How to Write the Cornell University Essays 2024-2025

The largest of the eight Ivy League universities, Cornell University is made up of eight undergraduate schools that applicants apply directly to. Because of this, you will be required to submit a school-specific supplemental essay (or essays) in addition to one campus-wide essay.

 

Cornell is an incredibly prestigious school with tens of thousands of applicants each year. In order to be one of the chosen few to attend, your essays will need to be thoughtful, well-written, and uniquely you. In this post, we’ll explain how to write the Cornell essays so you can maximize your chances of acceptance.

 

Read these Cornell essay examples written by real students to inspire your writing!

 

Cornell University Supplemental Essay Prompts

 

Before you apply to Cornell, you should determine which specific college is right for you. Each of Cornell’s colleges has its own majors and specific graduation requirements, though there are some majors that exist within multiple colleges. Understanding the differences between the colleges is essential when applying, since you will need to highlight the specific resources offered by each of them in your essays.

 

Below are the supplemental essay prompts for Cornell’s colleges (click to jump to the right section):

 

• All Applicants
• Brooks School of Public Policy
• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
• College of Arts and Sciences
• College of Engineering
• Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
• College of Human Ecology
• School of Industrial and Labor Relations
• College of Art, Architecture and Planning

 

 

This is a diversity essay, which asks you to reflect on a community that has significantly shaped you. Your goal is to showcase how your identity, values, and experiences are connected to a particular group, or, in other words, how this group has influenced your personal growth. Basically, while most of your Cornell application is focused on you alone, here the admissions committee is looking for insight into how you see yourself within the context of a broader group.

 

Understanding the Prompt

 

This essay asks you to do three main things:

 

• Define your community: Choose a community that is truly meaningful to you. This could be anything from a cultural group, to a club, to a group of friends who share a common interest. The definition is up to you, so think deeply about where you feel the deepest sense of belonging.
• Reflect on your experience: Consider how being a part of this community has shaped you. How have your beliefs, values, and goals evolved due to your membership in it? What experiences within this community have been most impactful?
• Focus on you: While the community is the lens through which you tell your story, the overall focus should still be on your personal growth and development. The admissions officers want to understand how your community has contributed to who you are today, so make sure the essay is about you, not the overall community.

 

Brainstorming Questions

 

To help you get started, consider the following questions:

 

• What community do you feel most connected to, and why?
• What values or beliefs have you developed because of this community?
• How has your community supported you during challenging times or celebrated your successes?
• Can you recall a specific event or moment that encapsulates your relationship with this community?
• In what ways have you contributed to your community, and how have those contributions shaped your identity?
• How would you be different if you were not part of this community?

 

One quick note here: if you are part of a community that is related to your racial identity, and you feel your race is an important part of who you are, focusing on that group could be a good idea. In June 2023, the Supreme Court overturned affirmative action, which means college admissions officers are no longer allowed to directly consider a student’s race or ethnicity. They can, however, consider race as part of a student’s broader story, in particular through the essay.

 

While you definitely don’t have to write about your race in response to this prompt, do be aware that if you don’t, and also don’t discuss it in any of your other essays, Cornell will be legally forbidden from factoring this aspect of your identity into their decision.

 

What Makes a Good Response

 

A strong essay will have the following elements:

 

• Personal Connection: Clearly show why this community is significant to you. Detailed descriptions of your involvement and vivid storytelling about your experiences will be both informative and engaging to read.
• Impactful Growth: Demonstrate how the community has influenced your personal growth and shaped your identity, whether by learning new values, gaining a sense of belonging, or developing leadership skills.
• Specificity: Use specific examples or anecdotes to illustrate your points. Rather than just stating you learned a lesson, show readers the moment when you came to that realization. Or instead of just mentioning a tradition within your community, place readers right alongside you and let them experience it vicariously.
• Reflection: Go beyond just telling a story. Reflect on what these experiences mean to you and why they matter to understanding who you will be in college.
• Authenticity: The essay should feel genuine and true to your experience. Avoid exaggerating or choosing a community just to impress the admissions committee–being disingenuous will show.

 

Hypothetical Student Examples

 

• Student A: A first-generation Mexican-American student. Growing up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, they found a deep connection with their local community center, where they volunteered as a mentor for younger kids. This student could discuss how the sense of responsibility they developed there shaped their desire to become a teacher.
• Student B: A member of an online fandom community. This student grew up in a small town where they felt isolated because of their unique interests in niche sci-fi books. They found a community online where people shared their passion, which gave them a sense of belonging and made them more self-confident.
• Student C: A student who has been on a competitive dance team since they were a child, which has taught them about being in touch with your body. That ability has inspired them to try things that would typically scare them, like rock climbing and snorkeling, because they can recognize the line between being out of your comfort zone physically and genuine pain.

 

Notice that these examples focus on three very different communities. While the word “community” may initially inspire thoughts of groups related to your race, gender, sexuality, cultural heritage, and so on–and you definitely can write an excellent essay about any of those things–don’t be afraid to cast a wider net.

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

 

• Being too broad: Avoid general statements about your community that could apply to anyone. Be specific about your experiences and your connection to the community.
• Focusing too much on the community and not enough on yourself: Remember, the essay is about you. You want your reader to come away from the essay wanting to accept you to Cornell, not join this community themselves.
• Choosing a cliché lesson: If the dancer above talked about resilience and hard work, their essay would blend in with thousands of others written by student-athletes. Make sure you have something to offer that’s unique to your own experience.
• Overemphasizing your contributions: While you do want to show how you’ve contributed to your community, this isn’t a resume. Your priority should be on showing how the community shaped you, not flexing your achievements.
• Writing about a community you’re not genuinely connected to: Don’t choose a community just because you think it will sound impressive. Your essay will be more compelling if it’s about a community you genuinely care about, even if it’s less “impressive” on paper.

 

Good and Bad Examples

 

Good Example

 

 

Why it’s good: This example uses vivid imagery to bring the reader into a specific experience within a clearly defined community. The student not only shows a deep personal connection to their cultural heritage, but also reflects on how the culture’s traditions have shaped their identity and values.

 

Bad Example

 

 

Why it’s bad: This example is too generic and could apply to anyone on a debate team. There are no specific details about the student’s experience, nor deeper insight into how being on the team has shaped them. The reflection is shallow, and focused more on the skills gained than on what this community means to the student as an individual.

