CollegeVine College Essay Team October 5, 2023 22 Essay Guides 2023-24

How to Write the University of Kansas Essays 2023-2024

The University of Kansas does not have any school-wide supplemental essays. However, students applying for the Honors Program or the Engineering SELF Program must submit written responses to program-specific questions, along with their Common App.

Both of these programs have fairly extensive supplemental essay packages, so if you’re applying to one of them, make sure to decide that early, so that you have enough time to brainstorm for, write, and revise your essays. In this post, we’ll break down how you should approach each prompt, so that you can be sure you’re putting your best foot forward and maximizing your chances of acceptance to these prestigious programs.

University of Kansas Supplemental Essay Prompts

Honors Program Applicants

The University of Kansas Honors program aims to bring together a diverse, motivated group of students. Students in the Honors program can take Honors courses, receive priority enrollment, and specialized housing, among other perks.

‌While each of these prompts has a different focus, they all seek to know more about your values, and the kind of person you are. Kansas wants to know about your best qualities, and this is your opportunity to showcase them. Spend some time reflecting on the attributes you value in yourself, and any anecdotes that might demonstrate those attributes. You might ask friends or family members if there are any personality traits that they admire about you, or that they think you should feature. Then, you should pick the prompt that allows you to talk about that quality or collection of qualities in the most specific and effective way possible.

This is a great prompt to choose if you want to highlight qualities like self-awareness and humility. Or, you might just have a great story about a time you realized you were wrong, or that there was a better way to approach things. Either way, this prompt calls for a lot of reflection, self-awareness, and imagination. 

First, you’ll want to think of a time that you were mistaken, confused, or decided to change course. Pick a time that mattered to you–this moment should provide insight into you and what you value. Though you’re picking a time you may have said something careless or behaved poorly, keep in mind that you are trying to make a good impression on the Kansas admissions team, so you probably shouldn’t pick something overly shocking or intense. Here are some examples that would work for this prompt, to get you thinking about your own response.

• You might write about not being chosen for an award, recognition, or leadership position, and how this led you to reconsider and positively adjust the ways you showed up in the given space. 
• You could write about an argument with a peer or classmate that led you to reconsider some assumptions you had, or gain a broader understanding of other value systems.
• Maybe you can think of a time you faced a particularly difficult challenge and were inspired to take a step back and try a new approach to problem-solving. 
• You could write about a time that you were wrong, and being corrected provided you with an opportunity to reflect, change, and grow. 

Once you’ve chosen your story, it’s time to start writing. You’ll want to quickly provide the initial framing of necessary background context, then dive into the story itself, why it was meaningful, and how you felt when it happened. These two sections, the introduction and story, should take up no more than half of your allotted words. The rest of the essay should be devoted to what you learned at the time, and how you plan to apply that knowledge to your future, particularly your future at KU. 

Remember to highlight key moments in this narrative, like what inspired you to reconsider or change your opinion, and what you felt when you reflected on it later. Discuss any moments that were particularly hard for you, why they were so difficult, and what this taught you about your values and priorities. Explicitly state the qualities that your story demonstrates, rather than hoping that the admissions committee infers them from your story. 

Being vulnerable is hard, especially with a bunch of strangers who are making a big decision about your future, but that’s what Kansas is asking you to do. They aren’t going to judge you or be critical for honestly reflecting on this challenging moment. On the contrary, they’ll admire your courage and insight to speak openly and honestly about your experience. And if you just don’t feel like you’re able to do that, don’t feel bad–the beauty of option prompts is that you have, well, options, so just pivot to one of the other choices Kansas has provided.

Finally, in writing your essay, consider using a unique narrative structure to stand out from the crowd. Perhaps you want to start your story right at the moment that you decided to change your mind or approach, and then rewind to explain what you used to think or do, and what happened to make you change course. Maybe you could begin by describing the consequences if you hadn’t changed. Or, you could start from the end of your story, after things have gone well, and reflect on what allowed them to turn out that way.

This is a great prompt to respond to if you want to discuss your endurance and determination, or if you have a commitment or habit that you are particularly proud of or that makes you unique. Once again, KU is asking for a specific example, so you’ll want to frame this essay around a story, or as a summary of a particular aspect of your life. 

