northwestern university video essay

How to Successfully Complete the Kellogg Video Essay

Sep 12, 2024

Why does Kellogg require a video essay?

How does the kellogg video essay work, which types of questions are asked, the difference between a good and great video essay, make sure you get into kellogg.

UPDATE : This article was originally posted on September 16, 2019. It has been updated with new information and tips below! 

With its Global Hub, Kellogg of Management at Northwestern University has reinforced itself as a haven for collaboratively-minded leaders. However, if you want to experience the Global Hub for yourself, you’ve got quite the road ahead, as Kellogg is one of the world’s most elite, competitive business schools.

Despite this fact, many applicants dedicate countless hours to writing Kellogg’s admissions essays and then rush through the video essay component. 

This is a huge mistake. 

In addition to giving the admissions committee the chance to “put a face with a name,” the video essay is an essential part of the Kellogg application, as it allows committee members to determine if your communication style and values are a good fit with the Kellogg community. 

In fact, in our experience helping our Kellogg applicants secure a place at the school, we have noticed that the video essay can be as influential in an applicant’s admissions decision as the admissions interview . 

That’s why we’ve prepared this guide to help you understand how the Kellogg video essay works and have shared a list of Kellogg video essay questions to ensure you put your best foot forward! 

When we first started working with Kellogg applicants many years ago, the video essay component had not yet been introduced. However, since its launch in 2013, the video essay has quickly become a critical part of the application. 

That’s because it gives the admissions committee the chance to truly “meet” candidates — as well as identify red flags in potential members of the Kellogg community. 

According to Kellogg’s admissions committee, 

“The Video Essays provide applicants with an additional opportunity to demonstrate what they will bring to our vibrant Kellogg community – in an interactive way. Each applicant will complete two short video essay questions. The questions are designed to bring to life the person we have learned about on paper.” 

They also give applicants this advice:

With that in mind, it’s extremely important to make sure you fully understand this component of the application. 

The way the video essay works is very simple. 

After submitting your application, you will receive an email from a company called Kira Talent. This email will contain a link that allows you to access the video essay platform. 

After signing in and starting the session, you will get three Kellogg video essay questions in total, one at a time. After receiving the questions, you will have 20 seconds to think and then 1 minute to answer. There are no opportunities to redo the question, and you only get one chance to speak and provide your answer.

Unlike previous years, where some of the questions applicants received were random, Kellogg has pre-announced the three questions you will need to answer this year. We’ll go more into detail about the types of questions you can expect below. 

If you’ve taken the TOEFL exam , you’ve already practiced for the type of format you can expect in the Kellogg video essay! 

After signing in and “starting” the session, a video will appear on the screen. This video will show a member of the Kellogg community, who will read the question you are tasked with answering. The question will also appear in written form under the video. 

After the time runs out, the screen video will disappear and your image will be visible on the screen. At this point, your 20 seconds to think will automatically appear. 

After the preparation time runs out, the clock to answer (60 seconds!) will start, and you will need to give your answer during this period of time. Remember: you cannot redo any of the questions. 

After you answer the question, the system will upload your answer to the server (depending on your connection this can take a while) and will present you with the next question. 

DO NOT leave your computer during the upload time , even if it’s taking a while. You cannot pause the process, and you may end up missing questions!

Technical requirements

Given past applicants’ issues with iPad and mobile versions of the application, we strongly suggest you record your answer on a computer . 

If you do end up experiencing technical issues, access the support page here .

Regardless of when you submit your application, you need to submit your video essay response no more than 96 hours after the round’s deadline . Find Kellogg’s most current application deadlines here . 

If you submit your application early, you can submit your responses to Kellogg’s video essay questions at any time, as long as you make the final deadline.  

Answer time limits

You will have 20 seconds to think and 60 seconds to answer each question. Remember: you cannot redo any of the questions.

The Kellogg video essay questions are grouped into three different categories, each with a different focus. 

Question 1: Introduce Yourself

The first question Kellogg asks gives you the chance to share who you are beyond your CV and admissions essays. 

“ Please introduce yourself and tell us something that is not on your CV that you want us to know about you.” Consider this your opportunity to share what you would want your future Kellogg classmates and our admissions committee to know about you. What makes you, you?”

Despite the innocent-seeming question, be careful about what you choose to show here. Keep in mind that Kellogg prefers community-focused, growth-minded leaders, so don’t miss an opportunity to reinforce your personal brand and your fit with the school’s values. You should also focus on reinforcing elements of your profile that you might not have had a chance to explain elsewhere, such as volunteer work or a special skill you possess. 

You do not need to speak about your goals or why you want to attend Kellogg. 

Questions 2 & 3: Randomized interview-type questions

For this question, there won’t be a specific prompt you can answer in advance. Instead, you’re going to receive a random behavioral-based question. This question may be focused on your characteristics, or it may allow you to share a professional example that highlights your personality traits. 

The best advice for this section is to think about what it’s asking you and what you can show about yourself, your achievements, and your values.

If the question asks about your favorite book, the admissions committee will get a certain impression of you based on what you choose. If you choose a book that’s all about adventure, we’ll assume that’s important to you. If you choose a book about economics, we’ll assume that’s a key part of your life. 

So think about how you want the admissions committee to learn about you beyond what you’ve already shared in your application. 

If you get a question that’s more like a traditional behavioral interview question, try to draw on examples. Furthermore, make sure to show your human side and demonstrate that you genuinely care for others and want teams you join to succeed. It can be easy to answer in a very conversational way, but doing so can often lead to an answer without a point, so make sure you use your planning time to structure the key elements of your answer. 

Regardless, be careful about what you choose to show here. Keep in mind that Kellogg prefers globally-minded leaders who embrace diversity, so don’t miss an opportunity to reinforce your personal brand and your fit with the school’s values. 

Here is a list of the types of questions you can expect.

• Tell us about a time you took a risk. What did you learn?
• Tell us about a time you experienced a professional failure. What did you learn from it?
• Tell us about a conflict you have had with your boss/with a team at work. How did you manage to resolve it?
• What accomplishment are you proudest of?
• Tell us about an organization or activity to which you have devoted a significant amount of time. Why was it meaningful to you?
• What will your classmates be most surprised to learn about you?
• What’s the best piece of advice you have ever received that you also shared with other people? / What is the most important feedback you’ve ever received?
• Tell us about a time you worked with diversity in the workplace.
• Tell us about a time you contributed to improving a process in your organization.
• Tell us about a time you solved a problem in a creative way. 
• Tell us about a time when you faced a conflict on a team that affected its productivity. How did you face it?
• Tell us about a positive impact that you made. Why was it important to you?
• Whose leadership style do you admire and why?
• Tell us about a time you contributed to your company or community. 
• Tell us about a time you created a good environment in your personal or professional life. 
• What’s the biggest misperception co-workers might have about you?
• Tell us about a time when you had to reshape a strategy due to a sudden change in the scenario.
• Tell us about a relationship you leveraged to reach your goals and how you did it. 
• Tell us about a time when you had to deliver a tough task at the last minute. 
• Tell us about a time when you solved a problem in a creative way. 

TOP TIP : Remember that Kellogg values teamwork-oriented, collaborative individuals. 

Given the importance of the video essay in your Kellogg application, it’s crucial to make sure you don’t just have a good video essay, but that you have a great video essay. 

Now that you’ve learned how the video essay will work, we’ve gathered our top 5 tips here to ensure your video essay performance brings you one step closer to reaching your goal of attending Kellogg. 

You have stressed about every aspect of your Kellogg application, and now you are ready to record your video essay! With the right preparation, this can be your chance to shine and get a highly-coveted spot at Kellogg. 

However, maybe you don’t know where to start in preparing, or maybe you ramble on and lose your focus while answering. Maybe you’ve even downloaded the sample questions and written out your answers. The problem is, when you try to apply these templates to your own story, it doesn’t quite work.