 

 

This is a fairly straightforward “Why This Major?” prompt. A prompt like this seeks to understand your motives and interest in your intended major, how your background aligns with this interest, and what you intend to do with the major after college.

 

Before you begin writing, you should do some self-reflection. Ponder these questions for a bit and jot down some notes:

 

1) What are your genuine reasons for deciding on your major/this particular school?

 

You should ideally have picked a subject that you have a passion for, or at least a moderate interest in. If your reasons include parental pressures, money, or prestige, you’re already off to a bad start. You aren’t bound to any major until after you declare well into your college career, so if your reasons are any of the above, consider picking a different major to write about.

 

2) What are specific examples of things you enjoy in your field of study?

 

Instead of thinking “math” or “reading,” think “the paired samples t-test in statistics” or “novels that explore existentialist themes.” Specificity is essential to a good “Why This Major?” essay.

 

3) How will this major help you achieve your life and/or career goals?

 

Again, avoid writing about things like money or status. Universities want to see individuals with depth, people who strive to live fulfilling lives, realize their potential, and contribute to the betterment of the world, even in some small way. Saying that you want to make a lot of money is one-dimensional and self-serving, and will definitely not lead to a successful essay.

 

4) What was the best part of your experience, both within and outside the classroom?

 

5) Do you move into a certain emotional state of mind every time you explore this field of study? What do you find appealing about this state of mind?

 

Questions 4 and 5 are the ones you will probably be able to probe for personal anecdotes about the field of study. Remember, anecdotes are going to be your biggest asset when answering this prompt.

 

It’s okay if you’re undecided and picked this major because it appealed to you a bit more than others. Just be sure you can back up your decision with stories and experiences. If you can’t corroborate your interest at all, you may want to consider writing about a different major.

 

There is a writing trope you may have heard before that applies here: “Show, don’t tell.” Sure, you can explain that you have an interest in public policy then explain things you’ve done that are related to your intended major, but a better way to go about structuring your response is to let your background illustrate your passion for public policy. Allow your experiences and their outcomes to show your interest so that you don’t have to waste a chunk of your word count talking about your interest explicitly.

 

For example, consider two hypothetical responses from a student who wants to study Spanish in college:

 

 

 

The first example sounds rather generic and uses many declarative statements that lack feeling, so it doesn’t strongly convey the students interest in Spanish or motives for taking on the major. The second example, on the other hand, paints a vivid picture of the student’s formative experiences that inspired such a deep passion for the field of study. It thoroughly explores the student’s motivations through anecdotes, and even discusses future career plans.

 

The next part of the prompt moves away from your interest in the major, and toward your interest in the Brooks School. As before, you should strive for specificity here. Brooks offers two undergraduate majors: Policy Analysis and Management, and Health Care Policy. Browse your desired major’s website to get a feel for how this major at Brooks is different from equivalent majors elsewhere. One place to look for unique features is in the course offerings (here are PAM courses and here are HCP courses).

 

You’re trying to express a strong interest in Brooks, so you don’t want to say something common to most schools. Saying that you appreciate Brooks’s interdisciplinary approach to health care policy is inadequate because almost every college offering a Health Care Policy (or similar) major has a multidisciplinary approach. It simply isn’t possible to study this field without tackling multiple fields of study such as economics, political science, and health.

 

Instead of being general in your response, find something particular to focus on that piques your interest. For example, let’s say an Asian student is applying to Brooks to major in Health Care Policy, and her racial and gender identity serve as career motivations (which, incidentally, can be a strong personal angle to use when writing why she is interested in this major). She might notice that of all the HCP programs she’s looked at, only Brooks has a focus on the effects of demography on health care policy. Since she wants to pursue a career in helping to ensure that Asian women get proper representation in healthcare policy making, Brooks’s concentration on demographics is a unique feature that will contribute to her professional goals.

 

Remember to be well-intentioned in your motivations, honest and specific about your interests, and sincere in your entire response, and you will have a strongly crafted essay that is sure to catch Cornell’s attention.

 

 

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is the second-largest school at Cornell with majors ranging from communication to entomology. Even if you decide to apply as an undeclared major, you need to have potential areas of interest in mind to fully address the essay prompt.

 

The first half of this prompt follows the “Why This Major?” format that will become familiar as you apply to more colleges. You should use your current experiences to explain why you want to study the major you selected. A longitudinal approach lends itself well to this portion of the essay.

 

Think about the following questions we went over before to help you direct your response:

 

1) What are your sincere reasons for choosing this major and/or this particular school?

 

2) What are specific examples of things you enjoy in this field?

 

3) How will completing a degree in this major help you achieve your life and/or career goals?

 

4) What was the best part of your experience in this field, both academically and in your free time?

 

5) Do you experience a certain emotional state or frame of mind every time you explore this field of study? What about this state is appealing to you?

 

Questions 4 and 5 are the ones you will probably be able to probe for personal anecdotes about the field of study. Remember, anecdotes are going to be your biggest asset when answering this prompt.

 

For example, if you want to study animal science, you could begin by explaining how you always loved going to the zoo growing up. You can then transition into describing how this love of animals led you to volunteer at the local animal hospital, and conclude your essay by explaining that your time at the animal hospital inspired your desire to become a veterinarian. 

 

The second half of this prompt asks you to explain why you want to study your intended major through CALS and Cornell. You need to provide college-specific examples that directly relate to your prospective major. Find courses (course offerings can be found after clicking on your desired major), clubs, research opportunities, or opportunities for outreach that would be difficult to find at another university. Be very careful not to mention something generic that could apply to many schools, such as location, as this indicates that you have not done sufficient research and aren’t as interested in CALS as you claim to be.

 

Specificity is key. For example, a prospective Viticulture and Enology major could discuss the Stocking Hall teaching winery, which allows students to gain hands-on vineyard harvesting experience. A prospective Global Development major could talk about the course called “Just Food,” which offers a comprehensive review of food system paradigms in just one course. Don’t be afraid to discuss relevant programs in colleges outside of CALS as well, as CALS is interdisciplinary.

 

 

This is a perfect example of the Community Service essay. Schools that employ this kind of prompt want to know how you engage with the people and environment around you. Your engagement with the world is especially important to a college that focuses on agriculture and life sciences. Therefore, if you have had a positive impact on any community you’re a part of, we strongly encourage you to respond to this prompt.

