2025-26 prompts · 2026–27 not yet confirmed · Queens, NY
St. John's University supplemental essays
2 prompts, 1 required, 1 optional, about 500 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 St. John's 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 stjohns.edu before you submit.
The prompts, one by one
- Personal essay (optional)up to 250 words · Open prompt
“Your essay needs to provide us with additional information about you that cannot be gleaned from your application. Ideally, your essay should be approximately 250 words.”
What it's really askingWhatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. St. John's University is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.
Where drafts go wrongUsing 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 answerOne 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.
- Pharm.D. program essayup to 250 words · Why this major
“Please submit a brief 250-word essay discussing your reasons for choosing a career in pharmacy and why you are applying to St. John's University.”
What it's really askingThe moment this subject stopped being a class and became a question you couldn't drop. St. John's University wants evidence you've chosen on purpose, not by default.
Where drafts go wrongTurning 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 answerOne 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 St. John's University'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 St. John's 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.
Run your draft through Admitify, free →Prompts verified September 2026 against St. John's University's published application. Admission facts and requirements for St. John's University are on its university page. Spotted a change? Tell us.