Princeton-specific Questions
In addition to the Coalition Application , Common Application or the QuestBridge Application , Princeton University requires you to answer Princeton-specific questions. Below you will find the questions for the 2023-24 application cycle. Depending on which degree you wish to pursue at Princeton (A.B., B.S.E. or undecided), you will answer one of the two academic prompts, then there are three additional sections meant to help us get to know you even better.
First-Year Essay Questions
Please note: Princeton also requires you to submit a graded written paper as part of your application.
For A.B. Degree Applicants or Those Who Are Undecided
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in 250 words or fewer.)
For B.S.E Degree Applicants
Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. (Please respond in 250 words or fewer.)
Your Voice
- Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. As a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. What lessons have you learned in life thus far? What will your classmates learn from you? In short, how has your lived experience shaped you? (Please respond in 500 words or fewer.)
- Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals? (Please respond in 250 words or fewer.)
More About You
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
- What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
- What brings you joy?
- What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
From Our Blog and Podcast
Building, birding and b.s.e.: experiences in engineering, the art of trying new things, poets should come ready to move/yell/play/discover.
How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Essays 2023-2024
Subscribe to our newsletter for college app advice!
Consistently ranked one of the best schools in the country, Princeton University boasts a cozy 5:1 student-faculty ratio, an excellent financial aid program, and a broad range of study abroad opportunities for undergraduates. If you get into Princeton , you’ll be taking classes with professors at the tip-top of their fields – so now it’s just a matter of getting that acceptance letter. We’re here to show you how to write the Princeton supplemental essays, helping you give your best shot at walking through FitzRandolph Gate as a freshman in the Great Class of 2028.
For its class of 2026, Princeton reports an average ACT of 33-35 , a math SAT of 760-800 , and a reading and writing SAT of 730-780 . With the norm being top-notch standardized test scores like these – and a similarly top-notch unweighted GPA of 3.9 for previous classes – you’ll need more than just a stellar transcript to stand out. This is where your essays come in.
Princeton asks you to respond to two long-answer and three short-answer prompts , for a total of five prompts in addition to your Common or Coalition App Essay. Don’t let all the writing intimidate you! Each prompt is an opportunity to tip the scales of admission in your favor, and show Princeton officials who you really are beyond your grades and test scores. With that in mind, let’s have a look at Princeton’s seven supplemental essay prompts for the 2023-2024 application cycle.
Princeton’s 2023-2024 Prompts
Short responses (50 words).
- What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
- What brings you joy?
- What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
Essay Prompts
Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. as a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. what lessons have you learned in life thus far what will your classmates learn from you in short, how has your lived experience shaped you (500 words).
- Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals? (250 words)
General Tips
For the 3 short-answer prompts, you’ll need to convey a meaningful response within a tight 50-word maximum . To do this, we recommend the following tips: avoid restating the question, trim unnecessary connector words, and use colons, semicolons, and em dashes to improve concision.
The two example responses below have the same word count—but the first uses choppy, overly verbose writing, and the second cleans it up using the tips we’ve just discussed.
“A new skill that I would like to learn in college is how to analyze literature. I would like to be able to discuss books like John Locke’s Two Treatises in greater depth. This is because it interested me in high school, but I didn’t understand many of Locke’s theories.”
“John Locke’s Two Treatises on Government has confounded and intrigued me ever since I first read it in high school. At Princeton, I’d love to sharpen my literary analysis skills through discussions with my classmates—and return to writers like Locke with a new understanding of the written word.”
The long essay prompts give you more room to work with – 150 words for the first prompt and 250 for the other two—but choppy sentence structure, run-ons, and unnecessary fluff will confuse your reader no matter the length of the essay. As such, you should always strive for concision, even with the longer prompts.
To ensure a well-rounded application, try to write your essays on topics you haven’t mentioned in other prompts or your transcript. Admissions officials may start to see you as single-faceted if they see your coding team in your activity list, then read about the same coding team two more times in your short responses. To avoid this, vary your essay topics as much as you can—and take advantage of any prompts where you can discuss an aspect of your background that isn’t reflected in your transcript.
Finally, before we move to a prompt-by-prompt breakdown of the Princeton supplemental essays, here are two tips to keep in mind for both your short responses and long-answer essays.
One, be detailed. For longer essays, try to go from specific anecdotes to broader themes—introductory paragraphs in particular benefit from starting on a direct quote or an engaging scene. For shorter prompts, pick responses that showcase your unique personality. Here’s an example: good food brings everyone joy, but maybe your favorite food is your grandma’s red velvet recipe that you love making with her, even if you can’t quite get it right yourself.
Two, make sure you’re always telling admissions officials about you . This may seem like obvious advice, but many applicants get swept away in explaining the technical aspects of a topic that interests them or describing a school’s resources without connecting them to their own aspirations. Instead of telling admissions officials their School of Public and International Affairs is impressive, tell them why you’re dying to take that one class that aligns perfectly with your interests. Instead of flatly stating that conversations on healthcare are important, tell your reader how a conversation you had completely changed your perspective.
With these higher-level tips out of the way, let’s move on to a prompt-by-prompt breakdown of the Princeton supplemental essays.
Princeton’s Short Responses
What is a new skill you would like to learn in college (50 words).
For this prompt, specificity is crucial —the more niche the skill you describe, the more interesting and unique your response. For instance, perhaps you want to pick up writing as a skill. But what kind of writing? Academic? Journalistic? Poetry? Narrowing your scope to a laser-focus will show admissions officials you’ve thought about your answer, and truly intend to pursue this skill once you’re on campus.
Another tactic is to focus on an extracurricular. Perhaps you want to learn bird-recognition through Princeton’s surprisingly active birdwatching community, or gain new knowledge about fashion by contributing to TigerTrends . For this approach, you might try skimming through Princeton’s list of student organizations to see if any interest you.
“I want to be funny—and not just dad-joke funny, but gut-bustingly hilarious at all times. As soon as auditions open, I’d love to try out for Fuzzy Dice or Quipfire and take up improv comedy, so I can overcome my stage fright and start thinking on my feet.”
No matter the skill you choose, your response should show admissions officials your willingness to learn through the resources you find at college. Pay attention to the word “new,” and steer clear of skills you already have or that relate to activities you’ve already discussed. Picking a skill you’re completely unfamiliar with will reflect that you’re unafraid to improve yourself by trying new things.
What brings you joy? (50 words)
This is an especially open-ended prompt, which leaves you free to interpret it in a way that’s genuine and personal to you. Your answer could be an object, an activity, a piece of media, a memory, or even a person that makes you happy in your day-to-day life. As always, detail is the key to a unique response—everybody likes a nice view, but only you know the joy of monthly hikes with your dad to the waterfall in the woods outside your hometown.
If you’re having trouble coming up with a specific answer to this prompt, consider the following questions: what do you do to cheer yourself up when you’re feeling down? If you had a spare $100 to spend on a hobby, what would you buy? Do you have strong feelings about your favorite color, or favorite food? As long as you can convey it in 50 words (and it’s appropriate), don’t be afraid to pick something strange—an unconventional answer will only help your essay stand out.
What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment? (50 words)
This one can be a bit tricky. Be creative, and make sure to show your reader why the song you choose reflects your life. It doesn’t have to be a serious classical number either—your little brother’s enthusiastic but slightly off-beat mixtape might represent your life in a more personal way than Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.
You might also draw from movie soundtracks, or even a sound that people wouldn’t normally consider a song, such as a crackling campfire. Think about a song that will grab your reader’s attention—unless you have an interesting reason for choosing it, a consistent breaker of the Billboard Hot 100 likely won’t stand out. In contrast, saying you relate to the Super Mario Bros . death jingle or the opening bars of the Star Wars theme will certainly pique some interest.
Princeton’s Essay Prompts
This prompt is a bit long, so let’s start by breaking it down. You’ll want to do three things here: one, reflect on a lived experience that shaped who you are today; two, explain why it shaped who you are; and three, illustrate how you’ll bring this lived experience as a new perspective to Princeton’s campus community. With a 500-word maximum, you’ll have time to expand on the lessons you’ve learned— but specificity is still key here. Instead of a laundry list of lessons, try picking one that’s central to who you are, and craft your narrative around that.
Here are some example categories you might reflect on:
- Formative experiences, in school or otherwise
- Important aspects of your background or identity
- Core values and beliefs
- Challenges you’ve overcome
- People or relationships that impacted you
- Sources of inspiration
Above all, Princeton often looks for students who can have respectful, open conversations with their peers even when those conversations challenge their beliefs. This prompt reflects that value— pay particular attention to the words “challenge” and “respectful.” You might write about the time you were halfway through an argument with a high-school classmate and realized you were completely wrong, or a career panel you attended that blew your life plans out of the water. If you can show admissions officials you have a unique perspective to bring to campus, and you’re open to other perspectives that might change your mind, you’ll go a long way toward convincing them you’re the kind of student they’re looking for.
Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. (250 words)
This is another prompt where you might find yourself touching on topics you’ve already mentioned elsewhere – namely, any volunteering experience you might’ve listed in your activity transcript. However, bear in mind that you shouldn’t just be listing these experiences again in slightly more detail. Instead, try to present a compelling narrative about your beliefs regarding community and civic service, and how you came to believe them.
For instance, you might feel strongly that every citizen should exercise their right to vote. How did you first adopt this ideal? How have you furthered it in your own community? Have you volunteered for any voter outreach programs, or platformed information about voter registration on your social media? How did that work continue to shape your belief in being an active voter?
Even if you’ve already mentioned some of these activities in your transcript, providing the full narrative of your experience will give admissions officials a much deeper understanding of your commitment to service. You can craft this narrative by highlighting two things – one, how you gained your current beliefs, and two, how you’ve concretely demonstrated those beliefs in your volunteer work and activities.
Finally, you might also consider mentioning some volunteer opportunities you’re interested in at Princeton. Your conclusion would likely be the best place to include this—if you wrap up your essay by stating how you plan to carry your ideals forward into the future, explaining how you would do so at Princeton specifically could make a perfect endpoint for your narrative.
If you need help polishing up your Yale supplemental essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.
Sign Up for More College App Tips
Subscribe to the Next Admit newsletter, a weekly newsletter where you'll receive our best college essay and college app advice. You can unsubscribe at any time!
Students Also Read
What are your chances of acceptance?
Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.
Your chancing factors
Extracurriculars.
How to Write the Princeton University Essays 2023-2024
Princeton has two prompts that are required for all applicants, as well as three short-answer questions that give you just 50 words for your response. There is one other prompt, focused on your academic interests, which will be different depending on if you are applying for a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. Finally, Princeton has a somewhat unusual requirement—a graded paper to be submitted with your application.
Because Princeton is one of the most competitive schools in the country, you want to be sure that each of your essays, plus the graded paper you submit, will help you stand out from other applicants who have superb academic and extracurricular resumes. In this post, we’ll break down how you should approach each prompt so you can be sure that your essays maximize your chances of acceptance.
Read these Princeton essay examples to inspire your writing.
Princeton University Supplemental Essay Prompts
All applicants.
Prompt 1: Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. As a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. What lessons have you learned in life thus far? What will your classmates learn from you? In short, how has your lived experience shaped you? (500 words)
Prompt 2: Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals? (250 words)
More About You Prompts (50 words each)
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
What is a new skill you would like to learn in college, what brings you joy, what song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment.
Graded Paper: Princeton requires you to submit a graded written paper as part of your application. You may submit this material now or any time before the application deadline. If you choose not to upload the required paper at this time, you may mail, e-mail, or upload your paper through the applicant portal. Detailed instructions for our graded paper requirement can be found here . (1-2 pages)
Bachelor of Arts Applicants
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. what academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at princeton suit your particular interests (250 words), bachelor of science in engineering applicants, please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at princeton. include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the university suit your particular interests. (250 words), all applicants, prompt 1, princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. as a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. what lessons have you learned in life thus far what will your classmates learn from you in short, how has your lived experience shaped you (500 words).
Brainstorming your topic:
This prompt essentially boils down to its last sentence—how has your lived experience shaped you? Now, that is an incredibly open-ended question, which you could use as a road into just about any topic. That freedom, combined with a pretty long word count, means that the brainstorming process is crucial to writing a strong response. If you don’t already have a clear sense of what you want to say, your essay may end up all over the place.
One good way to focus your brainstorming is through the prompt’s attention to conversations. You’re likely going to share similar things with your peers at Princeton as you do with your friends and family right now. So, questions like the following may help you start figuring out what you want to write about:
- Which stories do you tell most often?
- When you meet someone new, what are some of the first things you usually talk about?
- When you give advice, which experiences do you draw on?
Hopefully, thinking through these slightly more targeted questions will give you some ideas about what you might want to include in your essay. Remember, you have space to work with here, so you don’t have to zero in on just one thing like you would for a shorter prompt. That being said, you also want to make sure that your essay is organized, so you also don’t want to be trying to fit in ten different things.
Rather, select one experience, or 2-4 experiences that are clearly related , to use as the foundation for your essay. Once you have a general structure for your essay, you can then connect bigger picture takeaways to it, which ensures that your essay is cohesive.
For example, maybe you choose to focus your essay on an ice fishing trip you took with your grandfather, and the lessons you learned about patience and the value of cross-generational relationships. Alternatively, you could write about your tradition of getting an owl-themed trinket anywhere you go on vacation, and how this small, seemingly silly routine has given you something consistent across different periods of your life.
Tips for writing your essay:
As noted above, for this prompt, brainstorming is more than half the battle. If you have a clear game plan before you start writing, actually getting the words down will hopefully be more about finding the right phrasing and crafting smooth transitions than actually generating content.
You do want to make sure that, like in any college essay, you’re utilizing the “show, don’t tell” strategy. In other words, rather than telling something to your reader directly, describe a moment or situation that illustrates the point you’re trying to make. To see the benefits of this approach, compare the following two excerpts from hypothetical essays:
Excerpt 1: “For as long as I can remember, I’ve collected owl trinkets on family vacations. In 2009, I got my first one, a ceramic burrowing owl from Tucson, Arizona. The most recent addition to my collection was a dense, bronze owl from Athens, who I was especially excited about since owls are the symbol of Athena, the patron goddess of that city.”
Excerpt 2: “As my family enters the small, dimly lit shop at the end of one of Athens’s many winding streets, my eyes immediately lock onto the shelves upon shelves of owls. Huge, marble ones that cost hundreds of euros, and tiny, wooden ones as spindly as a toothpick. After much deliberation, I select a dense bronze fellow who is barely an inch high. I can already envision how he’ll look on my desk at home, lined up next to all the other owls I’ve collected over the years.”
These two excerpts give us basically the same information, but the first presents it to us in a very dry, factual way. The second, on the other hand, drops us right next to the writer as they pick out their latest owl, and includes vivid descriptions that make this excerpt much more engaging to read.
Particularly since you have 500 words at your disposal, you should see this essay as an opportunity to show off your creative writing ability with a stylistic flourish here and there. That being said, in your early drafts, don’t focus on this kind of finer detail. Make sure you have a personal, informative, cohesive essay first, then take the time to add the cherries on top later.
Mistakes to avoid:
As we hinted at in the brainstorming section above, the biggest potential pitfall with this essay is that between the open-ended prompt and the high word count, you may end up adrift, without any clear focus point to anchor you. To avoid that happening, don’t just rattle off a bunch of vague, Hallmark card lessons. Instead, follow the strategies laid out in the previous two sections to ensure that the points you make are clearly connected to your own personal experiences.
The other thing you want to be sure to avoid is repeating information that can already be found elsewhere in your application, namely in your Common App essay. If you already wrote about your owl collection there, you want to pick something else to focus on here. You only get so many opportunities to share your personality with Princeton’s admissions officers, so don’t waste one by telling them things they already know.
All Applicants, Prompt 2
Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. how does your own story intersect with these ideals (250 words).
Keep in mind that the keyword is “story”—this prompt is not an invitation to list all of your achievements in community service as you will on your resume. Rather, Princeton is asking for a deeply held part of your identity through which you’re motivated to perform civic engagement and service. We’ll cover some specific points below, but we also have a detailed blog post on writing service essays that you’ll find useful as well.
Also note that this prompt is a bit more focused on Princeton itself, so devote about 30-40% of your writing to specific programs at Princeton that align with your interests. We always recommend spending a good hour snooping around a college’s website, clicking through links and looking at the different clubs, classes, programs, institutes, and communities. Also check out Princeton’s webpages for service and civic engagement .
A trusty table can be of good help while you brainstorm:
Focus on one interest or concern. Here, less is more—focusing on one key experience or aspect of your identity shows more thought and effort than copying and pasting several experiences. And for this prompt, it’s most effective to focus on the service work about which you can write the most and or to which you can relate the most.
For instance, a student wanting to study literature might help make sandwiches for charity every month, but she probably has a more immediate connection to being a weekly reader and Bible study leader at her church.
Don’t turn your brain on autopilot or regurgitate the prompt. This prompt uses a lot of “admissions-speak,” which should serve as a signpost to direct you, not as suggested wording to include in your response.
“Intersect,” for example, has become an important—but increasingly robotic—buzzword in recent years. Try to avoid repeating it, and instead opt for words with more emotional resonance: “find a home [at Princeton],” “delve into the research [at Princeton],” etc. The same goes for “service” and “civic engagement”—repeat them too much and you’ll start to sound like you’re using the prompt as a crutch. Besides, there are more vivid words at your disposal.
As always, be specific. Pick not just a broad issue (“helping the homeless”), but also a subset of the issue that actually seems manageable (“making sure that the homeless have access to Internet and library services”). From there, look for potential classes offered at Princeton, and student organizations involved in similar missions. It may be worth citing current student activism projects you find on Princeton’s website, and discussing how those same opportunities would allow you to apply your skills in the best way for you personally.
All Applicants, More About You Prompts (50 words each)
“There are no right or wrong answers.” (Alexa, play “Why You Always Lying?”)
There is a wrong answer, and it’s a category—“boring.” In fact, the more unique and genuine your answer is, the more you can break away as a contender. And because you have such a short word limit, you can even add a little mystery. This is the right place for that, too—it’s the end of your application, and a thought-provoking or fascinating answer will just remind your reader that “We have to interview this applicant to find out more.”
For example, a lackluster answer to the “soundtrack” question might be sensible and logical, but flat: “Since I’ve been sick and stuck in quarantine, ‘Circles’ by Post Malone summarizes my repetitive experience.” Well, it’s passable as small talk. But it’s self-contained and doesn’t elicit any curiosity.
A better answer will entertain, provoke a chuckle, frighten, intrigue —any verb you want your reader to have. Recontextualize a song. Pick a weird one. Send your reader to YouTube to look it up. For example, “Early in his career, David Bowie wrote a song about being stalked by a magical gnome . It is friendly, but harasses Bowie. Does it come in peace, or with malice? It is, like both, inescapable. Its voice plays in my dreams. I fear gnomes now.” The weirdness there commands attention.
You can also demonstrate uniqueness by redefining or recontextualizing a word in the prompt. For example, you could write about a niche type of joy, like schadenfreude (well, maybe not that one), fear/excitement, or watching fire. You could redefine “song” to include birdsong, or the indistinct chatter, easy listening music, and whirring of coffee machines at your favorite coffee shop.
A word on the “skill” question: it may be helpful to address a shortcoming or skill gap, then cite the skill and how it will improve your life. Doing so can prove that you’re not going for pure quirkiness or trying, superficially, to be a Manic Pixie Dream Freshman. For example, “juggling!!!” itself might seem a little vacuous, but can be easily deepened by expansion: “juggling as part of the team would help me overcome my fear of performing and presenting in front of crowds.”
Overall, use these “More About You” questions to showcase another part of your story, personality, or character that you didn’t have the chance to showcase before. When answering this prompt, it can also be helpful to astral-project yourself into another student or someone who’s assessing you as a potential friend.
With this outside perspective in mind , look over your answers: would you want to grab lunch or share a dorm with the person who has written them? Would you be inspired to befriend the engineering major who answers the first “More About You” question with yet another example of her love of engineering? Or would you rather befriend the engineering major who answers the same question with her love for candlemaking and Dolly Parton? The main point is that answering these prompts successfully takes a degree of self-awareness and quirkiness.
All Applicants, Graded Paper
Princeton requires you to submit a graded written paper as part of your application. you may submit this material now or any time before the application deadline. if you choose not to upload the required paper at this time, you may mail, e-mail, or upload your paper through the applicant portal. detailed instructions for our graded paper requirement can be found here . (1-2 pages).
Unlike with the other essays, Princeton isn’t assessing your personality and interests from the graded written paper you’re submitting. Rather, this paper will give the admissions officers insight into your academic capabilities as a student. While the admissions officers can already see your physical grades and reports from teachers, this is a unique chance for you to showcase your talents for conveying an academic idea in writing—a crucial skill you’ll need in college and in life.
We have an entire post dedicated to the requirements for the paper, tips for choosing your paper, and instructions for submitting it. You can read it here !
Bachelor of Arts Applicants, Prompt 1
This essay is only required for those who have indicated on their application an interest in pursuing a Bachelor of Arts.
This prompt somewhat fits into the “Why This Major?” essay archetype . The main difference is that rather than being asked about one specific major, you’re being asked about your general academic interests. This prompt is intended to get a sense of your passion and thirst for knowledge. Princeton only wants to admit the most intellectually curious students, so your essay should convey your academic passions and how you’ll explore them at Princeton.
You want to be sure your essay reveals meaningful emotional reasons for wanting to pursue the fields you want to explore. Asking yourself these questions will help you explain why you’re interested in your chosen topic(s):
- What are specific examples of concepts or things that you enjoy in this field?
- What positive skills or traits are exemplified by this field?
- How might majoring in/studying this topic serve your life and/or career goals?
- What is your state of mind or the emotional experience you have when you explore this topic? Why do you find that state or experience appealing?
Note: The above questions are phrased in a singular way, but the prompt does allow you to talk about multiple areas of study. If you’re interested in multiple things, you should consider writing about them in this essay. Bear in mind the 250-word limit, though, so don’t get too carried away with the number of areas you choose.
After you’ve figured out why you’re interested in your chosen field(s), you can start writing. A good essay will introduce the field(s), articulate your core reasons as to why you’re interested in the field (ideally through anecdotes or specific examples from inside and outside the classroom), and explain how this field might help you in the future.
Here are some examples of responses that include all of these elements:
1) A student who is interested in geosciences might write about how he has grown up by the beach and spent his whole life surfing. He could describe how he became fascinated with how the largest waves he loved to surf were formed.
