northwestern university supplemental essays guide

Northwestern Supplemental Essays

Writing strong Northwestern supplemental essays gives you the chance to share your experiences, perspective, and interests in a way that goes beyond test scores or transcripts. These essays give the admissions team insight into how you think and what matters most to you. They also help admissions understand the ways you might contribute to life at Northwestern.

Northwestern University is distinguished by its interdisciplinary approach and its connections to both Evanston and Chicago, creating a setting where students can explore ideas freely and pursue projects that reflect their passions. Its culture rewards curiosity, authenticity, and initiative, and the supplemental prompts provide an opportunity to show how these qualities shape who you are.

This guide is meant to help you approach both the required and optional Northwestern supplemental essays with confidence. It offers insight into how to reflect meaningfully on each prompt and develop responses that convey your individuality with clarity and depth. With these suggestions, you can create essays that demonstrate exactly why you belong at Northwestern.

Northwestern Admissions: Quick Facts

Northwestern University Quick Facts

  • Northwestern Acceptance Rate: 8% — U.S. News ranks Northwestern as one of the top 10 schools in the country.
  • Northwestern Supplemental Essay Requirements:
    • 1 (~300 word) supplemental essay
    • 1-2 (~200 word) optional short answer essays
  • Northwestern Application: Students can respond to the Northwestern supplemental essay prompts and submit their application via the Common Application, Coalition Application, or QuestBridge.
  • Northwestern Application Deadlines:
    • Early Decision November 1
    • Regular Decision: January 2
  • Northwestern Essay Tip: Though only one of the Northwestern essay prompts is required, we recommend submitting at least one optional essay with your application. Writing additional Northwestern supplemental essays gives you more opportunities to express yourself and show the admissions team why you’re a great fit.

Please note that essay requirements are subject to change each admissions cycle, and portions of this article may have been written before the final publication of the most recent guidelines. For the most up-to-date information on essay requirements, check the university’s admissions website. 

Does Northwestern have supplemental essays?

Yes! All applicants must respond to one Northwestern essay prompt. In addition to the required prompt, students are also invited to submit one to two additional supplemental essays. For these Northwestern supplemental essays, students are given five prompts to choose from. These essay prompts cover a variety of topics, all centered around why you’re excited to attend Northwestern and what you might bring to the campus community.

To start, we’ll focus on the primary Northwestern essay prompt required for all applicants. Later on, we’ll break down each of the optional Northwestern supplemental essays and discuss how you should go about choosing which prompt(s) to respond to.

What are the Northwestern supplemental essays?

The Northwestern essay prompts can be boiled down to one classic question — why Northwestern? Here are this year’s prompts:

Required Northwestern Supplemental Essay Prompt

We want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background (your identity, your school setting, your community, your household, etc.) have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise?

Optional Northwestern Supplemental Essay Prompts

  1. Painting “The Rock” is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call “Purple Pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?
  2. Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?
  3. Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.
  4. Northwestern’s location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?
  5. Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern’s classrooms and around our campus?

As you brainstorm for your Northwestern supplemental essays, think about why you want to attend Northwestern. Your Northwestern supplemental essays should cite specific reasons why Northwestern is right for you. The best responses to these “Why Northwestern” essays will show that students have done their research.

Visit the Northwestern website, take a campus tour, or speak to current students about their experiences. Think about classes you’d like to take, professors who interest you, clubs you would like to join, and more. Strong Northwestern supplemental essays will reveal a deep engagement with the university and its offerings.

Are the Northwestern supplemental essays important?

The Northwestern supplemental essays, like previous years’ essays, have a major impact on admissions. In fact, your supplemental essays are so important, Northwestern admissions no longer requires students to submit their Common App personal statement.

As a highly selective university, Northwestern receives thousands of applications from qualified candidates each year. In fact, their admissions rate is falling steadily. What does this mean? More students are applying, but the university’s open seats aren’t increasing. Candidates often have similar grades, test scores, and even extracurricular achievements. This can make it hard for any student to stand out. Don’t let this discourage you from applying. Use every available tool at your disposal, including the Northwestern supplemental essays, to make a case for why you should be admitted.

