Universities update their essay prompts with some frequency; not every college updates their supplementals every year, but there are changes every year, unexpected questions or new wrinkles in established formulas. Not all of the prompts are quite out yet, but we know for a fact students are already diligently at work on their essays, and so are going to dedicate this article to exploring some top colleges who are rolling out new prompts. We’ll go through what these prompts ask, and how best you can go about answering them. We’ll do this for notable schools which have made significant changes to the essays they offer; if you are looking for more general advice on writing your essays, see our essay guidance archive. The prompts may be dated, but the advice is all quite excellent.
Colleges Removing Essays in Fall 2026
Most colleges are simply changing up what prompts they offer, and we’ll go through those schools individually. There are, however, a number of colleges which are instead removing essays and not replacing. Sometimes simply cutting back the number of questions they ask students to respond to, while other times cutting these requirements entirely.
Notable among these is Tulane University, which has removed its supplemental essay requirement entirely. Washington University in St Louis still has prompts, though they’ve dropped one without replacing it. The University of Georgia has done the same. Cornell University, in the Ivy League, has also cut one of their long-running supplemental essay questions, the one which every student had to answer. They have maintained the college-specific questions though.
The colleges have given various reasons for doing this (when they’ve bothered to publicize any reason at all). They cite everything from wanting to cut down on student stress (an admirable goal) to finding that the questions didn’t work to tell them what they wanted to know about students (which is understandable).
One reason they do not give, but which we find likely, is that by cutting down on the number of essays they ask students to complete as part of the application, more students are likely to apply. Other schools figured this out long ago; Northeastern makes their application process as frictionless as possible. While this won’t apply to all schools, for those universities looking to boost application rates, this may seem like an easy solution, especially if essays weren’t proving helpful to admissions officers.
Colleges Which are Changing Their Prompts in 2026
Some universities clearly do find use in their essays however, so we’ll go through these schools to talk about what’s changed, and what hasn’t.
Brown
Brown has edited some of their main prompts, but on the whole, they are the same. The exact questions are different, but they still want the same information. The real change for Brown is in the essay questions for their Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), which has seen all three of the prompts both changed and shortened. The new PLME prompts are:
- Why medicine? (250 words)
- Why PLME? (250 words)
- Tell us something about yourself, beyond your interest in medicine, that you think will make you a great doctor. (250 word limit)
These questions are far simpler and more focused than prior prompts, though they are asking the same general questions. The third prompt is entirely new, and we think you should focus on one of your hobbies outside medicine which showcases your values. The PLME program specifically appreciates the intersection between liberal arts and medicine, and so it makes sense for them to ask about one of your non-medicine interests.
Caltech
Caltech has been asking for essays for significantly longer than A&M, but they too have made a change to their supplementals in favor of more short answers. In a very Caltech-like maneuver, however, their essays also now require you to do math:
Choose two of the four questions below and answer both in 250 words or less. It’s up to you how you use your 250 words, whether that means you use exactly 125 words for each answer or you tell us about a niche interest in 30 words so you can spend 200 telling us more about you.
- What is an interest or hobby you do for fun, and why does it bring you joy?
- If you could teach a class on any concept or topic, what would it be and why?
- What is a core piece of your identity or being that shapes how you view and/or interact with the world?
- What is a concept that blew your mind or baffled you when you first encountered it?
Here, Caltech has done something we haven’t seen before. It is normal for colleges to assign you to write supplemental essays with a word limit, but to ask for multiple supplemental essays with a combined word limit is novel. These essay questions themselves are quite similar to what other schools ask for, what you must determine is how to spend your word budget.
Note that you do not have to divide this evenly; the second and fourth questions could each be answered in a sentence, while the first and third may require more explanation. It is up to you whether to take this approach or a different one, but this too is part of the challenge Caltech is setting with these questions. This is a barrier to entry, but that is intentional; if you do not enjoy things like this, you won’t enjoy Caltech much either.
Duke
Duke has kept most of their prompts the same, but has added an entirely new one for this year. Here is the new prompt:
- We all belong to communities defined by place, faith, family, culture, interests or shared experience. Tell us about a community that has shaped who you are, any way it has set you apart, and what you’ve learned from being part of it that you hope to bring to Duke. (250 word limit)
This is not a spectacularly strange essay; many colleges want to know more about who you are and the environments who have shaped you. While they are not allowed to take race into account, you can still write about race or ethnicity for this essay, or any other facet of your identity which binds you to a community. Your essay should focus on how you have meaningfully contributed to this, how it has shaped you, and demonstrate the values it has instilled in you.
