Tufts University supplemental essays

The prompts, one by one

1. Engagement with Tufts short answer75-150 words · Why us

   “Please describe how you have learned about and engaged with Tufts during your college search process”

   What it's really asking

   Not "why is Tufts University 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 Tufts University 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. At 150 words there is room for exactly one example, explained properly.

2. Arts and Sciences favorite assignment100-200 words · Short answer

   “Tell us about one of your favorite school assignments in the past two years. What was the assignment and why did you enjoy it?”

   What it's really asking

   Personality in a sentence or two. These are read fast, often together, to see whether a real person wrote the application.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Trying 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 answer

   Answer 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.

3. Engineering project short answer100-200 words · Intellectual curiosity

   “Tell us about an engineering or science-related project that you have helped build, design, create, or iterate in the past two years. What was the project and what was your role?”

   What it's really asking

   Whether you think about things when nobody is grading you. Tufts 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.

4. BFA portfolio piece short answer100-200 words · Open prompt

   “Tell us more about a specific piece in your portfolio. What were the ideas you intended to explore, and how did those ideas inform the process of making the piece?”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Tufts 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. Combined Degree portfolio piece short answer100-200 words · Why this major

   “Tell us more about a specific piece in your portfolio. How did an academic course, project, or interest inspire the ideas that you explored in this piece? Or, how did making this piece influence your academic interests?”

   What it's really asking

   The moment this subject stopped being a class and became a question you couldn't drop. Tufts University 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 Tufts 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 Tufts 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.