There are a lot of different ways to be persistent, so be expansive in your thinking as you brainstorm for this prompt. Maybe you have a long-term commitment to a club, group, or project that is meaningful to you. Maybe you have accomplished a goal or achievement that took many tries, or a lot of preparation. Maybe, as is mentioned in the prompt, you have a habit you’re particularly proud of, or which has really impacted your life. Whatever you choose, make sure that it is something you can reflect on in a meaningful way, and showcases the best parts of you.

In considering potential topics, try to avoid subjects that are likely to be shared by many other applicants. Many student athletes face injuries that require long journeys back to full ability. Many students get bad grades and work hard to bring their overall grade back up. This doesn’t mean that those aren’t meaningful experiences, only that in this context of this particular essay, you’ll do more to set yourself apart from other applicants if you focus on unique experiences that only you could write about.

Even if you don’t feel your story is particularly flashy or exciting, if it’s the only essay on the given subject, it will stand out nonetheless, probably more so than an exciting essay about a common topic.

In terms of structuring your essay, you could write about a single moment that represents a much lengthier effort, or you could write a summary of a longer period of time, using specific details and examples to  anchor your more sweeping points. Consider these two examples of the different approaches below.

“The sound of a phone ringing set me in motion, reaching for the headset next to me and sliding it over my ears. The attached microphone settled in place in front of my mouth, and I spoke the words I knew by heart, infusing them with as much warmth as I could muster. ‘This is the Teen Link crisis hotline. What’s on your mind?’

Well-practiced after six months of answering phones in this way, I slid into the flow of conversation with a stranger, relying on skills I’d learned in hours of training that helped me assess the caller’s emotions, reflect them back to her, and make her feel as understood as possible in the few minutes that we spoke to each other. It was hard to believe that a matter of months ago, I’d been unsure, awkward, the kind of guy who talked so quietly to strangers that it was hard for them to hear me. Now, when I spoke to my caller, a girl roughly the same age as me, she had no hint of my shyness or my uncertainty. She saw me as a beacon, someone whose caring questions and empathetic responses were able to guide her to a place of calm. She had no idea how long I had spent developing the skills that came so naturally to me now.”

This approach is immediately engaging, as we’re put right into the applicant’s shoes while he’s taking a crisis call. One drawback is that it doesn’t allow the student to be quite as specific or give you as much information about his overall involvement with the hotline. Now consider the other approach. 

“I first joined the Teen Link crisis hotline because I figured that talking to strangers over the phone had to be easier than talking to strangers in person. This may sound counterintuitive, but I was shy, wanted to get involved in community service, and getting desperate. The crisis hotline offered not just a way to help other people, but perhaps a way to overcome the self-consciousness that froze me in place whenever I met someone else’s eyes. 

In hours of training, I developed the skills I’d need for the hotline. On the phone, I gained the confidence to use them. Something about the urgency of the voices on the phone unlocked my own voice, and I developed a different way of being. My voice grew stronger, more confident. My questions invited people to share more deeply. My responses were fueled by careful thought, not a panicked desire to say the right thing. I was able to connect with people in a way that I never could before, and even better, I was able to help them while I did.”

A strength of this approach is that it gives a longitudinal perspective on this applicant’s involvement in the hotline, and his development over the course of that involvement. However, he isn’t able to include as many immediate details, and thus loses some of the specificity of the concrete examples in the excerpt above. 

As you plan your own essay, consider what is most essential to your story, and the most effective way to communicate those things. Are the sensory details and specificity the strongest part of your essay, or is it the long view of your involvement or development? Either one can be a strong choice, just make sure that whatever you choose emphasizes your best qualities and your commitment to your topic.

This is an example of the “Community Service” prompt, which many schools use as a supplement. It’s a good prompt to choose if you want to talk about one of your communities that is especially meaningful to you, or if you’ve done community service that you would like to talk about in more depth. 

Usually, these essays focus on positive impacts you’ve had on your community and what that community means to you, but this KU prompt is a bit broader, as it also allows you to talk about negative aspects of a community that may have caused you to learn or reflect on ways to create more positive communities in the future. You don’t have to be the sole reason your community was healthy, or have solved all or even any of the problems in your unhealthy community, but KU does want you to connect what you learned to your future on their campus. 

Since this prompt focuses more on the community than on the service aspect, you’ll want to pick a community you’ve been part of for a long timme. An afternoon of volunteering may truly have been transformative, but it does not reflect membership in a particular community, and so would not be a good fit for this essay. You’ll also want to pick a story or a setting that allows for deep reflection and a demonstration of your best values. Here are some questions to get you thinking about what aspects of your community you might want to write about.

