How to Write the Lehigh University Supplement Essays 2017-2018

Option 1: Intellectual Curiosity

What about Lehigh piques your intellectual curiosity? (250-300 words)

Here are a few strategies that can be used to execute a response:

• Parallel Anecdote – To convey your curiosity and interest in a certain subject, you can use florid description and storytelling. For example, if you were an avid reader growing up, you could describe how you used to read through stacks of books from the library and how you were whisked away on adventure after adventure with each book. Perhaps you preferred to take the book outside to a special spot where you could have calming peace and quiet. Then, to tie in your love of reading to Lehigh, you could describe your amazement when you first entered the school’s Linderman Library (assuming you visit!), how its countless shelves and stacks line a massive spiraling interior. Maybe the library even reminds you of a setting you’ve read about in a book. You could go on to explain how an intellectual environment, such as the Linderman Library, is the perfect place for you to be in your element as a reader and learner at Lehigh.

• Explain a Concept – Alternatively, you can express your interest in an initiative or concept at Lehigh. According to the university’s informational overview, it is a unique university in that it actively prepares students for successful careers by focusing on learning beyond the classroom. You could explain how active, hands-on learning has always piqued your intellectual curiosity. Using past experiences like mechanical design, lab work, or service would be a great way to demonstrate how you have learned through experience and how continuing such an approach to learning at the school would be an excellent way to explore your interests. You can be creative in selecting an initiative or prominent idea at Lehigh, so long as you can back it up clearly.

Option 2: Family (Community)

    What does the idea of the ‘Lehigh Family’ mean to you?

Here are a few strategies to write a response to the “family” prompt:

• Use an Image to Explain an Idea – Instead of using a boring opening like “To me, Lehigh Family means…”, actually show what family means to you by depicting a poignant and resonant image. For example, you could explain that Lehigh’s Family is “far-reaching” in how graduates and alumni will often greet each other excitedly if they notice the brown and white letters out in public (even at an airport). In this way, you can describe how graduates are still super-passionate about giving back to the school, meeting for reunions, and attending homecoming football games. The trick is to actually describe the energy and camaraderie on campus and abroad in order to differentiate the extent to which Lehigh’s Family reaches outside of campus. Then, you can fold in why you would want to be a part of such a family, as well as what you could contribute to it.

• Incorporate Your Own Community Values – If you are a part of a community — a sports team, volunteering organization, or school club — you can compare the values of that community to Lehigh’s own community values. For example, if your robotics club in high school was characterized by innovation and collaboration, highlighted by a team project of building a “smart” robot, you could leverage those values and apply them to the school. Explaining how Lehigh’s engineering community fosters innovation and entrepreneurship would be a great way to show how your own values coincide with that of the university. For this particular example, you would be demonstrating how you, a person who values innovation, also fit into Lehigh’s innovative community. Similar to the previous strategy, you can use a variety of examples, but you just need to make sure you support the comparison with realistic evidence.

Option 3: Inclusive Leadership

Lehigh values inclusive leadership, where students make decisions, take action, and contribute positively to their communities in ways that are purposeful, socially just, and built on integrity. What does this mean to you?

Here are potential approaches to crafting a response:

• Explain How a Certain Leadership Style Fosters Inclusivity – Perhaps you have witnessed leadership that is unbiased and empowering. For example, if you have been a part of a project team, you may have noticed that the best leaders delegate fitting roles to the people that are best equipped to accomplish them. At the same time, inclusive leaders listen to their teammates and allow them to be creative in how they solve problems. If you were a leader on student council, you could explain how you had to adapt as a leader to communicate better with others. If you needed to switch to a new leadership style, you could show that the end result was a more inclusive environment with fluid communication. In order to execute such a strategy, be prepared to explain why you made certain changes as you take the reader closely through your thought process as a leader.

• Discuss Macro and Micro Leadership – Consider leadership on an individual level, in which specific actions are taken and decisions are considered on a case-by-case basis. You could explain how inclusive leadership fosters integrity on a person-by-person basis, yet this small-level example often sends ripples throughout society. Essentially, the more socially just and aware individual leaders are on a small-scale, the more communities benefit on a macro scale. In this way, you could discuss how your leadership, specifically, can help foster a more inclusive community at Lehigh, and how, in turn, a more inclusive community at Lehigh will have the opportunity to create a positive impact on a larger scale.

• Go with Your Gut – there is no set-in-stone way to write a response to this prompt, so if neither of the two strategies previously mentioned make sense with your experiences, feel free to answer in your own way. Just be sure to be direct, detailed, and clear about what exactly inclusive leadership means to you and why you believe it is important.