The University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill is highly regarded nationwide as a great college. Everyone knows the names Michael Jordan and Bill Belichick, but many fail to realize the world of other benefits UNC has to offer. This academically rigorous “Public Ivy” has some of the world’s foremost research institutions, a gorgeous urban campus in Chapel Hill, NC, and is part of the world-famous research triangle between Raleigh, Durham and Cary, NC, which includes more than twenty institutions collaboratively working to alleviate the world’s greatest threats. Its basketball program isn’t too shabby, either!
Each year UNC receives more and more applications from increasingly qualified students, which means a top-notch application is a must. If you’re thinking of applying here, you’ve made a great choice! We’ll help you tackle the UNC supplemental essays in this step-by-step guide. Writing college essays can be daunting, but we’re here to make your life easier.
What is a Supplemental Essay?
There are two main types of college application essays: the personal statement, and the supplemental essay.
Think of the personal statement as the best showcase of you– it’s a longer-form statement on who you are, with a reflection on where you’d like to head in the next four years. Typically, you’ll develop a personal statement as part of the Common Application and be able to apply it to most of the schools you plan on applying to. These are a crucial part of your application and it’s well worth taking the time to develop a truly polished personal statement.
Supplemental essays, meanwhile, are a great way to showcase not just who you are, but how you fit into your school of choice. They are frequently short—sometimes just 150 words—and typically ask a specific question, like “Why do you want to go here?” or “Why did you select your major?” They’re a great opportunity to really show that you’ve researched your school, and it’s a good practice to name specific departments, programs, groups, and aspects of campus life that really resonate with you. Be as specific and genuine as you can be!
For a full breakdown, check out our Ultimate Guide on How to Write a Supplemental Essay.
What are the UNC Chapel Hill Supplemental Essays?
Here are the 2024–2025 UNC supplemental essay prompts:
- Discuss one of your personal qualities and share a story, anecdote, or memory of how it helped you make a positive impact on a community. This could be your current community or another community you have engaged.
- Discuss an academic topic that you’re excited to explore and learn more about in college. Why does this topic interest you? Topics could be a specific course of study, research interests, or any other area related to your academic experience in college.
Each of them has a 250 word limit, which means you have to say a lot with just a little bit of space! Next, we’ll break down how to address each of them step-by-step.
How to Write the UNC Supplemental Essays
In this section, we’re going to address each UNC-Chapel Hill supplemental essay prompt and break down how you can best answer it, with helpful tips and tricks along the way.
UNC Supplemental Essay Prompt #1
- Discuss one of your personal qualities and share a story, anecdote, or memory of how it helped you make a positive impact on a community. This could be your current community or another community you have engaged.
This is a riff on a classic community service topic—what does community mean to you, and how did you develop that mindset? What trait about yourself helped positively impact a community? Try to pair a personal trait/characteristic with a unique community you truly impacted. You’ll notice that the prompt encourages you to share a story or anecdote, so be sure to show and not just tell.
Helpful tip: Brainstorm all the communities you’re part of, from the obvious (classes, sports teams, family) to the less obvious (Taylor Swift fandom, people with glasses, left handers). Consider how you’ve impacted these communities—do any stories jump out at you?
Helpful tip: It’s often hard to consider what personal traits or aspects might have benefitted a community, so it can be helpful to ask around! Poll your friends, coach, parents, even teachers about what personal traits they admire in you.
UNC Supplemental Essay Prompt #2
- Discuss an academic topic that you’re excited to explore and learn more about in college. Why does this topic interest you? Topics could be a specific course of study, research interests, or any other area related to your academic experience in college.
At first glance, you might think that this topic is asking you to declare your major, but if you read closely again, you’ll find that it wants to get even more specific: now is the time to discuss a specific topic, either major-related or not, that fascinates. This is a great opportunity to showcase your intellectual curiosity, as well as the depth of your research on programs and faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill itself.
Helpful tip: Consider what subjects in class fascinated you to the point of going home and learning more—or think about what Wikipedia rabbit holes you might have gone down recently. If you’re intending to study biology, are you more attracted to ecology and frog mutations, or perhaps genetics and using CRISPR to harness the human genome?
Helpful tip: Try your best not to be predictable. If you’re pre-med, don’t just say you’d like to explore the topic of medicine. Maybe it’s looking at new techniques in skin grafts, or developing more effective antibiotics. Specificity is your friend here!
Helpful tip: Level up your essay even more by naming a faculty member or research group whose work intrigues you.
More Helpful Tips for Writing Your UNC-Chapel Hill Supplemental Essays
- Show, don’t tell: Instead of simply telling UNC that you have leadership skills, describe how your pregame pep talk led your soccer team to winning the championship. It shows not just your talents but also your ability to effectively illustrate your point with good writing.
- Avoid passive language: Instead of “I had the opportunity to be able to sky dive” simply say “I went skydiving.” This will make your language more vivid, more clear, and more fun!
- Try and say 1–2 things well as opposed to many things unclearly: These essays are only 250 words long, which means you have to say a lot by saying a little. Try to really illustrate 1–2 points completely, rather than introduce many talking points and run out of space to cover it all. No one wants a half-baked essay!
Conclusion
As you can see, you have a world of possibilities ahead of you when it comes to writing these supplemental essays for UNC-Chapel Hill. This step-by-step guide should help you stay on task and write the best essay you can for this incredible school. Remember to seek out an advisor, parent, or teacher for advice, too!
Feel like you need more help with writing? Reach out to HelloCollege and we’ll help you craft the best essay you can.
