Quinnipiac University supplemental essays

These are Quinnipiac University'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 qu.edu before you submit.

The prompts, one by one

1. Nursing applicants: program interestup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “Why do you have an interest in applying to the Nursing program? Please discuss any relevant experiences you may have had in this field.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Quinnipiac University is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

2. Occupational Therapy applicants: program interestup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “Why do you have an interest in applying to the Occupational Therapy program? Please discuss any relevant experiences you may have had in this field.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Quinnipiac University is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

3. Physical Therapy applicants: program interestup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “Why do you have an interest in applying to the Physical Therapy program? Please discuss any relevant experiences you may have had in this field.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Quinnipiac University is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

4. Physician Assistant applicants: program interestup to 250 words · Open prompt

   “Why do you have an interest in applying to the Physician Assistant program? Please discuss any relevant experiences you may have had in this field.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Quinnipiac University is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

5. Radiologic Sciences applicants: program interestup to 250 words · Intellectual curiosity

   “Why do you have an interest in applying to the Radiologic Sciences program? Please discuss any relevant experiences you may have had in this field.”

   What it's really asking

   Whether you think about things when nobody is grading you. Quinnipiac University wants a specific idea, question or project and the way your mind moved through it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Name-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 answer

   One 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.

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 Quinnipiac University) 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.