How to Write the UPenn Supplemental Essays 2025-2026

Founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin, the University of Pennsylvania is one of America’s eight Ivy League institutions. Its beautiful campus features unique red-and-green-brick buildings, gorgeous tree-lined paths, and lots of tributes to Ben Franklin. UPenn is known for its premier academics, but also for its thriving student life (it’s called “the social Ivy,” and has a strong Greek life).

 

UPenn also enjoys the benefits of being situated in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania — it’s just a stone’s throw from a myriad of museums, gardens, cathedrals, and historic sites, including Independence Hall. Students typically describe UPenn as having a highly “pre-professional” mindset, with a large cultural focus on internships, school jobs, and career preparation. All in all, it’s the perfect city refuge for ambitious, can-do students who want to maximize their college experience.

 

Depending on their fields of study, students at UPenn will be applying to different colleges that make up the school. Undergraduate education at Penn is separated into four distinct schools: the School of Arts & Sciences, Wharton School of Business, the School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, and the School of Nursing. Each school has its own essay question for applicants to respond to, in addition to the two required essays for all applicants. Additionally, there are quite a few special programs students can apply to—each with their own essay prompts. 

 

You can also read these UPenn essay examples written by real students to inspire your own writing!

 

UPenn Supplemental Essay Prompts 

 

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

 

 

 

As you’ve gone through high school, you’ve likely received help from all kinds of people. UPenn wants to give you a chance to practice gratitude and acknowledge a specific person who has positively impacted your high school journey. 

 

There are two main parts to this prompt: picking the person to thank, and writing the note.

 

Who should you pick? Some commonly-influential folks include:

 

• Teachers
• Mentors or older students
• Coaches
• Family members
• Religious leaders
• Managers/bosses

 

If you’re having trouble thinking of people, you may want to consider thinking of experiences that shaped who you are and the person most directly involved in that. In fact, this may be more effective. There will probably be thousands of thank you notes written to parents, for example. This is great—no problem there—but execution matters. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of writing a generic note thanking this person for “supporting you no matter what” and for “believing in you.”

 

This brings us to part two of this prompt: writing the note. Instead of generic pleasantries, you want to share specific experiences where this person really made a difference in your life. How did they support you? How did they show they believed in you? How did this impact you? 

 

For example, say you want to thank your mother for her support. You might share how she woke up at 6am to run with you each day so you could get extra miles in and work towards your goal of making cross country states (while you didn’t make it, you did place in regionals for the first time!).

 

Or, maybe you want to thank your history teacher for pushing you. You should share how he worked with you individually after school when you were initially struggling to write the AP Euro DBQs, and how this encouraged you to start tutoring others in math (your strongest subject) when you saw how effective this individual help was for you. 

 

Since this essay is only 150-200 words, you likely only have space for 1-2 anecdotes, so choose the ones that stick out to you most (and ones that add additional info to your application rather than repeating it). Unlike your other essays, this one doesn’t need to be a narrative format, and you should simply address the person you’re thanking. Write as if you’re actually writing a regular thank you note to them—no need to be super formal, and include jokes or humor if that’s how you’d normally interact!

 

If you do share your note with the person you’re thanking, you don’t have to reflect on the experience in the essay, unless you want to. If you do, save about one-third to one-fourth of the space for your reflection (about 50-60 words). How did it make that person feel? How did it make you feel? How was the experience meaningful for both of you?

 

The goal of this essay is to see which students are self-aware and humble, so as long as you approach this essay with genuine intentions of thanking this person, you should have a strong response. 

 

If you want to see some concrete examples of strong responses to this prompt, check out our post dedicated exclusively to analyzing UPenn’s “thank you” prompt!

 

 

Use this short essay to showcase the best parts of yourself outside of the classroom. This doesn’t mean you can’t mention your academic interests, but if you mention the same topic as you did in the first prompt, you should dramatically recontextualize it or illuminate a new aspect of it. 

 

The premise of this prompt is purposefully open-ended; communities can take share in a multitude of ways. You could go down the route of a physical group like your religious community or your sports team. You could focus on the notion of community and the feelings associated with it (i.e. warmth, acceptance, support). You could choose to highlight the cultural importance of community that is informed by your unique background. 

 

Whatever way you choose to approach “community”, you want to focus on a singular way of thinking about it in your essay and use that as your jumping off point. Since you don’t have ample room, find one anecdote that exemplifies this definition of what community is to you and why it is important. The best essays will be about a deeper topic than simply extracurriculars or collaborative research.

 

You will be using this anecdote to show the admissions officers how your community has shaped your lived experiences and perspectives, which in turn will influence how you show up on UPenn’s campus. For example, consider a student who has chosen their predominantly-Hispanic neighborhood as their community. A strong way to start their essay would be with an anecdote like this:

 

 

This anecdote sets up a strong visual for the reader about the community and begins to hint at how this community influenced this student. If we kept reading, they might go on to talk about how they found their voice in their Hispanic community when it was unimpeded by language barriers or prejudice, and they are committed to actively use that voice to speak up for the issues facing the members of their community and beyond.

 

You can’t just talk about a community that has shaped you and be done. The other key portion of this essay is connecting your lived experiences to Penn’s campus. You will do this by incorporating both what Penn will do for you, and what you can do for Penn.

