Union College has released its 2026-2027 admissions essays for applicants to the Class of 2031. Other than the Common Application Personal Statement, there are no supplemental essay questions asked of Union College applicants this year… with one notable exception. Students applying to one of Union College’s three accelerated Combined Degree Programs are required to respond to one essay question in 200 words or less. These programs consist of the 3+3 Accelerated Law Program (B.A. or B.S. /J.D.), the 4+1 Business Master’s Pathway (B.A. or B.S./M.S.), and the 8-year Leadership in Medicine-Health Management Program (B.S./M.S. or M.B.A./M.D.). 

So, what should go into your Combined Degree supplemental essay response to optimize your odds of admission to one of these highly competitive programs? 

2026-2027 Union College Combined Degree Program Essay Prompt

The following 200-word essay response is required for any student applying to one of the three Combined Degree programs on offer at Union College:

Please share what draws you to your chosen combined degree program of study, and explain how this program at Union College is a good fit for you and your career/professional goals:

As a general rule, we at Ivy Coach do not advise our students to apply to dual-degree programs, as the admissions processes for such programs are often far more competitive than those for traditional undergraduate programs. And this prompt exemplifies this hesitation. In a mere 200 words (and yes, you should use up every last bit of your allotted word count in your response), you must instill faith in Union College that you have a game plan for the following five, six, or eight years (depending on the program). You need to convey, in no uncertain terms, that you’ll hit the ground running as soon as you make it onto Union College’s campus and immediately begin to participate in the various resources and opportunities available to members of your intended program. It’s a tall order for anyone, much less a high school student who likely hasn’t yet undergone the rigor of college-level coursework or research.

But this essay prompt does just that: it puts the burden on you to highlight the various “Why College” and “Why Major” specifics that draw you to your program of choice and to lay out how these specifics will sustain you for the many years to come in this program. Your best move is thus to inject every sentence of your response with proper nouns, including the specific conferences, job opportunities, research fellowships, extracurricular activities, organizations, institutes, and the like that you’ll participate in if granted admission to this program. This means you must do your research quite thoroughly and map out your response as a day in your life on campus, one in which you go from one Combined Degree Program-specific to the next. Notice that we’re not advocating that you include any mention of specific courses or professors. These details change from semester to semester, and thus don’t capture the enduring essence of your program of choice. Instead, strive to highlight the academic and extracurricular fixtures of your intended major that stay the same year after year, including the traditions, academic culture, and pre-professional ethos of the cohort.

You should also strive to tie these specifics into what you’ve already accomplished in your high school career through the pursuit of your singular hook (which is essentially the origin story of your intended field of study, the narrative throughline of your application). How will the work you do in your intended program pick up on what you’ve already done in this field, and how will these experiences serve as a springboard for a prosperous career therein?

Ivy Coach’s Assistance with The Union College Essay

If you’d like to submit a supplemental essay that conveys a depth of knowledge about your intended Combined Degree Program that makes you a highly compelling candidate for admission to Union College, fill out Ivy Coach’s complimentary consultation form, and we’ll be in touch to outline our college admissions counseling services for seniors.