 

Bear in mind that the word “community” is fairly ambiguous and can encompass many things; it doesn’t have to just be the area you live in. Community can include your hometown, income class, ethnic/racial background, gender identity, country of origin, language, illness, or even common interests. Before you begin writing, consider the following questions to guide the direction of your essay:

 

Do you have a deep involvement with any community service based club or organization, or an activism project? If not, is there a particular event during which you showed genuine altruism, generosity, or selflessness? 

 

When thinking through these questions, we recommend avoiding short-term projects like a one-week mission trip because you want to show a more sincere long-term commitment.

 

You should also try not to write about a very small event like helping an old woman carry her groceries for a few blocks. Instead, think of events that exhibit the same values that are at least a day long, such as spending the entire day at a nursing home keeping an old woman company.

 

If you don’t have any deep involvement with an organization or have an event that showcases such community values, are there any activities you participate in that may have a positive social impact, even if the impact isn’t directly related to the activity? For example, you might do data entry for a medical care center, which undoubtedly has a positive social impact.

 

You are being asked to elaborate on one event to show how your values are reflected in your actions, so don’t just make a laundry list of community service activities you’ve done.

 

Once you’ve chosen your experience, think about what happened, how you felt and what you thought when it happened, how you think back on the event now, and which values of yours motivated you to partake in this event. Also be able to describe what your impact ultimately was.

 

Now that you have your event and motivations in mind, it’s time to think about structure. When writing about a single experience, consider a narrative approach. An essay that simply lists facts lacks the emotion that can truly elevate a response. Show your event through your eyes. Include vivid imagery and a personal perspective. In other words: show, don’t tell. Allow your response to feel like a movie scene rather than a news report.

 

To get a concrete sense of what your response should look like, and what you want to avoid, check out the following examples:

 

Good Example: 

 

 

Why it’s good: This example takes full advantage of the limited space by providing a host of details about a specific story that highlights the student’s initiative and leadership, as well as the tangible benefits of their efforts. The student also connects their passion for the environment to a desire to make their overall community better, which aligns perfectly with CALS’ mission as laid out in the prompt.

 

Bad Example:

 

 

Why it’s bad: Though the story this student has chosen has potential, their current description reads more like a resume item than a personal reflection. The engaging details of the first example are missing, and the student doesn’t seem to have any deeper, personal investment in these cleanups.

 

Overall, be sincere about your motivations, thoughtful about your impact, and specific in your description. Be careful not to give a cliché lesson from the experience, nor to paint yourself as some kind of savior to the community you served. Instead, be honest about what your experiences taught you, and how they helped you grow.

 

 

Bear in mind that immediately after the prompt there is a section where you are asked to select all that apply. This is not a writing portion, but rather a quick survey for the admissions committee to know about your background.

 

The prompt itself is optional, but if you have a substantial agricultural background or a keen interest in pursuing a career in agriculture, we encourage you to respond to it. The prompt is rather straightforward, so if you are able and willing to answer it, it should not be a stressful undertaking.

 

For this kind of prompt, you may wish to consider a collection essay structure. If you have an agricultural background, you won’t be able to thoroughly describe your responsibilities and experiences with just one anecdote. The best structure to respond to this prompt is a small collection of personal anecdotes that showcase your background as well as your sincere interest in an agricultural career.

 

Despite our recommendation of a collection structure, you may find it helpful to connect each of your anecdotes with some kind of thread. A narrative that links each of your anecdotes together may provide the admissions committee with a clearer picture of where you came from, where you’re going, and why.

 

For example, consider a hypothetical student who grew up on a farm and developed a deep passion for the agricultural sciences. He might have started helping his family do farm work from a very young age, waking up at the break of dawn to feed the chickens and milk the cows. He might write about how these formative experiences forged his entire identity and how he’ll always be a farm boy at heart. 

 

He could then move into a discussion of how some of his tasks became his full responsibilities when he got old enough, and how he now does more and more of the essential work as his dad is getting older. He could wrap up his response with a sincere examination of his future goals, whether they be to come home and improve his family’s own farm through his education or to move into agricultural research to improve farming methods for everyone.

 

Be genuine about your experiences and passions — let them both shine through in your word choice and anecdotes.

 

 

This prompt is a pretty standard “Why This Major?” archetype. Unless you are undecided, you should narrow down the broad statement of your “passion for learning” into a more manageable focus on a specific topic you are interested in pursuing. In order to write a successful essay, you need to accomplish three main things:

 

1. Explain how your interest developed
2. Detail your goals and aspirations
3. Describe how you will use school resources to your benefit

 

Beginning with explaining how your interest developed, the best way to do this is through examples. Whether you include a few examples of you deep in research or you share an anecdote about your first encounter with the subject, make sure to paint a picture for the reader. Show us what about the topic excites you, how it makes you feel, and why you fell in love with it. Here are a few examples of successful ways to accomplish this:

 

 

 

Once you’ve established what your interest is, where it came from, and why you are passionate about it, it’s time to be more forward-looking. Cornell wants to admit students who are ambitious and driven, with a passion for changing the world. Now’s the time to share your aspirations with the admissions committee.

 

Tell the reader what you hope to accomplish one day in regards to your field of study. You might know exactly what you want, for example a student who is going into Information Science might want to create a social media platform that actively promotes diversity of ideas rather than echo chambers as part of its mission. On the other hand, another student might know they want to major in psychology, but they don’t know how they want to use it yet.

 

In the event you don’t have a clearly defined goal, it’s okay to admit you don’t know where your studies will take you—after all, the whole point of college is to explore new ideas and figure out what you are passionate about. Don’t completely write off this portion of the essay though. Still talk about what you hope to bring to the world in a broader sense. Rather than describing the specific contribution you will make to the world of medicine, describe how you are studying biology to learn about the inner workings of the human body so you are equipped to handle any organ or system.

 

Finally, you’ll want to dedicate a good portion (around 200-300 words) on the Cornell-specific opportunities you will utilize during your four years to both deepen your passion and work towards your goals.