Our video essay prep focuses on helping you determine how to present yourself to Kellogg while using appropriate, impact-driven language without being artificial, or worse, robotic.

Regardless of where you’re from or what type of experience you have, we are focused on helping you do your best.

Want to put the Ellin Lolis advantage to work for you? Schedule your preparation session with our team of interview experts today!

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Admissions Application Materials

Any questions about applying to the Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science program should be directed to our program staff: [email protected] .

McCormick Online Application System

Jump to a Section

• Three Letters of Recommendation

Personal Statement

• Scholarship Statement
• Transcripts and GPA Requirement

Prerequisites

Gre and gmat, english proficiency, resume or cv, candidate video, supplementary materials.

• Information for International Candidates
• Application Fee Waiver for Veterans and Active Duty Military

Letters of Recommendation

MLDS requires candidates to provide three letters of recommendation. Recommendation letters should be from professional supervisors, academic instructors, and/or research advisors. The ideal balance between professional and academic letters of recommendation depends on how recently you were enrolled in a degree program.

While these are not strict requirements, we recommend using the following table as a guide for how many letters, of each type, we advise you to provide. 

In addition to the above suggestions, we encourage you to meet with your recommenders in advance, to ensure they are aware of our application deadlines and that they address the following in their letters:

How they know you and why they are qualified to assess your suitability for a Master's program in Machine Learning and Data Science.

Distinctive qualities and/or examples which highlight your strengths

How you compare to others in your peer group

We also appreciate when letter writers include added context for your interest in graduate school and MLDS in particular.

  Return to Top

The personal statement is a vital part of your application. You can make the most of this requirement by taking care to illustrate your personality, motivations, and creativity. Examples of past questions include:

• Why are you interested in our program? Furthermore, why are you applying to the Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science program at Northwestern University?
• What skills or abilities do you hope to strengthen during your time in the program?
• Describe a trend that will influence analytics over the next five years.
• What are your career goals after graduating from the Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science program at Northwestern University?

Please be aware that personal statement questions are subject to change. See this year's application for the final questions. 

Return to Top

Transcripts And GPA Requirement

We require a minimum, cumulative GPA of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale to be eligible for admission. You can apply for admission while you are still earning your undergraduate degree if your degree is conferred before you enroll.

Undergraduate egress (or the international equivalent) must be from a regionally accredited institution.

If available, please be sure to include the institutional grading scale with your unofficial transcript(s). Candidate must include an electronic copy of unofficial transcripts from all degree conferring institutions or anywhere relevant coursework was completed.  Please do not send official transcripts to the program.

Unofficial transcripts must be legible e-transcripts or digital copies. Transcripts in a language other than English must be provided in both their original format as well as with a certified translation, preferably from the issuing institution, from a certified translation agency such as the American Translators Association. We also accept WES (World Evaluation Service) and ECE (Educational Credential Evaluators) Evaluations as substitutes, but they are not necessary if you do not otherwise plan to obtain one. 

We recommend that all applicants highlight their quantitative skills, as well as any academic or professional experience they have with mathematics, information technology, and programming. We do not have strict prerequisites for admission into the program and encourage prospective students from a wide variety of academic backgrounds to apply.

For those looking for specific recommendations on how best to prepare for our curriculum, we suggest (but do not require) taking courses in or independently studying the following subjects through local colleges, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), or any other resources available to you:

• Linear Algebra
• Probability

Please be sure to include information about any courses in programming or quantitative subjects you have taken that are not reflected on your transcripts when completing your application. 

The Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science program does not require either GRE or GMAT scores to be eligible for admission. They are entirely optional. However, we will accept and evaluate GRE or GMAT scores if provided.  

Please do not send us official GRE or GMAT score reports.  Official score reports will be collected prior to matriculation if you are admitted and choose to enroll. GRE or GMAT scores must be verifiable as of the date of matriculation. Typically, this means that you must have taken your exam no later than five years ago, as of September in your quarter of entry.

International candidates who will not or do not hold a degree from an institution where English is the primary language of instruction must prove their English proficiency by sitting for either the TOEFL or IELTS exam. 

The lowest acceptable score for the TOEFL is 95 (Internet-based test) and for the IELTS, 7.5. Test scores must be less than two years old as of your enrollment.

COVID-19 UPDATE: MLDS will accept the submission of TOEFL test scores through their at-home testing service to meet this requirement. 

Please do not send us official TOEFL or IELTS score reports. Official score reports will be collected prior to matriculation if you are admitted and choose to enroll . 

Please include all relevant professional and/or academic experience including relevant coursework (if applicable).

There is no page limit for the resume or CV, but the average CVs and resumes we receive are between one and two pages long. 

The candidate video is optional but strongly encouraged. Because the Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science program at Northwestern University is a small-cohort program, students must work together in a collaborative manner. Your candidate video should allow the admissions review committee to gain a better understanding of your personality, work style, and leadership capabilities. You can speak about your candidacy in a more general sense or go into specifics. 

Themes to consider as you put together a video:

Motivations for considering a degree in machine learning and data science, especially our program at Northwestern

Your career goals and how we will help you achieve those goals

Your approach to analytics problems, leadership, or learning.

Your interests and areas of passion

This is one of the few places in your application where you can speak directly to the admissions committee. Please include information that we may not otherwise get to hear from you.

Requirements for videos:

• The video must feature only the candidate and not a representative speaking on the candidate’s behalf.
• Candidate videos must be uploaded to the online application. The admissions review committee will not accept videos sent via email or external links (e.g. via other video hosting sites).

The admissions review committee will consider all related coursework, including online or non-degree coursework. If you have supplemented your education via certification, please be sure to include this in your application. 

Application Fee Waiver for Veterans

The Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science program will waive the application fee for US veterans and active duty military and for participants in the GEM (Graduate Education for Minorities) fellowship program. Please email us at [email protected]  to receive your waiver, if you are eligible. 

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6 Northwestern Essay Examples & Why Northwestern (2024)

Writing your Northwestern supplemental essays can be tricky, but they're important because your responses can have a big effect on your application chances.

Along with your personal statement essays , Northwestern offers students the chance to respond to a "Why Northwestern" essay prompt as part of its writing supplement.

In this article, I've gathered 6 essays that worked that helped get students admitted into Northwestern recently.

What is Northwestern University's Acceptance Rate?

Getting into Northwestern is quite difficult. Last year, a record 51,554 students applied to Northwestern.

And Northwestern had an overall admit rate of only 7%. Or in other words, about 1 in 13 students get accepted.

Northwestern University Acceptance Scattergram

To get into Northwestern, you've got to stand out from the crowd, which you can do by writing a strong writing supplement section.

What are the Northwestern Supplemental Prompts for 2022-23?

The Northwestern writing supplement for this year only asks one essay question of 300 words: Why Northwestern?

''Why Northwestern'' Statement :

While other parts of your application give us a sense of who you are, we are also excited to hear more about how you see yourself engaging with the larger Northwestern community.

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

6 Northwestern University EssaysThatWorked

Here are 6 of the best Northwestern essays that worked, including example essays for the "Why Northwestern" statement prompt.

I've also included some great Common App essays from admitted Northwestern students.

Get inspired and start writing your "Why" statement with the help of these examples.

• Northwestern University Essay Example #1
• Northwestern University Essay Example #2
• Northwestern University Essay Example #3
• Northwestern University Essay Example #4
• Northwestern University Essay Example #5
• Northwestern University Essay Example #6

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #1

Prompt: "Why Northwestern" Statement:

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond. (300 words max)

I love Northwestern’s academic flexibility, including the freedom of the curriculum to explore a variety of fields and the emphasis on cross-department study. Also, the quarter system provides a faster pace of learning and the opportunity to take more classes than a semester school.