 

Be specific, and do your UPenn research. Maybe you bring musical talents and want to join the student orchestra. Perhaps honesty is one of guiding values and you are looking forward to writing for the Daily Pennsylvania newspaper to truthfully report on campus issues. Poke around UPenn’s website to find specific groups or initiatives that address something you enjoy. As always, if you can use past accomplishments or experiences to illustrate your point, it will be more powerful. For instance, if you have led your soccer team’s community outreach efforts, talk about how the skills you learned on the team will make you better at building a relationship between UPenn and the city of Philadelphia.

 

Don’t just name-drop an activity. For example, “UPenn’s Black student center, Makuu, is something that interests me” shows a bit of research, but not a lot. It also does not connect the research to the applicant as an individual, or hit on the larger theme of community. A better approach is to be hyper specific:

 

 

This answer is specific to the applicant, establishes a potential research track, and shows that they know more about Makuu than just the name.

 

Another thing this essay wants you to consider is the active relationship you and Penn will have in shaping one another. This is about development—of your character and the campus community—so your response should emphasize how you will evolve, grow, and improve from being a student at UPenn.

 

Ideally, think about something that challenges you and keeps you from fulfilling your potential — maybe it’s a fear of public speaking, a dislike of volunteering, or a tendency to avoid people who disagree with you. Why do you feel you need to change, and what communities at UPenn could push you out of your comfort zone?

 

For example, a student could plot out their essay like this: 

 

Community: 

I’m part of my school’s newspaper and play the role of editor, mentoring younger journalists and providing feedback on their writing.

 

⬇

 

Problem/Need:

I need to work on my “bedside manner” as a writing mentor. I need to acquire effective strategies and principles to inform me, and I need to work with more mentees to practice.

 

⬇

 

Solution:

 

The student essay tutors program at UPenn’s library will offer me training to improve as a tutor, and by working there I can gain repeated experience in coaching others’ writing.

 

⬇

 

Result:

I will end up as a better communicator, and I can help writers feel confident, which will make the community of writers I join at UPenn feel like a more welcoming and supportive environment.

 

 

This prompt is an example of the classic “Why This Major?” essay. When colleges ask this question, they are trying to understand where your passion for your chosen field of study came from and why you would make a good addition to the student body. You want to convey genuine interest in your major, as well as highlighting your goals and how majoring in this topic at UPenn specifically will help you reach those goals.

 

When it comes to communicating your interest, there are a few ways you could go about it. A tried and true method is to rely on an anecdote to show the admissions committee either how your interest in the subject matter began or how you engage with the topic in your current life. Remember, anecdotes need to communicate your emotional attachment to your interest by drawing on thoughts, feelings, and physical expression.

 

You can also demonstrate your interest with specific examples. For example, a student interested in pursuing music could write a sentence about each instrument they play and what excites them about each one. Another tactic you might employ is to share your inner monologue. This might look like a student detailing the conversation in their head when they are researching astronomy topics and how they jump from one subtopic to another.

 

While expressing your interest in your major is important, the second half of this essay requires you to turn towards UPenn’s offerings. Start scouring the website and look for unique opportunities and resources that not only relate to your interests, but will also help you grow and achieve your goals. Below are a few ideas to inspire your research:

 

• 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 (there is a finance club on every campus but Penn’s Marketing Undergraduate Student Establishment is highly specific)
• Look into special programs or centers (ie. Center for Particle Cosmology or Linguistics Data Consortium)
• Research Penn-specific study abroad programs and destinations

 

Especially given the limited amount of space in this prompt, quality over quantity is extremely important; pick one or two opportunities and go into depth about why they excite you, how they relate to you, and what you hope to get out of them rather than name dropping four or five.  

 

If you are able to seamlessly transition from discussing your personal history with your major of choice and the related opportunities at UPenn, you will have a strong essay. 

 

You also don’t need to know exactly what you want to study in college to successfully write this essay. If you are applying to Arts and Sciences undecided, these tips will help you respond to this prompt.

 

 

All this prompt boils down to is a classic “Why This Major?” essay. The Penn admissions committee wants to know three main things:

 

1. What drew you to engineering?
2. What are your goals? (ie. become a leader in technology as stated in the prompt)
3. How will Penn, and your specific chosen major, help you further your interest and achieve your goals?

 

Let’s break this down step-by-step.

 

1. What drew you to engineering?

 

Just as in any “Why Major?” essay, you need to demonstrate your passion for your chosen area of study so admissions officers are confident that you will be a positive addition to the campus. But how do you show that?

 

The best way is to use anecdotes. College essays that read like stories are infinitely more engaging than ones that restate the prompt and tell the reader who the student is. We need to see it. Take a look at two examples of the types of anecdotes you could use to demonstrate your interest in engineering:

 

 

The sheer level of detail not only draws the reader in and makes us excited to read more, but it also subconsciously communicates that this student has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to building and launching rockets. They didn’t tell us once in this paragraph that they are interested in engineering, and yet it’s abundantly clear because their passion leaps off the page.

 

 

Yet again, the vivid imagery this example employs makes the reader feel like they are in the car with the student experiencing the wonders of structural engineering through their eyes. We get a sense of this student’s interest because they share multiple facets of fascination with us: knowing physical attributes about the bridge, admiring the science behind it, and imagining the construction process.

 

2. What are your goals?

 

The second thing your essay needs to communicate is what your personal and career aspirations are, relative to engineering. In an essay this short, this doesn’t need to be more than a sentence or two, but including a forward-thinking mindset will show the admissions committee your dedication to the subject. Plus, Penn wants to admit students who will achieve great things, so let them know you have big plans in store!