 

There are two key things to keep in mind. First, quality over quantity is everything here. Name dropping four classes and three professors without expanding on why you are drawn to them won’t add much to your essay. Instead, pick three or four resources that closely align with you and explain why you are excited about this opportunity and how it will help you achieve your goals.

 

Secondly, the offerings you discuss have to be unique to Cornell. Nearly every school you apply to will offer Chemistry 101 or have a finance club. You need to spend some time poking around Cornell’s website to find distinctive opportunities you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else to prove to the admissions committee you genuinely want to go to the school. Below are some ideas of things to look for as you research the school:

 

• Look at the course roster and find classes in your major (don’t just pick Biology 101; the more specific, the better!)
• Find professors in your department and the research they conduct
• Explore unique clubs and extracurriculars that align with your interests 
• Look into special programs or centers (ie. Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity or College Scholar Program
• Research Cornell-specific study abroad programs and hubs

 

For example, the student who loves books and reading may want to one day become a fantasy writer to help others immerse themselves in new worlds. They could mention wanting to take the Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Witchcraft First-Year Writing Seminar at Cornell in their essay.

 

 

It’s challenging to distill your personality down to three words, so to begin, come up with a long list of words that you think characterize you, and then narrow them down to the ones that are most important to you. They don’t need to be directly related to engineering, but you want to choose words that at least describe qualities of yourself that could translate to the field of engineering broadly. If you need help, you can ask your friends and family for ideas.

 

You don’t have to write the most exotic words, but you should avoid very simple descriptors like “fun, nice, smart.” These choices can come across as cliché, and don’t tell the admissions committee anything about you. Try more interesting words like “determined, upbeat, daring,” or even nouns like “brother, athlete, artist.”

 

If words are your strong suit, you can try to be more creative with your choices. You might even want to pick a word from another language if that language or its culture is an important part of your identity. Maybe you’re a hard worker, a lighthearted person, and you help your father fix cars in your predominantly Hispanic community; you may choose to write “indefatigable, whimsical, mecánico.”

 

Note that you should strive to only choose words you know/use regularly. Don’t just use a thesaurus to try to find big words, because you may accidentally use a word with a nuanced meaning that isn’t what you’re looking for. Additionally, if you use flowery language in this section but not in your writing supplement, this will come off as contradictory and insincere.

 

The same idea applies to the three words you choose to describe Cornell Engineering. You should do plenty of research on Cornell Engineering before even attempting to choose three words. Determine what is important to their program, reach out to friends you may know in the program, or look through their website and social media to figure out what their program is all about.

 

You should not attempt to randomly select words about engineering in general. In fact, you could write an inspiring answer by picking some that seemingly have nothing to do with engineering! Avoid picking generic, simple words as well as words of empty praise, such as “unique,” “competitive,” “prestigious,” and “innovative.” Anyone can tell Cornell that it’s a good university — doing so here would sound hollow and plain. Try to think of more nuanced and descriptive words that wouldn’t apply broadly to every engineering college.

 

For example, you might choose “eclectic,” “defiant,” and “virtuous.” These are creative choices, but more importantly, they are words you could defend in an interview. If asked about “eclectic,” you can mention the diversity of the fields which Cornell has facilities for — the university has centers in subjects ranging from data science to nanomedical technology to waste management. You can defend “defiant” by discussing how a certain lab you researched never settles for the status quo, but instead seeks to always go beyond what is deemed possible. Finally, you might defend “virtuous” by mentioning Cornell Engineering’s mission to “advance the quality of life on our planet.”

 

With regards to the “extracurricular” short response, you’ll want to reflect on an activity, organization, or responsibility that has had a significant impact on your life. You should focus on one specific experience, and briefly explain what you did and why it was meaningful to you. Since this is a short answer, focus on the most important details and avoid unnecessary elaboration.

 

For example, you might talk about volunteering at an animal shelter, to demonstrate your passion for animal welfare and giving back to your community, and explain how working with animals has taught you to be more patient and empathetic. Or, you could talk about how babysitting your six younger siblings, and sometimes missing out on social events as a result, showed you the importance of putting others’ needs above your own.

 

Your approach should be similar with the award/achievement short response. You want to make sure your readers understand not just what the award is and what you had to do to earn it, but also the skills you developed along the way, and/or how the experience shaped your future goals. Again, be concise, and don’t brag: stay focused on just the most important details so that you don’t run out of space.

 

For example, you could describe the time you won a regional science fair, even after faulty data forced you to completely change your project halfway through, and how this experience taught you to always keep the bigger picture of your research in mind, rather than allowing relatively minor snags to throw you off course.

 

Or, you might talk about the mural you designed for your Spanish classroom, which included images from a wide range of Spanish-speaking cultures, not just Spain and Mexico like the previous classroom decorations, and how your motivation was to show that even within something we typically treat as monolithic, like a language, there is always diversity of experience beneath the surface, and that diversity should be celebrated.

 

Whatever the activity, responsibility, or award is, make sure you touch on its broader relevance to your personality and development. Even in a short response, you always want to make sure admissions officers understand why this thing matters for imagining what kind of college student you’ll be.

 

 

This is an archetypal “Why This Major?” prompt, focused on engineering in particular. Your goals are to convey your passion for engineering, and to show how your past experiences have prepared you to succeed in the field. The admissions committee wants to understand what drives your interest in engineering, how you’ve explored this interest, what your future goals in the field are, and how you see yourself achieving them.

 

Note: Typically, in a “Why Major” essay you would also want to incorporate details about why you want to study this field at the school in question, but since there is a separate “Why Cornell Engineering” supplement here, your response here doesn’t have to have that element.

 

Understanding the Prompt

 

To answer this prompt effectively, you need to reflect on why you were initially drawn to engineering, and which experiences you’ve had that have refined your interest in the field. Think about specific moments, projects, or topics that sparked your fascination. Then, consider what excites you most about studying engineering and how you envision applying what you learn to solve real-world problems.

 

Brainstorming Questions

 

• What was the first experience that made you interested in engineering? A class, a specific project, an extracurricular activity, a self-driven passion project? Something else entirely?
• How have you explored engineering outside the classroom? Have you participated in clubs or internships, or pursued personal projects, that furthered your interest?
• What specific problems or challenges in the world do you want to address through engineering?
• Which areas of engineering (mechanical, electrical, civil, etc.) particularly interest you, and why?
• How do you see engineering shaping your future? What impact do you hope to make in the field, or in society as a whole by using engineering principles?