Johns Hopkins
Note that at time of writing, Johns Hopkins has not yet updated the essay prompt on their admissions webpage, but they have on the Common App. The new prompt is not hugely unusual, but is different; here’s what it asks:
- Drawing on your own experiences, what have you learned about engaging across differences and how has it shaped the way you think about building bridges, enhancing community, and working with others? (350 word limit)
This essay follows a trend we have seen in many colleges asking students about how they have bridged divides between themselves and others. As society becomes increasingly fractured, it’s easy to see why colleges may want to admit students who are good at finding common ground.
The differences you have overcome do not need to be vast and earth-shattering (though they can be), they can be as simple as sports teams. The goal is to show how you overcame them and built a community with your peers in spite of differences you had with them.
MIT
MIT isn’t on the Common App, and doesn’t ask for a personal statement. Instead, all of their essays are the kinds of short prompts that other schools ask for in their supplementals. These are relatively consistent year to year, but they do change. This year there are two changes, a new prompt, and a new collection of short-answer responses. Here’s the new prompt:
- Reflect on how your personal and academic experiences have influenced the types of problems you would want to tackle with an MIT education, and who you would like to work on those problems with.
And here are the short responses (which are to be answered in 40-50 words apiece):
- What do you do just for fun?
- Who is someone you admire, whether you know them personally or look up to them from afar? Tell us why.
- What’s a topic, academic or non-academic, that you could talk about for hours?
- MIT values both “generalists” with varied interests and “specialists” who focus deeply on one or a few passions. Which do you think best describes you, and why?
The first prompt isn’t quite asking what you want to major in; they already have that, though your answer should reflect how you have previously engaged with your chosen field of study. This may be harder for some fields than others, but the trick is to show the logic behind your desires, how your past experiences have contributed to your current interests.
The short answers, meanwhile, are simply a way for MIT to get to know you better. You should answer these honestly, and let your personality shine through, as that is something MIT cares about. There is no “right” answer to these questions; the point is to be authentic, and to show off how you’re the kind of person who would fit in well with MIT’s community.
Texas A&M
Texas A&M only introduced essay prompts at all a few years ago, and they’ve been fiddling with them since, as they try to find the right composition that will tell them what they need to know about students. This isn’t surprising; it can take a while to get things right, and it’s thus unsurprising they’ve changed things for this year. This time, they’ve added a number of short answer prompts:
Required Short Answer Questions (100 words max):
- In a few words, what are some of your life goals and objectives?
- In a few words, why have you chosen your academic major(s)?
- We know you have a lot of options. In a few words, why did you choose to apply to Texas A&M?
- Briefly describe any educational plans you have beyond earning your bachelor’s degree.
None of these are particularly novel questions, but they are perhaps more difficult to answer due to how little space you have to work with. After all, you’re going to write full essays about your desired major or why you want to attend another college, and here you’re going to need to cut that down to a mere 100 words.
Your life goals and objectives are perhaps going to be harder to answer. We advise not using money as an objective; talk about grand goals, especially any you have related to helping people, creating new things, or bettering communities you are part of. Everyone wants to get a good job and make a lot of money, but that means saying so is cliche, and doesn’t tell admissions officers anything new or interesting about you.
For educational plans, this includes any further graduate or professional school you plan on attending. If you do not plan on attending any programs of this sort, then focus on any certifications you may seek, or say simply that you intend to enter the workforce straight out of college.
Tufts
Tufts has changed from letting you pick your prompt from a short list, to instead requiring all applicants respond to two short essays. The first, for everyone, is on why you are interested in Tufts generally, in up to 150 words. This is a prompt many colleges ask, and you should be able to give at least a few reasons why you’re interested in applying to and attending the school.
The second is varied depending on the college within Tufts you are applying to, but in each case seeks to dive into some aspect of your recent academic past, your favorite assignment, project, or piece of your portfolio. This is not quite an essay asking you why you’re interested in a particular major, but it is an essay which lends itself well to answers related to your intended major, and this is how we recommend students answer it.
While the exact project or assignment you choose is up to you, we suggest picking something that is related to your proposed field of study, that you are quite passionate about, and which shows off your intellectual curiosity and excitement. You want to show off your love of learning for its own sake, and if you can tie that to what you’re intending to major in, all the better.