He might then discuss the independent research he’s done on the tectonic plates, and his study of topographical maps of the Pacific Ocean floor to find the best locations for waves in California. Finally, he would explain how understanding the physics, chemistry, and biology of the ocean can help him predict areas at risk of climate crises as a future environmental consultant.
2) A student who is interested in politics could write about her experience volunteering for her local representative’s campaign. She could describe how she offered to run the social media accounts for her representative since she has an eye for graphic design.
Through attending strategy meetings, reading policy briefs, and speaking to constituents, the student got an inside look at what it means to be a representative, which sparked her interest in politics. After her experience in local government, she got very excited to learn the intricacies of national government and public relations in her classes. She feels that these classes will prepare her to be a press secretary on the Hill one day.
3) A student who is interested in architecture might talk about the trip he took to Barcelona, where he saw the most unique architecture he’s ever seen. After his trip, he researched the architects who created some of the structures he saw. His research inspired his portfolio in art class, in which he painted a collection of houses inspired by the Barcelona style. He hopes to learn more about architectural fundamentals so he can turn his creative designs into practical structures.
Since the prompt asks explicitly about the programs offered at Princeton, make sure you include specific opportunities unique to Princeton that make it the perfect place to pursue this field. You could talk about things like these:
- The specific approach the University takes in teaching specific fields (perhaps you are fascinated by approaching biology from an evolutionary standpoint in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology major)
- Classes or professors you are excited to have (e.g., Philosophy of Mind , or Turning Points in European Culture )
- Extracurricular opportunities that align with your interests (research projects, study abroad programs, and community service organizations, etc.)
Remember, name-dropping will get you nothing! For every resource you mention, you should have a concrete explanation as to what you hope to gain or contribute when you engage with the resource. Also, make every effort to avoid praising a subject without explaining its significance to you personally. And finally, don’t talk about how you might want to pursue a subject because it pays well or because your parents want you to pursue it.
Bachelor of Science in Engineering Applicants, Prompt 1
This essay is only required for those who have indicated on their application an interest in pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Engineering.
The key here is to be specific ; an implicit aspect of this question is “Why Princeton engineering? What makes Princeton’s engineering program different from other programs? Why would this be a better fit for you than any other?” In essence, this is sort of like the common “Why This Major?” prompt , but it’s referring to a specialized program rather than a specific major.
Rather than vaguely discussing the reasons that Princeton’s engineering program is something you wish to be a part of, mention specific resources and appeal to the philosophy of an engineering education. For instance, if there’s a particular class that interests you, don’t be afraid to directly mention it and connect the class back to your overall interest in engineering.
Extracurricular programs are another area you should definitely mention. If you’re passionate about sustainability, you could discuss your interest in the Princeton chapter of Engineers Without Borders , commenting on how you will use your membership to promote sustainable engineering. If you enjoy working with kids, perhaps Princeton Engineering Education for Kids is more appealing. No matter your interests, be sure to mention a club or organization that could allow you to pursue these interests outside of the classroom.
If you have a preferred area of specialization, such as bioengineering or chemical engineering, it would be great if you’re able to tie this back to your current passions or activities. Maybe you’re already involved in an organization at your current school that deals with these more specialized areas of engineering. If so, make sure to emphasize this, as that would allow your passion to shine through and showcase previous relevant experience.
Be warned, however, that listing all your engineering related activities can make your essay sound like a resume. Rather than simply providing a list, connect each activity to each other in order to construct a more cohesive essay. Make sure that any change in topic flows smoothly from one to the next to avoid transforming your essay into a laundry list of your achievements.
Another direction that you might take when discussing previous engineering experience is to discuss your state of mind when partaking in these activities. Perhaps working on complex engineering problems gets your adrenaline pumping, or maybe you find it quite therapeutic and relaxing. It’s always a good idea to show the admissions officers how you feel when partaking in subjects or activities you’re passionate about.
As always, remember to show Princeton another piece of yourself by highlighting your passions, interests, and goals, and by connecting these back to Princeton’s academic environment.
There are a few things you should avoid when writing this essay:
- First, don’t simply praise Princeton for being a prestigious institution. It’s not a bad thing to be nice, but you should save the limited space you have for substantive, meaningful reasons.
- Second, as mentioned before, don’t simply list your experiences without elaborating on their importance. You don’t want your essay to read more like a list than an essay.
- Finally, don’t state that you want to study engineering for the money or because your parents are forcing you to. These are seen as insincere reasons that won’t make you the most desirable applicant.
Where to Get Your Princeton Essays Edited
Do you want feedback on your Princeton essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool , where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.
If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!
Related CollegeVine Blog Posts
Princeton Supplemental Essays 2023-24 – Prompts and Advice
August 24, 2023
Although Princeton has withheld admissions statistics for the Class of 2027, citing concerns with student anxiety levels, their last reported acceptance rate was 4.4% for the class of 2021-22. However, even if the acceptance rate has gone up (or down) a percentage or two since, it doesn’t change much—when applying to an Ivy like Princeton, even applicants with perfect GPAs and test scores need to find a way to stand out from a pack of equally credentialed teens. Fortunately, the Princeton supplemental essays provide just such an opportunity. These compositions present the chance for wannabe Tigers to showcase superior writing ability. This is an opportunity to craft responses that are authentic, honest, compelling, and potentially needle-moving to the admissions office.
(Want to learn more about How to Get Into Princeton? Visit our blog entitled: How to Get Into Princeton: Admissions Data and Strategies for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)
Below are Princeton’s essay prompts for the 2023-24 admissions cycle with accompanying advice about how to tackle each one:
Princeton Supplemental Essays – Your Voice
1) Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. As a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. What lessons have you learned in life thus far? What will your classmates learn from you? In short, how has your lived experience shaped you? (500 words or fewer)
Essentially, Princeton is trying to uncover how your personal experiences will impact what kind of academic and social community member you might be. As such, this prompt wants you to discuss: 1) a specific aspect of your lived experience 2) what you learned and how you might engage with others as a result of that lived experience. “Lived experience” is broad and could include:
- Your role in your family.
- Your role in your social group.
- A challenge you’ve faced.
- A formative experience or realization.
- Important aspects of your upbringing.
- Cultural, religious, community influence.
Princeton Supplemental Essays (Continued)
Once you’ve chosen a particular direction, think about what you’ve learned from the experience and what you think others could learn from you. This is a chance to show that you are an open-minded, curious, and humble young person who is willing to learn and grow from their experiences. For example, perhaps growing up on military bases with a parent who was frequently deployed taught you about the importance of putting yourself out there to find a supportive community.
Perhaps you also learned that you have to be intentional about creating said community, which can be a difficult proposition in an increasingly technological and social-media-centric world. It’s also taught you not to take the relationships in your life for granted. As a result, you hope to model the importance of in-person connections and friendships—and the importance of putting a significant amount of effort into those friendships—even when it may feel easier to connect virtually.
This year, Princeton has doubled the length of this essay, giving you ample space to explore a particular aspect of your identity. You’ll just want to ensure that whatever topic you choose is completely unique from your Common App personal statement.
Princeton Supplemental Essays – Service and Civic Engagement
2) Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals? (250 words or fewer)
Remember, the admissions committee has already seen the President’s Volunteer Service Award and the number of hours you volunteered at multiple nonprofit organizations. This shouldn’t be a recap of already-presented information. Rather, applicants should strive to share issues close to their hearts. We encourage you to share specific details about a time (or two) when you were civically engaged or volunteered on a community service project. Why was this experience important to you? Why and how did it cement the values of service and civic engagement? For example, perhaps you started making blankets for a local hospital during COVID, which evolved into a thriving extracurricular club that now has fifteen other members. Whatever you decide, you’ll want to demonstrate a deep-rooted and genuine connection to service. Moreover, consider including a Princeton-specific resource or two that will allow you to continue pursuing meaningful engagement.
Princeton Supplemental Essays – More About You
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
1) What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
You can be straightforward, offbeat, or highly creative on this one—all with equal effectiveness. The straightforward answer would be something directly related to Princeton’s programmatic or extracurricular offerings. Discussing particular character traits, work habits, or social goals you hope to pursue—like networking or meditating—are fair game as well. If you really hope that college is when you finally take the time to pursue a new hobby, go ahead and share those aims in this space. It could be anything: crossword puzzles, stand-up comedy, yoga, genealogy, journaling, cooking, sewing, etc.
2) What brings you joy?
What brings you great pleasure and happiness? Universal experiences of joy like family, a beautiful sunset, a place, a hobby, a tradition, or your cat or dog curled on your lap are perfectly acceptable answers here. However, you could also talk about dreams for the future, more bittersweet moments, abstract thoughts, moments of glorious introversion, or a time that you unexpectedly felt joy.
3) What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
As Plato wrote, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” Music can express emotions that are beyond words. What stirs up deep feelings of connection within your soul? Be honest. It doesn’t have to be Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Rather, it might be a piece by Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, or Lana Del Ray. Don’t be afraid to share what music you genuinely connect with even if it isn’t “high-brow.” In addition, be sure to include a brief “why.”
Princeton Supplemental Essays – Degree-Specific
Depending on whether you are applying to an A.B. or B.S.E. program, you’ll need to answer an additional essay question:
A.B. (or Undecided) Essay
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in 250 words or fewer.)
B.S.E. Essay
Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. (Please respond in 250 words or fewer.)
For both essays, you’ll want to discuss your personal experiences in relation to your academic interests as well as why Princeton will the optimal place to pursue them. Let’s break this down:
- Which academic/engineering areas are you most drawn to, and why? What experiences have you had? How have you engaged with your interest areas up to this point? This should be fairly brief—a paragraph at most.
- Why will Princeton be the best fit for you? Stay focused on academic programs/offerings here, which could include academic departments , professors , research opportunities , internship programs , courses , degree structure/curriculum , etc. Be sure to discuss how you plan to take advantage of your chosen resources.
Princeton Supplemental Essays – Graded Paper
In addition to the essays noted above, you’ll also need to submit a graded paper as part of your application . Princeton recommends that your paper be between 1-2 pages in length, so don’t go crazy and send them your 25-page English paper. Ideally, the paper will be as recent as possible—junior year is preferable. Moreover, your English and/or history teacher will be an excellent resource who can help you decide which of your papers best represents your writing ability and will be the most advantageous to include. Keep in mind that you’ll also need to submit the paper’s grade as well as your teacher’s comments, so it should go without saying that you’ll want to send Princeton a paper that you’ve excelled on.
How important are the Princeton supplemental essays?
Princeton rates the essays as being a “very important” factor in their evaluation process. The essays are listed alongside GPA, the rigor of high school coursework, class rank, extracurricular activities, recommendations, talent/ability, and character/personal qualities.
Want personalized essay assistance with you Princeton supplement essays?
Lastly, if you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your Princeton supplemental essays, we encourage you to get a quote today.
- Application Strategies
- College Essay
Dave Bergman
Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).
- 2-Year Colleges
- Best Colleges by Major
- Best Colleges by State
- Big Picture
- Career & Personality Assessment
- College Search/Knowledge
- College Success
- Costs & Financial Aid
- Dental School Admissions
- Extracurricular Activities
- Graduate School Admissions
- High School Success
- High Schools
- Law School Admissions
- Medical School Admissions
- Navigating the Admissions Process
- Online Learning
- Private High School Spotlight
- Summer Program Spotlight
- Summer Programs
- Test Prep Provider Spotlight
“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”
— Lynn O'Shaughnessy
Nationally Recognized College Expert
College Planning in Your Inbox
Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.
I am a... Student Parent Counselor Educator Other Business Computer Science Engineering Fine/Performing Arts Humanities Mathematics STEM Pre-Med Psychology Social Studies/Sciences Submit
College essay resources
How to master the princeton supplement | 2022-2023, school supplements.
Bex Ehrmann
The Princeton supplement requirements are extensive. In addition to your Common App essay , you will need to respond to a number of short-answer questions and submit a graded academic paper. But don’t be nervous—in this guide, we’ll help you tackle the Princeton essays with confidence!
The first prompt gives you the opportunity to describe one of your activities in greater detail:
- Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences that was particularly meaningful to you. (Please respond in about 150 words.)
For this prompt, we recommend that you choose an activity that has had a significant impact on you. That might be an activity that has influenced your choice of major, but it could also be an activity that has shaped your identity in another way.
Questions to Consider: Have any of your activities connected you to a community you cherish? How have you made an impact through this activity? How has this activity informed your identity and passions? Why does this activity matter to you?
The next prompt asks you to reflect on a time when you engaged with others on a difficult topic.
- At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future? (Please respond in an essay of about 250 words.)
For this prompt, we recommend selecting a conversation that deeply impacted the way you think and how you engage with others. Because Princeton specifically mentions valuing “diverse perspectives,” your response will be most successful if you focus on a time you engaged with a person or people who were different from you.
Questions to Consider: What topics do members of your community generally avoid? What makes these topics “difficult” for people to talk about? After you’ve selected a particular conversation to write about, consider describing how you demonstrated respect for those you conversed with. What did you learn from hearing their perspective? Why was this lesson important?
In Princeton’s service prompt, you have the opportunity to describe how you’ve contributed to your community or hope to do so in the future.
- Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. (Please respond in an essay of about 250 words.)
“Civic engagement” is a broad term that encompasses volunteerism, fundraising for charitable causes, political participation, protesting, signing petitions, and more. Your essay will be most successful if you can describe a concrete experience or longstanding commitment to these ideals. If your career ambitions intersect with them, you could also speak to the values that draw you to a career in the service of others and describe how you hope to advance Princeton’s commitment to service and civic engagement.
Questions to Consider: What issues in your community are you passionate about? How have you worked to make an impact around these issues? Have you engaged in service work or petitioned your elected officials? What have these experiences taught you about active participation in your community? How will you carry these lessons forward?
The Princeton supplement also includes three super-short answer questions. Each has a word limit of 50 words, and Princeton emphasizes that there are no right or wrong answers!
Here are the prompts:
- What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
- What brings you joy?
- What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
You get 50 words for each response, so you can take the opportunity to provide brief explanations for each of your answer choices. When taken together, these short answers should showcase your individuality and core traits.
As an example, here’s what I’d write:
- I can achieve my artistic goals if I remain open to opportunities and work slowly and intentionally. But it takes everything in me not to trip over myself in my impatience! “Vienna” by Billy Joel speaks to my passion, my drive, and the determination that supersedes my fear of failure.
- I foster dogs with my local animal shelter, teaching them how to be good pets so they can get adopted. Dogs are exuberant, loving, and often ridiculous, and their antics delight me. Playing with my fosters is fun, but the greatest joy is helping them find their forever homes.
- As a creative writing major, I would like to learn how to make substantive revisions to my fiction and poetry. I can apply feedback on the line level, but I want to learn how to revise to enhance character development, clarify the story arc, and deepen my core themes.
These responses each show at least one of the 5 Key Traits that prove you'll be successful in college —the first demonstrates drive, the second shows my contribution to my community, and the third showcases my intellectual curiosity.
Finally, Princeton requires a program-specific essay. If you’re applying to Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, check out our guide for that essay here! If you’re applying to a Bachelor of Arts program or are currently undecided, you will need to answer the following prompt:
- As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in about 250 words)
This prompt is essentially a “Why Major” essay, though it’s broad enough to include students who are as-yet undecided. You have a great opportunity here to showcase your intellectual curiosity!
Questions to Consider: What are you especially curious about? What questions do you hope to investigate through seminars or research opportunities? Are there any skills you’ll need to acquire in order to pursue the career you dream of? How will Princeton help you gain these skills and discover the answers to your questions?
You’re well on your way to mastering the Princeton supplement! Happy writing!
Related Articles
How to Write Your Waitlist Essay
Cassandra Cloutier
Your Waitlist Essay (aka, Letter of Continued Interest) serve two primary purposes: (1) share new (or additional) information that will make you a more compelling candidate and (2) confirm your level of interest in the school.
The Simple “Why Us” Essay Strategy that Works
Brad Schiller
A successful Why Us essay indicates you’ll likely enroll if admitted and shows why you’re a good fit. Focus on how your academic interests match what the college offers.
How to Write Every Ross School of Business Essay for the University of Michigan
This guide will help you develop compelling topics for both Ross School of Business essay prompts.
- Become a Writing Coach
- Writing Center
- Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
- Sign Up for an Essay Coaching Package
- College Essay Feedback for High Schools
- Prompt for IECs
- Phone: (617) 993-4823
- September 17, 2021
How To Write The Princeton Supplemental Essays (2021-2022)
Welcome to the Princeton supplemental essays for the 2021-2022 application cycle!
The Princeton writing supplement divides its essays into the following sections: “Extracurricular Activity and Work Experience,” “Your Voice,” and “More About You.” For Princeton supplemental essay questions — which you can find here on the Princeton website — you have more power to shape your responses as you write your application. It’s worth putting significant effort into these since Princeton’s extremely low acceptance rate means you need to stand out in a very competitive pool.
Here’s how to write the best Princeton supplemental essays possible.
For A.B. Degree Applicants or Those Who are Undecided:
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in about 250 words.)
If you’re already familiar with many of the common questions on college applications, this question is essentially the “Why Major” prompt , which usually asks you about the specific programs, majors, and concentrations you’d like to pursue at the given school. The key to writing this essay is extensive research into Princeton’s offerings in the classroom.
Dive into class descriptions, syllabi, faculty research, and anything you can find to help you craft your essay with as much specific detail as possible . Without repeating your resume or getting too repetitive in the context of the rest of your application, tie in your experience to these specific offerings to show how you will take advantage of the resources you’d have access to at Princeton. Show them what makes you excited to learn and fuels your curiosity about the subjects you love the most.
Obviously, Princeton is world-renowned for its academics, but avoid mentioning this prestige as a reason you want to attend. With 32,835 applicants for the class of 2024 , it’s safe to assume most applicants are interested in Princeton’s prestige — instead, focus on what makes Princeton a great academic fit for you and you a great fit for them.
For B.S.E Degree Applicants:
Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. (Please respond in about 250 words.)
The same “Why Major” insight mentioned above applies here as well. Since the prompt specifically asks for you to describe any previous experience, make sure that is a significant part of your essay — balance that the same specific, in-depth research you should do on the engineering program. Focus less on the aspect of academic curiosity since that is not a part of this prompt.
Extracurricular Activity and Work Experience
Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. (Please respond in about 150 words.)
This is a very common prompt at top-tier and mid-tier schools alike, where they’re giving you the opportunity to elaborate on activities that you otherwise have to summarize in less than 150 characters earlier in your application. Some people have very impressive accomplishments that will naturally fall into this prompt: winning an international award in an academic competition, being an exceptionally talented musician, etc. For the rest of us, and for those people too, you should focus intensely on why the activity was meaningful to you beyond the awards and recognition. How did it shape you as a person?
Participating in a high school club and doing well at the state level is certainly an accomplishment, but that on its own isn’t enough to convince Princeton admissions officers that you qualify for admission to their school. To make a description of an otherwise-fairly-common activity into a standout essay, you need to analyze it in a compelling manner. What did you take away from this activity that nobody else did? Maybe you did martial arts, but instead of focusing on how you learned to work hard (which way too many extracurricular essays do), you discuss your reflections on the obedience culture and conflict of traditional practice and modern knowledge. A unique take with thoughtful discussion is necessary to present yourself as someone able to make the most of opportunities, and thus deserving of those Princeton provides.
Please respond to each question in an essay of about 250 words.
1. At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future?
This is frankly an exceptionally hard prompt to respond to in a mature and positive manner. First, it forces you to consider what difficult conversations you have had about sensitive topics — you may not have many conversations to reflect on. Second, it asks you to communicate the nuance of your conversation on an important and controversial topic, what you learned from the encounter, and how it will be important in your future endeavors… all in 250 words.
Many people will default to conversations on politics and race here, and while these can be strong options if you have had meaningful experiences, I’d encourage you to brainstorm a little longer, especially if you’re talking about hearing someone else’s story and empathizing with them. Unique topics can make your essay memorable. What is a conversation that made you view others or yourself differently?
Whatever you write about, make sure your opinion is well-informed and succinct. Read up on the topic to discuss it appropriately before writing your essay. Reinforce a feeling of compassion and understanding instead of claiming victory or insisting you were right (so maybe don’t talk about a debate competition). Show yourself able to engage in the gray answers to some of our biggest modern questions, and you’ll make progress in convincing the reader you would fit as a Princeton student.
2. Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals.
This is a variation on a classic prompt about community and/or the meaning of community to you. Colleges understandably want students who are going to leave lasting impacts on their campuses, especially at a well-known school like Princeton. Consider how you can best convince the Princeton admissions committee that you are going to be a force for good on their campus. This will likely involve discussing a time you took initiative to change something upon noticing a problem.
Alongside being intelligent, Princeton students are also very passionate about making a difference. How have you done that in your school, town, or state already? If you haven’t done something yet, then write an essay looking towards the future (the “or will intersect” part) that convinces them you will. Come up with a viable and impactful plan to improve the world with your abilities and make them want to give you the education that will support that improvement. Avoid speaking in generalities and vague statements, as your essay will be forgettable without specific details.
More About You
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
First of all, there are definitely wrong answers — don’t be fooled. These questions help Princeton admissions officers get a better feel for how your personality fits their college and could also be called “personality questions.” Princeton is known as upscale, sometimes artsy, cerebral, and very put together, although there is a lot of diversity in these features among the undergraduate population. But since you don’t have much room, you need to convey all of this as efficiently as possible.
Would you get along well with the people at Princeton? This is where they look to find that out.
1. What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
Think back to Princeton’s desired traits. Don’t just say you want to learn guitar or karate without a good reason to back it up. There are thousands of “skills” you could learn, so pick one and describe its unique appeal among this vast array of potential abilities. And make sure that it fits with the overall narrative you’ve been crafting throughout your Princeton application.
2. What brings you joy?
Well, ask yourself: what brings you joy? The best advice here is to be honest and be yourself, as they mention above. An admissions officer can smell a disingenuous answer to this question like “math problems” or “studying for history tests” from a mile away. Paint yourself as an honest and balanced human more than just an intense student in your answer to this. Obviously, stay away from inappropriate or completely irrelevant topics, but there is no need to convince Princeton that you’re someone you’re not.