Specifically, I am excited by the Spanish and Portuguese department and the classes on Hispanic and Lusophone culture, literature, and phonetics. For example, the accelerated Portuguese program is a perfect way to pick up the language at a faster pace using my prior knowledge of Spanish. I intend to supplement my language acquisition through the study abroad programs offered at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro or an affiliate program in Santiago, Chile. Additionally, the GESI program in Costa Rica is another intriguing opportunity through its intersectionality. It will allow me to combine a practical application of my language skills with studies in environmental conservation that I find a pressing and interesting issue. As an open-minded learner keen to forge links between academic fields of study, I believe I would be an excellent fit for the program.

I am also interested in Linguistics and pursuing undergraduate research or possibly undertaking the coterminal BA/MA program. The opportunity to link my research to a modern language of choice and investigate, for example, regional variation in Latin American Spanish or how Portuguese loanwords have infiltrated native Amazonian languages sounds fascinating and exciting.

Finally, the unique sense of community at Northwestern captivated me when I visited campus. The residential college system, the school spirit at Wildcat games, and the friendliness of the students I met, one of whom described the school as “the most welcoming place ever”, were all emblematic of this atmosphere for me. I think I will thrive in such a dynamic and inquisitive place.

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #2

The only reason I fear going for lunch in a hotel is probably because I wouldn’t choose between fried chicken and roasted meat and so is my dilemma over my college major. The multifaceted whole brain approach at McCormick, however, grants me the perfect opportunity to pursue my interest in Computer Science whilst acquiring the appropriate skills in entrepreneurship to a one day startup as an innovator.

As a NU computer scientist, I particularly look forward to Software Development EECS 473 – NUvention: Web, through which I would not only learn intricacies of Software development, but have related studies in real time software development in relation to market requirements in CS+X that would form a base for a startup. That would also provide a bridge for me to join Prof Todd Warren at Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation where I would specifically join the NUvention; Web + Media. Through this unparalleled program I would have the intimacy of working in a team with fellow wild cats towards an innovative business project. The results of which will be an introduction to the Northwestern Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO) through which I look forward to gaining practical exposure in launching businesses to the general public.

Outside McCormick, I would be excited to pursue the Managerial analytics Certificate program at Kellogg to acquire intelligent business management skills, let off steam at SPARK exploring hacks while fostering entrepreneurial habits, and eventually joining preparations for the Benedictine Eagle Invite at the Henry Crown Sport’s Pavilion (SPAC) with the NU track club. I may not the best of singers, but I do have intense phases of music obsessions and where best to let it off than taking non major classes at Bienen and, joining one of the numerous Acapella groups as I await Armadillo day!

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #3

Why Northwestern? Because this introduction was so difficult to write; because I cannot possibly summarize these reasons in one introductory sentence. Simply put, my interests span across a wide range, and Northwestern has a place for them all.

As an enthusiastic programmer and advocate for positive minority representation in the media, I hope to combine both these interests and conduct research on the influence of media on society. To my delight as a prospective communications major, the School of Communication's research labs showcase project topics ranging from the depiction of STEM in media to improving digital communication. I look forward to taking advantage of the high-quality research, internship and even career opportunities offered to explore my ideas.

My multiple passions keep me creative and energetic, and I plan to continue pursuing them at Northwestern. With years of editing and writing experience for school publications under my belt, for instance, I hope to join the staff of Helicon and North by Northwestern . Last but not least is the constant school spirit and sense of inclusion present within campus. During my campus tour, each tour guide seemed genuinely excited to introduce prospective students to the school. As my particular tour guide described the quarter system and tradition of guarding and painting the rock with passion in her eyes, I knew that only at Northwestern could I find students as enthusiastic about the school itself as they are about their majors. I also spotted many students of color while visiting; as an Asian woman, Northwestern's focus on diversifying reassures me that not only will I not be judged for my background, but that I will get to meet students of all ethnicities and cultures.

College is a time of self-discovery, and I firmly believe I can see my dreams become reality at Northwestern.

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #4

I felt the cold sheets beneath me and the beeping sounds of a monitor next to my bed, my chest moving up and down and my body sinking into the mattress. I opened my eyes and was greeted with a plastic surgeon holding the cyst that was once in the corner of my eye. Medicine, I decided, was my destiny.

Flash forward to 8th grade, the year I decided to read 100 books. Emerson, John Green, Ernest Cline--you name the author, I read them. I became instantly inspired to learn to write like the wonderful authors I had read. So, writing, I decided (maybe), was my destiny.

Wait--or was it medicine? Well, perhaps it can be both.

The thing I find most striking about Northwestern is its emphasis on the word “AND.” Northwestern students can love computer science AND music theory, poetry AND Latin History, journalism AND business--I can love science AND English. At Northwestern, my interests would not be hindered by strict and unwavering guidelines. Rather, they could be effortlessly streamlined and integrated into one another. I could go from ​PSYCH 361--Brain Damage and the Mind to ENG 206 - Reading and Writing Poetry to Carol Clayberger’s Lab to continue my extensive research on T-lymphocytes, similar to that I conducted at UPMC. I would be learning each level of the human psyche, communicating my thoughts through writing, and putting them into action through my research.

At Northwestern, I plan to take advantage of the various resources that would enable me to pursue my passions, find new ones, and combine them into one, pulling from both sides of my brain. I know that I am right for Northwestern and Northwestern is right for me because we have a mutual understanding of what education should look like--emphasis on “AND,” not “OR.”

"Why Northwestern?" Essay Example #5

Think Purple: Aspiring journalist dreams of being a Wildcat F​iled under ​A​dmissions​, ​Top Stories

After brochure browsing, website wandering, and campus canvassing what felt like hundreds of different schools, it took Daisy Conant exactly 32 seconds on the Northwestern University campus to realize she had found the one.

“Northwestern is undefinable in the best way, an addicting hub of intellectuality, creativity, and school spirit - something especially appealing to a football lover,” laughed Conant. “But what excites me most about NU is the opportunity to study at the Medill School of Journalism.”

A writer with hopes of becoming a foreign correspondent, Conant has always been drawn to people and their stories, especially those completely unfamiliar to herself and her experiences. Once learning she could start on day one at Medill acquiring investigative journalism experience writing an enterprise story and end on day 600 with a journalism residency and international experience already under her belt, she was hooked.

“Conducting groundbreaking research on the socioeconomic disparities in the CPS system for the Medill Justice Project, spending a semester abroad reporting on cultural crisis in Greece, interning at the Post - at Medill, my options are boundless,” remarked Conant. “I could explore the world of print news writing in-focuses for the Daily Northwestern, dabble in magazine editing laying out spreads for North by Northwestern, even try my hand at broadcast reporting for WNUR.”

A journalist at heart, Conant is fascinated with the intersections of other disciplines. As an NU student she would be free to engage her passions for international studies and business through outside concentrations in addition to investigative journalism, uncovering the adventures (and discovering the tenacious Wildcats) that lie between Evanston and the shores of Lake Michigan. “My story is just beginning,” said Conant. “And Northwestern is the perfect lede.”

Northwestern Essay Example #6

Prompt: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (100-250 words)

I held my breath as my trembling fingers, made for the enter key, my eyes glued to the screen savoring every moment. In a split of a second, the results of my sleepless nights were imprinted on the screen.

>>>syntax error

I felt my eyes became watery but I quickly forged a smile convincing myself I wasn’t about to cry.

However disappointed I felt that moment, it wasn’t something new to me. I am not a natural programmer and I have failed more than a million times when running my codes. In fact, I have gotten used to failing, that anytime I get it right on the first attempt I assume I got lucky and I redo the code. Every time I get a syntax error I have eventually learned something new from the code. It’s at these moments that I have learnt more about my world.