 

You can weave your goals into your anecdote or allude to them when you are talking about the UPenn resources you want to take advantage of, for example: “After taking Nanoscale Science and Engineering, I will know the mechanisms needed to scale-down the facial recognition chip to fit it into wearable glasses, so even those with Alzheimer’s can recognize their loved ones.”

 

In the prompt, they mention “Penn Engineering prepares its students to become leaders in technology,” so if you can, try to demonstrate how you will be a leader within your engineering field when highlighting a goal of yours.

 

3. How will Penn, and your chosen major, help you?

 

Before you’re done with your essay, you need to connect yourself to UPenn. By this point in your essay, the admissions committee should see you are a passionate, driven, and ambitious student with a bright future ahead of you, but the question Penn admissions officers care about is why should that future be at Penn?

 

You’ll need to now bring in a few Penn-specific resources and opportunities—and connect them to you—to seal the deal and demonstrate how you would make the most out of a UPenn education. 

 

When it comes to including school resources, we always recommend quality over quantity. Avoid name-dropping three classes, a professor, and two student organizations without any elaboration. Instead, for an essay with a limited word count, focus on one or two Penn resources that align with your passion and explain why you are excited to engage with that opportunity or how it will help you achieve your goals.

 

It’s a good idea to pick Penn offerings that align with the central theme or anecdote of your essay. For example, a student whose anecdote was about programming a robot might write about their interest in joining Penn Aerial Robotics to explore the design behind UAVs since they want to go into military development. Another student who told a story about researching devices to cure obscure diseases might talk about the Penn Center for Health, Devices, and Technology and how they want to partner with faculty at the Center to develop new technology.

 

 

This prompt is a combination of the “Why This College?” and Impact on Community essay archetypes. It is asking you to reflect on three key things:

 

1. What draws you to nursing/why you belong in the profession
2. What your future looks like
3. How you will contribute to Penn Nursing’s mission of promoting equity in healthcare

 

To craft a compelling response, you need to clearly connect your personal values and experiences with Penn Nursing’s mission, to demonstrate your commitment to promoting equity in healthcare. You should also articulate how concrete resources and opportunities at Penn Nursing will help you grow as a nurse and achieve your professional goals, and, in turn, what impact you hope to have through the program. 

 

In other words, this prompt is twofold. You’ll need to explain why you’re right for Penn Nursing, and why Penn Nursing, as opposed to any other nursing school, is right for you. 

 

Let’s consider some questions that may help guide your brainstorming. 

 

• What experiences do you have that highlight your commitment to equity in healthcare? Focus on the equity piece here–if you have an experience that involves equity, but isn’t in the context of healthcare specifically, that’s okay.

 

• Have you worked, lived, learned, or volunteered in underserved or especially diverse communities? What did you learn or take away from this experience?

 

• What are your long-term career goals, and how did you arrive at them? What is your personal connection to nursing; why are you drawn to it and why is it the right profession for you?

 

• What Penn Nursing programs, initiatives, or aspects are you most interested in, and how do you see them benefiting you during your career, especially as you promote equity in nursing?

 

• What specific knowledge, skills, or experience do you hope to gain at Penn? How do these abilities relate to your nursing career, your future, and health equity? 

 

Spend some time developing genuine, well-researched responses to each of these questions. If you can’t answer every single one of them, that’s okay, but you should be able to respond to each part of the prompt in a personal, meaningful way: why Penn, why you, and equity in healthcare.

 

Remember, admissions officers are reading through dozens of applications per day. Their eyes will glaze right over cliché or vague answers, and the last thing you want your application to be is forgettable.

 

So, what does a good response look like? Consider these hypothetical student topics.

 

• Aisha has been involved in mental health advocacy throughout high school, particularly focusing on the stigma surrounding mental health in Black communities. She believes that Penn Nursing’s commitment to mental health equity, exemplified by their Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, will equip her with the knowledge and skills to become a leader in this field.

 

• Carlos grew up in a rural area where access to healthcare was limited due to income and geography. This area was devastated by the Covid pandemic, and continues to be impacted by vaccine hesitancy. He is passionate about increasing healthcare access and education in rural communities, and thus is drawn to Penn Nursing’s research on how nurse practitioners can bridge the health gap in many rural communities. Carlos hopes to take advantage of the program’s resources to learn how to design effective outreach programs and address the unique challenges of rural healthcare.

 

• Nadia has volunteered at a free clinic serving a low-income, predominantly undocumented population in her hometown. Her experiences have fueled her desire to specialize in community health nursing. Nadia plans to contribute to Penn Nursing by participating in the Bridging the Gaps program, where she can continue to work with underserved communities while gaining the skills needed to address health disparities on a larger scale.

 

Notice how each of these examples incorporates information about the student and their background and values into their goals for the future, while also naming specific programs at Penn that are clearly related to their aspirations. And, in all three, equity is a key reason why they’re pursuing a career in nursing in the first place.

 

Your own story won’t necessarily be as perfectly linear as these examples, and your future goals might not be as well-defined. That’s okay! Penn doesn’t expect you to have everything figured out before you even get to campus.

 

For example, maybe you’ve volunteered at an animal shelter, and you’ve seen how reluctant people are to adopt animals with even minor ailments. Those experiences sparked your passion to develop a baseline level of medical competency in the overall populace, to alleviate some of the stress on the healthcare system and allow providers to focus on the patients with the greatest need, and you see Penn Nursing’s Community Champions program as the perfect opportunity for you to start working towards that goal in Philadelphia.

