Nail The Supplemental Essays For Your Dream College!

Top tier universities often require you to write additional, contextual essays. These are extremely critical components of your application.

5.3x Higher Odds of Ivy League Acceptance

213+

Ivy League University Offers

95%

Students get into top 100 Universities Globally

15,000+

Essays Edited By Expert College Counsellors

$2.3 Million

In Merit Scholarships for Ascend Now Students

What Is The Supplemental Essay?

Congratulations on completing your Common App essay! Now, it’s time to tackle the supplemental essays that schools like Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford require. These essays vary in number and length, but each one is crucial.

While your personal statement is your main story, think of supplemental essays as follow-up questions in an interview. They dive deeper into your interests, motivations, and personality. Admissions committees use them to get a fuller picture of you, so give them the same attention and care.

Remember, the skills you honed writing your personal statement are just as useful here. Approach each supplemental essay with planning, outlining, and editing to ensure you present your best self.
Supplemental Essay

Application components for the top 250 universities

15%

Standardized Test Scores

20%

Grades  & 
Coursework

30%

Extracurricular
Activities

20%

Application
Essays

15%

Interviews & Recomm.

Types Of Supplemental Essays

  • The 500-650 word essay

    Some universities like Duke and Rice require a 500-650 word essay for their supplementals.

    What Colleges Want to See

    They want additional context of your personality, history and how that has shaped you.

    Tying your character and story to answer the specific questions important to universities.

    A longer word count allows you to fully explore additional areas of your personality your application didn’t cover.

  • The 150-250 word essays

    Universities like Harvard and University of Michigan might want a shorter response, but multiple essays.

    What Colleges Want to See

    They want to a short, specific answer to a particular question. Make sure to explicitly answer it.

    Can you convey your point in the most succinct, yet engaging fashion on a constrained word limit.

    With 5 short essays, can you consistently maintain the quality or does it begin to drop?

  • We help our students plan out all of their supplemental essays which can be over 20 essays!
    Speak to an advisor today

    What Are The General Types Of Supplemental Essay Prompts?

    "Why This School?" Essay

    Why do you want to attend [University Name]?
    The Ascend Now Tip
    Be specific about how the school's unique programs, culture, and values align with your goals and interests. Mention personal experiences or detailed research about the school to show genuine interest.

    "Extracurricular Activity" Essay

    What's your most meaningful extracurricular activity?
    The Ascend Now Tip
    Choose an activity that showcases your passion and impact. Highlight unique experiences or personal growth resulting from this activity, beyond what’s listed on your application.
    stanford-university-logo

    "Create a Class" Essay

    If you could create a course, what would it be and why?
    The Ascend Now Tip
    Be imaginative and demonstrate your enthusiasm for learning. Connect your proposed class to your academic interests and explain how it reflects your educational goals.

    "Why This Major?" Essay

    Why do you want to pursue [specific major] at our university?
    The Ascend Now Tip
    Detail your passion for the subject and how the program’s specific offerings (courses, faculty, research opportunities) will help you achieve your career goals.

    "Diversity and Community" Essay

    Describe a community you belong to and your place within it.
    The Ascend Now Tip
    Focus on a community that has shaped your identity. Explain how your unique experiences and perspectives will contribute to the college community.
    Download This Free Guide on how to choose your essay topic!
    Download Guide

    College Essays Are Easier When You Partner With Us For The Full College Journey!

    • 11th Grade

      Reviewing the prompts and planning the essay timeline | 1-2 weeks

      • Review your university list and sample essays
      • Review the prompts with your counsellor and bounce ideas
      • Create a clear schedule and timeline for deliverables

    • 11th Grade Summer

      Brainstorming and Free Writing | 3-4 weeks

      • Maintain a journal and set aside time to free-write everyday
      • Cover 3/7 prompts from broadest to narrowest
      • Review all the writing with your counsellor once/week

    • 11th Grade Summer

      Complete the first draft of your Common App Essay | 2 weeks

      • Narrow down on the topic and prompt and begin writing
      • Ignore the word count and put down all important details
      • Work with the counsellor to bring focus to your narrative

    • 12th Grade

      First Big Edit - 3 Person Review and Feedback | 2-3 weeks

      • 1st Review – English Educator for grammar, vocabulary and flow
      • 2nd Review – For uniqueness and authenticity by different counselor
      • 3rd Review – Additional review by different counselor

    Setup a free profile review call today to understand how we can support your journey to your dream university.
    Speak to an advisor today

    Tips From Our Ivy League College Counsellors!

