Penn State Supplemental Essays
With test-optional colleges like Penn State on the rise, understanding the Penn State supplemental essay requirements is a crucial part of the application process. While transcripts help admissions understand your academic record, essays give them the chance to hear directly from you. That is why including a top tier Penn State essay is so valuable in the admissions process. But, before we jump into the Penn State supplemental essays, let’s learn a little more about the university.
Penn State University, situated in the vibrant state of Pennsylvania, is one of the top public universities in the nation. With a rich history of academic excellence, Penn State draws in a diverse and dynamic community of students. Each year, thousands of aspiring scholars submit their applications yearly, eager to join Penn State’s thriving community. As a result, Penn State enrollment is currently over 80,000 students across its multiple campuses. Wondering how to get into Penn State? Keep reading.
In this guide, we’ll dive into how to get into Penn State University by focusing on the Penn State essays.
Specifically, this guide will:
- Look at the Penn State University essay requirements
- Explore Penn State admissions criteria
- Dissect Penn State essay prompts
- Offer valuable insights for crafting exceptional Penn State essays
After reading this guide, you’ll have the tools you need to craft compelling Penn State essays. So, when you apply, you can be sure your application will leave a lasting impression on the Penn State admissions committee.
Let’s begin this exciting journey of learning about Penn State supplemental essays!
Penn State Admissions: Quick Facts
Pennsylvania State University Quick Facts
- Penn State Acceptance Rate: 61%
- Penn State Supplemental Essay Requirements: Penn State has no required supplemental essays, and submitting a Penn State personal statement essay is optional. However, applicants to Penn State’s honors college must complete several required essays.
- Penn State Schreyer Honors College Essay Requirements:
- 1 (~800 word) longer essay
- 8 (~200 word) short answer essays
- 1 (~200 word) optional short answer essay
- Penn State Application: Penn State admissions accepts the Common Application and the MyPennState application. First-year applications may be submitted through July 28. However, since Penn State operates on a rolling basis, acceptances may become more limited later in the admissions cycle.
- Penn State Application Deadlines:
- Early Action: November 1
- Regular Decision: Rolling after November 1
- Schreyer Honors College:
- Priority deadline for interviews: November 1
- Regular deadline: December 1
- Penn State Essay Tip: While a Personal Statement isn’t required, most applicants have already written one for another school, and including it can strengthen your application.
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.
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Does Penn State have supplemental essays?
If we define supplemental essays as those beyond the standard personal statement, then there are no Penn State supplemental essays. However, you can submit a Penn State personal statement. This essay is optional — you only need to write it if you choose to.
If you’re applying through the Common App, you can submit your Common App personal statement as your Penn State essay. And since many students apply to multiple schools through the Common App, there’s a good chance you’ve already written a personal statement. If so, including it in your Penn State application is quick and easy.
Although optional, submitting a personal statement can add real value to your application. Your personal statement gives you the chance to highlight your academic interests, personal experiences, and unique qualities — just like an official Penn State supplemental essay would. Since there aren’t any Penn State supplemental essays, submitting a personal statement is your main opportunity to share more about who you are and what you care about.
Penn State Supplemental Essay: Schreyer Honors College
The initial Penn State University application for admission does not have a mandatory Penn State supplemental essay. However, if you plan on applying to the Schreyer Honors College, you will be required to submit several Penn State supplemental essays.
Now that we have answered the question, “Does Penn State have supplemental essays?”, let’s take a closer look. In the following sections, we’ll explore the Penn State supplemental essay prompts for your application to the honors college. We’ll also share our advice on effectively responding to the various Penn State essays, so look out for helpful tips!
Applying to Schreyer Honors College
Attending Penn State University is an incredible opportunity for students. However, you may choose to further your academic opportunities by applying to Penn State Schreyer Honors College. Students applying to Penn State’ honors program should embody their values of academic excellence, leadership, and community engagement.
The Penn State Enrollment for undergraduates is over 42,000 students. While Penn State enrollment is high amongst general education collegiate students, Penn State enrollment at Schreyer Honors College is much lower. In fact, only 2% of students are Schreyer Scholars. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that the honors college program is incredibly competitive.
When applying be sure to follow these steps:
Schreyer Honors College application steps:
- Begin the application process early, ensuring you meet Penn State’s general admission requirements.
- Choose a major aligned with your interests and career goals.
- Use your Penn State supplemental essays to showcase your academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and volunteer work, emphasizing leadership roles and community service. Be yourself in your Penn State essays and application, as authenticity matters.
- Always meet deadlines and be prepared in the event you are selected for an interview.
How many essays are required for my Schreyer Honors College application?
