2026–27 Common App cycle · Easton, PA
Lafayette College supplemental essays
1 prompt, 0 required, 1 optional, about 200 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.
The prompts, one by one
- Why Lafayette? (optional)20-200 words · Why us
“Why Lafayette? Students identify Lafayette as an excellent fit for countless reasons. In your response, be deliberate and specific about your motivation for applying to Lafayette. Why do you see yourself at Lafayette?”
What it's really askingNot "why is Lafayette College good" but "what will you do here that you can't do elsewhere, and what in your past proves you'll actually do it." The reader already knows the school is good.
Where drafts go wrongOpening with the campus, the ranking or the "world-renowned faculty." Every sentence that would survive with another school's name swapped in is wasted. Listing three programs with no explanation of any of them is the second trap.
The shape of a strong answerStart with the specific thing you've already been doing. Name one or two concrete Lafayette College resources (a course, a lab, a program, a professor's actual work) and say what you'd do with each. End on the next step, not on a compliment.
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 Lafayette 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 Lafayette College's published application. Admission facts and requirements for Lafayette College are on its university page. Spotted a change? Tell us.