The History of 2021. I’m not romantic about history: it’s a way to understand today’s problems and gain insight into solving them. (Ex: researching zoning’s racist origins to help solve the housing crisis.) This class would be a super-concentrated version of that and I can’t imagine not loving it.  

Notes:

• The answer is specific and available only at Stanford. 
• The reasoning is cohesive with everything else we’ve seen about this student so far. 
• The answer shows intellectual curiosity and contribution. 

How to ace the 3 short essays: use each space strategically for the 5 traits and the rest of your application

Ha! Did you notice that the subheading is the same as for the 5 short questions?

That’s because the strategy is exactly the same here. In fact, we hope we’ve been clear that you shouldn’t be tackling these essays in two batches, but all together and with your personal essay, activities list, and, in fact, the totality of your application in mind.

With that being said, let’s get granular. 

For each of these three questions, your answer must be between 100 and 250 words:

(1) 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.

This one is all about Intellectual Curiosity. Can you think of a time when you followed your curiosity and learned something on your own? What is your academic passion? How have you pursued this passion outside the classroom? What did you find fulfilling about this experience?

‍Tip: As with the “extracurricular” short question (above), this is a good one to save until you’ve written most of your Stanford essays. What haven’t you covered yet that’s strong? What have you said already and how can you amplify those points even more?  

Learning example: 

A recent shock was learning parking spaces are a government subsidy to people with cars to store their property on our streets. It changed how I view cities; even the world. I’ve been digging into the literature (ex: Shoup’s High Cost of Free Parking) to better understand how this “invisible” subsidy harms environmental, quality-of-life, and equity goals. I’ve also been reading about how cities have led successful campaigns to reform and remove these requirements. Continuing my summer internship with a City Councilor, I’m sharing these insights as he works toward introducing legislation to eliminate parking minimums in new building development. 

Notes:

• This example ties in with the students’ other work on urban governance and equity, which shows a deep, true interest. It also helps keep the application cohesive.

‍(2) 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—get to know you better.

We love this question so much that we wrote an entire article on the Stanford roommate essay. It’s a great read, especially as it basically covers all three of these essays. 

But if you’re not clicking over there, here is the gist: Write with this goal in mind — you want the admissions officers to see that you'll be contributing to a friendly, fun, and inclusive campus atmosphere. And you also want to show a new facet of your personality.  

Are you the nerdy type who can't be comfortable until she's re-wired the wi-fi and set up a gaming console? Do you own a sewing machine, and are you going to use it to create matching pjs for your roomies? Are you going to force everyone to a museum, or to watch a horror marathon? Remember, you don't have to waste your word count dealing with practical roommate matters. Even though this one is “fun,” the focus must remain on those 5 traits and your potential to succeed. 

(3) Tell us about something that is meaningful to you, and why?

This prompt is frighteningly wide open. Approach it through this filter — Will you succeed spectacularly at Stanford and beyond? Admissions are trying to get a handle on what you're ultimately going to contribute on campus and in the world. Many things are meaningful to you, even deeply so — choose the one that is most likely to impact your spectacular future success. 

Meaningful example:

Central Square is meaningful to me. It’s the hub of second-hand stores (three of them), high- and low-cost restaurants, City Hall, Graffiti Alley (its real name), a library branch, street performers, commerce, arts, and vitality that’s all a five-minute walk from home. 

As I’ve learned more about housing advocacy and its impact on city life — and the people it excludes or includes — I’ve grown to appreciate this exciting place all the more. I realize how lucky I am to be able to walk there, browse LPs, pick up Japanese candy, or simply buy a pair of shorts or a carton of milk. I realize that different zoning choices might have relegated me to a sprawly suburb, with none of Central Square’s excitement and joy (and planet-saving walkability). 

I love Central’s energy and community, and I know enough about how precarious they are not to take them for granted. 

Notes:

• This piece ties together themes the reader has seen in most of the other answers: housing/city advocacy and cherished community.
• This piece showcases contribution and intellectual curiosity in that it shows the relationship between an academic interest (zoning history/practices) and a deeply-held value (community, civic vitality). 

Feeling inspired? A great place to start is at our College Essay Help Center. 

More articles on Prompt.com’s admissions-boosting methods:

• Work with a college essay coach
• Strong essays increase your chance of admission by up to 10x
• Don’t let influencers influence your college essays
• Should I apply test-optional?
• Early admissions: Everything you need to know
• College Essay Help Center

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