2025-26 prompts · 2026–27 not yet confirmed · Carlisle, PA
Dickinson College supplemental essays
3 prompts, 0 required, 3 optional, about 150 words in total. Below: each prompt, what it is really asking, where drafts go wrong, and the shape of an answer that works.
Free, no card. Paste a draft and Admitify reads it line by line against the prompt. It never writes for you.
These are Dickinson College's 2025-26 prompts. The 2026–27 wording was not yet published when this page was verified. Most schools keep prompts the same or change them lightly; confirm on dickinson.edu before you submit.
The prompts, one by one
- Endless topic short answer (optional)up to 50 words · Intellectual curiosity
“What topic or idea could you write or converse about endlessly?”
What it's really askingWhether you think about things when nobody is grading you. Dickinson College wants a specific idea, question or project and the way your mind moved through it.
Where drafts go wrongName-dropping a big topic (AI, climate, quantum) and describing it instead of your own thinking about it. Essays that could have been written from the Wikipedia page.
The shape of a strong answerOne specific question or thing you made. The wrong turns and what you tried next. What you still don't know. Curiosity reads as unfinished; that's the point. At 50 words there is room for exactly one example, explained properly.
- Surprising new experience (optional)up to 50 words · Short answer
“What is something new that you'd like to experience, learn or try that might surprise your friends and family?”
What it's really askingPersonality in a sentence or two. These are read fast, often together, to see whether a real person wrote the application.
Where drafts go wrongTrying to be impressive in 50 words, or trying to be quirky on purpose. Both read as effort. Repeating something already in your other essays.
The shape of a strong answerAnswer the literal question with one concrete, specific detail you'd actually say out loud. Short sentences. One thing, not three. If it makes a friend smile, it's right.
- Qualities that make you proud (optional)up to 50 words · Short answer
“What are the qualities that make you proud to be you?”
What it's really askingPersonality in a sentence or two. These are read fast, often together, to see whether a real person wrote the application.
Where drafts go wrongTrying to be impressive in 50 words, or trying to be quirky on purpose. Both read as effort. Repeating something already in your other essays.
The shape of a strong answerAnswer the literal question with one concrete, specific detail you'd actually say out loud. Short sentences. One thing, not three. If it makes a friend smile, it's right.
Every US applicant also writes the Common App personal statement: 650 words, seven prompts. Don't repeat it here; the supplements are for what the statement didn't show.
A self-check before you submit
Cover the school name and read the essay. Then cover your name and read it again. It should fail the first test (it only makes sense for Dickinson College) and pass the second (only you could have written it). If it passes the first test, it's a brochure. If it fails the second, it's a template.
Run your draft through Admitify, free →Prompts verified September 2026 against Dickinson College's published application. Admission facts and requirements for Dickinson College are on its university page. Spotted a change? Tell us.