Through coding, I have learnt to appreciate shortcomings in life as room for improvements. I have come to understand being raised in a camp in Chalbi dessert is a chance for me to have the first-hand experience of what needs to be done to make the world a better place. I stopped being disappointed I was born in a less tech-savvy country and seen it as an opportunity for me to create an impact with the much I have learnt. I understand with every syntax error, every life obstacle, I learn and take a step closer to a perfect code, achieving my dreams.

What Can You Learn From These Northwestern Essays?

These 6 Northwestern essays that worked show you exactly what it takes to write successful "Why Northwestern?" essays. Answering the "Why Northwestern" statement as best you can is the key to having a successful Northwestern application.

What did you think of these Northwestern essays?

Meet the Author

Ryan Chiang

I'm Ryan Chiang and I created EssaysThatWorked.com - a website dedicated to helping students and their families apply to college with confidence & ease. We publish the best college admissions essays from successful applicants every year to inspire and teach future students.

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What do outstanding essays have in common? Here are our 23 most effective strategies based on lessons from admitted students.

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Northwestern Supplemental Essays 2024-25 – Prompts and Advice

July 19, 2024

With an acceptance rate of just over 7% for the Class of 2028, Northwestern University is very much an “Ivy-equivalent” school. This is true both in terms of quality academics and selectivity. Last fall, incoming Wildcats almost universally placed within the top 10% of their respective high school class. They also boasted average SAT scores in the 1470 range. In 2024-25, even high schoolers bringing superior credentials to the table need to realize that the majority of the other 50,000+ applicants can demonstrate comparable levels of achievement. Therefore, applicants need to look for other ways to separate themselves from the pack. And that brings us to the Northwestern supplemental essay prompts.

 (Want to learn more about How to Get Into Northwestern University? Visit our blog entitled:  How to Get Into Northwestern University: Admissions Data and Strategies   for all of the most recent admissions data as well as tips for gaining acceptance.)

In addition to one required essay prompt, Northwestern also gives applicants the opportunity to respond to at least one (and up to two) optional prompts. Essentially, every applicant has three opportunities to stand out in the eyes of admissions officers and showcase what makes them uniquely qualified for admission. Below you will find Northwestern’s supplemental prompts for the 2024-25 admissions cycle along with our advice on how to pen winning compositions.

2024-2025 Northwestern Supplemental Essays

Prompt #1 (required for all applicants).

We want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background (your identity, your school setting, your community, your household, etc.) have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise? (300 words)

Northwestern is inviting you to share more about your background/identity/community through the lens of how that will impact your experience at the university. Take note of the wide-open nature of this prompt. You are essentially invited to talk about any of the following topics:

• A perspective you hold
• An experience/challenge you had
• A community you belong to
• Your cultural background
• Your religious background
• Your family background
• Your sexual orientation or gender identity

Although this prompt’s open floor plan may feel daunting, a good tactic is to first consider what has already been communicated within your Common App personal statement and activities list. What important aspect(s) of yourself have not been shared (or sufficiently discussed)? The admissions officer reading your essay is hoping to connect with you through your written words, so—within your essay’s reflection—be open, humble, thoughtful, inquisitive, emotionally honest, mature, and/or insightful about what you learned and how you grew.

Northwestern Supplemental Essays (Continued)

You’ll then need to discuss how your background/identity/experiences have influenced your academic, social, or extracurricular college goals. As such, think about what you learned and how it relates to one of the previously mentioned areas. For example, perhaps growing up in Northern California has made you passionate about post-wildfire ecosystem restoration, which you hope to pursue further through Northwestern’s environmental science program. Or, perhaps your experience as a poll worker has made you interested in NU Votes , or the discrimination you watched your sibling face after revealing their gender identity has informed your desire to be part of organizations like the Rainbow Alliance .

To that end, be sure you address how you will take advantage of Northwestern’s immense resources both inside and/or outside of the classroom by citing specific academic programs , professors , research opportunities , special opportunities , study abroad programs , student-run organizations , etc.

Prompt #2 (Optional but Recommended)

Most “optional” essays are not truly optional, and Northwestern’s new essay prompts are no different. Think of it this way: if you’re truly interested in attending Northwestern, you have two more incredibly valuable opportunities to further demonstrate that fit. Take advantage of them!

The following questions are optional, but we encourage you to answer at least one and no more than two. Please respond in fewer than 200 words per question:

• Painting “The Rock” is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call “Purple Pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?

Out of everything on this Earth, what makes you tick? What keeps you up at night? What issue could you talk about or debate for hours? If you could address one problem in the world, large or small, what would it be? What do you love to do? Do you have a treasured cultural tradition that you’d love to share with others? If you are answering at least one of these questions, you are on the right track with this essay.

• Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?

Firstly, you’ll want to select a course centered around a topic about which you are an expert or hope to become an expert. The admissions reader is well aware that you are a teenager and not someone who has yet earned a Ph.D. Therefore, being a self-taught, informal expert is perfectly fine. You’ll then want to explain “why”—why will (or should) your passion be made relevant to a wider audience? And who would you want to work with along the way? These classmates and collaborators could be peers, mentors, or even guest speakers. Here are a few additional tips to keep in mind:

• Given the prompt’s wording, quality answers should involve the intersection of two or more disciplines.
• Course creation essays can and should reveal your ability to connect and synthesize information.
• Make sure that the topic of your course is not overly broad or already offered. The topic should not be akin to a 101 college course like Intro to Psychology…be creative!
• Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.

Keep in mind that Northwestern has already seen the President’s Volunteer Service Award and the impressive number of hours you volunteered at multiple nonprofit organizations. They know that you have been an active member of your high school/local community. The admissions committee now desires to understand precisely how you will contribute to  their  community of 8,000+ undergraduate students. Highlighting the link between your past efforts and future aims is critical here. For example, if you dedicated many hours to increasing your high school’s mental health support services, it will be more impactful when you now express your commitment to joining Northwestern’s Active Minds organization.

The strongest Northwestern community essays will show evidence of meaningful school-specific research. This research process will actually give you a better idea of how you would sincerely like to become engaged at each prospective school on your list. Admissions officers will appreciate a Northwestern-centric answer far more than a generic (often recycled from app to app) response. Moreover, given the word count, you’ll be able to produce the strongest response if you focus on just one or two specific aspects of your identity and perspective.

• Northwestern’s location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?

If you choose to answer this question, know that you’ll need to think very deeply about your answer. Admissions officers are going to receive scores of responses about the number of opportunities available in Chicago, generalities about living in a suburb of a major city, and proximity to famous regional landmarks. As such, if Northwestern’s location feels particularly important to you, dig deep as to why . What location-specific experiences will you be able to have at Northwestern that you won’t be able to have anywhere else?

• Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern’s classrooms and around our campus?

This prompt asks you to not only share a particular life experience but also describe why that experience will enable you to contribute to Northwestern in general. Essentially, it’s asking you to take your essay’s reflection one step further—you’ll need to share why the experience you’ve chosen has impacted you as well as why/how you believe it will allow you to positively impact the Northwestern community.

First, choose a key aspect of your experiences or background that reveals something deep and meaningful about you. (Although you could choose more than one, we’d advise against it, given that you only have 200 words in which to respond.) As you brainstorm, consider the following avenues:

• Your role in your family.
• Your role in your social group.
• A challenge you’ve faced.
• A formative experience or realization.
• Core values and beliefs.
• Important aspects of your upbringing.
• Cultural, religious, or community influence.

Second, you’ll need to describe both personal and future impact. Make sure that your answer reveals something about how you will live out Northwestern’s values or contribute to a specific academic/social community.

Finally, this prompt is quite similar to the required prompt about background and identity (see above), so if you choose this option, be sure you’re not repeating yourself in any way. If you’ve already said everything you need to say about your background in the required prompt, you’ll likely want to choose a different option.

How important are the Northwestern supplemental essays?