In comparison to the general Penn State application, Penn State Schreyer’s application is lengthy. The honors college requires far more than just one additional Penn State supplemental essay — in total, applicants to Penn State Schreyer must complete nine Penn State supplemental essays.
To gain acceptance to Penn State Schreyer Honors College, applicants are tasked with two types of essays. Students must complete one 800-word maximum Penn State supplemental essay and respond to eight 200-word short answer questions. There is also one additional 200-word Penn State supplemental essay that is optional. If you choose to complete this optional essay, you will complete a total of 10 Penn State essays.
The combination of longer Penn State essays with shorter responses fosters a holistic evaluation of applicants. These prompts allow the Penn State admissions committee to assess many qualities of your character. Everything from academic accomplishments, character, and potential contributions to the university community.
In the next section, we’ll briefly break down each of the prompts for the Penn State Honors College supplemental essays.
Penn State Honors College Supplemental Essays
As previously stated, Penn State Schreyer Honors College has multiple Penn State essays. These Penn State Honors College supplemental essays are diverse and allow prospective students to present a comprehensive picture of themselves. For success, you must know the differences between the various Schreyer Honors College prompts and how to respond best.
This section will dive deep into each of the Penn State essay prompts for Penn State Schreyer. Let’s get started.
The first Penn State supplemental essay for Schreyer has an 800-word limit, making it even longer than a typical personal statement essay. The prompt itself is complex, asking multiple questions.
Penn State Schreyer Supplemental Essays: Long Essay Prompt
Schreyer Honors College Supplemental Essays: Prompt #1
If you had 20 minutes to pitch a transformational idea (an idea that affects or would influence a significant percentage of the populace), what would you pitch and why? Explain your thought process. Are there similar solutions already established and how might your idea enhance those solutions? How would this idea change the current state of things? How would you leverage your personal experiences and professional goals to make this idea a reality?
If we separate out each line of this prompt, we’d see this Penn State supplemental essay is actually six questions in one. To respond to this Penn State essay prompt effectively, you’ll need to address every element of the prompt:
- What idea would you pitch? Clearly explain your concept early in your essay. It doesn’t have to be your very first sentence, but you don’t want to get too far along without clarifying what it is you’re pitching.
- Why this idea? Ask yourself: why is this idea important to you? What significant issue or challenge would it help address?
- What is the thought process behind this idea? Showing how you arrived at this idea might include discussing what inspired your thinking or how certain experiences or observations have informed your perspective.
- Are there similar solutions already established and how might your idea enhance those solutions? Exploring similar or related ideas shows you’ve done your research and understand the efforts others have already made in this area.
- How would this idea change the current state of things? This is where you get to use your imagination and show your logical thinking. Think big, but don’t forget to stay grounded and make logical assumptions.
- How would you leverage your personal experiences and professional goals to make this idea a reality? This final piece of the puzzle invites you to touch on your personal skills, background, or experiences. What do you bring to the table?
The key to a successful response is making a compelling argument. This involves digging deep into the why — specifically your personal connection to this idea — and how your idea might play out in a larger context.
Penn State Schreyer Supplemental Essays: Short Answer Prompts
In addition to the longer Penn State essays, Penn State Schreyer requires applicants to respond to 8 short-response questions. These questions have a 200-word limit and are designed to provide quick glimpses into your interests. The eight Penn State essay prompts are as follows:
Schreyer Honors College Supplemental Essays: Short Answer Prompts
1. One of the Schreyer Honors College values is Empowered Growth. What values, beliefs or experiences have empowered you to grow intellectually and/or personally?
2. If you were able to go anywhere in the world, outside of the country you currently reside, where would you go and why?
3. List your extracurricular activities over the last four years. This can include school and non-school activities. Please include any leadership roles you have had.
4. Tell us about your most significant leadership experience and why leadership is important to you. This could include community roles, family contributions, research, clubs and organizations, etc. Describe challenges you’ve faced and successes you’ve had in these roles.
5. List awards or other recognitions (if any) you have received in or outside of school over the last four years.
6. Reflecting on the recognitions listed above, which one stands out as having an impact on your outlook and why?
7. Tell us about a book or other media that has made you think about something in a new way.
8. Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups, including shared geography, faith, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities or groups to which you belong and describe how it has influenced your life over the last four years.
These short answer prompts are specific, so be sure to respond to the questions accordingly. With a smaller word limit, you’ll need to stay focused on a clear topic and relevant connected ideas. Rather than worrying about how you think a Schreyer Scholar might answer, be honest in your Penn State essays. Picking topics you’re passionate about is a surefire way to capture your authentic self, even in these shorter essays.