    Choose Your Topic Wisely

    You should spend roughly 50% of the time on finding the right essay prompt for you! This is the hardest bit. 

    Focus on the details!

    Specifics set you apart from the others. Break down a topic into the smallest units and write about each one.

    Get enough feedback

    You need to get at least 3 rounds of feedback from a counsellor, english educator and a friend/family.

    Stand Out From The Start!

    We’ve seen the best results when students start working on their essays 4 months before deadline. 

    Ascend Now Students Get Into The Best Universities

    Download Ascend Now 2023-2024 College Report

    Student Success Stories

    Kate W

    Kate founded “Teach the Teachers,” partnered with UNESCO, and scored a 31 on the ACT and 1510, 1520 on the SAT.

    Published research on water contamination, gained offers from Tufts, Imperial, and Brown.

    Read Full Case Study

    Shiv P

    Grades increased 25% in IBDP English, Econ, and Biology in 4 months.

    Built a social-networking app and published 2 articles about his non-profit Project Anya.

    Read Full Case Study

    What do parents and students have to say?

    “Tangible outcomes”

    “Regular communication”

    “A Company that cares”

      Hands-on support in creating my non-profit project

      Ascend has tremendously helped me navigate this stressful college process. From providing hands-on support in creating my non-profit project to assisting with publishing my research paper, and, most importantly, crafting my college essays.

      Help with college application process

      Faaiza has helped me tremendously throughout my application process and thanks to her patience and amazing reliability, she helped me achieve my dream, getting accepted into Boston College. This could not have been possible without her.

      Strong, confident children

      Ascend Now is teaching our children to be strong, confident, thoughtful, resilient and, importantly, to embrace challenges. We are incredibly grateful and thankful for their ongoing support and commitment to our children’s success.

      Exciting news, accepted to St Andrews!

      Dear Ruchi and Amazing Ascend Team, we have some incredible exciting news!! Roger has been accepted to the most prestigious and 1st ranked UK University St Andrews for their most competitive Psychology study!!

      Amazing and very helpful

      Thank you Faaiza and Mohseena. Nadine has tried her best to do the essay with the help of amazing Faaiza (according to Nadine) and specially Mohseena who has been a very helpful conductor to make sure everybody is doing their job right at due time.

      Incredible kindness and assistance

      Hi Ms Arianna! I cannot imagine my highschool experience without your incredible kindness and assistance with all my endeavours, and Ascend’s program as a whole. I truly could not have gone this far without Ascend and all your help. I’ve decided to go to UIUC and have already comitted to the school! Thank you once again for these last 2 years and your efforts through it all!

      Would not have been possible without you

      Thank you Mr. Nitin for all your help with finding the right college and programs! Thank you Ms. Arianna for all your support, from check ins, scheduling, lessons, uni apps and more. I truly appreciate your kindness and generosity. And thank you Ms. Marijan for your endless help with all my essays. I could not have completed the whole process without you!

      Incredible knowledge and a well-structure approach

      Ascend Now has incredible knowledge and a well-structured approach which was a key factor during my son’s application. We were unsure between the UK and Japan but after deep consideration, we decided to try both and my son got accepted into UCL, Durham and Tokyo University.

      Key contributor to my college process

      I really enjoyed my time working with Ascend Now. I wanted to apply to transfer universities after my first year at BU – my dream being Georgetown. We worked on my GPA, recommendations, and all the essential elements. I got accepted and for sure Ascend Now has been a very important contributor to the entire process.

      Thank you for believing in me

      I still can’t believe I’ve been accepted into SCAD and Parsons! Thank you to the Ascend Now team in believing in me and giving me that extra push over the summer to perfect my portfolio!

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