How to Write the Texas Christian University Essays 2025-2026
Texas Christian University (TCU) gives students the opportunity to choose whether they want to apply through the Common App or through the TCU website directly. The Common App has one optional prompt. The application through the TCU website consists of one required essay with four prompt options to choose from.
If you choose to apply through the Common App we strongly encourage you to write the optional essay, to provide more admissions officers with more insight into your personality and background. Plus, taking the time to craft a strong response shows that you are dedicated to the application process and willing to go above and beyond to display your interest in the school.
Want to get personalized odds of acceptance at TCU? Calculate your chances for free right now!
Texas Christian University Supplemental Essay Prompts
Common App Only
Prompt (optional): TCU values individuality and believes that students are more than just a GPA and test score. To help us get to know you even better, consider this opportunity to further express yourself. The only limitations are the boundaries of your imagination. Please upload an essay, poem, work of art or a URL that showcases another side of you.
TCU Application Only
Prompt: TCU is a selective university, and our Admission and Scholarship Committees review thousands of applications each year. The essay tells us a great deal about our candidates and allows for expression of writing skills, organizational skills, creativity and imagination. The essay should be 300-500 words in length. Feel free to be serious, humorous or somewhere in between. Compose your essay on one of the following topics.
Option A: At TCU, our mission statement is very important to us. “The mission of Texas Christian University, a private comprehensive university, is to educate individuals to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community through research and creative activities, scholarship, service, and programs of teaching and learning offered through the doctoral level.” This is integrated into all aspects of the TCU experience. If you were to write a mission statement about your life, what would it be and how does this mission direct your life and goals?
Option B: Tell us about the most significant person, experience, or circumstance which has shaped your life thus far. How has he, she, or it influenced your character? How might you use what you have learned to achieve your goals?
Option C: Those we call great will usually point to some failure in their lives as a pivotal moment leading them to their successful path. Tell us about a time in your life in which failure propelled you toward success.
Option D: In her best-selling novel The Secret Life of Bees, TCU alumna Sue Monk Kidd wrote, “The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.” What matters to you?
Common App Prompt (Optional)
TCU values individuality and believes that students are more than just a GPA and test score. To help us get to know you even better, consider this opportunity to further express yourself. The only limitations are the boundaries of your imagination. Please upload an essay, poem, work of art or a URL that showcases another side of you. (No length provided)
It’s always a good idea to complete all prompts even if they’re optional. Even if your application is strong, completing the optional prompt will show the admissions committee that you are willing to go the extra mile to showcase your dedication to TCU.
In addition to just being a good strategy for your overall application, this prompt provides you with the opportunity to upload something creative that will help illustrate your character to the admissions committee.
This prompt may be extremely straightforward for some applicants, but others may find it more difficult to choose a creative piece to submit. Some applicants may already have a saved file full of poems or lyrics that they can submit with little preparation required. However, it may be a good idea to create something new and special for your TCU application.
Maybe instead of just uploading the file with your poem to your application, you instead film a video of you doing a dramatic reading of the poem. That way viewers will be able to listen to the poem with the correct inflections and passion that you intended. Or maybe if you choose to upload a piece of visual art you could also write a small blurb describing what the piece means to you.
Some of you may be worried when reading this prompt and think,“But what if I have no artistic talent to share with the admissions committee?” Firstly, everyone has some kind of talent or skill that they’re good at or passionate about—so great creative! Here are a few examples of unconventional ways to show your passions:
- An international student is extremely passionate about sharing their culture with the TCU community so they make a brief powerpoint presentation that highlights some of the key holidays, traditions, food, and language of their heritage.
- A student writes a short screenplay about the lives of students pre and post pandemic. The screenplay is meant to be a comedy, but also addresses many of the serious issues that have arisen during the pandemic.
- A student films a short video of themselves cooking one of their favorite meals with a parent. They even go as far as to make it a competition to see who could make the dish the best.
- Another student makes a photo collage of their family, friends, and hobbies outside of school. A picture’s worth a thousand words after all!
- A student films themselves doing a short stand-up comedy bit where they poke fun at themselves while also revealing things about their background.