3. What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
It would be smart here to pick something the admissions officers are likely to have heard — obscure music, even if it is a genuine interest of yours, may not play well. They probably won’t look up many of peoples’ responses here given their time constraints, so pick a song that strikes that balance between recognizable and unique. Stay away from overly explicit and inappropriate music. Consider the kind of music that tells a story similar to the situation you’re in currently.
Princeton requires you to submit a graded written paper as part of your application.
This is a pretty unique request on a college application, but it speaks to Princeton’s emphasis on their students’ academic prowess. Of course, pick a paper where you got great feedback and a high grade. The more complex and polished the argument you make in the paper, the better, especially if it’s about an interesting and/or unexpected topic. If you have no idea what to submit, ask your teacher in your best subject what they might recommend submitting.
If you’re looking for help on your Princeton supplemental essays, set up a free consultation with one of our expert college admissions consultants . We offer hands-on essay ideation, drafting, and editing assistance.
- Ivy League , Supplemental Essays , The College Essay
How Your Extracurricular Activities Can Boost Your College Application
The Best Internship Opportunities for High School Students
Weighted vs. Unweighted GPA: What’s the Difference?
- Partnerships
- Our Insights
- Our Approach
Our Services
- High School Roadmaps
- College Applications
- Graduate School Admissions
- H&C Incubator
- [email protected]
Terms and Conditions . Privacy policy
©2024 H&C Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Choose Your Test
Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the complete guide to the princeton supplement.
College Info , College Essays
Got your heart set on Princeton—the #1 ranked university in the US ? Then you'll need to learn how to write amazing Princeton essays for your Princeton Supplement, a key part of your application for admission.
In this detailed guide, we go over the different types of essays you'll be required to write for your Princeton application and provide you with some expert tips on how to write your most effective and unique essay possible.
Feature Image: James Loesch /Flickr
What Are the Princeton Essays?
The Princeton application requires five essays and three short answers from all applicants. One of these essays must answer a prompt provided by the Common Application , Coalition Application , or QuestBridge Application (depending on which system you choose to submit your Princeton application through).
The other four essay prompts , as well as the three short answer prompts, are part of the Princeton Supplement . The Princeton Supplement also requires an Engineering Essay from applicants who have indicated on their applications an interest in pursuing a BS in Engineering (B.S.E.). Students applying to the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree program and those who are undecided must submit a supplemental essay as well.
Below, we'll look at each prompt in the Princeton Supplement. So let's get started!
While the Princeton supplement is submitted electronically, you might find that brainstorming the old fashioned way (with pen and paper!) helps you get your ideas organized.
The Bachelor of Arts/Undecided and the Bachelor of Science and Engineering Essays
Your first long essay is 250 words long and is assigned based on what you plan to major in. You will only need to answer one of these prompts .
The first prompt is for Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree and undecided applicants to respond to. If you are applying for the A.B. degree program or if you put undecided on your application, you must respond to this essay prompt in the first section of the supplement.
The second prompt is for Bachelor of Science and Engineering (B.S.E.) applicants to respond to. All applicants who indicate they'd like to pursue a bachelor of science in engineering degree must respond to this prompt. Next, we'll break down what each prompt is asking you to do and how to respond to it.
The good news is that both prompts are versions of the "Why This College?" essay, which is a pretty common essay to encounter on college applications. If you want more info on how to answer this type of question more generally, be sure to check out this article .
The A.B. Degree and Undecided Applicants Prompt
For A.B. Degree Applicants or Those Who are Undecided:
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in 250 words or fewer.)
This question is asking you to make a case for why you'll be an excellent fit as a liberal arts student at Princeton . You can make your case in your response to this prompt by showing that you understand the value of the liberal arts education that Princeton offers, and that you've thought about how Princeton's programs fit your academic and future goals.
In addition to asking you to show how Princeton is a good fit for you, this prompt is really asking you to highlight why you are a good fit for Princeton. Everyone knows that Princeton is highly competitive, so your response to this prompt is your chance to show that you'll bring valuable intellectual interests and perspectives to the Princeton community as well.
What Makes A Good Answer?
#1: Show how you're unique. Are you excited to geek out about the connections between critical human geography and twenty-first century Arabic literature? To explore the relationships between psychology and social media? If you've got a weird, quirky, or unique set of academic interests, this is the place to go into detail about them. A good answer to this question will nail down one or more specific academic areas that you get genuinely pumped about and why you're interested in them. This is your chance to show the thought processes behind your choice to pursue an A.B. degree at Princeton...or why you put "undecided" on your application.
#2: Connect to Princeton's program offerings. You could name specific professors you hope to work with who share your interests, courses you'd be thrilled to take, or special program offerings you hope to participate in (like study abroad or research opportunities). In order to make your response to this part of the question genuine, you'll have to do your research on the programs you're interested in and really know your stuff. This will show admissions counselors that you're interested in going to Princeton because it's a good fit for you, not because it's ranked #1 on college lists.
#3: Be honest . Your response should make it clear that you've spent a lot of time thinking about your academic interests. Make sure you're telling the truth: don't pick an academic area just because you think it's impressive. To show your sincerity, make sure you're being specific about why you're interested in the area you're writing about. This will help your passion come across on the page.
What Should You Avoid?
#1: Avoid generalities. You don't want to respond to this question with general fields of study or disciplines. For instance, saying that "history" or "art" piques your curiosity won't be specific enough. Instead of "history," you could say, "I'm curious about how war monuments and memorials in the U.S. impact the communities they 're located in." Above all, you want to describe specific issues, questions, or perspectives in your areas of academic interest that you hope to explore when you become a student at Princeton.
#2: Don't focus on past achievements. This question isn't the place to talk about your academic achievements and awards from high school. Here's why: Princeton admissions isn't necessarily looking to learn about why you're good at the subjects you're interested in. They want to understand why you're curious about those areas and why you want to study them at Princeton.
3 Tips For Answering This Prompt
#1: Start with your interests. Start by brainstorming which academic interests you want to talk about. You might have to think for a little while! If you know you want to major in African American Studies, take some time to write out the historical, political, and economic issues and questions that get you excited about majoring in this field. Let the specific aspects of the fields of study you're considering be the foundation for your answer.
#2: Do your research. Once you've brainstormed the specific aspects of your major or possible majors that you're most curious about, head over to Princeton's website to search for more information. If it's African American Studies, comb through every sentence on that major's website. Look into the interests of professors in this department, courses they teach, and events hosted by the department. You can even talk about your interest in working with specific professors or taking specific courses in your response.
#3: Be specific. The more specific you can be about your academic interests, the more likely your answer is to appeal to Princeton admissions. You don’t have to have your entire degree plan mapped out, but you do need to show that you're already thinking carefully about how you'll forge your path forward as an independent thinker and intellectual citizen once you start at Princeton.
The B.S.E. Degree Applicant Prompt
For B.S.E Degree Applicants:
Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. (Please respond in 250 words or fewer.)
This prompt is specific for applicants who want to major in engineering at Princeton. Essentially, this prompt is asking you to highlight the factors in your background and experiences that have influenced you to pursue engineering.
More specifically , this prompt wants you to explain why Princeton engineering is the program for you.
#1: Showcase your background. A good answer to this question will explain why you're interested in engineering. For instance, maybe you grew up in a city that experiences earthquakes, so you want to study civil engineering to make buildings safer. Or maybe your parents and grandparents are engineers and you're passionate about carrying on the family legacy. Whatever your story, telling some of it will provide important context for your interest in engineering.
#2: Connect your interest to Princeton. Admissions counselors want to know why Princeton engineering is the only program for you. For example, say you want to focus on engineering for health professions. During your research, you read that Princeton students are developing new personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. This essay is a perfect place for you to explain that you want to join this research project! Making connections to real people, courses, and proj ects wi ll show that you're excited about the unique opportunities provided by Princeto n engineering .
#3: Share your research interests. In addition to stating a specific subfield of engineering that you're interested in (if possible), a good response to this prompt will describe your interest in key issues or questions pertaining to the subfield of engineering you want to stud y. For example, if you hope to become a chemical engineer who works with cruelty-free cosmetics, describe that research interest here. While it's important to be flexible, and it's okay if you don't have your whole future with engineering planned out, being able to describe some of your vision for your future in Princeton Engineering is a crucial part of a good response.
#1: Avoid discussing awards and achievements. Avoid talking about awards, competitions, or other academic achievements if possible. Princeton admissions can find out those details from other parts of your application. Instead, showcase the passion behind your interest in engineering. Instead of describing achievements, describe moments of inspiration in your story that have led you to pursue engineering at Princeton.
#2: Don't skip the context. You don't want to describe your specific interests in engineering without connecting them to what Princeton has to offer. Make sure you describe specific courses, professors, or research projects. Do your research and make sure your interests coincide with the possibilities Princeton provides.
Tip #1: Start with the research. It will be tough to write a meaningful response to this prompt if you haven't done some serious research about the B.S.E. program at Princeton. Get really acquainted with the B.S.E. program's website. Gather the info you need to incorporate information about professors you want to work with, research projects you'd like to work on, and courses you're eager to take.
Tip #2: Focus on your experiences. Incorporating your background with engineering is important to a good response here, but you need to be strategic about what details you include. Describe the moment your interest in engineering began, the most exciting experience you've had with engineering, or what gets you pumped about studying engineering at Princeton. Revealing where your interest in engineering comes from can help prove that the B.S.E. program is a good fit for you.
Tip #3: Be specific. State the subfield of engineering that you're interested in and/or what engineering issues pique your curiosity. Princeton wants to know that you already have a vision for how you'll be an active engineering student!
The Your Voice Supplement
The "Your Voice" supplement section consists of two required, approximately 250 word essays. The prompts for these essays (below) are asking you to give Princeton admissions a sense of how your past and ongoing experiences shape the kind of student you will be at Princeton.
In other words, the "Your Voice" supplement is asking you to show evidence that you live out values that fit with Princeton's values. So, to answer these two required questions, start thinking about points in your ongoing story that reflect your commitment to having hard conversations and serving others. We'll get into the specifics of how to write about your story in response to each prompt next.
Prompt #1: The Difficult Conversation Prompt
Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. As a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom, the dining hall or other campus spaces. What lessons have you learned in life thus far? What will your classmates learn from you? In short, how has your lived experience shaped you? (500 words or fewer)
The first of the required "Your Voice" supplements is asking you to show that you're capable of engaging in civil discourse with others on campus —even when the topic of conversation is tough to talk about or goes against your own beliefs and values. For this essay, you’ll need to pick an experience or two from your life that has helped shape the way you interact with all sorts of people, even those you disagree with on things.
Describing these experiences and the lessons you’ve learned from them will help show that you’re prepared to respect and listen to others on campus who don’t have the exact same perspectives on things as you. A good response to this prompt will also show that you can push through uncomfortable situations and learn new things from others, and that you can help others around you do the same.
#1: Share a real experience. Thinking of a challenging experience that seems meaningful enough to include in an application essay might feel...well, challenging. Nevertheless, you want your story to be as truthful as possible .
Princeton Admissions knows that you probably didn't change the world from one difficult conversation or situation. What they want to know is that you're willing to have tough conversations and listen to others with different viewpoints than your own. So, pick a memory of an experience that challenged you, taught you a lesson, or helped you grow. More specifically, make sure it’s an experience that has helped prepare you for the different perspectives and challenges you’ll encounter from others on campus. Try and recall as many details about what happened as you can, and draft a description of the situation that’s as true to real events as possible.
#2: Be thoughtful. Did you learn something new during the experience(s) or lesson(s) you're writing about? Explain what you learned from it in your response! For instance, perhaps you learned that being a nonjudgmental listener can help others feel more comfortable with listening to what you have to say. Whatever you learned, make sure you describe it in your response. This will show Princeton Admissions that you're open to learning and growing.
#3: Show you're forward thinking. How will the knowledge you gained from this experience (or experiences, if you choose to write about more than one) shape your behavior as a Princeton student? Think about what college is like: you'll encounter students, faculty, and staff from all over the world. This means you'll be in constant contact with different values, cultures, and ways of thinking about the world. Princeton wants to know that you're prepared to participate in this environment in positive ways!
#1: Don't disparage anyone. Even if the conversation or experience you're describing was incredibly frustrating, don't insult the other people who were involved. Instead, show empathy toward the people you interacted with. Princeton Admissions wants to know that you're a person who can extend empathy to many different kinds of people to be a good student and citizen.
#2: Don't brag. Don't brag about what you accomplished. Instead, focus on what you learned from the conversation --even if you think that the other people involved were totally wrong and you were totally right. Admissions counselors want to know that you learned from your experience.
2 Tips For Answering This Prompt
Tip #1: Pick an experience or lesson that impacted you. You should definitely write about an experience that was meaningful to you, rather than one that you think is impressive or controversial. This is your chance to show how you’ve made the most of your unique experiences—you’re giving Princeton an idea of who you are, what you’re capable of, and how this all came to be. Take time to reflect on tough situations you’ve encountered and lessons you’ve learned before drafting your response.
Tip #2: Connect the topic to college life. While you obviously need to describe the topic of your experience, how you handled it, and what you learned from it, a crucial part of your response is how it prepared you to be an engaged, ethical member of the Princeton community. Be sure to focus part of your response on explaining how what you learned will guide your life as a Princeton student. Whichever experiences or lessons you choose, you’ll need to explain how you can use what you’ve learned to have respectful and insightful conversations with people across Princeton’s campus.
This is a chance to tell your story and show how committed you are to being a good citizen.
Prompt #2: The Service and Your Story Prompt
Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals? (250 words or fewer)
This supplement prompt is asking you to show your commitment to serving others and/or being an engaged citizen —and you'll need to describe a specific experience or idea that demonstrates this commitment.
When the prompt asks "how does your own story intersect with these ideals," it means that you should think of real things you've done or real values you hold that motivate your civic engagement. This is a key part of the story you'll have to share in your response.
#1: Tell a story. Basically, the prompt is assuming that who you are and what you value will motivate how you serve others and participate as an engaged citizen. To answer this prompt effectively, then, think about telling the story behind your decision to serve or fulfill your civic responsibilities in a specific way.
#2: Connect it to your local life. The decisions we make about our community involvement are often personal. For instance, maybe someone in your family recovered from cancer as a child, so your story with service involves gathering donations for a pediatric cancer care center in the region where you live. Think about the personal connections that you've made, then include them in your response.
#3: Consider the future. Maybe you don't have much experience with service or civic engagement yet, but you have a big vision for how you'll serve and engage in the Princeton community. This prompt is a chance to describe the details of that vision. Alternatively, if you have existing experience with service and civic engagement and want to continue serving in similar ways at Princeton, share your ideas about how you'll accomplish that. Service and civic engagement are lifelong commitments—describing your ideas about how you'll serve in the future will show that you're prepared for that commitment.
#1: Don't be condescending. While it's likely that the people you've served in the past learned things from you, don't focus your response on describing how wonderful you are . Instead, focus on how your service and civic engagement experiences have refined your values and helped you become a better human, which is what Princeton admissions wants to hear about.
#2: Avoid delusions of grandeur. If you decide to include a description of how you hope to serve once you get to Princeton, don't get too carried away. For example, you probably aren't going to get every single Princeton student registered to vote...but you can probably make some progress. Be realistic about your ideas for how you'll serve in the future. Princeton admissions just wants you to show dedication to service and civic engagement. They don't expect you to solve all of the world's problems.
Tip #1: Tell a story. It's important to coach your answer in the form of a story. Describe who you served, what the service looked like, and why you decided to serve in this way. If possible, connect it to your background, your identity, or your values. Turning your service experience into a story for Princeton admissions will make it more memorable.
Tip #2: Describe the impact. Princeton Admissions doesn't just want to know the story of your past experience with service—they also want to know how the experience continues to impact you today. Describe what you learned from the experience, how it changed you, and how it shapes your current actions and values.
Tip #3: Connect it to your future. Connect your story about your service to your vision for your life as a student at Princeton. This will let admissions know that you'll also be an exceptional student outside of the classroom in the Princeton community.
The "More About You" Short Answer Supplements
The "More About You" short answer section of the Princeton Supplement is your last chance to show who you are: the real person behind all of the stats, scores, and successes that the rest of your application showcases. In fact, the instructions for this required portion of the supplement are clear: "There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!"
This means that, in 50 words or fewer, you'll need to give admissions counselors a clearer picture of the "you" behind the application. All three of the "More About You" short answer questions are required, and each one gives you a chance to provide a little more context for your desire to be a student at Princeton.
#1: The New Skill Prompt
What is a new skill you would like to learn in college? (50 words)
To answer this question, all you need to do is describe a skill that you want to learn in college! There are a couple of different ways that you could interpret this prompt. Just remember: answer honestly.
For starters, you could think of the prompt as asking about a skill that you want to learn from your actual college courses . If this is the path you choose, you could write about how you want to learn to produce a podcast, to lead a Socratic Seminar, or to write a winning elevator pitch. Connecting the skill you want to learn to your areas of academic interests is a solid strategy.
Alternatively, you could think more generally about any skill you want to learn during your time in college ! For example, maybe you struggle with public speaking, and you want to learn to share your ideas more clearly in your classes and your extracurriculars. Writing about skills that are more oriented towards exploring your identity, background, or interests outside of academics is perfectly fine here too.
Whatever skill you decide to write about, it's important to briefly explain why you want to learn that skill. For instance, if you were writing about learning to bake like your grandmother, you might explain that this skill has been passed down in your family for generations, and you'd like to pass it down as well. If you want to learn how to produce a podcast, maybe you'd explain that you were searching for an interesting podcast on Marxist economics, but couldn't find one that had good production quality, so you want to learn how to produce one yourself.
#2: The Joy Prompt
What brings you joy? (50 words)
The same principles go for this prompt: write your response about something that genuinely brings you joy. It could be an activity, a person or relationship, or an experience you've had. To answer this question, simply describe the thing that brings you joy.
A good answer to this question will identify one specific thing that brings you joy, then describe it with gusto. For example, if the thing that brings you joy is building model planes with your little brother, briefly tell the story of why that experience brings you joy. Maybe you like the challenge of focusing on small details, or perhaps your joy comes from building something with your hands.
Briefly giving these specific details will show how the thing that brings you joy reflects your values and identity --both of which will give more clues as to the kind of person you'll be as a student at Princeton.
#3: The Soundtrack of Your Life Prompt
What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment? (50 words)
This short answer is fun! Keep your song selection relatively clean, of course, but otherwise, just think of a song that you're literally listening to on repeat right now , or pick a song that symbolizes your current experience. Then explain why!
For example, maybe you'll write about "Inner Child" by BTS because getting ready to leave home for college in the midst of so much has made you reflect on your younger years. Or, if you've literally listened to "my future" by Billie Eilish one thousand times since its release, briefly write about why you can't stop hitting repeat.
Don't overthink this prompt: the music we love reveals things about our personality and how we cope with the realities of our lives. Just be real, and you'll show Princeton admissions another facet of your genuine personality and how you process the world.
How to Write a Great Princeton Essay: 4 Key Tips
To wrap up, here are some final tips to keep in mind as you write your Princeton essays and any other essays for college applications.
#1: Be Specific
A vague essay is certain to squelch your chances of getting into Princeton, so make sure you're being as specific as possible in your writing.
For example, if you're writing about somebody who inspired you, touch on the little quirks or traits they have to help the admissions committee more easily visualize this person, such as their subtle mannerisms, the way they handled stress, or their perseverance in a difficult situation.
Remember that you're writing about something real, whether that's a person, event, object, or experience. Your aim should be to make the subject of your essay feel as real to your readers as it did and does for you.
Other ways to ensure that you're being specific enough in your essay are to use common literary devices such as anecdotes, dialogue (an actual conversation you had with someone), imagery, and onomatopoeia. These not only add color to your writing but also paint the subject of your essay in a more effective, relatable way.
Lastly, I recommend getting somebody else to read over your essay (which I talk about more in tip 4); this person can let you know if your writing isn't specific enough and if too much is left to be implied.
#2: Be Honest and Use Your Voice
The whole point of writing an essay for a college application is to show the admissions committee who you are. In short, what makes you you ? This is why it's so critical to use an authentic voice in your Princeton essays.
For example, if you love making people laugh (and think humor is one of your defining traits), then it might be a good idea to include a joke or two in your personal essay.
However, don't exaggerate anything that happened to you or any feelings you might have —the admissions committee will more than likely be able to see through it. Remember that you want your voice and feelings to come across strongly but also (and more importantly) authentically.
Don't claim in your engineering essay that you've liked engineering since you were 3 years old if you only recently developed an interest in it. Lying about or exaggerating anything in your essay will simply make you seem insincere and, yes, even immature. So avoid it!
#3: Write Well and Avoid Clichés
You'll need to be a decent writer if you're hoping to get into Princeton—one of the most selective universities in the US ! On the technical side, this means that your Princeton essays should have no grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors.
If you're unsure about a certain grammar rule, such as how to use a semicolon correctly, feel free to consult our SAT grammar guide for a quick refresher.
Writing well also means varying up your sentence lengths and styles (in other words, don't start every sentence with "I," even though you're likely talking about yourself).
On the more stylistic side, your essays should really grab your audience's attention—and keep it throughout. Therefore, you'll need to come up with a unique way to hook your readers from the beginning. For example, you could start with a piece of dialogue that someone said to you once (I'd avoid famous quotations, though, since these can come across really clichéd).
Alternatively, you could start with a memory, opening a description with a strong emotion you had, a sound you heard (using onomatopoeia would be a good idea here), or powerful, sensory images of the setting.
As a final tip, make a conscious effort to avoid clichés. These include quotations that have been quoted to death and phrases or idioms that are often overused. Using clichés indicates laziness to the reader and a lack of authenticity in your voice and storytelling.
For example, instead of writing, "I woke up at the crack of dawn," you could write something like "I woke up as soon as the sun began to peek over the horizon" (if you're the poetic type) or even just "I woke up at dawn" (if you're more like Hemingway).
Here is a lengthy but useful list of clichés to avoid in your writing .
Remember that you're ultimately telling a story with your essays, so don't be afraid to get creative and use a variety of literary techniques!
#4: Proofread, Proofread, Proofread!
The final step before you submit each of your Princeton essays is to edit and proofread it.
Editing isn't a one-step process. After you finish your rough draft, put your essay away and take it out again a few days or even weeks later to get a fresh perspective on what sounds good and what comes across awkward, unclear, or irrelevant. Do this step numerous times. At this time, you should also be checking for any typos, grammar errors, etc.