Your Northwestern University supplement essays let you show the admissions committee what makes you special. Essentially, your Northwestern supplement essays are an introduction to who you are and why you deserve a spot in Northwestern’s upcoming class. Your readers don’t take this lightly, and neither should you!

Remember, the strongest Northwestern supplemental essays will allow the admissions team to visualize a particular student on Northwestern’s campus. Your Northwestern supplement essay has a lot of power — use it wisely.

Northwestern Supplemental Essays: Required Essay Prompt

Because this prompt is required, it is easily the most important of the Northwestern supplemental essays. So, let’s discuss this essay in more detail:

Required Northwestern Prompt

The following question is required for all applicants. Please respond in 300 words or fewer:

We want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background (your identity, your school setting, your community, your household, etc.) have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise?

This Northwestern supplemental essay is a mix of a personal statement, a cultural diversity essay, and a community essay. Essentially, this prompt is asking you to answer two questions:

  • What is an aspect of your life that has helped shape who you are?
  • How does that inform the way you plan to engage with the campus community?

When approaching this Northwestern essay, think broadly about what “background” means. It can refer to your cultural or family identity, but it could just as easily come from your school environment, hometown, or even a community you’ve built online.

Start by identifying an experience, value, or environment that has shaped how you see the world and interact with others. Maybe your background has taught you the importance of collaboration after growing up in a small rural school, or perhaps a multilingual household has made you curious about communication across cultures. You might focus on the resilience you developed balancing responsibilities at home, or the perspective you gained from engaging with diverse peers in your city or school.

Whatever direction you choose, be sure to connect that formative influence to how you’ll engage at Northwestern — academically, socially, or extracurricularly. For instance, you could show how your community’s emphasis on mutual support has inspired your interest in joining peer mentorship programs, or how your exposure to civic issues has motivated you to pursue research in social policy. The most successful responses will move beyond simply describing your background; they’ll demonstrate how those experiences have prepared you to contribute meaningfully to Northwestern’s vibrant, multifaceted community.

Northwestern Supplemental Essays: Optional Essay Prompts

When it comes to optional college essays, it’s almost always in your best interest to complete them. Every additional opportunity to share your story helps the admissions team see a fuller picture of who you are.

Unlike many schools, Northwestern doesn’t just offer a single optional prompt. Instead, the admissions team gives you the flexibility to choose from five unique options. With so many prompts available, you’ll almost certainly find at least one that resonates with you. And if you’re torn between two, here’s some good news — you can submit both!

Here are the prompts for the optional Northwestern supplemental essays:

Optional Northwestern Prompts

We encourage you to answer at least one and no more than two of the following questions. Please respond in fewer than 200 words per question:

1. Painting “The Rock” is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call “Purple Pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?

2. Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?

3. Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.

4. Northwestern’s location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?

5. Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern’s classrooms and around our campus?

These prompts all offer different ways to express your interest in attending Northwestern. The first prompt explores the tradition of painting The Rock, giving you a space to highlight a personal passion, social cause, or creative idea. Prompt #2 lets you showcase intellectual curiosity and initiative, providing an opportunity to discuss a specific academic interest or a project you’d like to pursue. The fourth prompt encourages you to think beyond campus and focus on Northwestern’s surrounding communities — Evanston, Lake Michigan, and nearby Chicago — and how they connect to your interests.

Prompts #3 and #5 are similar to the required Northwestern essay, as both focus on community and personal background. If you choose to respond to these, it’s important to differentiate your topic from your main essay and highlight other experiences, communities, or perspectives.

Stand out with specifics

Details make your essays memorable. For example, consider these two sentences:

  • Example 1: Since visiting at the age of five, I’ve always wanted to attend school in Chicago.
  • Example 2: I would love to join Northwestern’s Botany and Bees organization. Their work with the Evanston Environmental Association and other organizations in and around Chicago is one of the reasons that I decided to pursue a degree in environmental studies at Northwestern.

The second sentence is a far better answer to any “Why Northwestern” essay than the first. An admissions officer reading Northwestern supplemental essays would breeze right through the first applicant’s response. Many schools are located in Chicago, and an applicant who only wants to attend a school in the area could apply anywhere. The second sentence, however, is highly specific to Northwestern — you wouldn’t be able to miss the applicant’s genuine interest.

