How to Write the SUNY Buffalo Supplemental Essay 2020-2021
The State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) is a public university located in Buffalo, New York. It boasts a large, suburban campus and a student body of 21,607. SUNY Buffalo ranks 79th in the US News’ 2020 National Universities rankings. When it comes to admissions, SUNY Buffalo is moderately competitive; it accepted 61% of students in the most recent admission cycle (note that the honors college, which requires the additional essay we walk through in this post, has a much lower acceptance rate). Notably, SUNY Buffalo accepts applications on a rolling basis. Want to know your chances at SUNY Buffalo? Calculate your chances for free right now. SUNY Buffalo’s general application does not include any school-specific supplemental essays for all applicants. However, applicants to the Honors College Program are required to write one 650-word essay. In this essay, students must consider their own unique perspective and reflect on how they will contribute to the diverse and inclusive community at SUNY Buffalo Honors College. Read on for a deep dive into how to answer this prompt. This prompt allows the admissions committee to get a sense of your values–and what you will contribute to the SUNY Buffalo community. A prompt like this has no one “right answer”; your aim should be to find detailed, compelling examples that show: This means that the only “wrong” answer would be one that shows a lack of understanding of the values that SUNY Buffalo’s Honors College expressly prioritizes. With this in mind, let’s take a minute to understand what each of these values means: 1. Intellectual curiosity Most basically, intellectual curiosity means a desire to ask and answer questions—to learn. “Intellectual curiosity” is a broad enough term that it can fit many different kinds of people. For example: 2. A broad range of interests Though many programs encourage specialization (academically and professionally), the SUNY Honors College is not one such program. The honors college sees itself as a small liberal arts college within the large SUNY Buffalo university. A liberal arts education fundamentally is centered on the idea of giving students a varied educational experience, exposing them to different areas of knowledge and inquiry. “A broad range of interests” does not have to mean that you’re interested in everything; it should, however, involve interests that go beyond one set professional or academic path. Consider these two cases: 3. A diverse and inclusive society Diversity and inclusivity have become buzzwords; we all think that we know what they mean—and, to an extent, your understanding of these terms is probably right. Fundamentally, diversity and inclusivity have to do with valuing and celebrating the different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences that come with being part of a multicultural, multireligious, multiethnic society. Inclusivity places particular emphasis on finding ways to draw in and celebrate those who have historically been excluded from or oppressed by society. However, keep in mind that diversity and inclusivity can also have to do with: Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographics, and other holistic details. We’ll let you know what your chances are at your dream schools — and how to improve your chances! Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographics, and other holistic details. We’ll let you know what your chances are at your dream schools — and how to improve your chances! The key part of the prompt asks: What experiences have helped to broaden your perspectives academically, socially and culturally? In an essay like this, it can be tempting to go for quantity over quantity—if you have many experiences that seem to fit the prompt, including as many of them as possible can seem like the right way to go. However, the strongest responses to a prompt like this will focus on just one or two (three at the most) related experience to weave a detailed, compelling picture of how your values fit with those of SUNY Buffalo. When writing about your experiences, your aim should be to show not tell. This means picking specific “moments” from each experience to bring the experience to life. Here’s a mini example: Telling: During my exchange trip to Italy, I spent as much time as I could talking with the locals and learning about their cultural practices. Note that this is a very general summary of the writer’s experience; vivid details do not shine through, and the reader does not get much of a sense of what the writer saw, felt, or did. Showing: One morning, I looked up from my customary espresso to find a friendly, wrinkled face across the table from me. My new friend, patient with my imperfect Italian comprehension, told me stories about her farm where she had lived as a child, before poor economic conditions forced her family to sell their land and move to the city. This little anecdote puts the reader “in the moment”; it clearly conveys that the writer spoke with locals and learned their stories, but it does so through one engaging story, rather than through general summary. With this point in mind (about “showing not telling”), consider these examples of experiences someone might write about. They demonstrate the variety of experiences that could fit this part of the essay prompt: Example 1 A student who did an exchange trip to Japan and also worked at a Mexican restaurant could write about these two very different experiences. Example 2 A student whose parents got divorced while she was in middle school could write about this experience and about how, around the same time, she began volunteering at a nursing home in her community. The second part of the prompt asks: What experiences do you hope to have that will enlarge your understanding of the cultural richness of America and the world? This is what we call a “forward-looking” question. By asking both this question and one about your past experiences, the admissions committee is trying to understand not only who you are now, but how your past experiences have shaped your future goals. This part of the prompt is a key place to pivot to think specifically about the Honors College and your goals for college. In other words, college is a great time to enlarge your understanding of the country or world’s cultural richness. Here, your goal should be to still stay specific and to create continuity between the past- and forward-looking parts of your essay. Writing about very vague or generic experiences (meeting other students, talking with your peers) Engaging with other students in college is a critical and fruitful part of the college experience; however, you should do your best to identify a forum for engagement that will show the specificity and sincerity of your hopes. This could mean extracurriculars, discussion groups, or even just shared, informal activities like cooking or game nights. Writing about the exact same experiences that you’ve already had If you’ve done an exchange in Japan in high school, writing that you want to go back through a similar program in college will likely not show growth or a desire to push your understanding further. However, you could instead write about how you want to pursue an internship in Japan or go there for research or another experience that is meaningfully different (presumably more in-depth) than the experiences you’ve already had. Writing about experiences just because they seem “impressive” Many college applicants feel pressure to express interest in activities that are competitive or come with high prestige. However, a prompt like this one is all about understanding your values and how you connect with other people. This means your priority should be authenticity. For example, you have not demonstrated any interest in Model UN or international relations more generally, it would not feel cohesive if you wrote about how you plan to broaden your cultural perspective by joining Model UN in college (unless you are able to come up with a compelling, personal reason for branching out into this entirely new field). Aside from these common pitfalls, there is, again, no one “right” way to answer this prompt. However, here are two ways that the examples above could answer the second question in the prompt: Example 1 Example 2 Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays. We'll send you information to help you throughout the college admissions process.An Overview of the Prompts
Required for applicants to the Honors College
Understanding the Prompt
Your GPA and SAT don’t tell the full admissions story
Your GPA and SAT don’t tell the full admissions story
Choosing Past Experiences to Write About
Choosing Future Experience to Write About
What to Avoid
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