Once you've done a few editing sessions on your own, give your essay to someone you trust, such as a teacher, counselor, or parent, and have that person look it over and offer any feedback or corrections. Getting another set of eyes to look at your essay can help you catch smaller mistakes you might've failed to notice; it also gives a clearer sense as to what kind of impression your essay will likely leave on the Princeton admissions committee.
What's Next?
If you're applying to Princeton through the Common Application, you'll need to write an essay that answers one of the Common App prompts . Our in-depth guide goes over all the current prompts and gives you expert tips on how to answer them.
You can also check out our guide on how to choose a Common App prompt if you're struggling with deciding on the best one for your college application.
Not sure what your chances are of actually getting into Princeton? Calculate them with our own college acceptance calculator , and read up on how to submit a versatile college application .
Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.
Student and Parent Forum
Our new student and parent forum, at ExpertHub.PrepScholar.com , allow you to interact with your peers and the PrepScholar staff. See how other students and parents are navigating high school, college, and the college admissions process. Ask questions; get answers.
Ask a Question Below
Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!
Improve With Our Famous Guides
- For All Students
The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 160+ SAT Points
How to Get a Perfect 1600, by a Perfect Scorer
Series: How to Get 800 on Each SAT Section:
Score 800 on SAT Math
Score 800 on SAT Reading
Score 800 on SAT Writing
Series: How to Get to 600 on Each SAT Section:
Score 600 on SAT Math
Score 600 on SAT Reading
Score 600 on SAT Writing
Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests
What SAT Target Score Should You Be Aiming For?
15 Strategies to Improve Your SAT Essay
The 5 Strategies You Must Be Using to Improve 4+ ACT Points
How to Get a Perfect 36 ACT, by a Perfect Scorer
Series: How to Get 36 on Each ACT Section:
36 on ACT English
36 on ACT Math
36 on ACT Reading
36 on ACT Science
Series: How to Get to 24 on Each ACT Section:
24 on ACT English
24 on ACT Math
24 on ACT Reading
24 on ACT Science
What ACT target score should you be aiming for?
ACT Vocabulary You Must Know
ACT Writing: 15 Tips to Raise Your Essay Score
How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League
How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA
How to Write an Amazing College Essay
What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?
Is the ACT easier than the SAT? A Comprehensive Guide
Should you retake your SAT or ACT?
When should you take the SAT or ACT?
Stay Informed
Get the latest articles and test prep tips!
Looking for Graduate School Test Prep?
Check out our top-rated graduate blogs here:
GRE Online Prep Blog
GMAT Online Prep Blog
TOEFL Online Prep Blog
Holly R. "I am absolutely overjoyed and cannot thank you enough for helping me!”
Princeton University Essay Examples
Princeton Essay Examples – Introduction
Are you wondering how to write the Princeton supplemental essays? Then this Princeton essay guide is just what you need! In fact, we’ll look at six Princeton essay examples and provide a detailed breakdown of why these were Princeton essays that worked.
But before we dive into our Princeton supplemental essays examples, let’s learn more about Princeton University.
Princeton University
First, Princeton University is an elite private institution located in Princeton, New Jersey. Princeton is one of the Ivy League schools, founded in 1746. According to U.S. News , Princeton University is ranked #1 in National Universities.
Princeton is a highly competitive university with an acceptance rate of around 4% . The university also routinely makes the list of Best Colleges for many of their majors. Want to know how to get into Princeton? It’ll take much more than just a good test score . The key to gaining admission to Princeton is to make your Princeton supplemental essays shine .
Princeton essay guide
In this Princeton essay guide, we’ll explore that essential aspect of the Princeton application: the Princeton essay. We’ll highlight several Princeton supplemental essays examples and provide analysis on why these are Princeton essays that worked.
After reading through the Princeton supplemental essays examples, you’ll know exactly how to write Princeton supplemental essays! With strong essays, you have a better chance of beating that low Princeton acceptance rate.
How many essays does Princeton have?
Wondering how to get into Princeton? One of eight Ivy League schools , Princeton attracts top-tier applicants who have near-perfect GPA s and test scores . If you want to stand out from the crowd, you’ll need to focus on crafting strong essays.
We’ll give you more information on how to write Princeton supplemental essays later in this guide. Right now, let’s look at the Princeton requirements for essays.
Princeton supplemental essay requirements
In addition to the Common App essay , Princeton requests four supplemental essays, one graded written paper, and three short answer questions as part of the Princeton admissions requirements.
The purpose of the Princeton supplemental essays is to add another piece of the puzzle to your application by showcasing how your interests, passions, and goals match the college you hope to attend.
You’ll be able to review some Princeton essay examples from Princeton essays that worked later in this Princeton essay guide.
Princeton Essay Prompts
The current princeton essay prompts for the 2022-2023 princeton admissions cycle are listed below: , prompts are subject to change.
These are the most recent Princeton essay prompts. However, these Princeton essay prompts might change for next year’s Princeton admissions season. Before you start writing your own essays, verify which Princeton essay prompts Princeton admissions requires for your Princeton application.
Aside from the Princeton essays above, you must submit a graded written paper as part of your Princeton application. Princeton admissions officers use the graded written paper to assess an applicant’s “written expression in an academic setting.” We’ll discuss this aspect of the Princeton requirements in-depth later in this article.
You might notice that some of the Princeton essay examples below may not reflect the current Princeton essay prompts. That’s okay! The Princeton essay examples we’ve highlighted can still be valuable tools to help you write your own college essays. So, read on!
How often do Princeton essays change?
If you’re starting your research on how to get into Princeton early, you might be curious whether the Princeton essay prompts will change by the time you’re ready to submit your Princeton application.
Many colleges changed their admission requirements because of the pandemic, like the new test-optional policy. So, how often do the Princeton essays change? It depends. A Princeton supplemental essay that was required two years ago might no longer be required.
The Princeton requirements are usually published online in mid-summer for the upcoming admissions season. Before you start writing your Princeton essay, be sure to verify which prompts are listed as part of the Princeton requirements.
Princeton Essay Examples – Short Essay #1
Now that we know more about Princeton’s essay requirements, let’s look at some Princeton supplemental essays examples. The first prompt for the Princeton essay examples asks you to describe how you have spent the last two summer breaks from school.
With only 150 words for your response, you’ll want to get straight to the point. Even if your summers were jam-packed with activities, it’s best to select one thing to talk about (for each summer break) so that you can provide a rich description full of specific details.
The Princeton essay examples you’re about to see are not a reflection of the current essay prompts. However, they are examples of Princeton essays that worked and should be viewed as a guide on how to write a successful essay.
Keep this in mind as we review two Princeton essay examples for this prompt and explain the reasons why these are Princeton essays that worked.
Princeton Essay Examples #1
During the summer after my Sophomore year, my father was laid off from work and money was tight for my family, so I was limited in what I could do. I dedicated myself to teaching my four-year old sister, and we developed a very strong bond. I taught her to read, sounding out letters and guiding her small hand in writing them. I held the handlebars as she pedalled her first two-wheeler, picking her up every time she fell.
During the summer after my Junior year, I was accepted into the Summer Science Program in Biochemistry at a major university. At SSP, I was immersed into hours of intense lectures and lab sessions, but with some of the most passionate people I’ve ever met. I emerged with a stronger sense of the successes and failures involved in research and my unique place in the vast science research field.
Why this essay worked
This is an example of Princeton essays that worked for several reasons. First, the author anchors their response to the prompt by providing a detailed account of the activities they participated in each summer.
In the first part of the response, the author gives insight into why they may not have as many extracurricular activities on their application – “my father was laid off from work…so I was limited in what I could do.” This part of the Princeton essay examples is exactly how you want to address any gaps in your resume or educational activities.
Another reason why this example is one of the Princeton essays that worked is that the author uses a description of the science program they attended to explain their academic interests . Doing so shows the admissions officer that they are committed to this field as a result of their experiences.
Let’s look at another version of the Princeton essay examples for this prompt.
Princeton Essay Examples #2
Last summer, I served as the leader for a Summer Reading program at my neighborhood library. Whether it is talking in different voices or victory celebrations after finishing a book, whenever I am with children, I find myself being pulled into their childhood world—a world of simplicity, of undying curiosity, and of pure innocence. It is a world in which if everything is not perfect, it definitely can be.
This summer, I learned more about the ever-changing world beyond Oregon through a program at Princeton University. The Institute was the first time I was asked to think critically, challenge my perspective, and coexist with others who brought a variety of experiences that I would not have encountered in my sheltered upbringing as a child of Vietnamese immigrants. I became more conscious of my biases through role-play simulations and debates on social issues facing the 21st Century.
The second sample in our Princeton essay examples is another fantastic instance of Princeton essays that worked well. In this response, the author describes the activity they participated in as well as how they were a leader in this role. You’ll want to do the same if you have also been in a leadership position like the author of this second essay from our Princeton essay examples.
Another reason this is an example of Princeton essays that worked is because the author mentions what they did and connected this experience to what they learned. This shows self-growth and interpersonal development, which are two key characteristics of a successful college student.
As we mentioned above, these two Princeton essay examples are not related to the current Princeton essay prompts. However, these Princeton essay examples are still useful and can help you as you write your own college essays , as they demonstrate clear and well-written responses in a unique voice.
In the next few sections, we’ll examine Princeton essay examples that are relevant to the current Princeton essay prompts.
Princeton Essay Examples – Short Essay #2
There are also two Princeton essay examples for the second essay prompt. This prompt asks you to elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience that was meaningful to you.
Like the Princeton supplemental essays examples above, this essay has a maximum of 150 words.
To write a successful essay, like the Princeton essays that worked below, you’ll want to choose an activity or experience that holds significance to you.
You’ll want to name the activity, describe what the activity is, and elaborate on what you do in that activity. Bonus points if you can also add why it is meaningful to you and/or what you learned because of this experience.
We’ll review two extracurricular activities essay examples below and explain why they are Princeton essays that worked.
Serving as a Student Government leader at my college has taught me the power of student voice and collaborative leadership. During my Junior year, I began attending Senate Meetings and was elected as a Senator a few months later. I began proposing solutions to problems my college faces, from lack of STEM programming to low voter turnout rates to poor multicultural outreach programs.
I created student committees to tackle these problems, the most recent being a committee working to bring a series of local STEM professionals for our artist-in-residence series. I was appointed as a student voice to faculty committees, such as the Diversity and Equity Committee.
I use this position to bring student concerns I hear from SG directly to the college board to catalyze changes in our college, such as the introduction of STEM cohort groups or providing resources for students of color.
In the first of the extracurricular activities essay examples, you’ll see that the author mentioned the extracurricular activity they participated in as well as their role within this activity.
This is an important step that most applicants forget to include within their responses. You don’t want to assume that your reader knows what your position was within your activity, even if it’s listed earlier in your application. By including the name of the activity as well as your role in it, it helps your reader understand the nature of your involvement.
Another strong aspect of this extracurricular activities essay examples is how the author describes their approach to identifying issues and proposing solutions. The author takes time to explain what they did in their position to make a change. This shows how they are a critical thinker and problem-solver. It also shows how they are good at advocating for others, which are essential skills to have in college .
You can learn a lot from the first response in our extracurricular activities essay examples. Most notably, this is one of the Princeton essay examples that shows rather than tells.
Let’s look at another version of the extracurricular activities essay examples.
After watching my grandfather suffer from heart ailments, it was particularly meaningful to have the opportunity to conduct echocardiography research with a pediatric cardiologist. During my summer internship at a major Health and Science University, I designed and built heart models to mimic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) disease and investigate strain comparisons in a 2D and 3D model.
Continuously designing and analyzing my own experiments has not only taught me the value of diligence, patience, and replication in the laboratory setting, but it has also instilled in me a profound respect for the biological intricacies that make life possible.
The critical-thinking and problem-solving skills I have honed through research will enable me to tackle difficult, and sometimes unknown, problems with sound reasoning and confidence as I serve the underrepresented to help eliminate health disparities.
Like the other samples in our Princeton essay examples collection, this response works for a number of reasons. First, the author explains why this was a meaningful activity to them. This provides the reader with the connection between the author’s personal experience and the extracurricular activity they chose to highlight.
Again, the author describes what they did in this activity as well as what they learned. What takes this response to the next level is that the author describes how they will use what they learned. They explain how this experience will help them to reach their future goals.
The Princeton supplemental essays examples above are perfect samples of how to respond to the extracurricular activities prompt.
In the next sections, we’ll look at Princeton supplemental essays examples for the long response prompt. Although, Princeton admissions no longer uses this prompt, the Princeton supplemental essays examples are still helpful guides . They can show you how to write an effective essay with a higher word count.
Princeton Supplemental Essay Examples – Long Response
We have two Princeton essay examples for the final prompt. As we mentioned above, some of the Princeton essay examples in this Princeton essay guide are from old prompts. This includes the Princeton essay examples below.
When you read the next two Princeton essay examples, you’ll notice that they are long responses at 650 words each. Again, these Princeton essay examples are from old prompts, and you no longer need to write a 650-word essay in addition to your Common App personal statement .
Even though these Princeton essay examples do not reflect the newest prompts, you can use them to guide you as your work on your own Princeton essays.
The prompt for the Princeton essay examples below asks the applicant to choose from a list of themes as a starting point and write about a person, event, or experience that defined their values or changed the way they approached the world.
We’ll provide the theme that the authors of these Princeton essay examples chose before we discuss why these are Princeton essays that worked.
“Culture is what presents us with the kinds of valuable things that can fill a life. And insofar as we can recognize the value in those things and make them part of our lives, our lives are meaningful.” – Gideon Rosen, Stuart Professor of Philosophy and chair, Department of Philosophy, Princeton University. (650 words)
“You’re too white.”
I stopped in my tracks in the middle of the mall parking lot, trying to comprehend the judgement that had been cast on me by my Arab girlfriends. Too white, my friend had said. I always knew that I didn’t fit perfectly into the mold of a Middle Eastern girl, but this was the first time I had been called too much of something.
I was raised by an Arab father and an Irish-American mother. Because my father was the ultimate authority in the household, his cultural values overruled my mother’s. I grew up learning how to prepare spreads of mansaf and dancing to Jordanian dabke songs on the Arabic channel.
I twirled in my Palestinian dress in front of the mirror and painted my eyes with kohl. I was submissive and complacent, seen but not heard. I learned how to be a good hostess and to act bubbly with my friends and guests. I learned the value of family and respect for elders. In short, I was the perfect Arab girl.
When I was sixteen, however, my mom, siblings, and I left my father and moved to a different state. My mom ran our household based on her cultural values, presenting an exhilarating amount of freedom. Instead of passing by American Eagle, I was allowed to buy a pair of distressed jeans. I ordered the number two at Burger King and danced to Katy Perry’s “Swish Swish” at non-Arab parties. I talked back to my mom and stormed out of the house angrily.
I never felt the “whiteness,” as some would call it, creeping up on me. I never woke up and just decided “I’m more white than Arab.” I simply took on the values that my mom’s family and my new friends expected me to have.
However, I felt that at any given time, I was either Arab or white, never both. With my Arab friends, I was the Middle Eastern fashionista princess. With my non-Arab friends, I was the rebellious American teenager. Of course, neither of these stereotypes represented my true personality; I was trying to mold myself into the cookie cutters others had created for me, so it hurt to be called too much of one thing. My cultural identity was dependent on the people I was with.
After adjusting to my new life of freedom, I reevaluated how I defined my cultural identity. Why am I limiting myself in who I can be? I thought. Why am I allowing culture to define my identity? Why do I feel the need to force myself into certain stereotypes in my family’s cultures? Faced with these questions, I realized that rather than fitting myself into my cultures, I should make the cultures fit me. I appreciate my heritage and many of the values I was raised on, but I am more than my cultural background. My experiences shape the lens through which I view and assimilate my Arab and American cultures.
My anthropology teacher once said, “Culture is a social construction. It’s what we make it.” My culture is not a force that defines me; rather, it is a conglomeration of my heritage and values that influences and guides me. Looking in the mirror, I don’t see just an Arab-American teenage girl. I see a person grown from years of stories, sorrows, and joys. I see the values that my mother and father have taught me. I see the people that have touched me.
I see the lessons I’ve learned from my mistakes. You’re too white. I can scoff at this remark now, knowing it is nothing but a cultural tag society places on me. As I continue down this lifelong path of identity formation, I will remember to keep my heart open to the lessons I can learn from experiences to shape me into the person I want to see in the mirror.
This is the first of our Princeton supplemental essays examples that starts with a direct quote. This can be an effective way to pull your reader in.
What makes this response truly unique is how personal it is. The author shows who they were, who they are, and who they hope to be as a result of their culture. They paint a picture of what it’s like to grow up within two distinct cultures.
Additionally, the author addresses the values they had before and after they moved to a different state. By describing the shift in their values, they are addressing the part of the prompt that asks how they incorporate values into their lives to make them meaningful. Overall, this is a very strong essay!
Now let’s look at a different version of the Princeton supplemental essays examples. Please note that names of specific programs have been removed to preserve the writer’s anonymity.
“Princeton in the Nation’s Service” was the title of a speech given by Woodrow Wilson on the 150th anniversary of the University. It became the unofficial Princeton motto and was expanded for the University’s 250th anniversary to “Princeton in the nation’s service and in the service of all nations.” Woodrow Wilson, Princeton Class of 1879, served on the faculty and was Princeton’s president from 1902–1910. (500-650 word limit)
My seven-year-old cousin’s thirst for knowledge, as she meticulously traced letters of the alphabet into the sandy floor of her schoolroom in Vietnam, makes me wonder what would happen if her potential met optimal resources. My aunt has to tie strips of fabric onto public buses to know which ones to take home from the market because poverty prevented her from learning how to read.
These vivid memories after my family trip to Vietnam fuel my passion to return to my country to stimulate social change through empowering people to voice their needs in front of an audience of national legislators and international agencies. This will provide my cousin with the chance to put pen to paper and finally tell her stories. The hope that my aunt will be able to read the public buses’ destinations herself reassures me that the injustices in my country will be addressed with the presence of officials advocating for change.
During an intensive seven-week program at Princeton University, I examined the economic, technological, social, and environmental needs facing the globe in the 21st Century. Through state-of-the art innovative methodologies, such as role-play simulations, case studies, and presentations, I debated on topics ranging from the cycle of recidivism that fosters the prison industrial complex to the removal of people of color from 17th and 18th Century paintings in current academia.
These enriching dialogues at three in the morning allowed me to recognize that not only does my voice matter, but the voices of other underrepresented communities do as well. I learned that my leadership abilities are no longer confined by my skin color, gender, or social and economic standing.
More importantly, this program launched my continual pursuit of the core values—Excellence, Integrity, Compassion, and Community—to empower those voices that are underrepresented in my own communities: locally and internationally. I plan to employ these values and my Princeton education to impact the societal and environmental influences on health and well-being as a public health expert.
My interests in medicine, the human body, and social activism were magnified in this program because I began to recognize that my presence in Vietnam as a future public health expert will serve as a catalyst for change, inspiring my people to become assertive in their quest for aid in a way that giving a check never could.
With a world-class education from Princeton, I will explore my passion for service through conducting lectures on making access to healthcare a reality in developing nations at the annual Princeton-Fung Global Forum. I look forward to meeting with students and professors to learn and collaborate with the goal of collective global health leadership to become a more just and equitable society.
Returning to my birth country sparked my desire to bring justice and health care to those who are marginalized. My program at Princeton helped me realize that through activism and public health outreach, I can place a spotlight on the unheard voices in the developing world.
I often ask myself, is civic engagement the only catalyst for change or does one have to be in a position of power to create a more just and equal world? I am still wrestling with these questions as I strive to discover the right balance between making a contribution and raising awareness while maximizing the ultimate benefit to the recipients. Truly, I know that community service is for my cousin, aunt, and all the nations I seek to serve.
Like the Princeton supplemental essays examples above, this response works because it’s personal. In fact, the essay pulls you in with vivid descriptions of life in Vietnam. Then, the author connects that to the need for change and how they hope to achieve this change.
Another thing that works about this sample of the Princeton supplemental essays examples is that the author bridges each example in the essay to the prompt’s theme of service . They are able to explain their interests, passions, and future goals and how each of these are related to service.
The author also explicitly states how attending Princeton will help them reach their goals, which we haven’t seen yet in any of the Princeton supplemental essays examples above. This can be an effective tool to use in your own essays. You want to stand out from other applicants and show that you want to attend Princeton, which is what this essay does well.
Now that we’ve explored all our Princeton supplemental essays examples, let’s discuss how to write the Princeton supplemental essays.
How do you write the Princeton supplemental essays?
5 tips on how to write the princeton supplemental essays, 1. start early.
As we saw in the Princeton supplemental essays examples above, writing a strong essay takes time. You’ll want to begin your Princeton essay well in advance of the application deadline.
2. Brainstorm topics for your Princeton supplemental essays
Before you start writing, you’ll want to brainstorm potential topics for your Princeton supplemental essays. Read through the prompts and think about how you can use your essay topics to highlight different aspects of your identity, interests, or passions.
3. Focus on one experience
It might be tempting to write about everything that has happened to you since you started high school, but less is always more. Focus on one experience per essay and use your word count to provide rich details about that experience.
4. Be specific
Each of the Princeton supplemental essays examples did a great job of bringing specific details into their responses. As you are writing your own essays, incorporate specific points to help your essay stand out.
5. Edit your essays
Although it might be tempting to do so, don’t skip this important step! Sometimes it takes two to four rounds of edits before your essays are ready to submit. Ask a friend, teacher, or advisor for feedback, and edit your essays appropriately .
Princeton Admissions Requirements: The Graded Written Paper
As we mentioned above, the graded written paper is on the list of Princeton requirements for admission. So, you must submit a graded written paper as part of your Princeton application.
There are certain guidelines to consider as you select which graded written paper to submit along with your Princeton supplemental essay.
Your graded written paper must meet the following criteria:
- Your paper should have been written for an academic course, preferably English, social studies, or history, during the last three years of high school (including senior year).
- You may choose a paper, essay, research paper, or essay exam to send. However, it must be an example of expository writing only, not creative writing.
- One to two pages in length.
- Must include the course instructor’s grade and/or comments. If a grading rubric was used, please include this as well.
How to submit your graded written paper for Princeton
You can submit your graded written paper to the Princeton admissions office by choosing one of the following options:
- Upload the paper alongside your Princeton application materials on the Common App or QuestBridge application.