As you brainstorm topics, remember that there are no “wrong” answers. The most effective Northwestern supplemental essays come from authentic self-reflection and clearly show how your experiences, passions, and perspective could contribute to the Northwestern community.

How do I write Northwestern supplemental essays?

So far, we’ve talked about the importance of research and authenticity in your Northwestern University supplemental essays. So, how do you get started?

Brainstorming topics

For the required Northwestern essay, start with you. What factors or influences have most shaped your life and the way you see the world? Is there a certain identity you hold, or something about your family or upbringing that feels especially important? Give yourself free rein to explore every possible idea.

Try starting with a statement like “I am ____” and filling it in with words that describe your key experiences, such as “a debater,” “an older sibling,” “a first-generation student,” or “a member of my school’s robotics team.” Then, once you’ve found a topic with depth, look at that aspect of your life through a Northwestern lens — for example, “Because of [experience], I will [action or goal] at Northwestern.”

If you’re having trouble narrowing down the prompts for the optional Northwestern supplemental essays, start by making a list of everything about Northwestern that interests you. Feel free to include broad ideas — you might not use these in your final essay, but they can help you uncover specific angles that excite you. For instance, if you’re drawn to exploring Chicago, write that down.

Once you’ve made your list, it’s time to get specific. Begin with a short, structured freewriting session: identify three Northwestern resources, opportunities, or communities that stand out to you. Set a timer for 30 minutes and write for 10 minutes on each. Pay attention to which topics you write about most easily and which feel harder to expand on. Make note of your strongest ideas, then see which Northwestern prompts best align with them.

For more information on reflection exercises and choosing a topic for your supplemental essays, you can read our blog article.

Managing word counts

This year’s prompts for the Northwestern supplemental essays are limited to 200–300 words. That isn’t much, so use each word intentionally to maximize your essay’s impact. As you begin drafting your Northwestern supplement essays, don’t get bogged down by the word count just yet. Save that concern for revisions — right now, focus on getting your ideas on the page.

Once you have a full draft, then start tightening your writing. Read each sentence and ask yourself whether it truly adds value. Cutting phrases, sentences, or even whole paragraphs can feel discouraging, but careful editing will always make your essay stronger.

Remember, the best Northwestern supplemental essays tell a story. By the end, the admissions team should clearly understand who you are, what has shaped your interests and values, and how your perspective will contribute to the Northwestern community.

Northwestern Supplemental Essay Draft Key Questions:

  • Does your draft authentically reflect your interests?
  • Do you show you’ve done your research on Northwestern University and its offerings?
  • Does your draft tell a clear and compelling story?
  • Have you completely answered the prompt?
  • Does your draft complement the rest of your application?

Northwestern Supplemental Essays: Final Thoughts

The Northwestern University supplement essay prompts might seem intimidating. However, don’t let this discourage you! As long as you approach your Northwestern supplement essays with consideration and planning, you can write an essay sure to stand out.

In the research phase of answering the Northwestern supplemental essays, make sure to check out our free webinars and resources. For instance, hear Northwestern alumni discuss their experiences applying to and attending the university in this University of Chicago and Northwestern University: College Panel.

A well-crafted Northwestern University supplement essay can make a huge difference to the admissions team. Use this guide to help you craft an engaging Northwestern essay that will boost your chances of admission. Finally, don’t forget to revise, edit, and proofread your final Northwestern supplement essays. You might also ask a parent, counselor, advisor, or other trusted adult for a second pair of eyes.

To see examples of essays written by our advisors who were admitted to Northwestern, check out these Northwestern University Essay Examples (And Why They Worked).

northwestern university supplemental essays

We hope this guide helped you gain a stronger understanding of the Northwestern supplemental essays. Good luck!

This Northwestern supplemental essays guide was written by Abbie Sage. For more CollegeAdvisor.com resources on Northwestern, click here. Want help crafting your Northwestern supplement essay? Visit app.collegeadvisor.com to create your free account and schedule a no-cost advising consultation today.