The essays (including the Common App essay) are viewed as “important” to the Northwestern applicant evaluation process. The other factors that are also considered “important” are: recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, and character/personal qualities. The only four factors viewed as being more important than the essays are GPA, test scores, class rank, and the rigor of one’s curriculum.

Want personalized essay assistance?

If you are interested in working with one of College Transitions’ experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your Northwestern supplemental essay, we encourage you to  get a quote  today.

Need additional college essay-writing resources? Consider checking out the following:

• Common App Essay Prompts
• 10 Instructive Common App Essay Examples
• College Application Essay Topics to Avoid
• Should I Complete Optional College Essays?
• How to Brainstorm a College Essay
• 25 Inspiring College Essay Topics
• “Why This College?” Essay Examples
• How to Write the Community Essay
• College Essay

Andrew Belasco

A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

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THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

• Application Procedures
• Application Requirements

For specific questions regarding your application, contact your program directly. See your specific  program webpage  for its contact information.

Answers to common questions can be found on our FAQs page.

All applicants are required to upload the following materials while completing the  online application:

Academic statement.

• What are your academic interests, and why do you wish to pursue graduate studies in this specific program?
• How has your academic and professional background prepared you for graduate study? (Please include any research, training, or educational experiences that align with the program you are applying to.)
• How will our program help you achieve your intellectual and professional goals?
• (For research-focused programs) Please make sure to address any scholarly questions you wish to explore in the program and name any specific faculty members in this program whose research interests align with your own.  

Personal Statement

All applicants to PhD and MFA programs are also required to submit a Personal Statement. Applicants to master’s programs (excluding MFA programs) are encouraged to do so, though this statement is not required for the submission of the application.

Write a statement that addresses the following prompt (500 words max):

• The Graduate School values diverse backgrounds, approaches, and perspectives, understanding them as essential ingredients for true academic excellence. As a Northwestern graduate student, how could you contribute to an intellectual community that prioritizes equity, inclusion, belonging, and cultural humility? Your answer may draw upon past or present experiences, whether in academic work, extracurricular or community activities, or everyday life.

Additional Information

Applicants are welcome to submit an Additional Information statement of 250 words or fewer to highlight information not yet discussed in other areas of the application. This statement can also be used to address any concerns you may have with your application. If, for example, you do not believe that your academic credentials demonstrate your true capabilities, please explain why. Also, describe any gaps in your academic career and work experience or any extenuating circumstances in your profile of which the admissions committee should be made aware.

Application Process

How do i apply.

Refer to our  Application Instructions  page for more information on different application types and requirements, along with some advice for completing your application.

What factors do you consider when making admission decisions?

Each application is reviewed carefully by several members of our admission committee. Seeking information beyond school transcripts and test scores, we take into account your involvement outside the classroom as profiled in an activity chart, and read your essays to get a better sense of your interests, thought processes and writing ability. Recommendations from secondary school teachers and counselors add additional perspective to your achievements.

How can I request a fee waiver?

We are committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive campus community of students from every financial background and want to make sure that application fees do not pose a barrier for any student who wishes to apply for admission.

See our Application Fee Waiver page for more information.

What if I have been home schooled?

There are no generally no additional requirements or different processes to apply to Northwestern as a student who has attended school at home. Please feel free to contact our office if you have questions about specific circumstances; contact information can be found on our Contact Us page.

When are applications due?

If you are applying as a first-year student, you may submit your application Early Decision or Regular Decision. 

• Early Decision applicants must apply by November 1.
• Regular Decision applicants must apply by January 2.

If you are a transfer applicant, you may apply only for enrollment during the Fall Quarter of the academic year. Decisions are made on a rolling basis.

• For Fall Quarter (September) entrance, apply by March 15*.

If you are an international applicant, follow our general application process and deadlines above. However, both incoming first-year students and transfer students must apply for fall quarter entrance.

*We realize transfer applicants come from a diverse array of life experiences that may not map neatly onto the traditional academic year. For this reason, our transfer application will remain open until April 10 for students whose circumstances prevent them from meeting the March 15 deadline. Students who apply by March 15 are more likely to receive a decision from us earlier, but we will give full consideration to all applications, with a guaranteed decision by May 15. Please note that supplemental application materials, such as those for the Bienen School of Music, may have separate deadlines.

Are interviews required?

As of the 2024–25 admissions cycle, Northwestern no longer offers alumni interviews as an optional part of the application process.  Prospective students can still connect with our incredible alumni through new Alumni Conversations, an opportunity to learn about Northwestern via diverse alumni perspectives .

Read more about interviews

Can I submit supplemental materials?

Northwestern does not accept unsolicited supplemental items, such as artwork, portfolios,  recordings (CDs, DVDs, etc.) or websites (including social media). These items will not be reviewed and therefore should not be submitted. 

Should I apply as a first-year student or a transfer student?

If you enrolled in college study after secondary-school graduation, you must apply as a transfer student. Successful transfer applicants typically arrive at Northwestern having completed at least one academic year of full-time college coursework (24 semester hours or 36 quarter hours). You are eligible to apply for transfer admission while in the process of completing one full-year of college coursework, as long as you will have completed that coursework prior to the start of the term in which you plan to enroll.

Northwestern accepts both the Common Application and Apply Coalition with Scoir—is there a preference?

No. We welcome either application. All we ask is that applicants submit either the Common Application or Apply Coalition with Scoir—not both. 

What if an applicant submits both the Common Application and Apply Coalition with Scoir?

Our admission committee will review whichever application was submitted first.

Since the Common Application and Apply Coalition with Scoir are different, how will the differences affect your review process?

The fundamental pieces of these two applications are the same: we will review your secondary school curriculum & transcript, your teacher recommendation(s), your extracurricular/community involvement & leadership, your standardized test scores, and your personal responses to essay and short-answer questions. The main variation across applications will be the essay prompts available to students, but the Common Application has always provided several options for essay prompts, so our review process already accounts for variation in that section of the application.  

How will Northwestern use the Apply Coalition with Scoir platform's Locker feature?

While some colleges/universities may encourage students to share one or more items from their Apply Coalition with Scoir Locker as part of their application, Northwestern will not require students to submit materials from their Locker .  Bottom line: our admission committee will not review any materials from students’ Lockers, save materials that students select from their Lockers to include in their Northwestern application — in which case we’ll never know whether documents in your Northwestern application were once in your Apply Coalition with Scoir Locker, or simply saved as a computer file!

The Video Essay: Celebrating an Exciting New Literary Form

• Student Experience
• Weinberg College

EVANSTON, Ill. --- TriQuarterly, Northwestern University’s celebrated literary journal that moved to an online format three years ago, is among the leading literary outlets of the video essay, an exciting new literary form.

"Today's digital technology gives writers unprecedented creative freedom," said Northwestern faculty member John Bresland, who curates the online journal’s video essays. An award-winning essayist working in video, radio and print, he equates the impact of 21st century technology on creativity to the invention of the printing press.

TriQuarterly, an international journal of writing, art and cultural inquiry, is part of Northwestern's degree program in creative writing, one of the nation's few part-time graduate writing programs. The latest issue of the magazine is twice the usual size, and it features a piece by noted author Ron Carlson as well. 

See the new Summer/Fall 2013 issue of TriQuarterly online. 

Writers of every genre who have composed on the page for decades -- novelist Bill Roorbach, essayist and Northwestern faculty member Eula Biss, poet Joe Wenderoth -- now also author works for the screen. Variations of this fast-emerging form of expression are taught in institutions of higher education across the country. 

When Bresland surveyed the curricula of 30 major universities, he found nearly all offered classes similar to video essay courses he teaches in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and School of Continuing Studies. But what he calls video essay, another university might label "experimental media," "multimedia storytelling" or "writing with video." 

That lack of uniformity reminds Bresland that turn-of-the-century cars were once called horseless carriages. "In 1885, we could only name this invention with familiar terms -- part horse, part buggy -- though clearly it was a radically new category that reordered the landscape," he said. 