 

What Makes a Good Response

 

• Personal and Specific: Your essay should include specific experiences that ignited and sustained your interest in engineering. Avoid vague statements like “I like solving problems”–instead, go deeper, to “Moving from Seattle to Miami made me fully appreciate the transformative power of solar energy.”
• Connected to Future Goals: Show how your interest in engineering is tied to what you want to accomplish in the future. Whether your goal is making the world more sustainable, developing new technologies, or exploring outer space or the deep sea, make sure they’re clear.
• Exploration and Engagement: Demonstrate how you’ve actively engaged with engineering beyond the classroom, through clubs, competitions, internships, or self-driven projects.

 

Hypothetical Student Examples

 

• Student A: A student who grew up in an area prone to flooding and became interested in civil engineering after seeing the impact of natural disasters on their community. They have spent their high school years researching flood control methods and participating in environmental science clubs. They hope to study civil engineering to design innovative infrastructure that can protect vulnerable communities.
• Student B: A student who has always loved boats and machines. They spent weekends working on engines with their grandfather and later joined their school’s robotics team. They want to study mechanical engineering to design boat motors with less risk of harming sea life, as in addition to their love of mechanics, they want to protect the manatees who live in the lagoon near their house in Florida.
• Student C: A student fascinated by the intersection of biology and technology, who got hooked on biomedical engineering after shadowing a doctor who used robotic surgery techniques. They’ve volunteered in a lab which designs prosthetics, and they hope to continue this work in college to keep improving patients’ quality of life.

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

 

• Generic Statements: Avoid saying things like “Engineering is a stable career” or “I’m good at math and science.” These statements don’t tell the admissions committee anything unique about you, and as a result they make your interest in engineering seem shallow.
• Lack of Specificity: Don’t just mention a general interest in engineering as a whole. Be specific about what type of engineering interests you, as well as which topics within that subfield you’re most drawn to, and why.
• Résumé-Like Listing: Don’t simply list your achievements or experiences. Instead, provide meaningful reflection on how these experiences deepened your interest in engineering and what you learned from them.
• Cliché Narratives: Steer clear of overused stories, like simply “taking things apart as a child.” Remember, your goal is to set yourself apart from other applicants, so while you don’t have to write something Cornell has absolutely never seen before–which would be practically impossible–make sure that you choose anecdotes that are at least somewhat distinctive to you.

 

Good and Bad Examples

 

Good Example:

 

 

Why it’s good: This example is specific, personal, and shows a clear connection between the student’s past experiences and future goals. The student demonstrates a deep understanding of and clear excitement about a particular topic within engineering, and we can easily imagine what they’d bring to the field as a Cornell engineering student and after graduation.

 

Bad Example:

 

 

Why it’s bad: This student comes across as earnest, but their interest in engineering stays way too broad. Sure, they identify environmental engineering as the field they’re most interested in, but they fail to pick out one specific topic that especially fascinates them, or incorporate anecdotes that show where their fascination comes from in the first place.

 

 

This is basically a classic “Why This College?” prompt, but focused on Cornell Engineering, rather than the whole institution of Cornell. Your goal is to demonstrate genuine enthusiasm for the program by connecting your academic interests and future goals with specific resources, opportunities, and aspects of Cornell’s engineering program.

 

Understanding the Prompt

 

To answer this prompt effectively, you need to do thorough research on Cornell Engineering and identify the unique aspects of the program that align with your interests. Avoid generalities that could apply to any school, like “Cornell has one of the top-ranked engineering programs,” and instead focus on what specifically draws you to their engineering program–classes, labs, professors, internship or study abroad opportunities, and so on. Your response should highlight things that can only be found at Cornell, and explain how they will help you achieve your specific goals.

 

Brainstorming Questions

 

To get started, consider these questions:

 

• Is there coursework at Cornell in a specific area of engineering that you find especially appealing?
• Are there any particular professors at Cornell whose work or research excites you? Why?
• What unique facilities, labs, or research centers at Cornell would you like to use?
• How do Cornell’s clubs, organizations, or community initiatives connect with your engineering interests?
• How will Cornell Engineering help you achieve your long-term goals?
• Have you visited the campus or attended any online sessions? What did you notice that stood out to you?

 

What Makes a Good Response

 

A strong response will include:

 

• Specificity: Mention specific programs, labs, or professors that align with your interests, and explain why these resources excite you.
• Connection to Goals: Clearly link how Cornell’s offerings will help you realize your academic or career aspirations.
• Passion for Engineering: Show why you’re drawn to these specific opportunities, by citing past experiences or projects that have set you up for success at Cornell.
• Personalization: Relate your interests and goals to Cornell in a way that shows you’ve done your research and can’t get the same experience anywhere else.

 

Hypothetical Student Examples

 

• Robotics Enthusiast: A student passionate about robotics, who has built several robots in high school and is interested in designing space exploration rovers. They could discuss how they’re eager to work with Professor Hadas Kress-Gazit, to refine their understanding of the language robots use, and develop more sophisticated ways for humans on earth to communicate with rovers millions of miles away. They might also mention a desire to join the Cornell University Unmanned Air Systems team to connect with peers who share their interests.
• Sustainable Energy Advocate: A student focused on renewable energy and sustainability, especially solar power. They could talk about their interest in Cornell’s Atkinson Center for Sustainability, particularly research that’s been done there on using lower-quality agricultural land for solar farming instead of food farming, and how that research would connect to their theoretical work in classes like “Analysis of Sustainable Energy Systems”

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

 

• Being Too General: Avoid vague statements like “Cornell is a top engineering school,” or even “Cornell has renowned professors in my areas of interest.” Don’t just mention those professors–actually find one and describe how your interests align with their work.
• Name-Dropping Without Substance: At the same time, don’t just mention a professor’s name or reference a lab. There should always be a clear explanation of how this resource will help you continue to grow as an engineer.
• Ignoring Your Personal Connection: Again, don’t just list what Cornell offers. Show how their resources connect to your past experiences and future goals.
• Stay Focused On Engineering: There are likely other aspects of Cornell that appeal to you beyond the engineering program, but remember that this is a supplement for the College of Engineering specifically, so talking about your passion for acapella probably won’t move the needle much for admissions officers.