- Mail, email, or upload the graded written paper to your student portal.
Princeton admissions officers will review the graded written paper. They will use it to determine whether an applicant demonstrates the ability to perform well in Princeton’s rigorous academic environment.
Keep in mind that Princeton admissions is more interested in the quality of the writing, rather than the grade you received. We encourage you to submit a paper that demonstrates your best writing abilities, regardless of the grade.
Additional Princeton Resources
Need additional Princeton resources? Check out CollegeAdvisor’s How to Get into Princeton guide . In it, you’ll find more information on the Princeton supplemental essay, Princeton requirements, Princeton admissions, and more.
How to Get Into Princeton Guide
If you loved our Princeton essay examples and Princeton essays that worked, you can read more college essay examples here .
College Essay Examples: 10 Best Examples of College Essays and Why They Worked
Moreover, you can also watch our webinar to get an overview of common supplemental essay prompts .
Supplemental Essay Prompts Overview
Finally, to learn more about how to get into Princeton, watch our Princeton University panel .
Princeton University Panel
Princeton Essay Examples – Final Thoughts
Lastly, we hope our Princeton essay examples guide helped inspire you to begin writing your own Princeton essay. Even though the Princeton supplemental essays examples we included in this article might not reflect the current prompts, they are a good to reference as you write your college essays.
While you research how to write Princeton supplemental essays, you’ll want to pay particular attention to the Princeton essays that worked in this Princeton essay guide.
So, if you want personalized support as you strategize on how to get into Princeton, we can help. Register with CollegeAdvisor today to receive one-on-one guidance through the college application process.
Claire Babbs wrote this article. Looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. During your meeting, our team will discuss your profile and help you find targeted ways to increase your admissions odds at top schools. We’ll also answer any questions and discuss how CollegeAdvisor.com can support you in the college application process.
Personalized and effective college advising for high school students.
- Advisor Application
- Popular Colleges
- Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice
- Student Login
- California Privacy Notice
- Terms and Conditions
- Your Privacy Choices
By using the College Advisor site and/or working with College Advisor, you agree to our updated Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy , including an arbitration clause that covers any disputes relating to our policies and your use of our products and services.
5 Princeton Supplemental Essays That Worked
Are you applying to Princeton University in 2023? Or perhaps you're a parent curious about what it takes.
If so, writing great application essays is the most effective way you can stand out.
In this article, I've gathered 5 of the best Princeton essays that worked so that you can get inspired and improve your own essays.
What is Princeton University's Acceptance Rate?
As a world-renowned college, Princeton has highly competitive admissions. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Ivy League school received 37,601 applications this past year and only 1,647 of those students were accepted.
That gives Princeton an overall admit rate of 4.4%, or in other words only 1 in every 18 students get accepted.
Princeton University Acceptance Scattergram
While admissions into Princeton is difficult, this only means that your application essays have more of an impact.
To have your best shot of getting admitted, it's important you write stand-out essays in response to Princeton's writing supplement.
What are the Princeton Supplemental Prompts for 2023?
This year, Princeton requires applicants to write three short essays and answer three short answer questions. Princeton also requires that you submit a graded academic paper as a part of your application.
The questions on this page are being asked by Princeton University:
Extracurricular Activity and Work Experience
- Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. (Please respond in about 150 words) (1-200 words)
Please respond to each question in an essay of about 250 words.
At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future? (50-350 words)
- Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. (50-350 words)
More About You
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
What is a new skill you would like to learn in college? (1-50 words)
What brings you joy? (1-50 words)
What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment? (1-50 words)
Princeton requires you to submit a graded written paper as part of your application. You may submit this material now or any time before the application deadline. If you choose not to upload the required paper at this time, you may mail, e-mail, or upload your paper through the applicant portal. Detailed instructions for our graded paper requirement can be found here.
Do you wish to submit a graded written paper at this time?
Upload the graded written paper here. (0-2000 words)
Additional Information (Optional)
Please attach a document if you wish to provide details of circumstances or qualifications not reflected in the application. (0-2000 words)
5 Princeton University EssaysThatWorked
Here are 5 of the best Princeton essays that worked, inclunding responses to Princeton's writing supplement.
I've also included some Common App essays written by admitted Princeton students.
Princeton University Essay Example #1
Princeton university essay example #2, princeton university essay example #3, princeton university essay example #4, princeton university essay example #5.
Prompt: Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. (Please respond in about 150 words) (200 words max)
Why This Essay Works:
This essay provides good specifics that elaborate on their extracurricular activity. It is specific where possible, which helps provide context and make more compelling.
What They Might Improve:
This essay touches on the impact of this activity (connection to their religion and friendship), but it could go deeper. The takeaways in this supplement are somewhat surface-level, which is fine to start, but ideally would be expanded upon and more in-depth.
Prompt: Please tell us how you have spent the last two summers (or vacations between school years), including any jobs you have held. (200 words max)
By admitting when things are difficult, you aren't making yourself seem less capable. Instead, showing what is challenging is what admissions wants to see. Challenges are what cause growth and development, so they are important to address.
In several areas of this essay, the author could be more specific to be more engaging. Rather than saying "the research happening in the labs" they could specify what types of research they witnessed. Rather than saying "these experiences were pivotal to my passion for the sciences," they could specify how these experiences gave them a new appreciation and for what areas of science in particular.
Prompt: Tell us about a person who has influenced you in a significant way. (250-650 words)
Last summer I participated in molecular biology research at Boston University. Surrounded by 39 other high school seniors, I perceived with new clarity how an inquisitive, curious mind must interact in an unapologetic manner. Entering lectures about the basics of molecular biology, most of us initially thought we knew a great deal about biology. I quickly realized my naivete, and once I accepted my own ignorance, I settled into a passive absorption mode. The looks on all our faces told the same story. Well, all of ours except Kelsey’s.
Brilliant and inquisitive, Kelsey exhibited no fear raising her hand and boldly asking questions. Even during the portions of the lectures when we were simply reviewing concepts of biology, she never ceased to question the current topic. The first few times she asked questions, I thought she had little background knowledge so she just needed clarification. Yet as the first week progressed, I realized that not only did she have the background information required for this course but also the grit and determination needed for success in research. The levels of her questions stumped our lecturer at times and he responded, “I’ll have to get back to you on that one.”
Often I just wanted to yell, “PUT YOUR HAND DOWN!!!”, as my tolerance for her constant inquiry began to erode while sitting through her questions and their subsequent answers. Due to her deep and thought-provoking questions, she became the class pariah; not necessarily because she was annoying but because of her resolute and indefatigable inquisitiveness. She was insatiable in her pursuit of knowledge, like a ribosome clinging to the endoplasmic reticulum.
Yet as the course progressed, I finally began to notice the value of Kelsey’s questions. She asked questions of importance, questions researchers must ask themselves every day. Her inquiries were thoughts no one else my age seemed to have. The depth and breadth of her ideas fascinated me, especially given that she was only sixteen.
Kelsey’s questions made me realize the importance of questioning preconceived notions.
Subsequently, I became aware of my own willingness to challenge concepts that were accepted and taught as seemingly concrete, and I recognized the danger of blindly absorbing information without disputing it. Seeing the scholarly nature of Kelsey’s intellectual curiosity, I began to emulate her queries during the final few weeks of the program. Not only did I get more out of the lectures, but I also gained the experience necessary to question ideas and facts and search for answers, a vital skill in every academic realm.
As a student with an interest in the sciences, I ask questions that may not have an obvious answer. As someone who strives for knowledge, I am willing to do research if what I am asking has no answer, but I do not simply possess an affinity toward knowledge. I wish to create it. Most young people cite coaches, teachers, or other adults as influential; however, for me, a peer-modeled approach to learning also has merit.
Learn the secrets of successful top-20 college essays
Join 4,000+ students and parents that already receive our 5-minute free newsletter , packed with top-20 essay examples, writing tips & tricks, and step-by-step guides.
Common App Prompt #5: Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others. (250-650 words)
It's important to create a "voice" in your personal statement, so that admissions officers can imagine your character and personality. Try to write as you would speak, but refined and polished. In this essay, natural-sounding phrases like "...let me admit, I was awful..." humanizes the author and makes the reader feel like they're being spoken to.
This essay is a perfect example of how effective essays don't need to have a super unusual story to be compelling. What makes this essay's story compelling is not necessarily the topic itself (meeting distant relatives), but instead how the student reflects and makes interesting connections to broader ideas. Even seemingly mundane experiences can make for meaningful personal statements topics.
This conclusion works well by connecting to the main story of the essay. However, certain phrases like "As a global citizen" and "I am hoping to forge relationships" are potentially too generic. Instead, try taking your main idea (in this case forming connections with others) and broaden it or connect to more universal ideas.
Common App Prompt #1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. (250-650 words)
Having a unifying idea is key to successful personal statements. Find your deepest idea or realization and focus your essay around that.
Find a way to showcase your achievements while connecting to broader, more universal ideas.
Connecting your ending to your beginning is a powerful way to bring your essay full circle. A great conclusion expands on your ideas introduced earlier, while leaving some room for more to be said.
These 5 Princeton essays that worked showcase great examples of responses to the Princeton writing supplement.
What did you think of these Princeton essays?
Ryan Chiang , Founder of EssaysThatWorked
Want to read more amazing essays that worked for top schools?
Hey! 👋 I'm Ryan Chiang, the founder of EssaysThatWorked.
Get our 5-minute free newsletter packed with essay tips and college admissions resources, backed by real-life examples from admitted students at top-20 schools.
Meet the Author
Ryan Chiang
I'm Ryan Chiang and I created EssaysThatWorked - a website dedicated to helping students write college essays they're proud of. We publish the best college admissions essays from successful applicants every year to inspire and teach future students.
You might also like:
6 Brown Essays That Worked + Why Brown Examples
7 University of Pennsylvania EssaysThatWorked
5 Columbia University Supplemental Example Essays (2023)
6 Dartmouth College EssaysThatWorked
What do outstanding essays have in common? Here are our 23 most effective strategies based on lessons from admitted students.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
By signing up you agree to Terms and Privacy Policy
Now available for November 2023 ...
The College Essay Workshop
Join my on-demand step-by-step course for crafting outstanding college admissions essays, plus 1-on-1 help.
Here's everything needed to write essays worthy of Top-20 colleges.
Google Rating
Join our students who have earned acceptances to schools like...
See exactly how students wrote admitted essays for top schools.
Our 231 essay examples show you how ordinary students wrote outstanding essays that helped their applications - all in their own words.
These aren’t just essay examples - but real acceptance stories, from real students who share their most intimate details with you - down to their real essays and exact profiel stats.
How do I find a unique topic? How do I write a great essay? And how do I stand out?
Our 231 essay examples break down these exact questions. Every type of essay prompt, student, and school.
You’ll realize these students are just like you - and that, deep down, you can do it too.
Princeton Admitted Essay
People love to ask why. Why do you wear a turban? Why do you have long hair? Why are you playing a guitar with only 3 strings and watching TV at 3 A.M.—where did you get that cat? Why won’t you go back to your country, you terrorist? My answer is... uncomfortable. Many truths of the world are uncomfortable...
MIT Admitted Essay
Her baking is not confined to an amalgamation of sugar, butter, and flour. It's an outstretched hand, an open invitation, a makeshift bridge thrown across the divides of age and culture. Thanks to Buni, the reason I bake has evolved. What started as stress relief is now a lifeline to my heritage, a language that allows me to communicate with my family in ways my tongue cannot. By rolling dough for saratele and crushing walnuts for cornulete, my baking speaks more fluently to my Romanian heritage than my broken Romanian ever could....
UPenn Admitted Essay
A cow gave birth and I watched. Staring from the window of our stopped car, I experienced two beginnings that day: the small bovine life and my future. Both emerged when I was only 10 years old and cruising along the twisting roads of rural Maryland...
Over 200 more admitted essays like these...
Learn the secrets behind outstanding application essays.
College essays are confusing. And it's not your fault. You're not taught how to write them in school.
How should I structure my essay? Can I use humor? What makes a truly great essay?
There's so much conflicting advice out there.
And with people selling "magic formulas" and "structures" to follow... it's easy to be led astray.
You’ll get access to courses, live events, a dedicated essay coach, and countless resources to help you write your best essays.
You finally have a place where you can ask these questions, get advice, and see exactly how admitted students before you did it.
You’re no longer figuring out everything on your own. You're no longer stuck wondering.
Everything you get
231 essays analyzed
Explore our database of 200+ admitted essays from top-20 colleges. Filter by prompt, school, topic, word count, and more. Get expert insights into why they worked and what you can learn from them.
Exclusive access to essay editing
You'll get access to our essay editing services, which is only offered for members. You can get your essays reviewed personally by me (Ryan). I'll give you detailed feedback on how to improve your essays and make them stand out.
Dedicated essay coach & support
You'll get access to our private community, where you can ask questions and get help from me directly. I'll be there to answer your questions and provide unlimited personalized advice.
44 in-depth video lessons
Learn the secrets behind outstanding essays. We break down the entire process, from brainstorming to writing and editing. You'll learn how to write amazing college essays for any prompt, with step-by-step guides and actionable tips.
26 downloadable guides
Get our best tips and tricks in easy-to-read guides. Learn what makes great essays, how to brainstorm your best topics, and how to write specific parts like a powerful hook and memorable ending.
Tons of bonuses
Get the Ultimate College Application Planner, my 154-Point Essay Checklist, and more. You'll also get a free copy of my eBooks, including 23 College Essay Tips to Stand Out and more.
Don't take our word for it
Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of our students and parents.
" Ryan, I want to express our great appreciation to you for your help on George's application essays. You have provided invaluable resources! P.S. I will certainly recommend you to our friends. "
" Ryan—David got into The University of Michigan!!! Only 4 kids got in out of 200 that applied at his school!!! Thank you so so much for everything "
" Thank you for the incredible help Ryan - both Hannah and I have said repeatedly that we could not have done it without you! "
" Thank you for your help with my essays back in November, including my Yale supplements. Just wanted to let you know I ended up getting into and committing to Yale! "
" I feel so much more reassured to press the submit button now. I wish I knew about your site sooner! "
" ... Invaluable to me during the college admissions process! It gave me a different perspective to look at my essays. "
" Initially I was skeptical about my essay's idea and whether it was properly reflected in my writing. This gave me a clear direction! "
Don't miss out on writing your best college essays.
© 2018- 2023 Essays That Worked . All rights reserved.
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms and Conditions , Privacy Policy , and Cookie Policy .
We have no affiliation with any university or colleges on this site. All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners.
Which program are you applying to?
Accepted Admissions Blog
Everything you need to know to get Accepted
October 12, 2022
Tips for Answering the Princeton University Supplemental Essay Prompts [2022 – 2023]
It will come as no surprise that Princeton University is among the top schools in the nation and is recognized globally for academic excellence. This Ivy League school is renowned as a major research university as well as an outstanding liberal arts college. In addition to the Common Application, Universal College Application or Coalition Application essay, Princeton also requires supplemental writing responses. These additional essays help the admissions committee to understand your particular strengths and potential contributions to the Princeton community comprehensively. Princeton prides itself on the diversity of talents, achievements, perspectives, and interests of its student body. At the same time, it is looking for a freshman class that shares the following qualities: “integrity, a deep interest in learning and a devotion to both academic and non-academic pursuits.” Think about how you can contribute to Princeton as well as how Princeton can support your aspirations.
The best way to begin is by doing your research. Spend time looking over the Princeton website, get to know what current undergraduates are saying about the school, familiarize yourself with the various majors, and imagine yourself there. If possible, visit the campus (virtually), allow yourself to get excited about this opportunity, and make every effort to gain a sense of why Princeton is the ideal academic environment for you!
Get a free consultation: Click here to schedule a call to find out how our admissions experts can help YOU get accepted to Princeton!
Located in a suburban setting, Princeton is primarily a residential campus with a strong liberal arts focus. Its residential college structure, freshman seminars, and preceptorial system support the tight-knit student community. These are hallmarks of an education at Princeton and demonstrate the university’s commitment to student-centered learning within the context of a diverse student body, faculty, and staff.
Remember to allow your writing to express your voice as you address the following Princeton supplemental questions; consider how your responses reveal your intellectual curiosity, passion for learning, and engagement with the world.
Princeton University supplemental application prompts
Princeton university short essay questions.
Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. (Please respond in about 150 words)
It’s very common for students to talk about their experiences in general terms, but you will stand out by telling real stories that will reveal (at least very briefly) not only what you did but what you learned as a result. For example, while earning leadership badges with the Girl Scouts, you could write about how you took on a leadership role by organizing a community tree-planting initiative or mental health awareness program. Explain why that role was meaningful to you. Or you may have needed to take on additional responsibility at a job that required a lot of creativity. If you have played guitar or have been writing poetry for several years, how have these hobbies shaped you? What do these experiences reveal about your character and values?
Please respond to each question in an essay of 250 words or fewer.
1. At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future?
Here, you might want to emphasize two things: how this conversation influenced your thinking (e.g., your long-held beliefs were challenged and opened your eyes to a new perspective); and secondly, how the conversation remained respectful (e.g., you were tempted to raise your voice or walk out but did not). What will you do to ensure that you can continue having hard but respectful exchanges in the future? Finally, be sure to say something about why these hard conversations are nonetheless important– Princeton clearly wants its students to be having them! Read: 7 Simple Steps to Writing an Excellent Diversity Essay
2. Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals.
Think about your involvement thus far in service and civic engagement. What have you done to help others; to serve your country; to volunteer your time? Then , research what Princeton students do to stay civically engaged. Given your background, how would you contribute to those things already in place at Princeton? How might you add to or improve what already exists?
More About You
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
Note: In this section, make sure to include both the “what” and the “why”– for example, “What brings me joy is X because of Y.” Your task is both to describe and to explain, to show logical and articulate thinking.
– What is a new skill you would like to learn in college? – What brings you joy? – What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
Final thoughts on applying to Princeton
Each of these essay prompts ask you to share something personal about yourself, discuss how an experience impacted you, and explain how you make sense of your world . They ask you to articulate your values and provide insight into your thinking process. They want you to reveal how you evaluate information and make decisions. Select the themed essay topic that strikes a cord with you. Make sure to convey your enthusiasm for that subject and for Princeton.
Princeton has a highly competitive and impressive applicant pool. It received tens of thousands of undergraduate applications for the class of 2026. Only 1,500 were offered admission. Add to that average SAT scores above 1500, and average ACT scores around 33, and you get a better sense of the level of competition. However, keep in mind that Princeton is committed to a holistic approach to the admissions process. This means they use your essay responses to round out the picture of you as a prospective student. The supplemental essays are your chance to share valuable information about yourself and differentiate yourself from your peers. In your essays, you can demonstrate that you belong at Princeton!
If you’re applying to Princeton University, you already know you’re up against tight competition. Don’t be overwhelmed. Get the guidance of an experienced admissions specialist who will help you stand out from the highly competitive applicant pool so you can apply with confidence, and get accepted! Click here to get started!
Related Resources:
- 5 Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your College Application Essays , a free guide
- How to Project Professionalism, Positivity, and Confidence in Your Statement of Purpose
- Different Dimensions of Diversity , a podcast episode
About Us Press Room Contact Us Podcast Accepted Blog Privacy Policy Website Terms of Use Disclaimer Client Terms of Service
Accepted 1171 S. Robertson Blvd. #140 Los Angeles CA 90035 +1 (310) 815-9553 © 2022 Accepted
Add Project Key Words
Unpacking the Princeton Supplemental Essays 2022-2023
Padya Paramita
September 12, 2022
Having held that coveted number one spot in the US News Ranking of Best National Universities for the last few years, it should come as no surprise that you need to bring your A-game to get into Princeton University. Obviously, your grades, scores, and extracurricular activities matter a great deal, but don’t underestimate the power of well-written answers to the prompts offered by the Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 .
Take the time to perfect your answers to the Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 so that admissions officers are not only impressed by the quality of your writing but also believe that you’re a strong fit for an institution as selective as Princeton. To help guide you through the Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 , I have outlined each of the prompts, ways to strategize your answers to them, and additional tips for your responses.
Prompts for the Princeton Supplemental Essays 2022-2023
While none of the questions explicitly ask why you want to attend Princeton (because let’s face it, almost everybody wants to attend Princeton), they do help the school gauge your areas of interest, your academic and extracurricular strengths, and the ways through which you’d contribute to the campus community. Let’s take a closer look at each of the Princeton prompts and some strategies to approach them.
Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences that was particularly meaningful to you. (Response required in about 150 words.)
It might be difficult to pick only one of your activities for the Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 , or the right extracurricular might jump out to you immediately. In either case, it’s okay if this activity is not the one that looks most impressive to others. When analyzing your supplemental essays, Princeton wants to know “ what you care about, what commitments you have made and what you’ve done to act on those commitments. ” What’s key here is that you choose the activity which has had the most influence on you, and allowed you to have an impact on others in return. Choose an activity that has helped your growth, developed your career interest, or is the one activity you look forward to the most every week.
The keywords in this prompt are “particularly meaningful.” Remember to address what makes this activity more meaningful to you than the others. Has it helped you hone your leadership skills? Has it catalyzed your motivation to work with others? Is this what you want to do for the rest of your life? 150 words is extremely short, so don’t spend all of your words summarizing the activity. Throw in a short anecdote, or focus on describing ways that this activity stands out over the rest and why it holds that special spot in your life.
For A.B. Degree Applicants or Those Who are Undecided:
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? (Please respond in about 250 words.)
This is the closest the university gets to a “why Princeton” essay. Admissions officers don’t just want to know why you’re applying to Princeton generally; they expect you to go into specific detail about Princeton’s academic offerings. You can talk about multiple interests across the humanities, arts, natural sciences, and social sciences.
Notice that this type of essay should mainly cover academics. Princeton’s clubs and student organizations may make it an alluring place for you, but the question explicitly asks about your choice of study. Look through the college website and think about what you can write that won’t be common in other students’ essays. Is there an English professor whose writing resonates with you? Would a particular psychology or sociology class perfectly fit in with your 10-year plan? Remember that admissions officers are trying to figure out how you’d make the most of your experience on the Princeton campus. So, write elaborately about how you would take advantage of the curriculum and give them a sense of the ways in which you’d make a valuable addition to the classroom.
For B.S.E Degree Applicants:
Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. (Please respond in about 250 words.)