 

So long as you focus on cohesion, make a clear connection to equity, and have a distinctly personal element, you’ll be well on your way to an excellent response that catches the eye of Penn’s admissions committee.

 

 

This essay follows the Global Issues essay archetype. For this type of essay, it’s extremely important that you pick an issue you are actually passionate about, rather than one you think will seem “impressive” to admissions officers. Your natural interest in the topic will make it easier to write and make the essay more engaging.

 

Let’s break down the process from beginning to end.

 

Pick an Issue Important to You

 

You’re given leeway in the prompt to pick any economic, political, or social issue that is close to your heart. Maybe there is one that immediately jumps out at you, or maybe you’re struggling to choose. If you need help narrowing down your choices, start by asking yourself these questions:

 

• What class are you more drawn to, economics or history/government?
• What type of news articles catch your attention?
• What causes or charities do you donate to or volunteer for?
• What’s a news story that has made you enraged? Upset? Motivated?
• What current events topics do you like to talk about with your friends?

 

We recommend picking a topic that relates to your interests and experiences that way you can incorporate stories into your essay. A student who is able to connect something they do on a local level to a larger national issue will show the admissions committee their appreciation of micro and macro perspectives. 

 

For example, a student who’s been volunteering as a tutor for low income elementary students throughout high school might choose public education funding as their topic because they have seen the disparity in resources available to students simply based on the property taxes in the district. Not only does this topic directly relate to their extracurricular interests, but it also provides the student with a chance to use stories and details from their personal experience.

 

Keep in mind that although Wharton is the business school, your issue does not have to be economically-related, nor do you need to explain the issue’s connection to business. Practically every global issue involves economic theory or the private sector, so it’s more important to pick an issue that is authentically you rather than one that seems better suited to the school.

 

Explain the Extent of the Problem and Your Connection

 

The first part of this is pretty straightforward: tell the admissions committee why they should care about this issue as much as you do. Pretend that your reader isn’t familiar with the issue and explain what is going on and why it is important to address it.

 

The more nuanced part is explaining why this issue is important to you specifically.

 

This is where anecdotes and personal stories can come into play, but you need to make sure that through these stories you communicate your emotional attachment to the issue. Are you or your community personally affected? How has that impacted your lives? Maybe the issue is not directly related to you but it reminds you of something you’ve faced. In that case, how do you empathize with the people going through the situation?

 

Since this essay is pretty short, a good portion of the essay should be on your personal connection to the issue. 

 

How Will Wharton Help You Fix It

 

Of course since this is a college essay, the prompt doesn’t just want to know about a global issue you care about—it wants to know how you will utilize a Penn education to solve problems. Again, space is limited, so you don’t have the luxury to go into multiple resources that you hope to engage with on campus. Instead, hone in on one or two and make sure to explain their significance.

 

Whether it’s a professor, class, student organization, research topic, special center, study abroad program, etc, make sure to include how that opportunity will teach you something unique or equip you with specific skills that will allow you to address the issue in the future.

 

 

“The Digital Media Design Program,” writes UPenn, “was established in response to what we perceived as a growing rift within the computer graphics and animation industry.” UPenn is one of few schools to offer a specialized curriculum that combines fine arts with computer engineering. However, because the DMD program is so rare, it is also competitive. 

 

To set yourself apart from the other applicants, you will need your essay to show a sustained interest in digital media design and how you have actively gone out of your way to engage with the subject. You need to both show 1) what your interests are, and 2) why UPenn and DMD are the only places you can properly pursue them.

 

A good strategy here is a simple T-chart, with “My Interests” at the top of one column, and “DMD” at the top of the other. For each of your interests, try to find some feature of DMD, or specific opportunity within the program, that will allow you to explore that interest.

 

A hypothetical chart could look something like:

 

My Interests	DMD
Making online human avatars more realistic	Professor Norman I. Badler’s work developing human figure animation software
How art can be used to fix the world’s problems	The DMD elective course “Environmental Animation”
A well-rounded perspective on computer science	The program’s requirement that all students take 7 courses in the social sciences or humanities

 

While this is a solid starting strategy, there are some more specific things you should mind. 

 

Why you NEED the interdisciplinary approach. DMD combines a lot of fields that you could study in isolation elsewhere. For a standout application, you need to show why you wouldn’t be content in just the School of Fine Arts or just the School of Engineering. Rather, you should describe the magnetic pull both design and computer sciences have on your mind, and how you’ve integrated them in the past, to the point where they’re inextricable for you.

 

A problem you can help address. Remember, this whole program was created to solve a perceived problem! In your essay, whether its towards the end or worked in throughout, identify a societal or industry-specific problem that the skills set you’d acquire at DMD would help ameliorate. This could be ameliorating clunky user interfaces for apps, computer models for statisticians, or how to make animated fish scales look really, really good. 

 

Do some digging about the program. Information about DMD is scattered in multiple places, so spend a good hour clicking around and exploring the Internet. For a program this esoteric, it’s also worth your effort to send a polite email to the Computer Graphics Department at UPenn, asking if there’s any faculty or current students who’d like to chat or answer your questions about the program. This will give you a much more specific sense of how the program would fit your interests, what career resources are available for DMD students, etc. 

 

The message is the medium. Since this is a design program, convey your design preferences and unique style as much as possible. A successful essay not only convinces admissions officers that you are passionate about design; it gives them a sense of what aesthetics your designs will prioritize. For example, if your style is “minimalist,” you might want to experiment with a “minimalist” writing style: sentence fragments, short sentences, and clipped breaks. If your style is vivid and colorful, engage lots of sensory words, lush descriptions, and (obviously) words for all your favorite shades of colors. 