 

Excerpts From Good and Bad Examples

 

Good Example: 

 

 

Why it’s good: This response is specific, personal, and shows a clear connection between the student’s past experiences, their engineering goals, and the unique opportunities available at Cornell. The student demonstrates deep knowledge of Cornell’s resources and explains how they will help them achieve their aspirations.

 

Bad Example: 

 

 

Why it’s bad: This response is generic and could apply to almost any engineering school. There is no detail about Cornell, nor description of the student’s personal goals and how Cornell will help them reach them. The student doesn’t seem to have done any research on Cornell or why the school is right for them.

 

 

Understanding the Prompt

 

This prompt asks you to reflect on what truly makes you happy. While the other engineering prompts are more technical in nature, and want to concretely evaluate your fit for this rigorous course of study, here the admissions committee wants to get a broader sense of your personality, interests, and values. Don’t worry about being stereotypically impressive–just be honest.

 

Brainstorming Questions

 

• What are the activities, experiences, or moments in your life that make you feel most fulfilled?
• Are there particular people, places, or hobbies that bring you joy?
• How do you feel when you engage in these joyful activities or moments?
• Why does this bring you joy, and what does it say about you?

 

What Makes a Good Response

 

• Specificity: Rather than listing several things, focus on one or two that are deeply meaningful to you. You only have 100 words, and you want to provide some reflection on the things you choose, so don’t let your essay turn into a bullet point list.
• Emotional Connection: Describe why this thing brings you joy, using vivid language to convey your feelings.
• Authenticity: Choose something that genuinely makes you happy, rather than what you think the admissions committee wants to hear. With this kind of more unconventional supplement, genuine enthusiasm goes a long way.
• Storytelling: If possible, include a brief anecdote or example that illustrates your joy.

 

Hypothetical Student Examples

 

• A nature lover who feels most at peace when hiking in the mountains might describe the awe they feel when watching the sun rise from a peak, and how that wipes away their exhaustion from waking up in the middle of the night.
• A music enthusiast who finds joy in playing the piano could describe the moments when they use a challenging piece as an opportunity to process their own emotions.
• A family-oriented student who loves cooking with their grandparents might talk about the joy of recreating a family recipe, which connects them to their cultural heritage.

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

 

• Being too broad or vague: Saying “spending time with friends” won’t do anything to show what you have to offer that another applicant doesn’t. “Picking out our favorite donuts–maple bar, for me, chocolate sprinkles for Dean, and cream-filled for Andy” is more at the level you want.
• Listing too many things: Avoid trying to cover too much in just 100 words. Exploring one thing in depth will make more of an impact than rattling off 10 without exploring them in depth.
• Writing what you think they want to hear: As noted above, you’ve had plenty of chances to impress already. Here, focus on telling something that they can’t already learn from some other part of your application.

 

Good and Bad Examples

 

Good Example: 

 

 

Why it’s good: This example is specific, evokes strong imagery, and shows a deep emotional connection to family and cultural traditions.

 

Bad Example: 

 

 

Why it’s bad: This example is too vague, lacks specific details, and doesn’t convey a deep emotional connection to these moments or personal insight into why they’re meaningful to the student.

 

 

The goal of this type of essay is to find out how your values and background influence your personal views and goals. Admissions committees look to build diverse classes, so you’ll want your response for this to be individualized and authentic. To learn more about this kind of prompt, check out our tips for writing a diversity essay.

 

What to Consider Before You Write

 

Coming up with a good topic for a diversity essay can be tricky. This is what you’ll want to keep in mind as you think of how to approach the question:

 

• Think about your various identities and what makes you unique. This could be your community, racial identity, religion, hobbies, disability status, gender, language, hometown, country of origin, etc. You may want to make a list and write about the one you are most familiar with and feel most comfortable talking about.
• Consider how you relate to this identity and how you feel about being a part of this group. Have you developed any personality traits through this background? If so, how have they changed over time?
• Have any major formative events occurred in your life because of this background? What were they and how did they shape you into the person you are today?
• Have you learned any skills through one of these identities? What are they?
• How can you connect this with Cornell Engineering?

 

It is important to consider how your emotions tie in with one of your identities and what personal stories demonstrate this emotional connection. This way, you can write an essay that shows an aspect of your background and how it has shaped you.

 

You’ll want about 25% of the essay to summarize the part of your background that you are describing* and the remaining 75% to talk about how you have been impacted by it. As you wrap up your response, write about how your background will make you a good addition to the Cornell Engineering community.

 

Mistakes To Avoid

 

Don’t list all your identities: This essay isn’t the time to talk about all your personal identities. Instead, focus on one of them and dive deeper into what it is and why it’s important to you.

 

Don’t focus solely on negative experiences: It’s fine to mention negative experiences related to your identity, and you should absolutely make sure that the experiences you write about are authentic to you. However, admissions committees often look for stories with positive or optimistic endings. Not everything has a happy ending, but it’s harder to write a successful and compelling negative essay.

 

Don’t pick a cliché topic: There are topics such as immigration stories that have been used time and time again in supplementary essays. Think about an identity you have that may be unique or more nuanced.

 

Here’s how a response might look:

 

 

This example starts by describing how jazz, an important part of the student’s background, is perceived, then connects the skills and lessons that the student learned through improvisation to engineering. In other words, the student shows that their identity as a jazz pianist goes beyond when they’re actually playing the piano, and that this identity can help them in other areas of their life as well, including engineering.

 

Finally, the concrete example of how they’ve already applied their improvisation abilities to a project in their own home proves to Cornell admissions officers that they aren’t just speaking in hypotheticals—they’re truly ready to hit the ground running the second they arrive on Cornell’s campus.

 

 

The SC Johnson College of Business is made up of two schools: The Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and the School of Hotel Administration. Our breakdown will focus on these two schools separately, but keep in mind that you can write about both in your essay, especially if your interests and goals are best served by both schools.

 

Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

 

The Dyson School is known as one of the most competitive at Cornell. In order to stand out among the tough competition, you will need to clearly explain why your goals and interests align with Dyson’s unique program.

 

Your choice to apply to Dyson should extend beyond a basic interest in economics or management. Dyson’s program is interdisciplinary in nature, and the school encourages its students to study various disciplines outside of AEM. Having a distinct interdisciplinary focus such as agro-economics is a great way to stand out in your supplemental essay.

