If you are applying to Columbia University as an undergraduate during the 2024–2025 academic year, you will need to prepare for several supplemental essays, including five short answer questions. Continue reading our guide to learn more about how to strategize for the Columbia supplemental essays and how HelloCollege can be a valuable resource in your college application journey.
What are Supplemental Essays?
Supplemental essays are writing assignments, separate from your Common App Essay, that help colleges to ask targeted questions and get a fuller picture of who you are as an applicant. The format of each college’s supplemental essays will vary, so pay close attention to the requirements of each school. For more information about supplemental essays, the role they play in your application, and how to tackle them, refer to our Ultimate Guide to Writing Supplemental Essays.
Columbia Supplemental Essays 2024–2025
The purpose of these prompts is to help the admissions committee get a better sense of your personal, academic, and intellectual interests and activities. They provide admissions officers with a sense of how you think and what matters to you. They also help the admissions committee gain a better understanding of the communities that you are currently a part of and how you might fit into the Class of 2029 at Columbia.
Columbia Supplemental Essay Prompts
- List a selection of texts, resources and outlets that have contributed to your intellectual development outside of academic courses, including but not limited to books, journals, websites, podcasts, essays, plays, presentations, videos, museums and other content that you enjoy. (100 words or fewer)
- A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives. Tell us about an aspect of your own perspective, viewpoint or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia’s diverse and collaborative community. (150 words or fewer)
- In college/university, students are often challenged in ways that they could not predict or anticipate. It is important to us, therefore, to understand an applicant’s ability to navigate through adversity. Please describe a barrier or obstacle you have faced and discuss the personal qualities, skills or insights you have developed as a result. (150 words or fewer)
- Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. (150 words or fewer)
- What attracts you to your preferred areas of study at Columbia College or Columbia Engineering? (150 words or fewer)
Writing the Columbia Supplemental Essays
In this section, you’ll find a breakdown of each question with tips on how to approach your answer. Note that the Columbia supplemental essays are very short, with a maximum word count of 150 each. This means that in order to make the most out of each response, you will need to focus on writing concisely. Don’t feel pressure to meet the word count, but rather, focus on answering the question. Try to avoid generalizations and clichés, and make sure to do your research for the questions that ask you, Why Columbia? Remember, the more unique, specific, and precise your answer is, the better.
Columbia Supplemental Essay 1 of 5
- List a selection of texts, resources and outlets that have contributed to your intellectual development outside of academic courses, including but not limited to books, journals, websites, podcasts, essays, plays, presentations, videos, museums and other content that you enjoy. (100 words or fewer)
Note: This question is a bit unusual, so we’ve pulled the following instructions from the Columbia College website, to explain how you will answer this atypical question:
For the list question that follows, there is a 100 word maximum. Please refer to the below guidance when answering this question:
- Your response should be a list of items separated by commas or semicolons.
- Items do not have to be numbered or in any specific order.
- It is not necessary to italicize or underline titles of books or other publications.
- No author names, subtitles or explanatory remarks are needed.
This supplemental response is your opportunity to showcase the pieces of art, writing, and content that have made a major impact on your development. Don’t feel pressured to list works that feel like things you should include, and instead, focus on what has genuinely affected your academic development in and/or outside the classroom. Don’t be afraid to include a variety of different kinds of media that showcase your many facets. Remember to consider this question in the context of your entire application so that it helps to tell your story as a learner.
Columbia Supplemental Essay 2 of 5
- A hallmark of the Columbia experience is being able to learn and thrive in an equitable and inclusive community with a wide range of perspectives. Tell us about an aspect of your own perspective, viewpoint or lived experience that is important to you, and describe how it has shaped the way you would learn from and contribute to Columbia’s diverse and collaborative community. (150 words or fewer)
This question asks you to do two things: 1) share an aspect of your personal identity and 2) describe how it will shape your engagement with the Columbia community. When it comes to your personal perspective, you can reflect on several different aspects of your experiences. You can pull from extracurricular activities, family roles, job experiences, intellectual or cultural lineages, ethnic or racial identities, languages spoken… the list goes on.
Focus on a viewpoint or lived experience that has had a major impact on your personhood and the way that you learn. In the second half of the question, help the admissions committee to imagine how this personal viewpoint will shape the way that you will contribute to the Columbia community. The more specific you can be about what that contribution might look like, the better.
Columbia Supplemental Essay 3 of 5
- In college/university, students are often challenged in ways that they could not predict or anticipate. It is important to us, therefore, to understand an applicant’s ability to navigate through adversity. Please describe a barrier or obstacle you have faced and discuss the personal qualities, skills or insights you have developed as a result. (150 words or fewer)
This is your opportunity to showcase your resilience, or to give admissions additional context to any weak points in your application. In this section, you may choose to discuss any kind of obstacle or barrier that you have faced, such as working on a difficult project in school, overcoming a personal or family event, navigating health issues, facing academic struggles, or working through interpersonal challenges with your friends. There are many ways to answer this question—the magnitude of the obstacle doesn’t matter nearly as much as the personal qualities you developed as a result of facing it. Focus on growth, maturity, problem solving, and willingness to learn from the experience.
Columbia Supplemental Essay 4 of 5
- Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia. (150 words or fewer)
In this prompt, you must showcase that you’ve done your research on Columbia. Respond as specifically as possible here, avoiding generalizations like campus size or distance from your hometown. Focus instead on aspects that are unique to the University, such as its history, courses, extra-curricular activities, or resources. Feel free to discuss New York City, which for many applicants, is a major draw. However, be specific about what exactly in New York you are eager to experience: Is there a specific research or professional opportunity?
For a complete guide on tackling this category of essay, visit our blog post on writing the ‘why this college?’ essay.
Columbia Supplemental Essay 5 of 5
- What attracts you to your preferred areas of study at Columbia College or Columbia Engineering? (150 words or fewer)
This question is similar to the one before it, though it asks you to focus on the specific area of study within the college that you would like to attend. Do your research, and take the time to look at the curriculum of your preferred program. Remember that on top of the requirements of your particular major, Columbia College mandates a Core Curriculum that all students must participate in in order to graduate.
Conclusion
The Columbia supplemental essays are your chance to highlight your unique strengths, experiences, background, and passions in your application. However, the short word count, with a maximum of only 150 words, poses a challenge for many students. Writing concisely and confidently is critical in order to make the most of these essays. If you need help brainstorming or writing essays—or with any other parts of the application process—HelloCollege is here to help. Reach out for a free 45-minute consultation today.