 

 

In this quick supplement, you’re being asked to discuss your connection to the language you would pursue as part of the Huntsman Program. With only 125 words, you’ll want to make this response efficient and effective, covering your background with the language, your motivation for studying it, and your authentic interest. Let’s talk through the best way to do that. 

 

Even with a prompt this short, you’ll want to anchor your answer in specific details that help illustrate your connection to this language as well as inform the reader about you. Connecting to culture can be a good way to do this—and it doesn’t have to be your own culture, either. You could write about your appreciation for French cuisine through perfecting your macrons, or how your fascination with hanboks led to an interest in Korean fashion. Describing the roots and deep connections of your interest can also be a good way to seed a link to the future; you should be choosing a language that helps further your global goals. 

 

What might a successful essay look like? Well, take a few hypothetical student examples. 

 

• Leila wants to study Arabic: Her grandparents’ living room in Beirut is where she first heard Arabic lullabies. Though raised in New Jersey, she began studying Arabic formally to bridge the gap between her American upbringing and Lebanese heritage, aiming to one day work in Middle Eastern economic development.

 

• Mateo wants to study Portuguese: After a summer exchange in São Paulo, Mateo fell in love with the warmth of Brazilian conversation—especially during his nightly debates over soccer with his host father. Now, he studies Portuguese to better understand South America’s trade networks.

 

• Sophie—Mandarin: Sophie’s passion for Mandarin started with Chinese calligraphy in middle school art class. The brushstrokes led her to language classes, which in turn opened up Chinese poetry, history, and perspectives on global commerce.

 

Each of these students shows a deep personal connection, an appreciation for culture beyond the language, and a goal for the future that is tied to this language in particular. A full 125 word response will not only hit these marks, but will avoid common mistakes like generic praise, overemphasis on career, or trying to fit an entire life story into this brief supplement.

 

What would an effective supplement that incorporates all of this advice look like? Here’s one example. 

 

 

 

UPenn’s Huntsman Program is a dual degree track in International Studies and Business, which brings together the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School of Business. Its focus is global, and students learn target languages and study foreign affairs with an eye towards becoming internationally-involved, global citizens.

 

The question admissions officers have for you is a meaty one, so we should break it down into a checklist of key items they’re asking you to address. 

 

1. What draws you to business (B) + international studies (IS)
2. A global issue in B + IS you care about
3. What you want to learn about B + IS
4. How that knowledge is applicable to the global issue 

 

A logical, competent way to structure this essay would be a narrative format: past to present. The items that compose the question naturally lend themselves to this timeline format, so lean into it if you choose. You can talk about your past interest in a problem, the current state of that problem, and how your collegiate experience in B + IS will make you a citizen better equipped to help solve that problem. While this is perhaps the most straightforward way to hit all these points, there are other formats with which to answer this question. Just keep in mind that each of these points is essential, and whatever format of essay you write, you want to hit all of them. 

 

If you are going to write a narratively-formatted essay, it’s best to start with a few general tips. These are also applicable to the majority of other essays, as well. As always, be specific. Pick not just a broad issue (“refugee crises”), but a subset of the issue that actually seems manageable (“connecting large corporate donors with small charities run by refugees themselves”). From there, look for potential classes offered at UPenn, and student organizations involved in similar missions. It may be worth citing how the Huntsman program has aided the students featured on its website, and discuss how those same opportunities would similarly provide you with a comprehensive education in B + IS.

 

Demonstrate your cosmopolitanism. If you have a family history that involves living in multiple countries or cultures, you may want to evoke it here. The same goes for any educational, service, or other time spent learning abroad. Even if you’ve never left your home country, demonstrate a keen knowledge of foreign affairs by citing events, specific leaders, international charities or businesses, etc. 

 

That said, be wary of “factoids” and surface knowledge. A CollegeVine writer who applied to the Huntsman Program had a great piece of advice that’s worth emphasizing: 

 

“Don’t do what I did. In high school, I focused on international affairs a lot during debate. Unfortunately, I messed up an important interview by talking about a bunch of breaking news instead of tying those events back to the deeper insights I had been describing in my debates.

 

All this is just to say: don’t mistake superficial ideas for depth of interest. One quick way to test this is to try talking about your essay topic for three minutes. If you run out of things to say about the intersection of global issues and business, you probably are coming at the issue from the wrong angle [and you need to approach it from another direction: themes, morality, ethics, etc].”

 

What is the philosophy behind your international focus? In addition to showing your knowledge of IS, you should state why you enjoy the field, and why it’s necessary for the world right now. Has your understanding of the world and yourself changed since you first became interested in B + IS? Your understanding of “community,” “collaboration,” “multiculturalism,” “aid,” etc? 

 

Think of it this way: the prompt asks “what” and “how,” but there’s also a hidden question: “why?” 

 

 

As with many program-specific prompts, this is a “Why This Major?” essay. Because the Life Sciences and Management School connects two disciplines, this essay asks you to do the same, using the combination of the two to address problems in unique ways. At 400-650 words, you have plenty of space to dive deep into your interest in LSM, analyze challenges that are relevant to you, and explore how UPenn and LSM’s offerings will help you achieve your goals. 