• Can you think of a time when your perspective on your community changed? What caused the shift? If your perspective hasn’t changed, what has kept your faith in your community constant?
• What does your community do best? Is there something your chosen community does better than others? How does this show up?
• Who are some members of your community that you really admire? What qualities do they have that you would like to emulate?
• What lessons have you learned in this community, good or bad, that you apply to your life now, or will apply in the future?
• What has this community added to your life through your involvement in it? Has it taken anything away?

All of these are great jumping off points for an essay about you and your community. Once you’ve chosen the community you plan to write about and the particular lens you are using, it’s time to write your essay. As you plan it out, think about how to ground your story with specific, compelling anecdotes, and how to show, not tell, the admissions committee what you want them to know about you. Don’t be afraid to talk about specific accomplishments and achievements. It might feel like bragging, but college essays are one of the few places where it’s okay, and even subtly encouraged, to brag!

Devote about a quarter of your essay to describing the community setting you plan to dive into. The remainder of your essay should focus on the strengths and weaknesses you see in that community, how you may have helped it be healthy, and how you will apply this knowledge to your time at KU. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your perceptiveness, your commitment, and your creative approach to problem-solving. Be specific about both what you noticed and what you learned. Consider these examples of hypothetical students who learned from their communities. 

• A student wrote about how her church dealt with the aftermath of a member embezzling community funds, and what that taught her about restorative justice. 
• A student wrote about how his outdoor club at school practiced lateral leadership, and the strengths and drawbacks associated with this style.
• A student wrote about how his hometown responded to a devastating fire, and how he imagined sustaining the initial outpourings of support through the long months of rebuilding. 
• A student wrote about her sports team and how they changed a tradition of hazing new athletes into a supportive and nurturing environment for everyone.

Each of these examples focuses on a specific community and how the values of that community expressed themselves in a time of crisis. Your community does not need to have experienced a crisis to be healthy or unhealthy, but a critical moment can provide an effective setting for demonstrating what your community does or does not do well.

These questions are meant to let the admissions committee understand you better, and give them a better picture of your background and motivation.

The first question asks you to list the five most important items in your life. The admissions committee is looking to see what is important to you, and why. This space gives you an opportunity to elaborate on some of the extracurricular activities listed in your resume, or let the admissions committee know about a hobby or activity not previously mentioned in your application.

Avoid just listing off the things you have done. Take time to really think about what you have done and why it’s important to you, and give the admissions committee an in-depth view of why you are passionate about the items you listed. For example, maybe you were a guitarist in a garage band, and that was your creative outlet for when you were happy, sad, or frustrated. The few hours you spent every day with your bandmates expressing yourselves through music allowed you to break from your daily routine of schoolwork and chores at home, and you were able to meet many local musicians within your community and develop lifelong friendships.

The prompt also asks you to rank the items in order of importance to you. Why is your part time job at your neighbor’s farm more important than your participation on your high school’s varsity volleyball team? While you learned good teamwork and leadership skills from being the captain of the volleyball team, maybe your time caring for animals helped you develop a lifelong passion for them. Because of that experience, you decided to study animal science, and that’s why that work is more important to you. Elaborate on the significance of each item, and what they mean to you.

The second prompt asks you to talk about your experiences and how they have affected you. This is a very open-ended prompt, and the admissions committee is looking for an extra look into your motivations. Try not to jump around and list off a large list of experiences; make sure all of the topics you talk about are related in some way, and detail how these experiences have impacted your motivations and goals.

For example, growing up, maybe your father took you to go watch a new movie every weekend. You would always look forward to seeing new films and discussing the plot, acting, cinematography, and details of the movies with your father, and this led to a passion for the behind-the-scenes process of creating movies. This has led you to want to pursue the Film and Media studies program at KU.

The third prompt is asking for a deeper understanding of your high school academic path. The admissions committee is looking to see why you chose to take the classes you did, and what inspired you to go down that path. Whether or not the classes you took have relevance to your intended major, there is a reason why you decided to take certain classes and you should dive into those details to answer this question.

