The Ultimate College Essay Guide: Prompts and Writing Tips
When we at Ivy Coach hear the term “the college essay,” we instinctively roll our eyes because there is not one college essay. While The Common Application includes a Personal Statement that is submitted to every Common App.-subscribing school, most of America’s highly selective universities feature additional essays on their unique supplements — and these essays are just as critical as the Personal Statement.
Since many schools change their supplemental admissions essay prompts from year to year, especially this year after the Supreme Court struck down Affirmative Action in late June of 2023 (the essays are, in some ways, a legal loophole allowing colleges to consider a student’s background when weighing their case for admission), it’s hard to find all of the new prompts for America’s top colleges in one place. Until now, that is.
2023-2024 College Essay Prompts
Below, applicants to the Class of 2028, you’ll find this year’s essay prompts for America’s highly selective universities — directly from each school’s admissions office:
| College/University | US News 2023 Rank | 2023-2024 Supplemental College Essays |
| Princeton University | #1 | Princeton Essays |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | #2 | MIT Essays |
| Harvard University | #3 | Harvard Essays |
| Stanford University | #3 | Stanford Essays |
| Yale University | #3 | Yale Essays |
| University of Chicago | #6 | UChicago Essays |
| Johns Hopkins University | #7 | Johns Hopkins Essay |
| University of Pennsylvania | #7 | UPenn Essays |
| California Institute of Technology | #9 | Caltech Essays |
| Duke University | #10 | Duke Essays |
| Northwestern University | #10 | Northwestern Essays |
| Dartmouth College | #12 | Dartmouth Essays |
| Brown University | #13 | Brown Essays |
| Vanderbilt University | #13 | Vanderbilt Essays |
| Rice University | #15 | Rice Essays |
| Washington University in St. Louis | #15 | WashU Essays |
| Cornell University | #17 | Cornell Essays |
| Columbia University | #18 | Columbia Essays |
| University of Notre Dame | #18 | Notre Dame Essays |
| University of California, Berkeley | #20 | UC Berkeley Essays |
| University of California, Los Angeles | #20 | UCLA Essays |
| Carnegie Mellon University | #22 | Carnegie Mellon Essays |
| Emory University | #22 | Emory Essays |
| Georgetown University | #22 | Georgetown Essays |
| New York University | #25 | NYU Essays |
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | #25 | Michigan Essays |
| University of Virginia | #25 | UVA Essays |
| University of Southern California | #25 | USC Essays |
How to Address the 2023-2024 College Essay Prompts
Below, you’ll find Ivy Coach’s tips on approaching the 2023-2024 supplemental essay prompts at America’s highly selective universities. If we haven’t yet posted our annual tips for a specific university, whose essays are hot off the presses, rest assured that it will be posted in short order.
| College/University | US News 2023 Rank | 2023-2024 Supplemental College Essays with Ivy Coach Tips |
| Princeton University | #1 | Princeton Tips |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | #2 | MIT Tips |
| Harvard University | #3 | Harvard Tips |
| Stanford University | #3 | Stanford Tips |
| Yale University | #3 | Yale Tips |
| University of Chicago | #6 | UChicago Tips |
| Johns Hopkins University | #7 | Johns Hopkins Tips |
| University of Pennsylvania | #7 | UPenn Tips |
| California Institute of Technology | #9 | Caltech Tips |
| Duke University | #10 | Duke Tips |
| Northwestern University | #10 | Northwestern Tips |
| Dartmouth College | #12 | Dartmouth Tips |
| Brown University | #13 | Brown Tips |
| Vanderbilt University | #13 | Vanderbilt Tips |
| Rice University | #15 | Rice Tips |
| Washington University in St. Louis | #15 | WashU Tips |
| Cornell University | #17 | Cornell Tips |
| Columbia University | #18 | Columbia Tips |
| University of Notre Dame | #18 | Notre Dame Tips |
| University of California, Berkeley | #20 | UC Berkeley Tips |
| University of California, Los Angeles | #20 | UCLA Tips |
| Carnegie Mellon University | #22 | Carnegie Mellon Tips |
| Emory University | #22 | Emory Tips |
| Georgetown University | #22 | Georgetown Tips |
| New York University | #25 | NYU Tips |
| University of Michigan – Ann Arbor | #25 | Michigan Tips |
| University of Virginia | #25 | UVA Tips |
| University of Southern California | #25 | USC Tips |
Ivy Coach’s Assistance Tackling the 2023-2024 College Essays
If you’re interested in optimizing your case for admission to America’s highly selective universities by submitting compelling narratives, fill out Ivy Coach‘s consultation form, and we’ll respond by outlining our college counseling service offerings for seniors.
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