 

Let’s start by defining exactly what this prompt is asking for. Thinking at the intersection of science and business doesn’t just mean someone who likes both. Your essay should illustrate your understanding of this difference, highlight how you see science and management working together, and demonstrate that your interest is driven by values, not just career plans. 

 

These considerations might sound pretty theoretical, so let’s get some concrete ideas down, too, to help ground your essay in reality. Here are some questions to consider as you begin to plan your essay.

 

• What life science opportunity or problem fascinates or frustrates you? (e.g., drug accessibility, rare disease research, biotech ethics, environmental health, agricultural innovation).
• Why does this issue matter to you personally—do you have an experience, observation, or intellectual curiosity that drives it?
• How have you already explored this problem or a related field (research, volunteering, reading, competitions, internships)?
• Where have you seen gaps between science and implementation—where a brilliant discovery failed because of cost, regulation, or market barriers?
• What values guide your interest—equity, efficiency, sustainability, innovation, ethics?
• How might you combine scientific inquiry and management skills to create a better outcome? If you had the tools of a scientist and a strategist, how would you use them?
• What would success look like if you tackled this challenge?

 

As you use these questions to help draft your essay, keep in mind some of the key elements of a great response. A compelling, specific challenge will make a better impression—for example “creating a reliable supply chain for vaccines in sub-Saharan Africa” is a stronger topic than “creating health equity.” This can also help you demonstrate intellectual maturity by showing that you’re thinking deeply about every level of a problem, rather than skating on the surface of something you don’t understand very well. Dual-perspective thinking can contribute to intellectual maturity, illustrating how you’re able to appreciate the science and business sides of an issue and how the disciplines might work together to generate solutions. 

 

Finally, picking a challenge to which you have a personal connection is key, both because it helps create a stronger impression of you, and because it can showcase values-based motivation. 

 

Let’s look at how all of these elements work together in a strong student essay example. While your essay should make full use of the 650 words you’re allowed, we’ve abridged this one for space. 

 

Good example:

 

 

Why it works:

 

This essay grabs a reader from the beginning with a painful personal connection contributing to a clear problem. The student demonstrates a deep understanding of the issue, from the delicacy of chemical compounds to the way the market dictates what is theoretically possible versus what is actually achievable. Science and business are integrated throughout this example, which leans on LSM and Wharton’s offerings to help the author stand out as a perfect fit for UPenn. 

 

Now, what would a less adept essay look like? Some common mistakes are just the reverse of what we’ve already talked about. Since a clear and specific focus is a bonus, we know that a vague or overly broad challenge is a poor choice. But there are other ways to write a poor essay—relying on jargon or namedropping as substitutes for deep understanding and research of LSM offerings, siloing science and management into separate paragraphs without addressing where they intersect, or forgetting to show the human stakes. The last one is particularly important for an essay prompt that emphasizes values, as LSM likely isn’t looking for essays purely concerned with profit. 

 

What might some of these errors look like in an actual essay? We’ll provide one bad example and talk through what it’s missing. Again, one of the biggest problems with this essay is how short it is, but that’s because we don’t want to include a full 650 word essay here. 

 

Bad example:

 

 

Why it doesn’t work:

 

While well-written, this essay relies heavily on sophisticated language, overusing generic terms like “molecular engineering” without ever being more specific about what this might mean. It also betrays a surface-level understanding of the very problems this student seeks to address by assuming that scaling bioengineering is purely about business strategy, without addressing deeper scientific, societal, political, or even ethical barriers. The mentions of Dr. Doe and UPenn are glancing, and repeat an error found throughout the essay: there are no human stakes and no connection to the student, so we’re left not knowing the applicant any better than when we started. 

 

Hopefully, these two essay examples have given you some idea of how to answer this prompt successfully. The last thing we’ll give you is a list of cliché topics that LSM applicants should avoid, so you can make sure your essay will stand out from the crowd. Here are some essays that are best left unwritten:

 

• “Innovation will save us” or “No one has thought of this before”: These two angles betray a similar simplistic mindset, which can also tip over into arrogance. Definitely come in with ideas, but don’t assume you have all the answers. 

 

• Big, vague global problems with no personal connection: You may care deeply about world hunger or sustainability, but you can also dig much deeper and connect these things to yourself.

 

• The résumé tour: The admissions office already has your résumé! Don’t waste time here listing every accolade you’ve ever earned; show the committee who you are through your ideas, anecdotes, and plans for the future. 

 

• Generic career goals or abstract ethics statements: Two sides of the same coin, these cliches make it seem like you’re focused on prestige and labels rather than actual meaning and making a difference. Plenty of people want to be CEOs of biotech companies and plenty of people believe in the importance of access and equity – your challenge is to show why these things are true and how exactly they fit into your plans at UPenn.

 

 

This prompt is similar to the DMD prompt outlined above. It asks you 1) what your interests are, and 2) why you need to pursue them at UPenn and through M&T specifically. So, you can brainstorm using the T-chart format we covered there, with “M&T” in the column previously dedicated to DMD. 

 

Of course, there are some specific things you should mind for this distinct prompt. 

 

Why you NEED the interdisciplinary approach. M&T combines a lot of fields that you could study in isolation elsewhere. For a standout application, you need to show why you wouldn’t be content in just the School of Business or just the School of Engineering. Rather, you should describe the magnetic pull both engineering and business have on your mind, and how you’ve integrated them in the past, to the point where they’re inextricable for you.

