Bowdoin College has released its essays for the 2026-2027 admissions cycle. In addition to The Common Application’s Personal Statement, applicants to Bowdoin’s Class of 2031 have the option to write two supplemental essays of up to 250 words. Applicants are also offered the chance to submit a video. Of course, nothing deemed optional in elite college admissions should ever be interpreted as optional. So, what are this year’s essay prompts?

2026-2027 Bowdoin Essay Topics and Video

Optional Essay 1 Prompt

The first essay prompt, which is optional for all Bowdoin applicants to the Class of 2031, reads as follows:

Generations of students have found connection and meaning in Bowdoin’s “The Offer of the College,” written in 1906 by Bowdoin President William DeWitt Hyde.

To be at home in all lands and all ages;

to count Nature a familiar acquaintance,

and Art an intimate friend;

to gain a standard for the appreciation of others’ work

and the criticism of your own;

to carry the keys of the world’s library in your pocket,

and feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake;

to make hosts of friends…who are to be leaders in all walks of life;

to lose yourself in generous enthusiasms and cooperate with others for common ends –

this is the offer of the college for the best four years of your life.

Which line from The Offer resonates most with you?

• To be at home in all lands and all ages
• To count nature a familiar acquaintance…
• …and Art an intimate friend
• To gain a standard for the appreciation of others’ work and the criticism of your own
• To carry the keys of the world’s library in your pocket, and feel its resources behind you in whatever task you undertake
• To make hosts of friends… who are to be leaders in all walks of life
• To lose yourself in generous enthusiasms and cooperate with others for common ends

The Offer represents Bowdoin’s values. Please reflect on the line you selected and how it has meaning to you.

The Offer of the College, a staple of the Bowdoin supplement, makes for a beautiful essay prompt, one of the most memorable of any school for applicants to the Class of 2031.

It offers students the opportunity to write about their appreciation of nature. After all, Bowdoin is situated in picturesque Maine. Or students can write about how they will admire the work and thinking of their fellow students and be open to receiving feedback on their own work. Or students can write about their love of all they can learn from books. Or what they’ll value in their relationships with their fellow students. The possibilities are endless. Just articulate your response in 250 words!

Optional Essay 2 Prompt

The second essay prompt, which is optional for applicants to respond to in up to 250 words, reads as follows:

Bowdoin believes that its broadly diverse and inclusive campus community prepares graduates to be contributing and useful citizens of the world. Every graduate of this institution should be confident in their preparation to be able to navigate through differences and in all sorts of situations. A Bowdoin education does not guarantee these skills, but it does impart a set of tools necessary to bravely enter unfamiliar conditions with the confidence to deal effectively with ambiguity.

If you wish, you may share anything about the unique experiences and perspectives that you would bring with you to the Bowdoin campus and community or an experience you have had that required you to navigate across or through difference.

This second essay prompt is a straight-up-the-middle community essay. But some additional context might be helpful for students who are underrepresented minorities and navigating applications to Bowdoin this year. While the United States Supreme Court outlawed the practice of Affirmative Action a few years ago, Chief Justice John Roberts penned a loophole in the majority opinion.

Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

The loophole led many schools, including Bowdoin, to ask applicants to write about their backgrounds, experiences, or where they come from to demonstrate how they will contribute to Bowdoin’s diversity. This prompt has made its way to the application for the 2026-27 application cycle. If you feel you have a unique perspective to share, by all means do so! Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the Roberts Loophole, as it could pay off!

Optional Video Prompt

Bowdoin College extends you the opportunity to add a video response to your application materials. Instructions for completing the optional video response will be available in your application acknowledgment email and in your Bowdoin Application Portal. Learn more about it.

The video essay for Bowdoin is recorded live. The question is randomly selected. Yet even when questions are randomly selected, students can prepare answers in advance. Indeed, students can have a few prepared answers and then shape their answer to fit the precise question they’re asked on the spot.

That said, students should not sound rehearsed. It should sound like the student is speaking off the cuff, but their response, which should showcase their intellectual curiosity and not repeat anything they’ve written about previously, can and should be planned out in advance.

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with Bowdoin Essays and Video

If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission to Bowdoin by submitting compelling essays and a video that sways admissions officers to root for you, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to outline our college admissions counseling services for seniors.