 

Your reasons for applying to Dyson should be supported by your present interests and activities. For example, a student discussing agricultural economics could discuss leadership roles in a local 4H club, or efforts to learn more about agricultural economics through recent journals and news pieces.

 

Aim to be as detailed as possible when discussing your future goals and clearly connect them to Dyson’s offerings. The agricultural economics student could talk about how Dyson’s flexible curriculum would also allow them to take agriculture classes.

 

Be sure to include your post-college goals and how the College of Business would help you achieve them. For example, our hypothetical agro-economics student might be interested in starting an organization to eliminate food deserts, by diverting food that would’ve otherwise gone to waste. They could mention the course “HADM 4315: Hunger, Health and Nonprofit Social Enterprise” in the School of Hotel Administration (remember that you can talk about both schools in the College of Business!). This would allow the student to learn “management best practices for leading nonprofit food service organizations.”

 

School of Hotel Administration

 

SHA consistently ranks as the best hotel school in the United States, and applicants should have a clear, demonstrated interest in hospitality-related careers. In addition to relevant experience, SHA looks for the interpersonal skills required to be successful in the hospitality industry.

 

Your hospitality experiences should directly show why you chose to apply to SHA and why you are interested in hospitality management. For example, instead of simply listing your duties as a bellhop at a local hotel, describe how the integration of many fast-paced movements at a hotel invigorates you.

 

Connect these experiences to your long-term plans and aspirations, and explain how the Hotel School will provide you with the tools you need to achieve these goals. If you want to manage a hotel one day, explain how SHA will provide the hands-on experiences and practical skills you will need to run an establishment.

 

SHA is the only college at Cornell that requires an admissions interview, which focuses on the applicant’s interpersonal skills. While describing your experiences within hospitality, make sure to highlight personal attributes such as your empathy or adaptability, especially through anecdotes. Perhaps a hotel client once lost his dog, and you went above and beyond to help him make missing dog signs, even putting them up across the city. Maybe the hotel’s fitness center yoga instructor once called in sick at the last minute, and you stepped in with your knowledge of yoga, leading the class in her stead. These details allow an admissions counselor to see that you would thrive at SHA.

 

 

This prompt is sort of a blend between the “Why This College?” and “Why This Major?” prompts. The College of Human Ecology (CHE) wants to find the applicants who have the most sincere interest in the school and their anticipated major, so this essay is your chance to let your background and passion shine through.

 

Before you begin writing, think about the reasons for your decision. What life experiences led you to want to study at the College of Human Ecology? If you’ve decided on a major, why do you want to pursue that major? Think about your academic and career goals, but don’t just write about wanting a prestigious education or trying to make a large salary. Colleges don’t like selfish and shallow goals; they want students with deeper aspirations and a genuine interest in their respective fields.

 

CHE focuses on the exploration of human connection and the human experience. Human Ecology is interdisciplinary by nature and has strong roots in research and public engagement. Your supplemental essay should reflect these themes while also explaining your interest in your intended major.

 

Use your high school classes, extracurriculars, and personal projects to explain why you applied to CHE. If you want to study nutritional sciences, you could discuss your role in the Health Club at your high school. Make sure to explain why your intended career path interests you. Maybe you’re a runner and you’re fascinated by how diet impacts physical performance. Connecting your unique personal experiences to a broader desire to improve the human experience — and potentially adding interdisciplinary elements — will help deepen your connection to the College of Human Ecology.

 

The next part of this prompt asks how your specific major will contribute to your plans for the future. Be as specific as possible. For example, instead of broadly stating that studying fashion design and management will help prepare you for the fashion industry, discuss how the studio-based classes will provide you with both a strong physical skill set and a portfolio of work for job applications. Or if you want to start your own sustainable fashion brand, mention how the courses in Fiber Science will allow you to learn about innovative ways to create eco-friendly fibers and dyes.

 

After you have some idea of your motivations and goals, do your research. You need to demonstrate how CHE and your desired major will help you achieve your goals. Look over the departments and courses, faculty, and research to find some unique features of the college that you can benefit from during and after your college career.

 

If you don’t have a specific major in mind, you should still show interest in CHE by mentioning two or three majors you’re considering and why. Include personal stories that can corroborate your interest in Human Ecology, then try to connect those stories with a couple of CHE majors.

 

As we discussed before, there are several things you should avoid when writing your response:

 

• Empty flattery: Don’t simply write about how good the College of Human Ecology is or how cool a specific major is without elaborating in a very specific manner. Talking about the university with such vague flattery suggests you have nothing more substantive or specific to say.

• Name-dropping: You should do research on the college, but don’t name classes or faculty members just to have them in your essay. A list of names doesn’t speak to your goals or interests. Instead, explain why those courses, activities, or professors are interesting to you. The college wants to hear about what resonates with you, but also about why it resonates with you.
• Being generic: Don’t write about resources common to all colleges such as location, class size, a strong program in X, etc. This would suggest that you don’t have anything specific to say or that you copied the response you wrote for another school.

 

 

The School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) studies the world of work, and the intellectual interests you write about should also involve labor and human capital. The ILR community has a strong drive for public service, so making social service the focus of your essay will help explain your choice in ILR. This isn’t exactly a community service prompt, but you might want to mention any service experience you have, how you feel about that experience, and how that experience has motivated your interest in ILR.

 

Given the specificity of the prompt, it’s imperative that you provide concrete examples of how your experiences relate to your intellectual interests. For example, you can discuss how studying disability rights in your American History class made you want to become an advocate, or how volunteering in a local lawyer’s office helped you discover a deep interest in labor law.

 

Your essay should also explain why you are interested in your chosen subject matter to fully address what makes it exciting to you. Does the ability to advocate for others inspire your passion for disability rights in the workplace? 

 

Your reasons can be more personal too. Maybe you have a friend or relative with a disability and have witnessed how many workers with disabilities are underpaid and exploited. Or, perhaps you’re interested in labor law because you want to defend workers in minority groups from discrimination.

 

Once you’ve established your experiences and motivations, you need to draw connections to ILR. This is where research will be extremely helpful. Look into ILR’s departments and courses, faculty, areas of expertise, and research opportunities to inspire your writing. Keep in mind that all undergraduate students at ILR have the same major — Industrial and Labor Relations. Nevertheless, there are opportunities to focus your study on one of the related disciplines, so be sure to write to your strengths and interests.