Whatever you choose to upload, make sure that it’s an accurate reflection of your personality and values. It’s also helpful to use this prompt as an opportunity to showcase a unique side of you that your application didn’t fully capture.
For example, if the majority of your application discussed your interest in becoming a doctor and TCU’s pre-health enhancement program, but you also love to compete in poetry slams, use this as an opportunity to showcase your creative interest in poetry.
As the prompt states, “The only limitations are the boundaries of your imagination.” So really let your imagination run wild on this prompt and allow it to show a different side of yourself than just your academic strengths.
TCU Application, Prompt 1 – Option A
At TCU, our mission statement is very important to us. “The mission of Texas Christian University, a private comprehensive university, is to educate individuals to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community through research and creative activities, scholarship, service, and programs of teaching and learning offered through the doctoral level.” This is integrated into all aspects of the TCU experience. If you were to write a mission statement about your life, what would it be and how does this mission direct your life and goals? (300-500 words)
By providing the TCU mission statement as the introduction to this prompt, the admissions committee is offering you a framework for what your own mission statement might look like. Even though it would be great if your personal mission statement aligned with the values of TCU, you want to avoid simply regurgitating the same mission statement in your response.
The first step in responding to this prompt is reflecting on what motivates you. It could be helpful to look back at other parts of your application and see if you can find any recurring themes, religious values, dedication to bettering your community, a global mindset, leadership, creative outlets, etc. Once you have honed in on a few topics that you feel truly represent your personality and future goals, you can begin to formulate your mission statement:
Example: “As a first generation college student, I am empowered by the knowledge I cultivate. I seek to deepen my understanding of global issues through intellectually stimulating conversations that will challenge my current ways of thinking. I am motivated by my faith, strong morals, and an excitement for learning.”
Writing your mission statement alone, however, is not enough to fully answer the prompt. The second part of the prompt asks you to describe “how does this mission direct your life and goals?” Writing a compelling mission statement is not sufficient, you must also be able to explain the meaning behind the statement.
For instance, a student’s mission statement could concisely explain their many different academic/career interests or it could be a reminder for them to stay true to their morals along the way to a successful future. Explaining the purpose behind your mission statement should give the reader a closer look at what drives yourself to becoming the best version of yourself. It’s also okay to include creative anecdotes to explain your mission statement. Maybe there was a defining event in your life that directed you to the path you’re on now.
Example: “My mission statement is derived from years of watching my parents work hard, but never quite having the right resources to be truly comfortable financially. The barrier of access to education prohibits so many people from achieving their life goals. I will use my privilege for higher education to not only better my future, but also pay it forward to my community.”
TCU Application, Prompt 1 – Option B
Tell us about the most significant person, experience, or circumstance which has shaped your life thus far. How has he, she, or it influenced your character? How might you use what you have learned to achieve your goals? (300-500 words)
It may be challenging to pinpoint just one person, experience, or circumstance that has been “the most significant” in shaping your life. For many applicants, a parent or guardian may be the most obvious choice to write about for this prompt. However, as writing about a parent/guardian will likely be a very common response topic, it may be helpful to think outside the box on this one to choose a more unique topic to write about.
If you do choose to write about a parent/guardian, however, try and be as specific as possible when explaining your reasoning. Besides raising you and providing you with a foundation for education and ethics, can you think of a specific example of something that was said or done by your parents that particularly impacted you?
For example, a student could write about their mother who left a well paying job at a fancy law firm to instead pursue a career in the non-profit sector providing free legal advice and representation to those in need. Having a role model who would choose to forgo a larger paycheck in exchange for a more fulfilling career helping others, would likely have a lasting, positive impact on the student’s morals.
Writing about an influential experience or circumstance may be very emotional to reflect on. Although it’s helpful to expose parts of your authentic identity to the admissions committee, it’s also important to tell your story in the way that’s most comfortable for you. If there is an event or circumstance that you know has a significant impact on your life, but you don’t feel comfortable writing about it in your response, focus on expressing the impact of the event rather than on the details of the event itself.