As today’s literary landscape is reordered by digital technology, TriQuarterly is embracing not just the video essay but a form of visual poetry called “cinepoetry,” a term borrowed from avant-garde photographer Man Ray. When TQ’s latest edition launches July 15, it will include a suite of five video essays and “cinepoems.” 

Bresland’s personal site  is jam-packed with video essays and writings about the new genre, including his highly influential  “On the Origin of the Video Essay.” We talked with Bresland and asked him to expand on this revolutionary literary development. 

How are mobile technologies revolutionizing the essay?

The screen of an iPad, for example, isn’t just a substitute for paper. It’s a canvas, a movie screen, an animation studio, a keyboard, a guitar, a microphone, a mixing board. The mobile devices we now use to collect our thoughts and memories don’t care whether we compose using words or images or sounds or all three. I believe the act of writing will always be, as writer Don DeLillo describes it, a concentrated form of thinking. But I also believe that fewer authors in the years ahead will choose to stop at the printed word.”

How do your students respond to this new literary form?  

They go bright-eyed when you tell them writing doesn’t mean strictly words on a page. Most own a mobile device capable of acquiring video and sound. They delight in making sense of their world using the full arsenal of sensory input -- image, text, sound, voice. Not that it’s all wine and roses. I think most students realize, in the end, that no matter the medium, the heavy lifting of real thinking can’t be avoided. 

Where is the video essay appearing?

Today I know of about a dozen literary journals that feature video essays and poems; 10 years ago there were none. I believe Blackbird and Ninth Letter were the first to realize the possibilities of a new kind of literature conveyed with image and sound, yet still had language at its core. Press Play is doing some thrilling work in the form, perhaps altering the rules of engagement between critic and film. TriQuarterly has featured video essays for 18 months. 

Can you describe some the video essays or cinepoems that have appeared in TQ?

One of my favorites is Dinty W. Moore’s “ History ." Moore is an accomplished essayist who I knew could take great photographs but had never before worked in video. “History” is a memoir assembled from the faces of strangers he photographed in Scotland. It’s just a moving, gorgeous work. 

TriQuarterly often features the still image in video essays. Angela Mears’ “ You Are Here ” and Bill Roorbach’s “ Starflower ” are short, brilliant essays built around a single still, and intense meditations likely to alter the viewer’s relationship to that image. 

Kristen Radtke’s “ That Kind of Daughter ” is another great video essay. Visually it’s animated as a cut-out, one of the oldest animation techniques there is, just flat shapes arranged within a frame. But the text is so good and so densely lyrical and personal that it takes your breath away.

I also really love “ Wolfvision ” by Robin Schiff, who recently had a poem in The New Yorker, and Nick Twemlow. Assembled from Schiff’s text and from video that Twemlow gleaned from YouTube, “Wolfvision” is a haunting and beautiful essay, if it’s an essay. I do think the video essay lends itself to poetry, often skirting the line separating these two genre categories, if such a line really exists.  

Are there other subgenres of the video essay?

There are at least two that have been getting a lot of attention the past couple years. One, which tends to go viral -- no doubt because it’s such a pleasure to experience -- is the video essay made up entirely of clips from previously released films, often held together and enriched by a sustained voiceover track. A wonderful recent work by Kevin B. Lee, called “ The Spielberg Face ” is a wall-to-wall compilation of reaction shots from the famous director’s body of work -- full of moments like the one in “Jaws” when Sheriff Brody first sees the shark, right before he utters the greatest line in the history of deadpan. 

Aaron Aradillas and Matt Zoller Seitz have consistently produced compulsively watchable, insightful video essays about the credit sequences of David Fincher films, say, or “Rocky III,” as a test-bed for the popular films of the 1980s that followed it. What’s key is that critics have found a new venue for talking about film that’s not on the page -- their voices overlay the films themselves. It’s the perfect match of subject and form. Before the advent of online video in 2006 or so, this never would have been possible.

Another subgenre popping up all over academia is a hybrid of the personal essay and the old-school academic essay. A few years ago, Tufts University invited applicants to submit video essays that said “something about you.”  Some 1,000 applicants took up the challenge. On the strength of Tufts’ video essay buzz, the number of applicants surged to its highest level in a generation. And now there’s not an admissions dean in America who hasn’t taken note. Dartmouth’s dean of admissions told National Public Radio that there’s no stopping video: “It’s the language of this generation.” As more and more media savvy students enter the academy, more teachers are compelled to speak that language. 

Are there already “masters” of the video essay?

I’ve always loved Agnes Varda, who looks like this nice old French lady but, in fact, makes fierce essays for the screen. Her best might be “The Gleaners and I,” which came out in 2000 and caused something of a sensation in France and was popular here, too. Maybe we’re hungry for films that make us do more than “feel” -- we want to think, too, and we want to act on our convictions. 

Chris Marker’s 1983 “Sans Soleil” is another classic film essay that, like any great work of art, seems to change as we change. But the greats don’t all have French passports. Ross McElwee has been releasing personal film-essays for decades -- “Time Indefinite” in 1993 and “Bright Leaves” in 2003 are among my favorites. What these filmmakers have in common is a knack for making smart, literate films that invite the viewer to co-create meaning. Most films today don’t leave any room for the viewer’s imagination. The smallness of the video essay, the fact that it tends to be the work of a single author or just one or two collaborators, can result in a work that’s less interested in a commercial payoff and more interested in asking difficult questions of others and of ourselves. 

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How to Write the Northwestern University Supplemental Essay 2017-2018

Northwestern, a beacon of strong academics located in Evanston, Illinois, currently occupies the 12th spot in U.S. News and World Report’s National Universities rankings .

With an acceptance rate of 10.6%, Northwestern offers competitive programs in almost every academic field. In particular, the Medill School of Journalism is consistently ranked as the best journalism school in the world, and the School of Communication is renowned for its stellar theater program.

The average SAT score of accepted applicants is 1510, with an average weighted GPA of 4.13 — meaning that most accepted applicants were close to the top of their class.

With this in mind, it is easy to see why Northwestern University is a selective school. This can be intimidating, especially when penning their essays for the first time. But we here at CollegeVine are here to help. Read on for helpful tips and tricks on tackling the Northwestern supplement.

Want to learn what Northwestern University will actually cost you based on your income? And how long your application to the school should take?  Here’s what every student considering Northwestern University needs to know.

Northwestern University Application Essay Prompt

‘why northwestern’ statement (completion strongly recommended), other parts of your application give us a sense for how you might contribute to northwestern. but we also want to consider how northwestern will contribute to your interests and goals. in 300 words or less, help us understand what aspects of northwestern appeal most to you, and how you’ll make use of specific resources and opportunities here..

Since Northwestern only has one 300-word supplemental essay, candidates with lots of information to convey may feel restricted by the lack of space. Thus, it is helpful to approach the prompt in two directions. First, discuss your interests and goals; second, explain how Northwestern will help you further these intellectual and personal endeavors.

A common trap many applicants fall into when writing is trying to cram their entire resume into this short essay. But listing off every single high school extracurricular is counterproductive and unnecessary; there is already a section for that in the Common Application. Instead, this essay is your time to piece together a cohesive picture of your character, drawing from the essence of your Common Application — the extracurriculars, the awards, the advanced classes, etc. — and explain why these ventures will best be realized at no other institution but Northwestern University.

If you are applying to the School of Journalism, you would be ill-advised to dedicate one paragraph to your love for speech and debate, one paragraph to your leadership of the school magazine, and one paragraph to your internship at the local newspaper over the summer, though you may love these three activities equally. Instead, choose a single interest to discuss.

An example:

You could write about your ability to influence with storytelling, and then explain how Northwestern’s unique journalism residency program for undergraduates’ junior and senior years will help you expand your audience. By focusing on one or two skills, your essay as a whole will present more depth, as opposed to the breadth evidenced by your Common Application.