Finally, let’s review the optional Penn State supplemental essay prompt:
Optional Schreyer Honors College Supplemental Essay
Please use this space to share information you would like us to consider that has not been discussed elsewhere in your application (this is optional).
Like the other short-answer essays, this optional Penn State supplemental essay has a 200-word limit. The prompt is extremely open-ended, meaning you can write about anything you want. We recommend completing it if there is something in your background or experience that adds context to your academic history, such as a dip in grades during a particular semester. If nothing comes to mind, don’t feel pressured to answer.
Up next, we’ll discuss how to respond to all Penn State essay prompts in order to enhance your overall application.
How to write Penn State supplemental essays
When writing Penn State essays, it’s crucial to ensure they enhance and strengthen your Penn State application. Below are our suggestions to help make your Penn State supplemental essays stand out:
1. Embrace authenticity and personal voice in each Penn State essay.
Infuse your Penn State supplemental essays with your genuine self. Share personal anecdotes and experiences that have shaped your values, passions, and aspirations. Avoid generic responses and instead focus on the distinctive aspects of your life journey.
2. Demonstrate knowledge and alignment with Penn State University.
Research Penn State University thoroughly. Understand the university’s values, mission, academic programs, campus culture, and initiatives. Integrate this knowledge into your Penn State essays to demonstrate your sincere interest and alignment with Penn State.
3. Prioritize proofreading and refinement in your Penn State Essays.
Pay meticulous attention to proofreading and editing your Penn State essays. Ensure impeccable grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. Verify the clarity and coherence of your ideas. Given the limited word count, every word must be chosen wisely and redundancy should be eliminated.
Try incorporating these strategies into each Penn State supplemental essay. For each prompt, showcase your unique qualities and underscore the valuable contributions you can bring to the Penn State community. Remember, Penn State supplemental essays are your opportunity to shine. And, moreover, convince the admissions committee that you are an excellent fit for Penn State University.
Does Penn State care about essays?
When it comes to the honors college, Penn State absolutely cares about your supplemental essays. Each Penn State supplemental essay prompt has been chosen by the admissions team to help narrow their applicant pool and select only the most well-rounded and promising students.
Each Penn State supplemental essay gives you unique opportunities to illuminate your distinct perspectives, life experiences, and personal attributes. The university gains a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of you through your Penn State supplemental essays. Ultimately, these Penn State essays offer a deeper insight into applicants’ character, intellectual curiosity, and alignment with the Schreyer Honor College’s core values.
More Essay Resources from CollegeAdvisor
CollegeAdvisor offers a range of valuable resources to help guide you through the post-secondary admissions process. Our goal is always to help students maximize their admissions odds, especially by crafting compelling college essays. So, here are a few of our favorite essay resources:
- College Essay Topics Guide: This is a comprehensive guide to help you choose compelling and relevant essay topics for your college applications. This resource provides valuable insights into crafting essays that highlight your personal experiences, interests, and aspirations.
- How to Write Better Essays: Our guide on writing better essays equips students with valuable tips, strategies, and techniques to enhance their essay-writing skills. You can apply any of these tips to your Penn State supplemental essays.
- Common App Essay Examples: The Common App essay is crucial to many college applications, including Penn State. CollegeAdvisor offers a collection of real Common App essay examples to inspire and guide students in creating compelling narratives.
Penn State Supplemental Essays – Takeaways
Navigating the college application process can be exciting and challenging. Knowing what to say and how to say it is an increasingly valuable skill. Here are seven takeaways to keep in mind when considering the Penn State supplemental essays:
5 Key Takeaways for Penn State Supplemental Essays
- First-year applicants do not need to complete a Penn State supplemental essay. However, they do have the option of submitting a Penn State personal statement.
- Students applying via the Common App can submit their personal statement essay as their Penn State personal statement.
- The Penn State Schreyer Honors College application requires nine Penn State supplemental essays. This includes one longer Penn State supplemental essay and eight short answer Penn State essays. There is one additional optional Penn State supplemental essay.
- The Schreyer Honors College highly values Penn State supplemental essays in its admissions process. They provide a holistic view of applicants that would otherwise be less dimensional.
- To excel at these Penn State supplemental essays, craft your responses authentically, align them with Penn State’s values, and demonstrate knowledge about the university. Also, proofread and refine your Penn State essays to ensure clarity and engagement!
Understanding the role of Penn State University supplemental essays and adhering to these tips can undoubtedly enhance your application. Still have questions about how to get into Penn State? Speak with one of our admissions experts today!
This article was written by senior advisor, Ashley Hollins. Are you looking for more admissions support? Click here to schedule a free meeting with one of our Admissions Specialists. Our team will discuss your profile during your meeting 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.
