Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute supplemental essays

The prompts, one by one

1. Extracurricular or work experienceup to 300 words · Activity

   “Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences.”

   What it's really asking

   Depth on one activity: what you actually did, what was hard about it, and why it mattered to you beyond the title. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute already has your activities list; this is the story behind one line of it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Re-listing the activities list in prose, or choosing the most prestigious activity rather than the one you can say something true about. Starting with "I joined X in ninth grade."

   The shape of a strong answer

   Start inside a specific moment of the activity. Explain one problem you solved or one thing you built, with detail only a participant would know. Close on what it changed in how you think or work.

2. Why Rensselaer?up to 250 words · Why us

   “Why are you interested in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute?”

   What it's really asking

   Not "why is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 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 wrong

   Opening 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 answer

   Start with the specific thing you've already been doing. Name one or two concrete Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 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.

3. Physician-Scientist program essay500-750 words · Why this major

   “State your reasons for aspiring to a career in medicine.”

   What it's really asking

   The moment this subject stopped being a class and became a question you couldn't drop. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute wants evidence you've chosen on purpose, not by default.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Turning it into a résumé: grades, awards and "I have always been passionate about." A list of achievements is not a reason to study something. Grand missions ("to cure cancer") read as borrowed.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One specific experience, one specific confusion or question it left you with, and what you did about it on your own. Then one or two things in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's version of the major that match that question. Small and real beats big and vague.

4. Architecture program essay500-750 words · Open prompt

   “State your reasons for choosing architecture as your profession.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 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. Electronic Arts program essayup to 500 words · Open prompt

   “Discuss your interests in the field of electronic arts, and state how this is reflected in your portfolio, if one has been submitted.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 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.

6. Games and Simulation program essayup to 500 words · Intellectual curiosity

   “State your reasons for choosing the field of games and simulation arts and sciences, making reference to your portfolio if one has been submitted.”

   What it's really asking

   Whether you think about things when nobody is grading you. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 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.

7. Music program essayup to 500 words · Why this major

   “Describe your interest in the music major and your goals. Please include completed course work in music, private music instruction, musical performance and production experience, or completed independent projects.”

   What it's really asking

   The moment this subject stopped being a class and became a question you couldn't drop. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute wants evidence you've chosen on purpose, not by default.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Turning it into a résumé: grades, awards and "I have always been passionate about." A list of achievements is not a reason to study something. Grand missions ("to cure cancer") read as borrowed.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One specific experience, one specific confusion or question it left you with, and what you did about it on your own. Then one or two things in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's version of the major that match that question. Small and real beats big and vague.

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 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) 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.