For example, losing a loved one, recovering from a traumatic injury/illness, and being bullied in school are all examples of events that likely contribute greatly to a student’s character, however, these kinds of events may be sensitive to relive while writing your essay response. In these instances, talk about how you grew as a person as a result of these unfortunate events.
Regardless of what you choose to write about, focus on illustrating how the person or occurrence motivates you to further your education and achieve your unique aspirations and goals. For example, a student who got a severe concussion during a car accident could explain how this motivated them to pursue engineering to create vehicles with better safety features to protect drivers and passengers at all times.
TCU Application, Prompt 1 – Option C
Those we call great will usually point to some failure in their lives as a pivotal moment leading them to their successful path. Tell us about a time in your life in which failure propelled you toward success. (300-500 words)
This classic Overcoming Challenges Essay asks applicants to speak transparently about a time where something didn’t go as planned and what they learned from that experience. For many students, a notable failure might be a bad test grade or losing a sporting event. Although these examples may resonate with you, try to avoid choosing cliche topics.
“Failure” can look like many different things, but similarly to the previous prompt option, the focus on this response should be more centered on what you learned from the experience rather than the event itself.
Here are a few examples of failures that would be appropriate for this prompt:
- A student who wanted to start a composting system at her school was upset when the funding request was denied by the district. She almost gave up on the initiative until she realized there were other paths to reducing food waste in the cafeteria. Rather than rely on commercial composting pickup, she approached the Gardening Club to propose a joint fundraiser and initiative to build a composting system in the school’s own community garden. The fundraiser was a big success, and all the discarded food is now turned into nutrient-rich compost that the Gardening Club uses for its projects.
- A student who really wanted to play the lead in the school play spent countless hours practicing his audition lines. He didn’t end up getting cast and decided to write his own one-man show instead. The writing process itself was cathartic, but his friends encouraged him to actually hold the show. So, he built the set from scratch using thrifted materials and held the show for the local community to raise money for a theatre troupe supporting low-income students. He raised $300+ and got a standing ovation for his performance, leading him to write more plays to be put on for the community.
The key to this prompt is to provide just enough background on the failure so that the admissions officers can understand its impact on you, but not too much so that it becomes the focus of the essay. The goal is to show what you learned from the failure and how you picked yourself up from it, so you should spend most of the essay reflecting on these points.
TCU Application, Prompt 1 – Option D
In her best-selling novel The Secret Life of Bees, TCU alumna Sue Monk Kidd wrote, “The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.” What matters to you? (300-500 words)
This open-ended prompt gives you the creative freedom to address any topic that has not been previously discussed in another part of your application. Although it’s admirable to be passionate about solving world hunger or climate change, don’t feel pressured to choose a complex global conflict to address.
Sometimes the most compelling essay responses to these kinds of open ended prompts are those that are lighthearted and include a bit of humor. Unlike some of the previous prompt options, this prompt does not ask what matters to you the most, but rather just something that matters to you in general. Understanding this distinction should help you approach this prompt differently than the other prompt options provided previously.
Here are some examples:
- Maybe you really enjoy fudgesicles, and they’ve always been your go-to food when you’re working on a difficult task or have to make a tough decision. You could use your love for fudgesicles to explain your thought process or decision-making process in a few specific experiences.
- You’re always looking to challenge and improve yourself. You could share the story of how you spent nearly every day of your sophomore year winter in the skating rink, working on your double lutz. The feeling when you finally landed it was exhilarating. Now, you’re tackling the triple lutz.
- Sustainability and entrepreneurship matter to you, and it’s one of the reasons you started a podcast interviewing the founders of local, eco-friendly businesses. You could write about the process of setting up the podcast, the people you’ve interviewed, and the lessons you’ve learned.
It’s important to keep this essay very specific to your own experience. By formulating a more niche response, rather than a very general one, the admissions committee will gain deeper clarity on what motivates you as an individual.
Where to Get Your TCU Essays Edited For Free
Do you want free, nearly-instantaneous feedback on your TCU essays? After rereading your essays countless times, it can be difficult to evaluate your writing objectively. So meet Sage, our AI tutor and advisor, who will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Sage can improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school by helping you show what you have to offer beyond the numbers!