This essay is required if you’ve indicated Bachelor of Science in Engineering as a possible degree on your application, and with good reason. Princeton wants to know whether you are genuinely interested in the field of engineering, and specifically in the Princeton School of Engineering’s offerings. This is a much more standard supplemental essay prompt than the one before. Most engineering programs will require a similar essay, so don’t write a response that could be substituted for an application to any other school. Your answer must be as specific as possible to Princeton’s engineering offerings.
Don’t go overboard with all the reasons you’re interested in studying engineering. Focus on one or two of your most impactful activities and experiences, such as working in an engineering lab over the summer or building a robot at school. Again, you must be specific! Shallow motivations won’t win over Princeton’s admissions officers. If you want to excel with this question, you need to research concrete examples of what appeals to you. For example, you could talk about how working with the Princeton Engineering Education for Kids student organization combines your love for engineering and working with children.
Admissions officers are looking for students who are passionate about their major, involved community leaders, and truly interested in Princeton. This essay is a great chance to show that you check all of the boxes.
Please respond to each question in an essay of about 250 words.
At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future?
Princeton wants to know how students will engage in classroom discussions and conversations during meals and or in hallways. The difficult topic you address isn’t limited to academics—it could be about sports, books, music, movies, television, or politics (although I would tread the latter department carefully). You could have been on the more generally agreed-upon side of a common debate, or you may have held a controversial view. The important part isn’t what happened, so focus instead on the latter parts of the question. Dedicate most of your essay to discussing what insight you gained from the conversation, how you’ve acted since, and how you would bring this knowledge to Princeton.
Be careful while answering this prompt, especially if your viewpoint on the topic can be seen as controversial. With a topic like this, it’s easy to get carried away with your writing, especially if you have a lot of feelings on the matter. You only have 250 words at hand, so remember that your goal here is to talk about why this anecdote stands out to you and how it has shaped you. Allow admissions officers to learn more about you, and make sure you haven’t written anything that can offend or harm any individual or group of people.
Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals.
This prompt is geared towards understanding students' involvement in community engagement and service. If you're passionate about community work and have dedicated yourself to improving your community, this is the place to expand on it. Write about any initiatives or work you have done to positively impact your community, or if you have demonstrated your passion for service and have been recognized for it. For example, if you received a Girl Scout Gold Award, this is the place to include it.
Remember that Princeton is one of the most selective universities in the world. Simply writing about a service trip abroad, or single community service participation won't do. When you write about this topic, think about what you're genuinely passionate about when it comes to community involvement, and how you have conveyed sustained commitment towards it.
More About You
Please respond to each question in 50 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
- What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
- What brings you joy?
- What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
These questions might throw you off a little. After all, how can you figure out what Princeton is even looking for? Don’t panic. You definitely don’t have to come up with responses that you believe are super deep and intellectual. Don’t mention that your favorite song is a jazz or classical piece if you think these sound impressive even though you don't actually like them. As cheesy as it sounds, the question states that you should be yourself. Admissions officers want to get to know you.
You don’t have to force yourself to be extra witty, but if you can come up with fun or clever answers to questions that allow for it, such as, “what brings you joy,” that’s great! But let it come to you naturally. Admissions officers have had years of experience reading answers to questions like these. They know if you’re trying to guess what you think they want to hear. At the same time, think about what other applicants would say. Avoid super common answers so that you can stand out as memorable. Your answers should be unique to you and your tastes.
Additional Tips for Writing the Princeton Supplemental Essays 2022-2023
- Be authentic . Every step in your application should be genuine, including in your answers to the Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023. Don’t write about topics or issues that you believe a Princeton admissions officer might want to see. In fact, those answers might just end up being too cliché and not work against you instead. Admissions officers will appreciate it much more if they can feel organic passion and commitment for the things that you’ve described.
- Don’t repeat your personal statement or your activities list. The goal of the Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 is to provide further information on who you are and what you’re all about. There’s no point in repeating what you’ve said on the rest of your application because admissions officers want each component to add something new. Princeton has even specified on the longer essay prompt that you must not repeat your personal statement. If you can’t follow these instructions, your application is basically on its way to the reject pile. You don’t want to lose before your essays have even been read!
The Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 might throw you off because unless you’re applying to the School of Engineering, you don’t get a chance to elaborate on why you believe Princeton is the right school for you. However, there are ways you can convey to admissions officers that you’re a great fit for the school by bringing out characteristics that the school values and highlighting them in your essays. Don’t underestimate the difference powerful supplements can make. Good luck!
Tags : princeton university , how to get into princeton , applying to princeton , princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023
Schedule a free consultation
to find out how we can help you get accepted.
- College Application
5 Princeton Supplemental Essay Examples for
Are you looking for Princeton supplemental essay examples? You're in the right place. In this blog, we share five different Princeton supplemental essay examples to help you prepare for your own supplemental college essays . Whether you are applying to Princeton itself or another prestigious and highly competitive institution like Brown or Stanford , it is important that you ace your college essays.
Most of the top colleges have a holistic admissions process, which is why they often require supplemental college essays in addition to your personal statement. These essays tell them a bit more about the person behind the grades and extracurriculars. It also allows them to evaluate your writing skills and get a sense of your personality. All of these things can significantly affect their decision to offer you admission, put you on the waitlist or reject your application altogether.
Reviewing different college essay examples is a great way to learn how to write a college essay because it teaches you how to tackle different types of prompts and gives you a better idea of what is expected from your essay. So, without much further ado, let's take a look at a few outstanding Princeton supplemental essays.
>> Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here . <<
Article Contents 9 min read
Princeton supplemental essay example # 1.
Prompt: As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, Princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. What academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at Princeton suit your particular interests? - 250 words.
My record for solving the New York Times crossword puzzle is 12 minutes 45 seconds. That was three years ago, and I am still trying to beat it.
I have always loved puzzles. The kind of puzzle doesn't matter much to me - whether it is a jigsaw puzzle, a rubrics cube, a crossword puzzle, or a mathematical equation. I simply enjoy having something in front of me that requires solving, and once I pick it up, I can't put it down until I solve it.
I believe that this love for solving problems is what got me interested in maths in the first place. I find it fascinating that we can use maths equations to understand complex concepts like time and space and solve problems in various areas like engineering and economics.
I have been intrigued by mathematics since my first algebra class in middle school because it is the key to figuring out some of the world's most complex puzzles. I have participated in summer programs for high school students where the focus was on applied mathematics and enrolled in an introduction to applied Maths course at my local community college in order to build a strong foundation.
I am excited to learn about all the different ways we can use maths to solve puzzles in various disciplines, and I believe that the flexible and interdisciplinary nature of the maths program at Princeton would allow me to explore this interest in a way that no other school can. (250 words)
Prompt: Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. - 250 words.
"Which NASA are you talking about?" I asked my Princeton tour guide while struggling to pick my jaw back up from the floor.
She chuckled and asked me which NASA I thought she meant.
This exchange occurred last summer when I visited Princeton's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering labs. I was excited to learn that students from the Princeton Rocketry Club had been instrumental in designing tools for the space program. I couldn't believe that undergraduate students were getting to contribute to the exploration of space.
While I was excited to hear about this, I was definitely not surprised. One of the many reasons I am interested in pursuing my aerospace engineering degree at Princeton is that the program gives students a chance to explore, research, develop and invent independently.
I have been working on a solar sailplane glider since last summer, and I am confident that with the knowledge and guidance that I will receive from the great minds at Princeton, I can use my senior year independent project to develop this project further. My aim is to improve the functionality of solar-powered airplanes, and I know that no other school can give the tools and facilities to do that.
Lastly, I truly appreciate the fact that Andrea Goldsmith, the current dean of the school of engineering and applied sciences, is not only a brilliant mind but a woman who understands what it is like to be a woman in STEM. (241 words)
Take the time to research! In order to write a strong essay in response to this prompt, you will need to research Princeton's engineering school and the specific engineering programs so that you can provide specific details. The admissions committee wants to know why you are applying to Princeton's engineering program, and general reasons like \"it's a highly ranked program\" are not going to cut it. ","label":"Tip","title":"Tip"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">
Prompt: Briefly elaborate on an activity, organization, work experience, or hobby that has been particularly meaningful to you. - 150 words.
When I first saw the flyer for community garden volunteers, I was confused. I didn't know we had a community garden, and more importantly, I didn't understand what a community garden was. That said, I had been looking for ways to get involved in my community, and I was intrigued.
Two years later, I am one of the program's coordinators. I have gotten to work alongside people I might have never met otherwise, and they have taught me about giving back, gardening, and more. One of my favorite volunteers, Marjorie, an older lady with pink streaks in her greying hair who loves to tell me stories about the sixties, has even taught me how to cook the best collard greens I have ever had.
I now understand that the community garden is there to grow food for the neighborhood and unite us by giving us a common goal. (148 words).
Princeton supplemental essay example # 4
Prompt: At Princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. Share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. What insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future? -250 words.
I joined the Youth Collaboration Program at the end of my junior year of high school. It is a program that students from different schools in the city can apply for, and a select few are chosen to represent youth interests within the local government. I wanted to participate in the program to gain insight into the inner workings of local government and get practical experience.
What I did not realize is that this program is a collaborative enterprise and melting pot of ideologies, faiths, ethnic backgrounds, and socio-economic classes. Although I learned a lot from the program, I learned even more from the other students who participated in the program. We all shared our experiences with the representatives and each other. I particularly remember David talking about his cousin's body being stuffed into the trunk of a car after a gang killed him.
Prompt: Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. – 250 words.
I started listening to French music a few years ago when I learned that it could help improve my vocabulary. That is how I came across a song called "Lettre à la Maison Blanche," in which the singer essentially begs the white house and the United Nations to help with the situation in Rwanda. The song was so touching that I googled the singer and found out it had been written about the Rwandese genocide.
This led me to read about Rwanda and the fantastic progress that it has made as a nation since the end of the genocide. I was especially impressed by the country's efforts to conserve wildlife in the Nyungwe forest, which is one of the world's most biodiverse areas. As a volunteer for the Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS), I was able to spend last summer in Rwanda helping with WCS' education and outreach initiative.
It was one of the most enriching experiences that I have ever had. Not only because I am passionate about climate change but also because I got to travel, discover new cultures, and practice my French. This experience motivated me anew to keep working towards sustainability.
I would love to join the efforts of the students who run the many sustainability programs at Princeton. I am especially interested in the Princeton Environmental Activism Coalition (PEAC) and the Princeton Conservation Society, as I believe that my experiences with the WCS have given me the tools I need to be an asset to those teams. (250 words)
The Princeton supplement requires students to provide some additional information about themselves. Students are required to answer the three questions below in 50 words or less. We recommend using as many of those 50 words as possible. You’re given space for 50 words for a response that could easily be one or two words, so take advantage of that space.
Since these are not typical essay questions, you can play around with the format a little bit ( like in the example below) and get creative. Your responses to these questions should be honest but written with the audience in mind. Remember that the aim is to stand out and tell the admissions committee who you are. So stay away from generic answers, showcase your personality and highlight your strengths.
We recommend reaching out to a college essay review service if you have doubts about your answers or are unsure how to use these questions to showcase your strengths.
Now, here are a few examples to give you a better idea of how to tackle these short answer questions:
What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
I started writing my bucket list on my 16th birthday, and one of the items on my list is to learn how to speak at least five languages. I speak English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. While in college, I'd like to learn Italian too. (43 words)
What brings you joy?
I derive joy from many things, including but not limited to the following:
· The smell of new books
· Warm chai lattes
· Color-coordinated closets
· Extended metaphors in rap music
· That eureka moment when you solve a puzzle
· Gilmore Girl re-reruns
· Dancing toddlers
· Musical sing-alongs ( especially Les Misérables)
· Funny puns
Writing college essays is not easy, and the Princeton supplemental essays can be especially challenging. It is important that you give yourself enough time to research and plan before you start putting pen to paper for these essays. There is no golden template for college essays. The key is ensuring that your essay tells a story and teaches the admissions committee about you. This is especially important if you are trying to get into college with a low GPA.
Make sure you use specific examples from your background and experiences and include detailed information about the school to show the admissions committee that you are interested in this school in particular, not just any highly ranked institution.
If you want your Princeton supplemental essays to be as impactful as possible, you should consider investing in college admissions consulting so that you can benefit from the services of a college essay advisor. They can guide you through the brainstorming, researching, writing, and editing process to ensure you submit compelling essays that will stand out and help you beat the competition, even if you don't have perfect stats.
Getting into Princeton requires a very strong application. Last year, the school had an acceptance rate of 4.3%, meaning that for every 100 applications received, only about four students were offered admission. So it is fair to say that getting into Princeton is no easy feat.
In addition to the Common App essay , Princeton requires undergraduate applicants to submit four supplemental college essays, one graded written paper, and answer three short questions.
You can make your Princeton supplemental essay stand out by having a strong introduction, including specific details about the school's programs or majors, and showing instead of telling. If you're not sure how to do this naturally in your essay, we recommend reaching out to a college essay advisor for assistance.
You do not need one, but we recommend working with one if you want to maximize your chances of writing the best essay possible. As admission professionals, essay advisors can provide insight that the untrained eye can't.
Princeton no longer requires applicants to submit the optional writing section of the SAT or ACT. Instead, it asks applicants to submit a one or two-page paper, essay, research paper, or essay exam from one of their academic courses that a teacher graded.
To be a competitive applicant for Princeton, you need a GPA of 3.9, as that is the current entering class' average.
Your Princeton supplemental essays are an integral part of your application. There are students with perfect stats who do not get in because of poorly written essays, so do not underestimate their importance.
Want more free tips? Subscribe to our channels for more free and useful content!
Apple Podcasts
Like our blog? Write for us ! >>
Have a question ask our admissions experts below and we'll answer your questions, get started now.
Talk to one of our admissions experts
Our site uses cookies. By using our website, you agree with our cookie policy .
FREE Training Webinar:
How to make your college applications stand out, (and avoid the top 5 mistakes that get most rejected).
Time Sensitive. Limited Spots Available:
We guarantee you'll get into your dream college or university or you don't pay.
Swipe up to see a great offer!
Princeton University 2020-21 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide
Regular Decision:
The Requirements: 1 essay of 200 words, 2 essays of 350 words, 3 short responses
Supplemental Essay Type(s): Community , Activity , Why , Oddball
Princeton University 2020-21 Application Essay Questions Explanation
This is Princeton, the Number One university in the nation. Maybe you’ve heard of it? JK, we can smell the sweat on your palms from here. So first, take a breath. The Princeton supplement is extremely straightforward (perhaps too straightforward?) and your greatest challenge will be to refrain from overthinking it. Don’t intimidate yourself with visions of what you think admissions officers want to see on an application. Self-aggrandizing or downright false stories aren’t going to win anyone over. It’s the unique, specific details that only you can share that will set you apart and seal you in an admissions officer’s memory. Take this as your mantra: be yourself!
For quick reference, below are the short answer and essay questions included in the Princeton Supplement for 2020-21.
Activities: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences that was particularly meaningful to you. (Response required in about 200 words.)
Take one second to indulge that impulse you’re feeling — to scour your resume for the most impressive-sounding activity. Then, crumple up your resume and think honestly about the activities you look forward to. What would your life be mundane without? Elaborate on an activity, experience, or relationship that you are super passionate about or that is unusual for someone of your age. Your response should reflect your priorities and how you process the world around you. Do you do civil war reenactments on the weekend that charge your love for history? Do you take care of stray pets that one day you hope to save through veterinary work? Do your weekly visits with grandma have you declaring a gerontology major? Use your experiences to tell Admissions something about yourself that they wouldn’t already know. What gives your life meaning? Why do you wake up in the morning?
For A.B Degree Applicants or Those Who are Undecided:
As a research institution that also prides itself on its liberal arts curriculum, princeton allows students to explore areas across the humanities and the arts, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. what academic areas most pique your curiosity, and how do the programs offered at princeton suit your particular interests (please respond in about 350 words) .
To ace this question, you’ll need to articulate for admissions why a well-rounded liberal arts education is important to you. Do you think Princeton’s liberal arts curriculum will allow you to build upon your communication and problem solving skills, preparing you for a career in civil service? Maybe you think it will help you be more marketable once you enter the working world, preparing you to work in a variety of fields (which is especially helpful if you’re undecided). What classes are you dying to take? Which academic programs call to you and why? Demonstrate your interest in Princeton’s academic offerings (and liberal arts curriculum, for brownie points) and admissions is bound to be impressed!
For B.S.E Degree Applicants:
Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at princeton. include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the university suit your particular interests. (please respond in about 350 words).
You can get an engineering degree at thousands of schools across the country, so why are you so keen to study engineering at Princeton specifically? Remember that this isn’t set in stone, so don’t stress over your vision; just show that you’ve done your research. Maybe your sister regaled you with stories about her experience studying engineering at Princeton, and you knew you wanted the same experience for yourself. Maybe there is an alum who is doing what you aspire to do, and you want to follow in their footsteps! Does Princeton have a specific program that many other schools do not offer? Whatever it is that draws you to Princeton’s engineering program, make sure that, after reading your essay, admissions has a clear understanding of your interest and goals.
Please respond to each question in an essay of about 350 words.
1.) at princeton, we value diverse perspectives and the ability to have respectful dialogue about difficult issues. share a time when you had a conversation with a person or a group of people about a difficult topic. what insight did you gain, and how would you incorporate that knowledge into your thinking in the future.
Engaging others in meaningful conversations about important issues can be incredibly intimidating and challenging; the Princeton admissions department knows this. That is, in part, why they are curious to learn about your experiences engaging with others on issues near to your heart. So, think back to identify a time when you had a conversation with friends, family, or even mere acquaintances about a difficult topic. Maybe you engaged your grandparents in a conversation regarding racial income inequality. Were you able to clearly communicate your perspective? If you were to engage them in the conversation again, what would you do or say differently? You don’t need to have changed someone’s mind to impress admissions here. You just need to show that you’re not afraid to speak up about important issues and engage with those who may have different opinions than your own. College will present you with a plethora of opportunities to meet and engage with people who are very different from you. Show Princeton that you’re game to learn, listen, share, and grow.
2.) Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals.
Princeton wants to welcome motivated, socially aware students to campus next fall, so tell admissions about a time when you gave back to your community in a meaningful way. (Hint: your community can be as small as your neighborhood and as large as the entire world, or even universe!) Maybe you’ve volunteered at your church’s food pantry every other weekend since you were a middle schooler, or canvassed for political candidates that you believe will generate positive change for generations to come. Whatever your examples may be, don’t be afraid to touch on what those experiences meant to you (after all, you do have 350 words to work with!). And bonus points if you can connect your past service to what you hope to do in the future.
More About You
Please respond to each question in 75 words or fewer. there are no right or wrong answers. be yourself, what is a new skill you would like to learn in college, what brings you joy , what song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment.
Do not, we repeat, do not overthink your responses to these questions. Admissions even goes so far as to say that there are no right or wrong answers. So, go with your gut. Maybe, in college, you’re hoping to learn how to speed read, or play frisbee, or even ride a bike! Perhaps you want to tell admissions about the look on your sister’s face everytime you agree to play dress-up with her (what brings you joy?). As for the song, we’d recommend keeping it clean, but other than that, let your freak flag fly. Are you currently listening to “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus on repeat? Or maybe “Ooh La La” by The Faces really resonates with you as you’re growing up and learning life’s tough lessons. Whatever it may be, be true to yourself and you’ll ace these short answers.
About CEA HQ
View all posts by CEA HQ »
We're waiting for your call!
Contact us for information on rates and more!
- I am a * Student Parent Potential Partner School Counselor Private College Counselor
- Name * First Last
- Phone Type Mobile Landline
- Street Address
- Address City State / Province / Region Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of the Cook Islands Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Czechia Côte d'Ivoire Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Macedonia Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine, State of Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Réunion Saint Barthélemy Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Sweden Switzerland Syria Arab Republic Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania, the United Republic of Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Türkiye US Minor Outlying Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Viet Nam Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Åland Islands Country
- Which best describes you (or your child)? High school senior High school junior College student College grad Other
- How did you find CEA? Internet Search New York Times Guidance counselor/school Social Media YouTube Friend Special Event Delehey College Consulting Other
- Common App and Coalition Essays
- Supplemental Essays
- University of California Essays
- University of Texas Essays
- Resume Review
- Post-Grad Essays
- Specialized Services
- Waitlist Letters
- Private School Essays
- General College Counseling
- School list with priorities noted:
- Anything else we should know?
- Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
- Agnes Scott College
- Alvernia University
- American University
- Amherst College
- Babson College
- Bard College
- Barnard College
- Baylor University
- Bennington College
- Bentley University
- Berry College
- Bethany College
- Bishop’s University
- Boston College
- Boston University (BU)
- Bowdoin College
- Brandeis University
- Brown University
- Bryn Mawr College
- Bucknell University
- Butler University
- California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
- California Lutheran University
- Capitol Technology University
- Carleton College
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Catawba College
- Centre College
- Chapman University
- Claremont McKenna College
- Clark University
- College of Mount Saint Vincent
- College of William and Mary
- College of Wooster
- Colorado College
- Colorado School of Mines
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Culver-Stockton College
- D'Youville University
- Dartmouth College
- Davidson College
- Drexel University
- Duke University
- Earlham College
- Elon University
- Emerson College
- Emory University
- Flagler College
- Fordham University
- George Mason University
- Georgetown University
- Georgia State University
- Georgia Tech
- Gonzaga University
- Harvard University
- Harvey Mudd College
- Haverford College
- Hillsdale College
- Hofstra University
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- Illinois Wesleyan University
- Indiana University Bloomington
- Ithaca College
- Johns Hopkins University
- Kalamazoo College
- Lafayette College
- Lehigh University
- Lewis and Clark College
- Linfield University
- Loyola Marymount University (LMU)
- Lynn University
- Macalester College
- Malone University
- Manchester University
- Marist College
- Mary Baldwin University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Meredith College
- Monmouth College
- Moravian University
- Morehouse College
- Mount Holyoke College
- New York University (NYU)
- North Park University
- Northwestern University
- Occidental College
- Oklahoma City University
- Olin College of Engineering
- Pepperdine University
- Pitzer College
- Pomona College
- Princeton University
- Providence College
- Purdue University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Rice University
- Saint Elizabeth University
- Santa Clara University
- Sarah Lawrence College
- Scripps College
- Seattle Pacific University
- Smith College
- Soka University of America
- Southern Methodist University
- St. John’s College
- Stanford University
- Stonehill College
- Swarthmore College
- Syracuse University
- Texas A&M University
- Texas Christian University
- The College of Idaho
- The George Washington University
- The New School
- Trinity College
- Tufts University
- Tulane University
- University of California
- University of Central Florida (UCF)
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati
- University of Colorado Boulder
- University of Florida
- University of Georgia
- University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- University of Maryland
- University of Massachusetts Amherst
- University of Miami
- University of Michigan
- University of Minnesota
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Oklahoma
- University of Oregon
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- University of Richmond
- University of San Diego
- University of San Francisco
- University of Southern California (USC)
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Tulsa
- University of Vermont
- University of Virginia (UVA)
- University of Washington
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Vanderbilt University
- Vassar College
- Villanova University
- Virginia Tech
- Wake Forest University
- Washington and Lee University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Wellesley College
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
- Yale University
Want free stuff?