 

A problem or curiosity you can help address. Remember, the first words on M&T’s website are “solving big problems”! Towards the end of your essay, or weaved throughout if you want, discuss a societal or industry-specific problem that the skills set you’d acquire through M&T would help ameliorate, whether it’s user interfaces for apps or environmentally-friendly polymers.

 

Do some digging about the program. M&T’s website is vast, so spend a good hour clicking around and exploring, taking notes on details that appeal to you. This will give you a much more specific sense of how the program would fit your interests, what career resources are available for M&T students, etc. We suggest checking out the News section and Alumni profiles.

 

 

Finding an anecdote that fits the second essay could be harder than it may seem. If you are struggling to approach this essay, here are a few tips you can follow.

 

First, think back on times you have been a leader. This can be through some formal position you held, like club president, or it can be leadership in practice rather than in title. It also doesn’t have to strictly involve business and engineering, although it really helps if you’re able to creatively apply it back to your business/tech interests. You should think of this prompt as the short, fun, unbuttoned sequel to the previous one.

 

Here’s an example. Imagine Lucy is the lead singer in a band, but she’s been having trouble booking gigs. So Lucy looks for venues they had not considered previously, going to chamber of commerce meetings in her county. She finds out small business owners would like live music for events. She came up with an elevator pitch and some flyers, and pretty soon, Lucy’s band is playing private events hosted by small businesses.

 

This anecdote makes a great fit for the essay prompt, because it expands on the idea of “business” without being stuffy or repetitious. It’s fresh, and can allow Lucy to talk about a real topic in business, relevant to M&T—seeking face-to-face connections and word-of-mouth recommendations.

 

It’s important that while the prompt specifically asks you to “describe a problem”, this entails going beyond just laying out the situation and your solution. Really show the admissions officers reading your essay your method for approaching the problem. Whether that’s including your internal monologue, going into detail about the different steps you took, or something else creative, make sure you give your readers a peek into how you solve problems.

 

 

NHCM is a dual degree between the Wharton School of Business and the Nursing School. The program’s prompt is similar to the DMD and M&T prompts outlined above. It asks you to 1) identify your interests, and 2) pair those interests with specific resources at UPenn—specifically, those within NHCM. So, you can brainstorm using the same general T-chart format we covered in the DMD section.

 

That said, there are some specific things you should mind. 

 

Why you NEED the interdisciplinary approach. NHCM combines a lot of fields that you could study in isolation elsewhere. For a standout application, you need to show why you wouldn’t be content in just the School of Business or just the School of Nursing. Rather, you should describe the magnetic pull both healthcare and business have on your mind, and how you’ve integrated them in the past, to the point where they’re inextricable for you.

 

A problem, curiosity, or goal you can pursue. Discuss how your personal experience has shaped your objectives in pursuing nursing—you have space to begin in medias res with a personal story, if you want. Towards the end of your essay, mention a societal or industry-specific problem that the skills set you’d acquire through NHCM would help ameliorate, whether it’s how pharma companies can better incorporate the perspective of nurses or how businesses can succeed with their health initiatives.

 

Do some digging about the program. The NHCM website is very small, so be sure to poke around the internet, exploring and taking notes on details that appeal to you. This will give you a much more specific sense of how the program would fit your interests, what career resources are available for NHCS students, etc.

 

We suggest checking out the Admissions webinars offered by the UPenn school of nursing for opportunities to ask questions. You also might want to politely email the staff member listed under the “Who Can Apply?” section, and ask if there are any faculty or current students who would be open to talking about their experiences in NHCM.

 

 

This prompt is one you’ll probably recognize at this point—a classic “Why This Major” essay, of course! Since it’s already for a specific program, the response has to be laser-focused on energy-related science and engineering, and it needs to show a personal connection to both majors you choose. Let’s break down how exactly to do this successfully. 

First, let’s talk about VIPER itself. As a dual-degree program, both science and engineering are crucial, so keep in mind you’ll want to demonstrate a balance between those two in your essay. You’ll also want to loop in the program’s sustainable energy focus. To craft a compelling essay, you should also prioritize your own passions, experiences, and career goals, highlighting how your personal interests intersect with VIPER offerings. 

 

This is not just “I like chemistry and mechanical engineering.” It’s “Here’s how my past experiences and future ambitions make these two majors the perfect tools for the kind of energy problem-solving I want to do.”

 

Now that we’ve broken down what the prompt is asking for, let’s brainstorm some questions you can answer that will help you answer it. 

 

• When did you first start caring about sustainable energy or energy technology? Was there a specific moment, project, or news story?
• What experiences—school projects, science fairs, research, independent experiments—have shown you the power of combining science and engineering?
• Which branch of science excites you the most in the context of energy—chemistry, physics, earth science, biology? Why?
• Which engineering discipline feels like a natural partner to that science major in solving energy challenges?
• Can you name a specific sustainable energy problem you’d like to work on that would require knowledge from both majors?
• How might Penn’s resources (labs, faculty, research centers) help you connect the two?

 

You don’t have to answer every one of these questions, nor does your response have to include direct answers for any or all of them. Rather, you should use these as a jumping off point for a personal, original response that centers what’s important to you and how it relates to VIPER—as well as, of course, your chosen majors. Every applicant’s essay is going to look different, but the best of them will have some things in common. 

 

The best essays demonstrate clear, consistent connections to both majors. You should be able to provide specific examples of your interest that stick in admissions officers’ minds. This ties into our next biggest piece of advice: concrete examples, which will ground your essay in reality and help demonstrate your deep interest in Penn and VIPER through specific references. Your essay should have a unifying theme rather than being a list of impressive accomplishments or randomly chosen anecdotes, and with only 200 words you’ll want to be efficient, too. Make each word work for you! 