University of Chicago
University is well known for how outside the box their essay prompts are, and for the fact that these prompts change every year. This then, is an expected change, but doesn’t necessarily make these prompts easier to answer. These prompts are strange, a puzzle for applicants to approach, and that’s the entire point of asking them.
You should try to answer these prompts in the spirit they are asked. You can use your essays to discuss yourself, or simply show off your thought process, how you approach novel and odd problems. UChicago prides itself on its eccentric culture, and showing how you would mesh with that through these essays is a boon for your application.
University of Florida
The University of Florida’s main essay hasn’t changed, but they do have a fully new prompt for their Honors College. As many of the students we work with are interested in applying to this program, we thought we should include it in our discussion here as well. Here is the new prompt:
- The UF Honors Program’s mission is to connect, nurture and engage the next generation of scholars who change the world. How do you envision yourself contributing to this mission? Consider the people, experiences, resources, and aspirations that have shaped your journey thus far and your future plans. Please use a maximum of 400 words in your essay for full consideration.
This is a chance for you to describe your goals, and how the honors college specifically will help fulfill them. You want to be specific in answering this; show off that you have done your research about the program and its options, and how well it suits your plan. This isn’t a place to praise the college (they already know how great it is), but to show off how well you fit within it, and how well it fits into your plans.
UPenn
The main UPenn prompts haven’t changed much. The phrasing on the prompt for the College of Arts and Sciences is new, but what it’s asking hasn’t really changed. The major changes come in the essays UPenn requests for their special programs, all of which have been altered this year.
Note that what they are asking hasn’t really changed; the questions are phrased differently, but they still want the same general information. The big change is length; all of the essays are now 400 words at most, cut down from 600 in many cases. You still need to convey all the important information, but this is a bit less daunting for most students to consider.
For all of these questions, they want to see why you want to apply to this special program, and how its offerings specifically work with your plans and past experiences. You don’t need to have mastered the material of the program already, but you do need to show interest in what the program is doing, and that you have explored these interests in the past on your own.
University of Michigan
University of Michigan has kept one of their prompts the same, while changing the other (note also that Ross, the Business School, has also kept their supplemental prompts the same). They maintained the question about why you wish to attend your university, but instead of asking about your community and background as last year, their new prompt asks:
- At the University of Michigan, we are focused on developing leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future. In your essay, share with us how you are prepared to contribute to these goals. This could include the people, places, experiences, or aspirations that have shaped your journey and future plans. (Required for all applicants; 100 word minimum; 300 word maximum.)
This essay is not particularly well worded, in our opinion at least. What they want, really, is evidence of how you have made an impact already, and how you might continue to live by that example going forward. Ideally, you should speak of some leadership experience you have had, some responsibility you have taken on, and how you have made a community you are part of by doing so.
Even if you haven’t taken official leadership of anything, you can still answer this question by describing how you’ve stepped up and assumed responsibility in your life, and worked to better communities you are part of. Michigan wants to see evidence of how you’ve made the world a better place already, taking that as a sign of how you’ll do so in the future.
USC
USC has left their primary prompt the same, but has added a new optional prompt which students may answer if they choose. While some optional features of an application are truly optional, we do recommend all students answer this prompt; the more admissions officers know about you, the better they will be able to judge how well suited you are for their school. Here’s the prompt:
- (Optional) The USC Student Commitment charges Trojans to “value honest, open communication and robust debate,” and to “champion ideological diversity and embrace freedom of expression.” Describe a time when you disagreed with someone you know about something important to you. Did you change your mind or reach common ground? (Approximately 250 words)
This is one of the common questions universities have begun asking, in response to increases in political and other tension, on campuses and off. They want to make sure that students coming to their school are able to find common ground and build community, even with those who they may not agree with.
When answering this question, what specifically you were disagreeing with someone about matters less than how you approached and handled the matter. They want to see how you were able to find common ground, or handle things in a mature and respectful manner. The topic should be something important to you, but it doesn’t need to be inherently political.
Final Thoughts
Many colleges have set forth the same essay questions this year as last year, but others have decided to go further afield, exploring new and verdant pastures. Colleges are always trying to hone their applications to best support the students who apply. They don’t necessarily want to make your life harder, they just want to find the best way to determine if you fit what they’re looking for.
If you are looking for help answering any of these essay questions, or crafting your applications in such a way that you display yourself to admissions officers as the kind of student they want on campus, then Ivy Scholars can help. Our mentors have long experience guiding students through every step of the admissions process, and helping students tell their stories. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more, we’re always happy to hear from you.
