How to Write the College of New Jersey Essay 2025-2026
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a highly regarded public liberal arts university in Ewing, New Jersey, known for its close-knit community, small class sizes, and strong emphasis on undergraduate teaching and research.
For the 2025-2026 application cycle, TCNJ has one required essay. It’s important that you write a strong response to set yourself apart from the thousands of other applicants TCNJ gets each year. Keep reading to find out how!
The College of New Jersey Supplemental Essay Prompt
Why are you interested in The College of New Jersey? (500 words)
The essay should follow a traditional “Why This College?” structure where you talk about your interests or goals and connect them to academic and extracurricular opportunities at TCNJ.
It’s common for students to get lazy with essays like this and write general statements so they can copy and paste them for other colleges, but do not fall into that trap! In order to demonstrate your genuine interest and commitment to the school, your responses need to be unique to TCNJ. Let’s look at some dos and don’ts of writing this essay.
DON’T: Talk About The Location, Weather, City, or Surrounding Area
We get it, situated between New York City and Philadelphia, TCNJ’s location has a ton to offer, and it very well might factor into your decision to apply. However, your essay is not the place for you to communicate that. There are hundreds of schools in the Northeastern US with access to great cities or the classic “New England college” feel, so you shouldn’t base your decision to apply to TCNJ around something that isn’t unique.
Think of your essay like dating. You want to flatter the admissions committee and make them feel wanted—don’t make them feel like you are just choosing them for their location.
DO: Include Specific Resources That Align With Your Interests
There are two parts to this. The first is that the reasons you list for wanting to attend have to be specific and unique. If you are talking about a class you are excited to take, look through the course roster and find a class that speaks to you. Don’t pick Biology 101 or Introductory Microeconomics since you can find these at any college. Diversity of Animal Behavior and PR Event Planning, however, are unique classes you should mention (these are not real TCNJ courses, by the way; this is just to show how specific you should get).
The second aspect of this piece of advice is to make sure the resources you mention relate to your chosen major or your interdisciplinary interests. For example, a student who is passionate about psychology should discuss her excitement about participating in behavioral neuroscience research with a distinguished professor. This aligns with her interest and would allow her to expand on why she is fascinated by the particular topic within psychology.
Yes, you might want to join a soccer club or a painting club for fun, but for the sake of this essay, try to keep the majority of resources you focus on closer aligned to your core academic interests. Towards the end, you can—and should—share some opportunities you want to take advantage of to demonstrate you will be an active campus member, but you don’t need to spend too much space on that.
DON’T: List Out A Dozen Reasons You Are Drawn to TCNJ
Along similar lines to the point above, the key is quality over quantity for this essay. Especially since you have limited space, try and limit the number of resources you mention to four to six. Focus on going in depth for each one by providing a personal connection; explain why you are drawn to the particular offering or what you hope to get out of it.
The more reasons you include, the less of an impact each one will have. There might be a lot you love about TCNJ, but for the sake of being concise, narrow it down to your top picks.
DO: Include an Anecdote or Personal Details
While the main focus of this essay should be on why you are interested in attending TCNJ and how you will be an active member on campus, this is also an opportunity for the admissions committee to learn about you.
Your essay should be focused around a central theme—ideally related to your academic interests—so a great way to establish that theme off the bat is to open with an anecdote. Given the limited word count, your story can be short and sweet. Just by including a little imagery and some personal background about where you came from, what you are interested in, or what you value will make your essay more engaging and help the admissions committee get to know you better.
Remember, the anecdote and the TCNJ resources you mention should be related in some way!
DON’T: Use Vague Emotional Appeals and Irrelevant Facts
As you’ve probably gathered by now, the key to a successful “Why This College?” essay is to be as specific as possible. Your essay should be composed of details about yourself and the school, so it would only make sense as a brainchild of the two.
It might be tempting to include phrases like “It felt like home” or “I can see myself fitting right in,” but contrary to popular belief, these add nothing to the essay. You could feel at home at a dozen other schools. The admissions committee would much rather hear about the community you will build within the National Society of Black Engineers, for example, to find your home.
Also, don’t include fun facts you learned on a campus visit or brochure in your essay. The admissions committee is familiar with the student-to-faculty ratio and knows the famous alumni who walked the halls. By including details like these over ones that relate to you more personally, it signals to the admissions committee you didn’t spend a lot of time researching, and therefore, you might not care as much about the school.
DO: Describe What You Can Bring to the Campus
Many students are tempted to spend their entire essay praising the school, but don’t forget that you are a catch! Even if you feel like you don’t have much to offer to a world-renowned institution, just know there is so much you can bring to the campus.
Whether it’s your unique perspective from growing up in a different country, an instrument you love to play that you want to teach your roommates, a talent for journalism that you want to bring to the campus newspaper, or something else entirely, there are infinite ways for students to contribute to the community.
This doesn’t have to be a large part of your essay, but sneak in a few sentences about what you will bring and how you will enrich others with your presence and perspective.
Example Essay
Now let’s take a look at an essay that takes the following advice into account:
“When my grandmother was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I was only twelve, but I remember being frustrated that her doctors spent more time adjusting prescriptions than helping her change her daily habits. I started going on walks with her every morning, helping her log meals, and translating nutritional information into words she could actually use. That experience made me realize how deeply public health depends on education and empathy—on connecting with people before they become patients. That’s the kind of impact I want to make, and it’s what draws me to The College of New Jersey.
At TCNJ, I’m excited by the chance to major in Public Health with a concentration in Community Health Education, a program that blends biological science with social understanding. Courses like Health Communication and Program Planning and Evaluation stand out because they teach not just how to analyze health issues, but how to design programs that actually change behavior. I’m also eager to work with Professor Phyllis Blumberg, whose research in health promotion and behavior aligns with my interest in creating community-based interventions for chronic disease prevention. The opportunity to learn from professors who treat undergraduates as collaborators, not just students, is something that sets TCNJ apart.
I’m especially drawn to the Center for Global Engagement and the Public Health study abroad program in Ghana, where students work with local organizations on maternal and child health initiatives. I want to understand how communities around the world tackle health disparities, and how culture shapes the way people access care. That kind of immersive experience will push me to think beyond the textbook—to see public health as a global language of care and innovation.
Back on campus, I hope to get involved with the Trenton Health Team Partnership, where TCNJ students collaborate with local health organizations to improve wellness in underserved communities. I can already imagine leading workshops on nutrition or physical activity for families—using the same compassionate, hands-on approach I learned while helping my grandmother. Experiences like these will allow me to contribute my curiosity, persistence, and empathy in ways that extend far beyond the classroom.
For me, The College of New Jersey isn’t just a place to study public health—it’s a place where I can grow into the kind of problem-solver who brings people together to create change. The college’s balance of research, real-world service, and tight-knit community feels like the right foundation for the kind of leader I want to become: someone who listens first, learns deeply, and turns care into action.”
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