Don’t just list off your graduation requirements, make sure to elaborate on your electives and specifically why you took them. Maybe you took all of the Art and History classes your school had to offer because you are interested in evolving art forms. You wanted to understand the creative process across different art mediums, so you took painting, photography, and other art classes offered at your school, and you took history classes because you have a general interest in learning about history, and you’re trying to refine the topic and time periods you’re interested in.

Alternatively, maybe you took a variety of classes spread across different subjects like math, psychology, photography, or others because you wanted to get a good surface level understanding of a variety of different topics because you were unsure of what you wanted to study in college. Make sure to mention specific takeaways from these courses, or specific connections you’ve drawn between seemingly disparate subjects, to give your response a personal tinge that demonstrates the way you approach learning.

If your school also didn’t offer certain opportunities, like specific courses or programs, this is important to mention as well. For example, if you wanted to take World History but only U.S. History was offered, you can mention that. If your school lacked certain Honors classes or an AP curriculum, you can mention that here as well.

Finally, maybe you feel that your transcript doesn’t accurately represent your abilities because of external circumstances. This prompt also invites you to address any discrepancies. Maybe you had a concussion and got your only C ever because you couldn’t focus in school for months after. Or, maybe you had to take care of your siblings, and couldn’t study as much as you wanted. Whatever the situation, simply share the details in a straightforward manner that accepts responsibility for anything caused by your shortcomings.

SELF Program Applicants

The University of Kansas Self Engineering Leadership Fellows (SELF) program allows engineering students to develop a variety of skills, from communication to management, in order to become better leaders across campus and in their future careers.

This prompt is essentially asking you to write a mission statement that encapsulates your plans for college and beyond. That means you should talk about your ideas, values, and goals for yourself through the lens of the SELF Leadership Program.

If you haven’t written a mission statement before, this can be a daunting assignment. Luckily, there are resources out there to help you develop your ideas. If there’s an organization or company that you like, you could check out their mission statement–many websites have them. You could even look at the mission statements and values of Kansas and other educational institutions. The goal is to see how these organizations define their values and set goals that align with those values. 

Once you feel like you have a general idea of what a mission statement looks like, start thinking about your own values. What’s important to you? It can be hard to rank one thing above another, to narrow down your list, or to create a list that doesn’t sound generic. To navigate these obstacles, here are some questions that will hopefully help you start developing your own mission statement:

• What kind of people do you seek to surround yourself with? What behaviors, practices, or opinions do many of your friends and family share? What qualities or practices do you see as “green flags?”
• When faced with a dilemma or difficult situation, how do you approach finding a solution? What do you prioritize when deciding what to do? What are you willing to sacrifice, and what is non-negotiable?
• When people compliment you, what do they say you’re good at? Is there anything that people often come to you for advice about?
• Who are your heroes? What do you admire about them? What qualities of theirs would you most like to emulate?

As you develop a sense of your values and priorities, it’s also a good idea to start thinking about the values of an ideal SELF fellow. SELF Fellows are future-focused, business-minded leaders–what priorities and values of yours fit well with this image? 

Finally, you will want to take your values and shape them into a cohesive mission, or plan for the future. Make sure that your values are connected to the goals you set. If you are an ambitious person, planning to do well in your courses at Kansas may not demonstrate your ambition as clearly as you like, as pretty much anyone applying to this program will be a high academic achiever.

Instead, talk about how you aim to graduate with honors, double major, or achieve particular things during your time in undergrad. A strong answer to this prompt demonstrates a clear vision that fleshes out your key values, is specific in its aims, and fits in with KU’s description of a successful SELF Fellow. Your job is to tell KU how you meet, or even exceed, their expectations for the ideal participant in this program.

With this prompt, the admissions committee is looking to see your commitment to the SELF program and your reasons for applying. To show that you truly want to be a part of the SELF program and let the committee know what you can contribute to the program and community, your response will need to contain lots of specific detail. Research the requirements and perks of being a SELF fellow, and reflect on what aspects of the program you are drawn to based on your past experiences and current interests.

Why are you interested in becoming a SELF Fellow? The SELF program is looking for students with a passion for engineering and who will become future leaders. The SELF program offers many unique opportunities such as participation in workshops, seminars, and meetings with mentors and advisors, scholarship grants, and other opportunities. Make sure to include what specific aspects of the program you are interested in so that your passion for the subject comes across as tangible and genuine.

