How to use your Common App essay for Ivy League supplementals: Princeton
Among the Ivy League, Princeton has one of the biggest commitments to its undergraduate students. A 6:1 student/faculty ratio means students can ask questions and receive individual care in many cases.
If you’re putting your supplementals together, here’s a match-up with Common App prompts so you can build on brainstorming you’ve already done.
Princeton supplementals (2022-2023)
| TOPIC | PROMPT |
|---|---|
| What is a new skill you would like to learn in college? (75 words or fewer) | 1, 6 |
| Your Common App and other essays will demonstrate your personality and accomplishments. This can be a summary of all of that, or you can use this short answer essay to convey an aspect of your personality that would be memorable (In a positive way!). | |
| What brings you joy? (75 words or fewer) | 1, 4, 5, 6 |
| You could talk about a subject or topic that makes you lose track of time. Yale has a 200 word version of this essay; you could bring that outline here. Quiet confidence consistently does well across all tiers of schools over essays that aggressively boast or excessively understate. Just be honest and try to put forward a topic in which you have demonstrated skill and interest. | |
| What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment? (75 words or fewer) | 7 |
| This is a topic that could be a great Common App 7 for students who are comfortable with writing and know how to connect the stories of the music with their lives. For the Princeton essay, this is short enough that you don’t have to spend a lot of time brainstorming it, but it's long enough that you can create sentences that stick with the admissions committee. Try for a memorable statement that connects back to your personality and your stated interest. | |
| 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) | 2, 3 |
| This is a topic that is so similar to topic #3 that you could just use the exact same outline here. When writing a shorter essay, remember to still go for impact even with the reduced word. | |
| Princeton has a longstanding commitment to service and civic engagement. Tell us how your story intersects (or will intersect) with these ideals. (250 words) | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| This community outreach component is a big deal at almost every tier 1 school, and definitely at every Ivy League university. One thing to note is that the Ivy schools look for growth and leadership, not simple participation and lackluster results. | |
| 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) | 1, 6 |
| Schools want to know why you want to go there. It’s good to have a substantive answer prepared before deciding to apply, even if you are undecided and have no idea yet. | |
| 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) | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 |
| Geared a little bit more towards STEM majors, this allows you to concisely list all of your biggest experiences with engineering. |