We thought so. Sign up for free instructional videos, guides, worksheets and more!
One-On-One Advising
Common App Essay Prompt Guide
Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide
- YouTube Tutorials
- Our Approach & Team
- Undergraduate Testimonials
- Postgraduate Testimonials
- Where Our Students Get In
- CEA Gives Back
- Undergraduate Admissions
- Graduate Admissions
- Private School Admissions
- International Student Admissions
- Common App Essay Guide
- Supplemental Essay Guides
- Coalition App Guide
- The CEA Podcast
- Admissions Stats
- Notification Trackers
- Deadline Databases
- College Essay Examples
- Academy and Worksheets
- Waitlist Guides
- Get Started
Highly-selective colleges and universities often require supplemental application materials. These materials help further personalize the admissions process so that each college’s admissions committee has the information it needs to select a vibrant and diverse incoming class.
In this article, we will look at 10 supplemental essay prompts from top colleges and universities for the 2022-23 admissions cycle. Once you get a better sense of what to expect from a supplemental essay prompt, we will outline key strategies for answering these prompts, as well as provide practical writing tips to help you get started.
Complimentary Initial Consultation
Fill out this form to book your complimentary initial consultation..
Tell us your name.
What are supplemental essays and are they important?
Each college has its own sets of values and criteria that it looks for in applicants. This is why determining college fit is so important. By carefully researching each school on your college list and having several clear and compelling reasons for wanting to attend, you will increase your overall chances of admission.
One way that colleges gauge whether or not a student would be a good fit for their university is by posing unique supplemental essay prompts. This is why knowing how to write a supplemental essay is so important. Most colleges with supplemental essays will have applicants write the “why this college” essay .
Many selective colleges will require additional supplemental essays as well. In some cases, you will need to prepare an additional five essays per school, so give yourself plenty of time to complete each essay thoughtfully, write multiple drafts, seek out feedback, and proofread. The college application process can feel overwhelming at times, so make sure you brainstorm ways to stay organized during the college application process .
Although the style and content of the actual prompts can vary greatly, at the core these prompts have one thing in common: They are designed to get to know who you are as a person, what your values are, and whether you demonstrate compatibility with the university’s overall mission.
How to write supplemental essays
If you’re looking for supplemental essay tips, you’ve come to the right place! In this section, we will discuss how to write a good supplemental essay, by providing several key application essay tips.
To start, it’s important to remember that the process of writing supplemental essays is similar to the process of writing a successful personal statement . Review components of a strong personal statement to give yourself a fresh perspective before beginning your supplemental essays.
Tips for writing supplemental essays
Supplemental essays are typically pretty brief. This is why it’s important to learn how to write concisely and powerfully. Having very few words to respond does not mean that you should prepare your responses casually or that your responses shouldn’t include lots of details. Rather, approach each word limit creatively. Whether you have 50 words, 200 words, or 500 words, try to use each sentence and detail to your advantage. One of the best ways to do this is to begin by freewriting. Write down everything that comes to mind. Take time to fully flush out your ideas. Then review what you’ve written and see what feels most important. These are the details you will want to highlight in your response.
Some colleges will require three to five additional essays. Maybe even more! This is why it’s important to be prepared and plan ahead. Supplemental essays are an important part of your college application and they require a lot of time and effort. While some supplemental essay prompts may be similar between schools, in general, you want to avoid recycling your college essays. Admissions officers can tell when a student is tweaking an existing essay to fit a prompt.
While some essay prompts are required, others are optional. In general, try to answer each prompt thoughtfully and creatively. After all, it’s no secret that college admissions are highly competitive so it’s great to give your application “an edge” whenever possible. That said, there are times when you should pass on writing an optional essay. If you’re not sure whether or not you should submit an essay for an optional prompt, begin by drafting a response. Then ask yourself if the essay feels forced or genuine. Does the essay convey something new about you that isn’t included in the rest of your application? If the question doesn’t seem to apply to you and you are genuinely unsure what to contribute, you should probably skip that particular essay. After all, no one wants to read an uninspired essay that doesn’t contribute to your overall application.
2022-23 supplemental essay prompts
As mentioned, supplemental essay prompts can vary significantly. Some prompts ask you to respond in 50 words while other prompts ask you to respond in 500 words. Some prompts focus on academics while others ask you to reflect carefully on your cultural upbringing or life philosophies. Still, other prompts will ask you to introduce who you are as a person or discuss something that you enjoy.
Just as supplemental essay prompts vary in style, your responses will also vary. Some prompts will require you to be thoughtful and serious, while other prompts may encourage you to be humorous or creative. It all depends.
Brown University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Brown University requires three supplemental essays. One of the supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
Brown’s culture fosters a community in which students challenge the ideas of others and have their ideas challenged in return, promoting a deeper and clearer understanding of the complex issues confronting society. This active engagement in dialogue is as present outside the classroom as it is in academic spaces. Tell us about a time you were challenged by a perspective that differed from your own. How did you respond? (200-250 words)
Columbia University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Columbia University requires the following supplemental materials: 1 list of 75 words, 1 list of 125 words, 3 essays of 200 words each, and 1 short answer of 35 words. One of their supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
For the following questions, we ask that you list each individual response using commas or semicolons; the items do not have to be numbered or in any specific order. No explanatory text or formatting is needed. (For example, it is not necessary to italicize or underline titles of books or other publications. No author names, subtitles or explanatory remarks are needed.)
List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school. (75 words or fewer)
Meet with our college admissions experts
Dartmouth college supplemental essay prompt.
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Dartmouth College requires three supplemental essays. One of the supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
“Be yourself,” Oscar Wilde advised. “Everyone else is taken.” Introduce yourself in 200-250 words.
Duke University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Duke University requires at least one supplemental essay, with the option to submit an additional two supplemental essays. One of the optional supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good?
Emory University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Emory University requires two supplemental essays. One of the supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
Emory If you could witness a historic event (past, present or future) first-hand, what would it be, and why?
Harvard University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Harvard University requires three supplemental essays. One of the supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (50-150 words)
MIT supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, MIT requires five supplemental essays. One of the supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
We know you lead a busy life, full of activities, many of which are required of you. Tell us about something you do simply for the pleasure of it.
Princeton University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Princeton University requires three supplemental essays and three short responses. One of the short-answer prompts is as follows:
Please respond to each question in 75 words or fewer. There are no right or wrong answers. Be yourself!
What is a new skill you would like to learn in college?
What brings you joy?
What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?
Stanford University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Stanford University requires three supplemental essays and five short answer responses. One of the short-answer prompts is as follows:
How did you spend your last two summers? (50-word limit)
UPenn supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, UPenn requires three supplemental essays. One of the supplemental essay prompts is as follows:
Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!) (150-200 words)
Yale University supplemental essay prompt
As a part of the 2022-23 college applications, Yale University requires the following supplemental materials: 1 list; 6 short answer questions; 1 additional short essay of 400 words. One of the short answer prompts is as follows:
Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What would you ask them to discuss? (200 characters or fewer)
Supplemental essay examples
One of the best ways to prepare your supplemental essay responses is to look at successful past examples. In this section, we will look at three examples and explain why each response is successful.
This first example was submitted as a part of Harvard’s college application. This essay is in response to the prompt: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (50-150 words).
Feet moving, eyes up, every shot back, chants the silent mantra in my head. The ball becomes a beacon of neon green as I dart forward and backward, shuffling from corner to far corner of the court, determined not to let a single point escape me. With bated breath, I swing my racquet upwards and outwards and it catches the ball just in time to propel it, spinning, over the net. My heart soars as my grinning teammates cheer from the sidelines. While I greatly value the endurance, tenacity, and persistence that I have developed while playing tennis throughout the last four years, I will always most cherish the bonds that I have created and maintained each year with my team.
This essay uses rich, descriptive language to evoke a clear sense of movement and place. The first paragraph shows a creative and expert control of language, whereas the second paragraph uses straightforward language to highlight key characteristics. Overall, this response is creative, well-balanced, and uses each word to its advantage.
Source: https://www.collegeadvisor.com/essay-guides/harvard-university-essay-examples-and-why-they-worked/
This essay was submitted as a part of an MIT college application. The supplemental essay prompt that it addresses is: Describe the world you come from; for example, your family, clubs, school, community, city, or town. How has that world shaped your dreams and aspirations?
We were moving away from my home of thirteen years to go miles and miles away, from my whole life. Worst of all: away from New York City – the only place in the world worth knowing – or so I thought. The town might as well have been called “Miniscule Ville”. I resented every second of it. The real shocking thing to me was almost that anything existed outside of New York City. NYC is a world of its own, with its own pulses and lifeblood. I still think it’s a great place, and I’ll likely at least visit it someday, but right now, I want to visit everywhere. My move humbled me. I began to love nature walks, the friendly camaraderie of the small town, and saw a world I never imagined. I thought I knew it all just because I lived in New York. Here was a great place, hidden from view. I loved experiencing that new world, learning local history, and most of all, learning the life stories of my new neighbors, each one of whom had a fascinating life. My greatest dream is to be a journalist, covering other countries, and learning about new worlds and neighbors. My old perspective feels so limited. If I can share global stories, I can open up my perspective, and I can share those stories with a thousand homes so readers can learn about other perspectives as well. The world is full of different lives. Everywhere is somebody’s home.
This essay covers a lot of material; most impressively, it shows a shift in perspective and its effect on the student’s lived experience. It also clearly explains the student’s academic and professional goals. The tone of this essay is both confident and humble. It demonstrates who this student is as a person, what their goals are, and what they value.
Source: https://bemoacademicconsulting.com/blog/mit-supplemental-essay-examples
This essay was submitted as a part of a Duke college application. The essay addresses the prompt: What has been your best academic experience in the last two years, and what made it so good?
Most teachers who taught me talked a big game about wanting students to engage in debate, or “dialectic” as they called it, and to challenge their ideas. In my experience, most of this was a fabrication. The best essay grades and participation marks were found through parroting what was dictated from on high. Did the teacher think such-and-such is the “correct” interpretation of a novel? You did, too, or you lost points. None of that was true for Ms. Jackie Winters. The first essay I sent her came back with the note, “This doesn’t sound like you; it sounds like me.” I asked her about the note, and this initiated a marvelous learning environment, in which I grew faster than I ever have in any other class. Discussions were lively, and the more I presented my authentic views, the more I was respected. My grades were dependent on being backed up by rhetoric, sources, and logic, not by compliance. Due to this engagement, this was the most enjoyable English literature class I had, and I feel like my viewpoints were challenged. I learned to question my ideas and dig into a text for the best results. Best of all, I was putting in more and more effort to find good, quality sources to back up my arguments. I was held to a high standard and shown respect, and I believe that those qualities made for the best learning environment possible
This essay clearly shows a shift in perspective and the effects it had on this student’s ability to think, speak, and write critically. Structurally, this essay uses an anecdote to introduce and contextualize a topic, but the essay itself isn’t overly narrative. Rather, the student explains, in detail, how this teacher’s encouragement and guidance have influenced their willingness and ability to engage with the source material and academic discourse.
Source: https://bemoacademicconsulting.com/blog/duke-supplemental-essay-examples
Key takeaways and moving forward
Supplemental essays are an important part of your college applications. In fact, they are a key factor in what college admissions officers look for in an applicant . Highly-selective colleges and universities use supplemental essays to further personalize the college admissions process. After all, thousands of qualified students apply to Ivy League institutions each year and only a small fraction are admitted. Supplemental essays allow you to share more about who you are as a person and as a student. Use each prompt as an opportunity to add something new to your college application. If you feel like you could benefit from professional guidance throughout this process, reach out to learn more about our services .
Frequently asked questions and answers
Still have questions about supplemental essays and the effects they have on college applications? Review the following frequently asked questions and answers for further insight on supplemental essays.
How important are supplemental essays?
Supplemental essays are an incredibly important part of your college applications and should be properly prioritized. If a college didn’t care about your response, they wouldn’t ask you in the first place. Put plenty of time and care into your responses. Write several drafts, seek out feedback, and always proofread.
How long should supplemental essays be?
Always follow directions. Colleges will specify how long each supplemental essay should be, usually right after the prompt itself. Depending on the college, and the prompt, a supplemental essay’s word count may range anywhere from 50 to 500 words.
Do supplemental essays change every year?
It all depends on the college. Colleges often reuse past prompts, but there are no guarantees. This is why it’s important to plan ahead and make a list of supplemental essay prompts early on in the college application process.
Are supplemental essays required?
Sometimes colleges will have both required and optional supplemental essays. That said, the essay prompts are clearly labeled. In short, each college will specify whether supplemental essays are required.
Do all colleges have supplemental essays?
No, not all colleges have supplemental essays. Highly-selective colleges, however, often require at least one additional essay.
- December 14, 2022
Supplemental Essay Guide for 2022-23 Prompts
Contact a Prepory college admissions coach and start your college admissions journey.
Our college admissions experts are here to guide you from where you are to where you should be. Through our comprehensive curriculum, individualized coaching, and online workshops, you are set for success as soon as you connect with us.
During our initial consultation, we will:
- Assess your student’s applicant profile and higher education goals
- Provide detailed information about our services and programming
- Share tips on how to navigate the U.S. college admissions process
Let's get started!
Land your next great job with a Prepory career coach!
Let us help you advance your career, Identify new opportunities, participate in mock interviews, build, thrive, grow, and land your dream job.
Subscribe to our blog!
Follow us on social media
Want to get admitted to your dream school or accelerate your career?
College Admissions
Career coaching.
(929) 244-3365 [email protected] 12555 Orange Drive, Suite 100A, Davie, FL 33330
Copyright © 2023 Prepory Coaching Group LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Ready to take the next step towards college admissions or career success?
Book your free consultation.
Nice to meet you! What's your email?
And your phone number?
Please select a consultation time.
Karl Marx Works 1844
Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 [1]
Written: Between April and August 1844; First Published: 1932; Source: Marx. Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844; Publisher: Progress Publishers, Moscow 1959; Translated: by Martin Milligan; Transcribed: for marxists.org by Andy Blunden in 2000; Proofed: and corrected by Matthew Carmody 2009; See alternate translation .
See also PDF version in one file .
First Manuscript
Wages of Labour Profit of Capital
1. Capital 2. The Profit of Capital 3. The Rule of Capital Over Labour and the Motives of the Capitalist 4. The Accumulation of Capitals and the Competition Among the Capitalists
Rent of Land Estranged Labour
Second Manuscript
Antithesis of Capital and Labour. Landed Property and Capital
Third Manuscript
Private Property and Labour Private Property and Communism Human Needs & Division of Labour Under the Rule of Private Property The Power Of Money Critique of the Hegelian Dialectic and Philosophy as a Whole
Hegel’s Construction of The Phenomenology , November 1844 Plan for a Work on The Modern State , November 1844
||XXXIX| I have already announced in the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher the critique of jurisprudence and political science in the form of a critique of the Hegelian philosophy of law . While preparing it for publication, the intermingling of criticism directed only against speculation with criticism of the various subjects themselves proved utterly unsuitable, hampering the development of the argument and rendering comprehension difficult. Moreover, the wealth and diversity of the subjects to be treated could have been compressed into one work only in a purely aphoristic style; whilst an aphoristic presentation of this kind, for its part, would have given the impression of arbitrary systematism. I shall therefore publish the critique of law, ethics, politics, etc., in a series of distinct, independent pamphlets, and afterwards try in a special work to present them again as a connected whole showing the interrelationship of the separate parts, and lastly attempt a critique of the speculative elaboration of that material. For this reason it will be found that the interconnection between political economy and the state, law, ethics, civil life, etc., is touched upon in the present work only to the extent to which political economy itself expressly touches upon these subjects.
It is hardly necessary to assure the reader conversant with political economy that my results have been attained by means of a wholly empirical analysis based on a conscientious critical study of political economy.
(Whereas the uninformed reviewer who tries to hide his complete ignorance and intellectual poverty by hurling the “ utopian phrase ” at the positive critic’s head, or again such phrases as “quite pure, quite resolute, quite critical criticism,” the “not merely legal but social – utterly social – society,” the “compact, massy mass,” the “outspoken spokesmen of the massy mass,” [2] this reviewer has yet to furnish the first proof that besides his theological family affairs he has anything to contribute to a discussion of worldly matters.)
It goes without saying that besides the French and English socialists I have also used German socialist works. The only original German works of substance in this science, however – other than Weitling’s writings – are the essays by Hess published in Einundzwanzig Bogen [3] and Umrisse zu einer Kritik der Nationalökonomie by Engels in the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, where also the basic elements of this work have been indicated by me in a very general way.
(Besides being indebted to these authors who have given critical attention to political economy, positive criticism as a whole – and therefore also German positive criticism of political economy – owes its true foundation to the discoveries of Feuerbach , against whose Philosophie der Zukunft and Thesen zur Reform der Philosophie in the Anekdota, despite the tacit use that is made of them, the petty envy of some and the veritable wrath of others seem to have instigated a regular conspiracy of silence.
It is only with Feuerbach that positive, humanistic and naturalistic criticism begins. The less noise they make, the more certain, profound, extensive, and enduring is the effect of Feuerbach’s writings, the only writings since Hegel’s Phänomenologie and Logik to contain a real theoretical revolution.
In contrast to the critical theologians of our day, I have deemed the concluding chapter of this work – a critical discussion of Hegelian dialectic and philosophy as a whole to be absolutely necessary, a task not yet performed. This lack of thoroughness is not accidental, since even the critical theologian remains a theologian. Hence, either he has to start from certain presuppositions of philosophy accepted as authoritative; or, if in the process of criticism and as a result of other people’s discoveries doubts about these philosophical presuppositions have arisen in him, he abandons them in a cowardly and unwarrantable fashion, abstracts from them, thus showing his servile dependence on these presuppositions and his resentment at this servility merely in a negative, unconscious and sophistical manner.
(He does this either by constantly repeating assurances concerning the purity of his own criticism, or by trying to make it seem as though all that was left for criticism to deal with now was some other limited form of criticism outside itself – say eighteenth-century criticism – and also the limitations of the masses, in order to divert the observer’s attention as well as his own from the necessary task of settling accounts between criticism and its point of origin – Hegelian dialectic and German philosophy as a whole – that is, from this necessary raising of modern criticism above its own limitation and crudity. Eventually, however, whenever discoveries (such as Feuerbach’s ) are made regarding the nature of his own philosophic presuppositions, the critical theologian partly makes it appear as if he were the one who had accomplished this, producing that appearance by taking the results of these discoveries and, without being able to develop them, hurling them in the form of catch-phrases at writers still caught in the confines of philosophy. He partly even manages to acquire a sense of his own superiority to such discoveries by asserting in a mysterious way and in a veiled, malicious and skeptical fashion elements of the Hegelian dialectic which he still finds lacking in the criticism of that dialectic (which have not yet been critically served up to him for his use) against such criticism – not having tried to bring such elements into their proper relation or having been capable of doing so, asserting, say, the category of mediating proof against the category of positive, self-originating truth, (...) in a way peculiar to Hegelian dialectic. For to the theological critic it seems quite natural that everything has to be done by philosophy, so that he can chatter away about purity, resoluteness, and quite critical criticism; and he fancies himself the true conqueror of philosophy whenever he happens to feel some element [4] in Hegel to be lacking in Feuerbach – for however much he practises the spiritual idolatry of “ self-consciousness ” and “mind” the theological critic does not get beyond feeling to consciousness.)
On close inspection theological criticism – genuinely progressive though it was at the inception of the movement – is seen in the final analysis to be nothing but the culmination and consequence of the old philosophical, and especially the Hegelian, transcendentalism, twisted into a theological caricature. This interesting example of historical justice, which now assigns to theology, ever philosophy’s spot of infection, the further role of portraying in itself the negative dissolution of philosophy, i.e., the process of its decay – this historical nemesis I shall demonstrate on another occasion. [5]
(How far, on the other hand, Feuerbach’s discoveries about the nature of philosophy still, for their proof at least, called for a critical discussion of philosophical dialectic will be seen from my exposition itself.) ||LX|
Wages of Labour – First Section 1844 Index | Study Guide | Marx-Engels Internet Archive
Thursday, April 4
Previous issues, submit a tip.
Princeton Trustees adopt 2024–25 budget, increasing financial aid
Nassau Hall.
Dharmil bhavsar / the daily princetonian.
On Friday, March 29, the trustees of Princeton University adopted an operating budget of $3.1 billion for the upcoming academic year, a roughly 6.2 percent increase from the 2023–24 total operating budget of $2.92 billion. The budget also includes an increase in undergraduate financial aid from $268 million to $279 million.
According to the University press release, the new estimated grant for undergraduates receiving aid will be $74,380. In 2001, Princeton replaced loans with grants, becoming the first university in the country to do so and making it so that students would not have to pay back their financial aid.
The increase in funding for financial aid comes as the University seeks to increase the proportion of the student body on financial aid. In a report from March 14, 2024, the Ad Hoc Committee on Undergraduate Admission Policy highlighted new enrollment goals, aiming to enroll an undergraduate student population that consists of at least 70 percent need-based financial aid and 22 percent receiving Pell Grants.
This increased financial assistance builds upon previous aid expansion in Fall 2023, which saw the University expansion of the financial aid program that eliminated the student contribution requirement while also expanding full financial aid eligibility to families making up to $100,000 annually. Previous to this change, significant financial aid was only eligible for families making up to $65,000.
The press release also detailed an increase in graduate student financial aid. The Princeton Graduate Students Union (PGSU) has consistently cited financial reasons for their efforts at unionization, including demands for “competitive annual pay raises and contingency funding for graduate workers facing unforeseen difficulties.”