Moreover, adding “flavor” to the essays by elaborating on your personal connection with your chosen interests, and the unique contributions you have made to them are also critical to your candidacy. Remember that you do not have to win a Nobel Prize or cure cancer to engage your readers and make them feel that you will add to the excellence of the institution. Uniqueness is conveyed through personal anecdotes, narrated with a detailed voice.

If you are passionate about biomedical engineering, do not write, “I love the intersection between biology and engineering.” Everyone majoring in biomedical engineering also finds such overlap appealing. Instead, start the essay with an anecdote about how when you missed school because of a stomach flu, you spent the long hours in bed sketching designs of ingestible micro-machines that could disseminate antibiotics more efficiently than regular medicine, thinking of the pain it would spare you and millions of other people.

Not only is this specific anecdote a more appropriate way of conveying to the reader that biomedical engineering already permeates your life, it also implies that you are inventive and industrious with your time. This supplement is only 300 words, so using specific anecdotes like this with multiple layers of meaning is essential to saturating the space with as much content as possible.

Do not, however, treat this as a shorter Common Application essay . Ultimately, the emphasis is on your fit for Northwestern’s specific resources. You could begin by illustrating how you would bury your head in literature written by the likes of Kafka and Camus all weekend, then show up Monday morning before everyone else arrives at school for an advanced lab that aims to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, then transition to discussing how Northwestern’s Science in Human Culture Program is a perfect fit for you and your interdisciplinary mind.

Remember to talk about what you will actually do in the program; envision yourself there, already at Northwestern. What will your day look like? Which professors would you like to work with within the Science in Human Culture Program? What kind of scholarship or internship opportunities within the program will you take advantage of for your research proposal?

Again, specificity is key. Avoid making general statements such as: “Northwestern’s state-of-the-art theater program makes it the perfect school for me.” That answer is one that could be given by virtually anyone, even those who haven’t the slightest idea of what theater is. Generality connotes lack of interest, lack of research, and worst of all, lack of effort. So when writing this essay, ask yourself: What are the specific aspects of Northwestern University that sets it apart from all the other top 20 schools? What could I do at Northwestern that would be hard for me to do at other colleges?

Therefore, a strong essay by a prospective theater student could begin with discussion of how her passion for theater was ignited by an afternoon of people-watching in a small Parisian cafe, after which she developed a fascination with understanding humans that could only be satisfied by the versatility of the school’s theater program and the flexibility to double major across different schools. She can thus explain her intention to double major in theater and sociology. This essay works because the student demonstrates her personal interest in theater (Parisian cafe anecdote), elaborates on how she has contributed to the field (developed a fascination), and ties it to Northwestern’s specific resources ( versatility of theater program and double major), and then connects it all together with a concrete example of how Northwestern University would aide in her growth.

Be cautious of sounding overly presumptuous. Do not use phrases that imply that you have already been accepted. Instead, phrase things in terms of hypotheticals. For example, do not say: “When at Northwestern, I will be sure to use their biology labs to continue conducting research on stem cells in mice.” Instead, write: “As a Northwestern student, I would use the biology labs to continue conducting research on stem cells in mice, which I started during my junior year in high school…”

General Reminders

The Northwestern supplement may not allow a lot of words, but with a strategy in place, you can be sure that the essay you submit will make a substantial impact.

• Open with a personal, detailed anecdote about your intended major/interest (approximately 25% of the essay).
• Discuss your in-depth accomplishments in this field, without repeating what you have written in your Common Application (approximately 25% of the essay).
• Explain how Northwestern’s resources will aid in your development in this particular field. Do not forget to sketch out what you hope to accomplish at the school (approximately 50% of the essay).

With these three things in mind, writing Northwestern University’s supplement will be a lot easier.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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Northwestern University 2024-25 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Early Decision: Nov 1

Regular Decision Deadline: Jan 3

Northwestern University 2024-25 Application Essay Question Explanation

The Requirements: 1 required essay of 300 words or fewer; 2 optional essays of 200 words or fewer

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why , Community , Diversity , Oddball

How to Write Northwestern Supplemental Essays

The admissions committee at Northwestern “designed these writing supplements to help [them] understand your experiences throughout high school and imagine what kind of Northwestern student you may become.” The supplemental questions below cover ideas that admissions sees as important for building Northwestern’s upcoming class, so take this opportunity to provide them with greater insight into what has shaped you and how you might contribute to the Northwestern community once you arrive on campus. As with all admissions essays, you will want to infuse your response with details that will differentiate you from other applicants. 

P.S. Even though the second part of the supplement is optional, we highly recommend submitting the two essays allowed to demonstrate your interest!

Let’s dive in. The instructions read:

We have designed these writing supplements to help us understand your experiences throughout high school and imagine what kind of Northwestern student you may become. The supplemental questions below touch on areas we see as important for building Northwestern’s Class of 2029, but you should feel free to repurpose essays you’ve written for other applications (including the Common/Coalition Application personal essay, which we no longer require) if they tell the story you’d most like to share.

We also know there may be information or qualities not covered in our supplemental questions that you see as important to your application. to that end, we welcome—but by no means expect—your submission of a personal essay or additional information in the common application., the following question is required for all common application and coalition with scoir applicants (optional for questbridge applicants). please respond in 300 words or fewer:, northwestern essay prompts breakdown, we want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: what aspects of your background, your identity, or your school, community, and/or household settings have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise.

This is a kind of Why-Community Essay hybrid because admissions wants to (A) know what has shaped you, (B) learn about how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, and C) hear about the specific ways in which you will get involved (which requires demonstrating fit). This is a lot to accomplish in 300 words, but fear not, you got this! Start by isolating a specific story or anecdote that will offer admissions insight into how you have become the person you are today (remember, you don’t have to cover every aspect of your intricate, complicated, interesting self). Then connect that experience, community, or identity to the vision you have for yourself at Northwestern. If your experience is academic, maybe you want to write about the classes you would take or the research you would like to do. If your community is cultural, perhaps you want to write about the clubs you would join. In the end, you need to describe how you plan to engage in the Northwestern community in a way that draws on your past, so show admissions that you have done your research and you’re ready to dive headfirst into the Northwestern community!

The following questions are optional, but we encourage you to answer at least one and no more than two. Please respond in fewer than 200 words per question:

Painting “the rock” is a tradition at northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their wildcat spirit (what we call “purple pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. what would you paint on the rock, and why.

This prompt choice is glorious in its infinite potential. You can choose to elaborate on any of your passions here. Do you want to send a message to your fellow students about the environment? Maybe you want to rally students to join you at a demonstration of some kind. What is important to you? Essays responding to this prompt tend to lean in the direction of activism and community engagement, but don’t feel limited to these angles—anything you want to share with other Northwestern students (and, in this case, admissions) is fair game, as long as you feel strongly about it. And don’t forget to include the recognizable and effective acronym or short phrase you’d paint on The Rock !

Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?

This prompt will likely stand out to you innovators, since it’s asking about something you would make from scratch. Use this opportunity to share your imagination with admissions.  Maybe you’ve been making TikToks reviewing your favorite YA novels for some time now. Would you teach a class on the politics of the modern heroine in YA fiction? Perhaps you have an idea for a new healthtech business. Would you create a start-up? And don’t forget to address the second part of the question: who would you want to collaborate with? The person you choose could be your best friend, a community, or an industry leader you admire. There is no right or wrong answer here, so write about something you daydream about and show them that you know how to think big.

Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.

If your answer to Northwestern’s required essay focused on specific organizations, clubs, and student groups you hope to get involved with on campus, it may be best to skip this prompt so as to avoid repeating yourself. If not, this is the perfect place to provide Northwestern with more examples of how you will get involved in their community. Maybe you focused your required essay on the academic community you hope to join as you take your research to the next level and you’d like to write about your vision for finding belonging in queer spaces on campus or making connections with other members of the AAPI community. Just keep in mind that your response should focus on the future while drawing on your past experiences.