For example, a hypothetical applicant might write:

As an engineering major with a business background, I plan to use the skills I gain from SELF to take part in product management within startup culture. Through professional development seminars such as “Women in Mechanical Engineering Networking,” I can learn about opportunities that intersect with my identities and forge the relationships I will need for success in the tech-startup field. I also look forward to attending the SELF Speaker series and learning from industry leaders like Beth Ellyn McClendon. Her work in product management for Google was a large catalyst in my own desire to pursue the business side of engineering.

The second part of this question asks for one or two unique knowledge, experience, and outlooks you could contribute to the program. The admissions committee is looking for students who can bring new ideas and be a positive influence on the program as a whole. Make sure to elaborate on what unique things you could specifically bring to the program. You can do this by elaborating on your past experience and current interests.

Here is another example from the hypothetical applicant:

One of the events that draws me to KU’s SELF program is my desire to help organize and run the annual high school design competition. At my high school, I started Her Hackathon, an annual hackathon for girls who are interested in the technology sector. Introducing these concerns at the high school level has allowed me to spread awareness of gender inequity in STEM in my community. I plan to bring this same energy to KU and continue implementing women-friendly programs that will help bridge this gap in our events. During the high school design competition, I will make sure that the design criteria addresses gender inequality and that the students must reflect their understanding of this issue in their submissions. 

This prompt contains elements of the “Why This Major”and “Extracurricular” essays, so you may want to check out those breakdowns before diving into this prompt. KU wants to know why you’re the right fit for their SELF Fellow program, and they’re asking you to demonstrate your fit through your accomplishments in activities that you’re already involved with. You might be stuck on what to choose, or how to talk about the things you’ve chosen, so let’s take a look at how to write the most effective essay possible. 

The SELF Fellow program seeks engineering and computer science students who are passionate, goal-oriented visionaries, and who will eventually define the future of these industries. To stand out as an applicant, tailor your response to the qualities that KU is looking for. Creative problem-solving, leadership roles, and concrete achievements are all great ways to showcase your readiness for this program. 

What does describing those things look like in an essay? Consider two examples from the same high quality applicant to see how you should structure your own response:

“When I joined my school’s robotics club, I was fueled by little more than an interest in robots. Over my three years in the club, I’ve learned so much about engineering and computer science that I hope to make a career of it. The people I’ve met and opportunities to travel and compete with the team have enriched my life immeasurably, and I’m forever grateful for what robotics has brought to my life.”

In this example, the student shows she is clearly committed to robotics, and has a deep love for her team. But she hasn’t told us much about herself, her contributions to the team, or why she loves robotics so much in the first place.

“The year I joined the robotics club, we didn’t enter a single competition. The club was brand-new, and our faculty advisor didn’t know much about robotics, so we mostly sat in the science lab, tinkering with our limited materials, and dreaming big dreams. The robotics club today looks very different. We travel across the nation to compete. Our trophies shine on a shelf in the science classroom we still use as a meeting place. I’m the president now, not just a clueless freshman member, but I’m still dreaming big dreams.”

In this essay excerpt, on the other hand, the student paints herself as committed and ambitious, and as someone who has contributed to the seismic shift in her robotics club over the years she’s been a member. She discusses what specific changes she’s been a part of, and shows her readers that she’s prepared to apply what she’s learned to her future in robotics, at KU specifically. 

Hopefully, you can see that this second example is much stronger. Though the friendships she’s made and the broadening of her horizons don’t feature as prominently, that’s okay. Admissions officers know college essays are limiting by their nature–in fact, part of their job is to decide the word limits–so they aren’t expecting to learn every single thing about your topic. Rather, as you develop your essay, think about what qualities make you the best fit for the SELF Fellow program, and frame your stories, accomplishments, and achievements around those qualities.

Another thing this essay does well is that it is focused on the student, rather than the club as a whole. Though your chosen achievements and activities may involve other people, and their contributions may be compelling stories in their own right, you’re the one applying to Kansas here, so the focus of your essay should be you. What did you bring to this activity? How did you achieve your accomplishments? What qualities are shown in the anecdotes you choose to share? Let these questions guide you to an essay that is specific, focused on you, and grounded in the attributes of an ideal SELF Fellow.

Where to Get Your University of Kansas Essay Edited

Do you want feedback on your Kansas 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. 

If you want a college admissions expert to review your essay, advisors on CollegeVine have helped students refine their writing and submit successful applications to top schools. Find the right advisor for you to improve your chances of getting into your dream school!