“Total graduate student support will have increased by more than 23 percent between fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2024, to an expected $321 million,” the University wrote.
Financial accessibility was a main focus of President Christopher Eisgruber ’83’s 2024 State of the University letter , where he wrote of “trailblazing improvements to both undergraduate financial aid and graduate scholarships” that allowed for Princeton to support more “talented students and scholars from all socioeconomic backgrounds.”
According to the press release, the “estimated ‘net cost after aid’ to attend Princeton for the average scholarship recipient is expected to be approximately $13,000 for 2024–25.”
Christopher Bao is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Charter Club changed guest policy after conservative professor’s lunch. After headlines, the policy was reversed.
After notable conservative professor Robert P. George came for lunch, Charter Club announced a new policy making it more difficult for students to bring faculty members as guests. The move came due to students' objections to the professors' political views. The saga made national headlines and, days later, the policy was revoked.
After a notable conservative professor came for lunch, Charter Club announced a new policy making it more difficult for students to bring faculty members as guests. The move came due to students' objections to the professors' political views. The saga made national headlines and, days later, the policy was revoked.
Class Day chairs select ‘Law & Order’ actor Sam Waterston as 2024 Class Day speaker
The actor has portrayed district attorney Jack McCoy on Law and Order for 18 years. In a video message to seniors, the Class of 2024 Class Day chairs emphasized Waterston's creative career and connections to Princeton.
Princeton men’s lacrosse secures a narrow Tuesday night win over Lehigh
In yet another rainy game on Sherrerd Field, the Tigers emerged victorious, downing Lehigh 12-10. Despite being down two goals at halftime, Princeton gave up just three second-half goals to give them the edge in a back-and-forth game.
Most Popular
We must not let eating clubs be ideological safe spaces, class of 2028 admitted, first class following affirmative action ban, princeton alum trey farmer ’93 arrested for possession of child pornography, princeton postdocs and scholars are united on unionization, and we’re ready to vote, why are vis classes so difficult to get into.
Adam Smith Goes to Moscow
Walter Adams
30% off with code PUP30
Before you purchase audiobooks and ebooks
Please note that audiobooks and ebooks purchased from this site must be accessed on the Princeton University Press app. After you make your purchase, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download the app. Learn more about audio and ebooks .
Support your local independent bookstore.
- United States
- United Kingdom
Economics & Finance
Adam Smith Goes to Moscow: A Dialogue on Radical Reform
- Walter Adams and James W. Brock
- Robert Heilbroner
- Adam Smith - Tercentenary Year
- Download Cover
Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue between the head of a hypothetical, formerly socialist East European country and a fervently market-minded American adviser. Their spirited give-and-take highlights the monumental political as well as economic complexities currently faced by the former Soviet bloc countries as they struggle to transform themselves into free market economies.
"This is a gem of a book. . . . the complex issues of the economic transformation to the market in Eastern Europe are ingeniously explored. . . . The flow of the dialogue is concise, fast, and intellectually robust. . . . a brilliant and fascinating read."— Times Higher Education Supplement
". . . offers a lively and thoughtful reconsideration of the Big Bang approach to economic repair. . . . provides an imaginatively conceived introduction to the critical intellectual debates around how to fix the Russian economy."— Toronto Globe and Mail
"It is refreshing to read a piece of scholarship based on such careful research on both sides of a vital issue. . . . This is important scholarship only thinly disguised as fiction. It deserves a wide audience."—William S. Brown, Journal of Economic Issues
"A fascinating conversation between an Eastern European statesman... and an American economist.... The economist lays out the arguments for unfettered capitalism of a textbook variety; the statesman reminds him that reality in western economies differs significantly from such an idealized world. In a remarkably short time spent with this book, even a neophyte can learn much about the issues facing those who must grapple with the monumental task of converting economies from pale shadows of the socialist ideal to (hopefully) less pale shadows of the capitalist version."—William F. Sharpe, Nobel Laureate in Economics
"Organized imaginatively and written with wit and style ... lucid and accessible."—Padma Desai, Harriman Institute for Advanced Study of the Soviet Union
Stay connected for new books and special offers. Subscribe to receive a welcome discount for your next order.
- ebook & Audiobook Cart
Lev Manovich
Professor of cultural analytics at the european graduate school / egs..
Lev Manovich (b. 1960) is both an artist and one of the leading theorists of digital culture and media art. He is the author of a number of books, including Software Takes Command (2013), Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database (2002–2005), and The Language of New Media (2001), which has been widely acknowledged as “the most suggestive and broad ranging media history since Marshall McLuhan.” At the moment, Lev Manovich is a professor at the City University of New York, the director of the Software Studies Initiative—which works on the analysis and visualization of big cultural data—and a professor of cultural analytics at The European Graduate School / EGS. In 2013, he was included in the list of 25 People Shaping the Future of Design; whereas, in 2014, he was recognized as one of the 50 “most interesting people building the future” by The Verge.
Manovich graduated from the Moscow Institute of Architecture in 1979 with a degree in civil architecture. In 1983, he enrolled in the Tisch School of Fine Arts, where he attained a BA in the Department of Film and Television. In 1988, he received an MA in experimental psychology from New York University, after which he was a graduate student exchange scholar at Cornell University, from 1991 to 1992. Finally, he received a PhD from the University of Rochester in 1993, in Visual and Cultural Studies, with a dissertation titled: The Engineering of Vision from Constructivism to Virtual Reality , under the supervision of Mieke Bal and Norman Bryson. Since finishing his PhD, Manovich has taught at the University of Maryland; the University of California, San Diego; and the Graduate Center at CUNY. In addition to these posts, he has also taught at The European Graduate School / EGS, the Centre for Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London, the Gothenberg Art Academy, the Institute of Creative Technologies at de Montfort University, the University of Seigen, and many others.
Manovich has given classes on a wide range of topics within the field of new media—and their consequences on the wider culture—including: Analyzing Cultural Data (2015), Social and Cultural Computing (2014), Software, Globalization and Political Action (2014), Big Data, Visualization and Digital Humanities (2013), Data Visualization and Computational Art History (2012), a PhD Seminar on Digital Humanities (2011), History of Art and Technology (2000, 2002–03, 2007–09, and 2011), Cultural Analytics (2009), Visualizing Culture (2008), Contemporary Computer Topics (2008), a PhD Seminar on Design, IT, and Globalization (2007), Introduction to Computing in the Arts (2006), Computing Culture (2006), Mapping Digital Culture (2005), Info-Aesthetics (2000), The Language of New Media (1999), Theories of New Media (1999), and many others.
Of the several books Manovich has published since 1993, The Language of New Media (2001) is certainly the most significant, since it was “the first rigorous and far-reaching theorization of the subject” and continues to be one of the fundamental texts in the field. In The Language of New Media, Manovich places new media within the history of visual and media culture of the last few centuries, thereby revealing both its roots and innovations. In brief, Manovich argues that new media relies on many of the conventions of old media, including the rectangular frame and mobile camera, and suggests that new media functions to create an illusion of reality, address the spectator, and represent space. The book also investigates and analyzes forms unique to new media, such as the interface and database. In more detail, the book develops and describes the general principles underlying New Media: numerical representation, i.e., new media objects exist as data; modularity, i.e., different elements of new media exist independently; automation, i.e., new media objects can be created and modified automatically; variability, i.e., new media objects exist in multiple versions; and transcoding, i.e., the logic of the computer influences how we understand and represent ourselves. Further, The Language of New Media provides a series of elementary definitions of new media: new media as opposed to cyber culture; new media as computer technology and as a distribution platform; new media as digital data controlled by software; new media as the mix between existing cultural conventions and the conventions of software; new media as the aesthetics that accompanies the early stage of every new modern media and communication technology; new media as faster execution of algorithms previously executed manually or through other technologies; new media as the encoding of modernist avant-garde; new media as metamedia; and new media as a parallel articulation of similar ideas in post-WWII art and modern computing.
Aside from book length publications, Lev Manovich has written over 120 articles, which have been published in over thirty countries. Finally, since 1999, he has given over 600 lectures, seminars, and master classes in North and South America, Asia, and Europe.
Over the entirety of his work, Manovich is credited with the development of a number of fundamental ideas, concepts, and methodologies, including: database and cultural analytics. In brief, the concept of database was introduced in a 1998 article “Database as a Symbolic Form,” wherein Manovich opposes it to narrative forms, which were the principle methods of organizing cultural expression, and points out the web’s overwhelming privileging of and dependence on the former. The two, in fact, are—according to Manovich—antithetical. One characteristic of a database is the organization of data in isolation—or outside of a narrative context—thereby, making all data of equal importance. The database, in consequence, becomes something like a meta ready-made with the potential to destabilize all petrified forms, ideas, and narratives and materialize into a system of endless of possibilities. This form, however, is not an absolute liberation, but it imposes a different set of limits and possibilities than those of narrative forms. At that time, Manovich also focused on the related concepts of paradigm and syntagm, arguing that new media has forced a reversal in their traditional relationship; namely, instead of syntagm being explicit and paradigm implicit, now it is the paradigm (database) which has material existence and the syntagm (narrative) which is de-materialized.
Cultural analytics, on the other hand, is a methodology that makes possible the tracking of developments in our cultural imagination. The expansion of digital culture has caused a significant increase in the number of cultural agents worldwide, the consequence of which has been that the old theoretical tools for tracking and understanding such developments are no longer adequate for the data. Manovich’s suggestion has been—and continues to be—to appropriate software from science and apply the techniques of data mining and interactive visualization within the humanities. According to Manovich, “culture has become data”; thus, the proper study of culture demands the use of software to: analyze cultural artefacts; visually represent patterns, data sets, and flow; and interactively explore the results. In consequence of the change of form at stake, the study of single events has become futile; it is necessary to begin studying trends and patterns in culture and, thereby, perceiving individual projects in a larger context of global cultural production. For instance, when considering historical data, cultural analytics allows us to map all that remained outside of the standard canon of some field and, thereby, present historical developments without bias to names but defined by the larger patterns of cultural activities and dispositions. Manovich, however, does not promote cultural analytics as the only method for understanding the humanities—both in the present and in their historical development—but sees it as a methodology that can partner with, or supplement, other available tools and methods. In short, the idea is that it is only by combining more traditional methods with data analysis that it will be possible to understand the historical developments of the humanities as well as make rational predictions on future developments.
In addition to theoretical work, Manovich has been working with computer media as an artist, computer animator, designer, and programmer since 1984. He is, therefore, not only a theorist, but a practicing theorist and artist. In fact, the majority of his theoretical works—i.e., books, articles, lectures, etc—have been accompanied by and experimented with art projects. His projects and exhibitions stretch over twenty years, and include: On Broadway (2015), Selfiecity (2014), SelfieSaoPaulo (2014), Taipei Phototime (2014), The Exceptional and the Everyday: 144 hours in Kyiv (2014), Photorails (2013), Manga Style Space (2010), TimeLine (2009), Mission to Earth (Soft Cinema Edition ) (2003–04), Global User Interface (Soft Cinema Edition) (2002–03), Freud-Lissiitzky Navigator (1999), and Little Movies (1994–97). These and other projects have been presented at the New York Public Library (NYPL), Google’s Zeitgeist 2014, Chelsea Art Museum (New York, US), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, US), KIASMA (Helsinki, Finland), Centre Pompidou (Paris, France), ICA (London, UK), and Graphic Design Museum (Breda, The Netherlands).
Info-aesthetics , Manovich, Lev. Info-aesthetics. Bloomsbury, 2015. ISBN: 1849660077
The Illusions: A BIT of The Language of New Media , Manovich, Lev. The Illusions: A BIT of The Language of New Media. Kindle Edition. The MIT Press, 2014. ASIN: B00I5ZB5GA
Software Takes Command , Manovich, Lev. Software Takes Command. Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. ISBN: 1623567459
Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database , Manovich, Lev, and Andreas Kratky. Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database. MIT Press, 2005. ASIN: B0031I5O3Q
Black Box – White Cube , Manovich, Lev. Black Box – White Cube. Merve, 2005. ISBN: 3883961973
Soft Cinema 1 , Mavoich, Lev. Soft Cinema 1. Lev Manovich and ZKM, 2003.
The Language of New Media , Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. MIT Press, 2001. ISBN: 0262133741
Metamediji , Manovich, Lev. Metamediji [Macromedia]. Belgrade: Centre for Contemporary Arts, 2001.
The Engineering of Vision from Constructivism to Computer , Manovich, Lev. “The Engineering of Vision from Constructivism to Computer.” PhD Diss., University of Rochester, 1993.
Edited Works
Tekstura: Russian essays on Visual Culture
Manovich, Lev, and Alla Efimova, eds. Tekstura: Russian essays on Visual Culture . University Of Chicago Press, 1993. ISBN: 0226951235
Methods of Cultural Analytics
Mass Communication, Interface, and New Media Studies 3/3
Mass Communication, Interface, and New Media Studies 2/3
Mass Communication, Interface, and New Media Studies 1/3
Technology, Digital Media, and Visual Culture 2/2
Technology, Digital Media, and Visual Culture 1/2
Visual Communication, New Media, and Contemporary Society 3/3
Visual Communication, New Media, and Contemporary Society 2/3
Visual Communication, New Media, and Contemporary Society 1/3
Bruno Latour and Visual Culture 2/2
Understanding Software Culture: How Search Works 2/2
Bruno Latour and Visual Culture 1/2
Understanding Software Culture: How Search Works 1/2
Contemporary Information Visualization and Categorization 3/3
Contemporary Information Visualization and Categorization 2/3
Contemporary Information Visualization and Categorization 1/3
Software Culture and Information Visualization 3/3
Software Culture and Information Visualization 2/3
Software, Visualization, and Society 2/2
Software Culture and Information Visualization 1/3
Software, Visualization, and Society 1/2
Examples and Techniques in Information Visualization
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 11/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 10/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 9/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 8/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 7/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 6/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 5/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 4/11
Interactivity and Dialogue in New Media 3/11
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 12/12
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 11/12
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 10/12
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 9/12
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 8/12
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 7/12
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 6/12
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 5/12
Possible Histories of Emerging Media 2/4
Possible Histories of Emerging Media 1/4
Taxonomy of Visual Culture 4/12
The Future of Theory 6/6
The Future of Theory 5/6
The Future of Theory 4/6
The Future of Theory 3/6
The Future of Theory 2/6
The Future of Theory 1/6
Victor Mukhin
- Scientific Program
Title : Active carbons as nanoporous materials for solving of environmental problems
However, up to now, the main carriers of catalytic additives have been mineral sorbents: silica gels, alumogels. This is obviously due to the fact that they consist of pure homogeneous components SiO2 and Al2O3, respectively. It is generally known that impurities, especially the ash elements, are catalytic poisons that reduce the effectiveness of the catalyst. Therefore, carbon sorbents with 5-15% by weight of ash elements in their composition are not used in the above mentioned technologies. However, in such an important field as a gas-mask technique, carbon sorbents (active carbons) are carriers of catalytic additives, providing effective protection of a person against any types of potent poisonous substances (PPS). In ESPE “JSC "Neorganika" there has been developed the technology of unique ashless spherical carbon carrier-catalysts by the method of liquid forming of furfural copolymers with subsequent gas-vapor activation, brand PAC. Active carbons PAC have 100% qualitative characteristics of the three main properties of carbon sorbents: strength - 100%, the proportion of sorbing pores in the pore space – 100%, purity - 100% (ash content is close to zero). A particularly outstanding feature of active PAC carbons is their uniquely high mechanical compressive strength of 740 ± 40 MPa, which is 3-7 times larger than that of such materials as granite, quartzite, electric coal, and is comparable to the value for cast iron - 400-1000 MPa. This allows the PAC to operate under severe conditions in moving and fluidized beds. Obviously, it is time to actively develop catalysts based on PAC sorbents for oil refining, petrochemicals, gas processing and various technologies of organic synthesis.
Victor M. Mukhin was born in 1946 in the town of Orsk, Russia. In 1970 he graduated the Technological Institute in Leningrad. Victor M. Mukhin was directed to work to the scientific-industrial organization "Neorganika" (Elektrostal, Moscow region) where he is working during 47 years, at present as the head of the laboratory of carbon sorbents. Victor M. Mukhin defended a Ph. D. thesis and a doctoral thesis at the Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia (in 1979 and 1997 accordingly). Professor of Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia. Scientific interests: production, investigation and application of active carbons, technological and ecological carbon-adsorptive processes, environmental protection, production of ecologically clean food.
Quick Links
- Conference Brochure
- Tentative Program
COMMENTS
Below you will find the questions for the 2023-24 application cycle. Depending on which degree you wish to pursue at Princeton (A.B., B.S.E. or undecided), you will answer one of the two academic prompts, then there are three additional sections meant to help us get to know you even better. First-Year Essay Questions Transfer Essay Questions ...
Princeton Supplemental Essay 2022-2023. There are seven Princeton University supplemental essays that all applicants must write. While this may feel daunting, take comfort—each Princeton supplemental essay is on the shorter side. However, the Ivy League application process may feel exhausting. That's why it's important to start early.
For its class of 2026, Princeton reports an average ACT of 33-35, a math SAT of 760-800, and a reading and writing SAT of 730-780. With the norm being top-notch standardized test scores like these - and a similarly top-notch unweighted GPA of 3.9 for previous classes - you'll need more than just a stellar transcript to stand out.
Prompt 1: Princeton values community and encourages students, faculty, staff and leadership to engage in respectful conversations that can expand their perspectives and challenge their ideas and beliefs. As a prospective member of this community, reflect on how your lived experiences will impact the conversations you will have in the classroom ...
He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020). the Princeton supplemental essays for 2022-23 have been released. We examine each prompt and offer essay writing tips.
Princeton Supplemental Essay Prompt #7. For Applicants Pursuing a B.S.E. Degree: Please describe why you are interested in studying engineering at Princeton. Include any of your experiences in, or exposure to engineering, and how you think the programs offered at the University suit your particular interests. Please respond in 250 words or fewer.
Princeton University 2023-24 Application Essay Questions Explanation. The Requirements: 2 essays of 250 words, 1 essay of 500 words, 3 short responses. Supplemental Essay Type (s): Community , Why, Oddball. This is Princeton, the Number One university in the nation. Maybe you've heard of it?
The Princeton supplement requirements are extensive. In addition to your Common App essay, you will need to respond to a number of short-answer questions and submit a graded academic paper. But don't be nervous—in this guide, we'll help you tackle the Princeton essays with confidence!
Welcome to the Princeton supplemental essays for the 2021-2022 application cycle! The Princeton writing supplement divides its essays into the following sections: "Extracurricular Activity and Work Experience," "Your Voice," and "More About You.". For Princeton supplemental essay questions — which you can find here on the ...
The other four essay prompts, as well as the three short answer prompts, are part of the Princeton Supplement. The Princeton Supplement also requires an Engineering Essay from applicants who have indicated on their applications an interest in pursuing a BS in Engineering (B.S.E.). Students applying to the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree program ...
It is one of the eight members of the Ivy League, and it's also the fourth-oldest college in the United States, founded in 1746. Princeton is very selective, boasting a 5.8% acceptance rate for 2020. The Princeton supplemental essays fall into three categories, with each category having a different word limit.
The current Princeton essay prompts for the 2022-2023 Princeton admissions cycle are listed below: Prompt: Word Count: ... The Princeton supplemental essays examples above are perfect samples of how to respond to the extracurricular activities prompt. In the next sections, we'll look at Princeton supplemental essays examples for the long ...
Here are 5 of the best Princeton University example essays so you can write your own successful essays. See how others answered Princeton's writing supplement. ... 5 Princeton Supplemental Essays That Worked. by Ryan Chiang - Updated Nov. 29, 2022. Are you applying to Princeton University in 2023? Or perhaps you're a parent curious about what ...
Read: 7 Simple Steps to Writing an Excellent Diversity Essay. 2. Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. Think about your involvement thus far in service and civic engagement.
The Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 might throw you off because unless you're applying to the School of Engineering, you don't get a chance to elaborate on why you believe Princeton is the right school for you. However, there are ways you can convey to admissions officers that you're a great fit for the school by bringing out ...
Princeton supplemental essay example # 5. Prompt: Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. - 250 words. I started listening to French music a few years ago when I learned that it could help improve my vocabulary.
The Princeton supplemental essays 2022 can seem daunting at first, but our experience and expertise will help you navigate the entire process with confidence. Hopefully, this guide to the Princeton supplemental essays 2022-2023 has been helpful, but if you want more information about how AdmissionSight can help you realize your dreams, set up ...
The Requirements: 1 essay of 200 words, 2 essays of 350 words, 3 short responses Supplemental Essay Type(s): Community, Activity, Why, Oddball Princeton University 2020-21 Application Essay Questions Explanation. This is Princeton, the Number One university in the nation.
Highly-selective colleges and universities often require supplemental application materials. These materials help further personalize the admissions process so that each college's admissions committee has the information it needs to select a vibrant and diverse incoming class.. In this article, we will look at 10 supplemental essay prompts from top colleges and universities for the 2022-23 ...
The only original German works of substance in this science, however - other than Weitling's writings - are the essays by Hess published in Einundzwanzig Bogen [3] and Umrisse zu einer Kritik der Nationalökonomie by Engels in the Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, where also the basic elements of this work have been indicated by me in a ...
April 3, 2024 | 1:26am EDT. On Friday, March 29, the trustees of Princeton University adopted an operating budget of $3.1 billion for the upcoming academic year, a roughly 6.2 percent increase from the 2023-24 total operating budget of $2.92 billion. The budget also includes an increase in undergraduate financial aid from $268 million to $279 ...
Adam Smith Goes to Moscow is a captivating dialogue between the head of a hypothetical, formerly socialist East European country and a fervently market-minded American adviser. Their spirited give-and-take highlights the monumental political as well as economic complexities currently faced by the former Soviet bloc countries as they struggle to transform themselves into free market economies.
Lev Manovich (b. 1960) is both an artist and one of the leading theorists of digital culture and media art. He is the author of a number of books, including Software Takes Command (2013), Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database (2002-2005), and The Language of New Media (2001), which has been widely acknowledged as "the most suggestive and broad ranging media history since Marshall McLuhan."
Catalysis Conference is a networking event covering all topics in catalysis, chemistry, chemical engineering and technology during October 19-21, 2017 in Las Vegas, USA. Well noted as well attended meeting among all other annual catalysis conferences 2018, chemical engineering conferences 2018 and chemistry webinars.