 

Let’s take a look at some hypothetical student examples that will help illustrate what we’ve been talking about:

 

• Isabella – Science Major: Chemistry | Engineering Major: Materials Science and Engineering In middle school, Isabella’s science fair project on perovskite solar cells got her hooked on renewable energy. She now wants to study chemistry to design novel photovoltaic compounds, paired with materials science to engineer devices that can handle real-world conditions like heat and humidity.

 

• Devin – Science Major: Physics | Engineering Major: Electrical Engineering After interning at a wind farm, Devin became fascinated with turbine efficiency. Physics would give him the foundation to understand fluid dynamics and aerodynamics, while electrical engineering would allow him to improve power conversion systems and grid integration.

 

• Mei – Science Major: Earth Science | Engineering Major: Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Mei grew up near an industrial port where air quality was poor. She wants to study Earth science to understand atmospheric chemistry and pollution patterns, while chemical engineering would equip her to design cleaner fuel production systems.

 

Again, these are just jumping off points to provide inspiration for your own brainstorming. As you get started, remember to avoid common pitfalls like generic passion statements (“I want to save the planet!”), pairing random majors with little explanation, overloading your essay with name-dropped resources at UPenn, or focusing your entire response on one major. 

 

VIPER is a competitive program within a very competitive school, so it needs to be clear from your essay that you’ve put real time, energy, and research into thinking about your place there. 

 

Let’s dive deep into a good example to see what a really excellent essay might look like, and then we’ll take a look at a less effective essay so you know what to avoid. 

 

Good example:

 

 

Why it works:

 

This student uses vivid language to describe the catalyst of their interest in chemistry and materials science, and connects that origin story to their future goals to create a cohesive essay with a strong throughline. Not only that, but they cite specific resources at Penn that will carry them toward that goal, which centers on renewable energy. The majors are clearly connected, and you can tell the student has carefully chosen the combination. 

 

Bad example:

 

 

Why it doesn’t work:

 

This essay isn’t atrocious, but it isn’t strong enough for UPenn admissions. Despite starting with a strong anecdote, the essay remains vague and somewhat impersonal. The author fails to connect their goals with any specific programs or offerings in the VIPER program, and provides only a surface-level connection for the physics and mechanical engineering connection. The sense of passion is missing, and the applicant further weakens their essay by using words like “think” “would” and “seem,” which contribute to a feeling of uncertainty. 

 

Having reviewed the good and bad examples, take a look at your own essay draft and remember that VIPER isn’t looking for students who like science and engineering in general—they want students who see these fields as powerful, specific tools for tackling the energy challenges of tomorrow.

 

 

The Vagelos Integrated Program in Energy Research, or VIPER, is a rigorous program that emphasizes student research, publication, and mentorship opportunities with faculty. In some ways, the program’s prompt is more like a python than a viper, in that it’s huge and has some additional prompts swallowed up inside.

 

However, you should note that it has a similar format to the DMD essay, in that it asks you to 1) identify your specific interests and ideal majors and 2) pair those interests with specific resources at UPenn, and within the VIPER program specifically.

 

And boy, do VIPER students not lack resources. The T-chart method we discussed earlier can be especially useful here, as you can fill up the VIPER column with all sorts of specific programs, mentorship opportunities, awards, funds, and summer opportunities that call to you. 

 

That said, there are some specific things you should mind. 

 

Why you NEED the interdisciplinary approach. VIPER combines a lot of fields that you could study in isolation elsewhere. For a standout application, you need to show why you wouldn’t be content in just the School of A&S or just the School of Engineering.

 

Rather, you should describe the magnetic pull both science and engineering have on your mind, and how you’ve integrated them in the past, to the point where they’re inextricable for you. Describing your dual passions can provide a meaningful segue into “previous research,” as per the prompt—you might have loved a setting in which you practiced both science and engineering, or you might have felt something was “missing” when you solely focused on one or the other. 

 

A problem, curiosity, or goal you can pursue in college. Discuss how your personal experiences have shaped your objectives in pursuing engineering. If one experience was particularly formative, eye-opening, challenging, or inspiring, this would be a great incident with which to open your essay.

 

Follow a logical narrative organization. The prompt itself provides you with the easiest way to lay out your essay, and that is: 

 

Inciting or important experience 

 

⬇

 

Interest in energy/science as a subject

 

⬇

 

Further experience

 

⬇

 

Narrowed and refined interests; awareness of large-scale dilemmas in the field

 

⬇

 

Desire for certain exploratory opportunities in college

 

⬇

 

VIPER programs that fit that desire

 

⬇

 

How VIPER programs will prepare you to address those large-scale dilemmas and research interests

 

Do some digging about the program. The VIPER website is extremely comprehensive, so be sure to reserve at least an hour or so for reading, exploring, and taking notes on details that appeal to you. Doing your research thoroughly will give you a much more specific sense of how the program would fit your interests, what career resources are available for VIPER students, etc.

 

We suggest checking out the information e-sessions offered by VIPER for opportunities to ask questions. You also might want to politely email the staff member listed on the Prospective Students page if you have any questions, or if you want to ask if there are any faculty or current students who would be open to talking about their experiences in VIPER.

 

Where to Get Your UPenn Essays Edited For Free

 

Do you want free, nearly-instantaneous feedback on your UPenn 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!