 

Choose ILR-specific programs to explain why the school is the right fit for you. For example, a future law student could mention ILR’s intensive legal writing seminars. The prospective student could also discuss the Labor & Employment Law Program in NYC, which focuses on managing repositories for documents related to acts of workplace discrimination.

 

 

Before you scroll down to the writing supplement prompt, you’ll be asked for three words that best describe you. It’s tough to distill your personality down to three words, so to start, come up with a long list of words that you think characterize you, and then narrow them down to the ones that are most important to you. If you need help, you can poll your friends and family.

 

You don’t need the most exotic words, but you should avoid very simple descriptors like “fun, nice, smart.” These choices are too safe and plain, and don’t tell the admissions committee anything about you. Try more interesting words like “determined, upbeat, daring,” or even nouns like “brother, athlete, artist.”

 

If words are your thing or you consider yourself a writer, you can try to be more ambitious with your choices. You might even want to pick a word from another language if that language is an important part of your identity. Maybe you’re a hard worker, a lighthearted person, and a singer of Latin music; you may choose to write “indefatigable, whimsical, cantante.” Note that you should strive to only choose words you know and use regularly. Don’t just use a thesaurus to try to find big words, because you may accidentally use a word with a nuanced meaning that isn’t what you’re looking for. Additionally, if you use flowery language in this section but not in your writing supplement, this will come off as contradictory and insincere.

 

Now, let’s move onto the actual prompt. Since the prompt asks for different things depending on whether you are applying as an architecture, art, or planning student, we will break down the responses accordingly. However, like most other “Why This Major?” essays, all three types of applicants should still describe their interest in the topic, explain their goals, and describe how the AAP resources will be beneficial to them.

 

Architecture

 

The prompt tells Architecture students to “provide an example of how a creative project or passion sparks your motivation to pursue a 5-year professional degree program.” The major focus for your essay should be on a project you worked on that led to your love for architecture.

 

Try and pick a project from high school, that way it’s more recent, and pick something longer-term that you worked on to highlight the impressiveness. An essay about a year-long model bridge you built out of toothpicks for your design class will have a lot more to delve into than one about a lego structure you built with your younger brother in a weekend. 

 

That being said, if you think you can write a passionate, deeply emotional essay about a moment you shared with your brother that also opened your eyes to the wonders of architecture through tiny plastic blocks, go ahead!

 

Make sure to describe the project in detail—highlight what the development process looked like, explain your thought process (were you stressed about each detail or did you lose track of all time as you worked for hours on end?), and provide imagery to show your actions and the final product—that way the admissions officers get a feel for the heart and soul you put into your work. Remember, you are trying to prove to them you love architecture enough to spend the next five years studying it, so don’t hold back on showing us your passion.

 

Also remember to save space in your essay to address how you will further your passion for architecture at Cornell. Like we mentioned in previous sections, hone in on three or four highly-specific and unique opportunities you want to take advantage of while at Cornell. Make sure to include both what excites you about the given resource and how it will prepare you for your future goals.

 

Art

 

Art students within AAP are told they “may want to consider how they could integrate a range of interests and available resources at Cornell into a coherent art practice.” While this prompt is more geared towards the Cornell resources and opportunities you will utilize as a student than the other two, that doesn’t mean you can completely forgo discussing your passion for art.

 

Like any other essay, you’ll want to make yourself the focus. Through detailed examples, show the admissions committee how you first got into art or what draws you to the subject each day. The prompt specifically mentions “integrating a range of interests,” so it would be a great idea to demonstrate how you combine interdisciplinary topics through your art.

 

For example, a student interested in climate activism might describe how she started a business to paint other people’s campaign posters and then donate the proceeds to environmental justice campaigns. Another student might highlight how they used their passion for graphic design to mimic other art mediums like sculpting and photography.

 

It’s also important to include your goals for your art in your response. Obviously, you don’t have to have your whole life figured out at 17, but in order to explain how you plan to use Cornell resources to develop a “coherent art practice” you should be able to articulate what you want in a general sense. Whether you want to bring back the era of rococo paintings or you think it would be cool to open your own gallery one day, share your dreams with us in the essay.

 

Finally, you’ll need to provide both depth and breadth when discussing the Cornell offerings you want to take advantage of. Try and discuss resources across a variety of areas—classes, professors, extracurricular organizations, special centers, etc. Cornell even has its own museum on campus you could get involved with! 

 

Aim to include three to five resources you want to engage with, depending on how much space you have. The key is to tie each resource back to yourself, either by mentioning how you are excited by an aspect of it because it connects to your interest or previous experience in a particular way or by explaining how participating in the opportunity will help you achieve your goals.

 

Urban and Regional Studies

 

The prompt is fairly generic for urban and regional studies majors: “URS students may want to emphasize their enthusiasm and depth of interest in the study of urban and regional issues.” Luckily, the lack of specificity means you have the freedom to write about anything you want.

 

You might want to talk about your personal experiences and how aspects of where you grew up affected you. Another approach could be to discuss a regional or global issue in the field of urban studies and discuss why you are drawn to that problem and how you would go about fixing it. You might focus on extracurricular involvement related to the subject that was particularly meaningful to you. Or, perhaps you want to express your enthusiasm through highlighting the ways you think about the world around you as an urban planner.

 

The moral of the story is there is no wrong way to structure your answer to this question.

 

Similar to Architecture and Art applicants, once you establish your passion for the topic and explain what you love about it, the next step is to put your interests in the context of Cornell. Again, quality over quantity—we are looking for a few well-developed descriptions of why you are drawn to each resource and what you hope to get out of them.

 

Also make sure to weave your career goals into the essay. You can smoothly transition from talking about your established interest and current events to how you want to use an urban and regional studies degree in the future, or you can discuss how certain opportunities will give you the skills and tools to go down a certain path one day.

 

Where to Get Your Cornell University Essay Edited For Free

 

Do you want feedback on your Cornell essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. That’s why we created our free Peer Essay Review tool, where you can get a free review of your essay from another student. You can also improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

 

Need feedback faster? Get a free, nearly-instantaneous essay review from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!