Northwestern’s location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?

This prompt is for all you applicants who are chomping at the bit to study in Evanston, Illinois. The nice thing about being able to focus on geography with this prompt is that you don’t have to have a fully fleshed out plan for your major; instead, you can focus on the experiential and cultural elements that will feed into your education. Why is living in Evanston appealing to you? Your answer should be personal to you and, if possible, unique. Explain what your desire to move from your hometown to Northwestern’s campus says about you. Whether you’re hoping to stay close to your family in Chicago or you’re eager to venture out beyond your one-stoplight town, this is the place to share your excitement.

Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern’s classrooms and around our campus?

Admissions wants to know how you will contribute to the diversity of perspectives at Northwestern. What has shaped you as a person and how has that made your perspective unique? What lessons have you learned and applied? Is there anything you can teach your classmates or peers about your hometown, culture, religion, identity, race, or ethnicity that they might not already know? Northwestern wants to know how your personal perspectives, beliefs, and/or lived experiences will affect the conversations you have and the ways in which you engage with the Wildcat community, so tell them a story that helps them to imagine the kind of student you’ll be on campus next fall.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Northwestern Essays

We have been reading Northwestern essays for over twenty years now, so we know a thing or two about the most common mistakes students make. The most common mistakes to avoid are repeating the prompt in your essay (don’t waste your words), trying to sound like an academic (admissions wants to hear your authentic voice!), and using cliches (they’re ineffective and—let’s face it—lazy).

Why Choose College Essay Advisors for Northwestern Essays

College Essay Advisors has years of experience guiding students one-on-one through the Northwestern supplemental essay writing process. We take a holistic approach to these essays, considering each student’s application package as a whole. It’s incredibly important to us that each student’s voice is preserved, and we pride ourselves in helping students to write successful Northwestern supplements that differentiate them from similarly qualified applicants. 

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Frequently Asked Questions

Northwestern requires one (1) supplemental essay, but applicants are also encouraged to submit 1-2 optional essays, as well. 

The limit for Northwestern’s “Why Essay” is 200 words or fewer.

Applicants will want to avoid silly grammar mistakes , repeating the prompt in their response, and telling rather than showing (e.g., saying you are determined without giving an example of a time you displayed determination).

The Northwestern supplemental essays are very important in the admissions process. The supplements help admissions to better “ understand your experiences throughout high school and imagine what kind of Northwestern student you may become.” 

Authenticity and reflection are key. You want to both ensure that you’re submitting essays that no one else could submit—meaning they contain specific details from your life or background that aren’t easily replicable—and show that you’ve put thought and care into your response.

You can definitely mention specific professors or research opportunities in your Northwestern essays. You could mention a research opportunity in one of your essays while discussing how you see yourself engaging with the academic community, for example, or a professor you’d like to collaborate with. However, make sure you are not just name dropping; their inclusion should be relevant and thoughtful.

Build a bridge between your extracurricular activities and Northwestern’s offerings to show that not only have you already demonstrated relevant interests, but that you will also take advantage of Northwestern’s offerings to expand your horizons and explore additional interests. The required prompt and optional prompts #2, #3, and #4 all present opportunities for you to demonstrate your fit.

Northwestern is one of the few competitive schools that no longer requires the Common App personal statement, so you can reuse content from your Common App essay in your Northwestern supplements, provided you are not submitting one. If you do submit a Common App personal statement, however, admissions will read it, so you should only reuse content from your Common App essay if you do not intend to submit it.

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Northwestern University Essay Examples (And Why They Worked)

The following essay examples were written by several different authors who were admitted to Northwestern University and are intended to provide examples of successful Northwestern University application essays. All names have been redacted for anonymity. Please note that CollegeAdvisor.com has shared these essays with admissions officers at Northwestern University in order to deter potential plagiarism.

For more help with your Northwestern supplemental essays, check out our 2020-2021 Northwestern University Essay Guide ! For more guidance on personal essays and the college application process in general, sign up for a monthly plan to work with an admissions coach 1-on-1.

In 300 words or less, help us understand how you might engage specific resources, opportunities, and/or communities here. We are curious about what these specifics are, as well as how they may enrich your time at Northwestern and beyond.

Passion is described as “a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something” according to Merriam-Webster. This quality certainly cannot be taken lightly or easily flaunted, but when it is present, it deems expression.

My passion for business sprouted when I was nine and my father enrolled me in a Finance and Economics summer program at my local community college. I had dreaded the idea of doing something educational over the summer, but those feelings were quickly replaced with interest and excitement. With a small team, I helped manage a fake stock portfolio and witnessed the beginning of a national recession.

Although I do not use the term passion lightly, my passions are certainly far spread. Being involved in orchestra has allowed me to experience the beauty of music and given me the opportunity to play in the White House, France, and Monaco. My passion for teamwork has driven me to explore my abilities in Cross Country and Track.

Northwestern is a place where I can express my passions and explore new ones. When I visited Northwestern over the summer, two perky tour guides told me about their own passions. One was the president of her sorority and the other loved to dance and raved about Northwestern’s Dance Marathon. Passion allows us to thrive and be happy in our pursuits for success. The suburban campus will be a perfect place for me to immerse myself in clubs and activities while having easy access to opportunities in the lovely city of Chicago.

Why This Northwestern Essay Worked: From an ex-admissions officer

This essay is persuasive because it communicates urgency and energy around the student’s activities. It shows enthusiasm for and depth in the academic and extracurricular pursuits that have clearly defined the student’s journey. The student does a good job of tying their interests to their expected involvements at Northwestern. In doing so, the student helps the reader see the linear connection between the student and their potential to make a positive impact on the school.

In 2013, I embarked with my family on a whirlwind tour of seventeen American universities. Of all the schools I visited, Northwestern stood out. In addition to stellar academic programs, its emphasis on civic and global engagement really spoke to me. It is vital for me to attend college where both academic rigor and openness to the world and to others are widely promoted.

In the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, I could take advantage of a broad liberal arts education while taking classes closely aligned with my career goals. My Middle Eastern heritage and international background have made me passionate about social justice, peace, and conflict resolution, fields I would like to work in after college. At Weinberg, I hope to pursue an undergraduate program focused on Middle East and North African Studies, taking classes such as “Middle East, Modernity and Identity” or “The Middle East in International Politics.”

In addition, given the University’s proximity to Chicago, a city renowned for its cultural vibrancy, I would take advantage of everything from guest speakers visiting campus to performances and exhibitions in the city.

Finally, I believe the Northwestern Community Development Corps is an amazing resource for young people who are passionate about community outreach. Service has always been very important to me, and I’d like to continue in this path throughout college. It would help me sharpen my skills and strengthen my confidence to lead initiatives that can make a positive difference in the lives of others. I believe Northwestern is the place where all the aspects of my personality would thrive. Northwestern students and faculty are motivated, active, and inspiring in the ways that inspire me. At Northwestern, I would grow both academically and socially in an international and open-minded environment. It would be an honor to spend the next four years in such an incredible college.

Why Northwestern This Essay Worked: From an ex-admissions officer

The ideal “why X college” essay communicates as much about the student as it does about the student’s potential to make a positive impact on the school community. The writer needs to convince the reader that they have legitimacy, meaning that they have done real, thoughtful research about the school, and have put thought into why they and that particular college are a good fit. A strong “why X college” essay also showcases the student’s particular passions, talents, or interests and how those will manifest on the college campus.

These essay examples were compiled by the advising team at CollegeAdvisor.com . If you want to get help writing your Northwestern University application essays from CollegeAdvisor.com Admissions Experts , register with CollegeAdvisor.com today.

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