siena college supplemental essay

Siena College

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Siena College’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts

Additional info short response.

Is there anything else you‘d like us to know about you or what you want out of your college experience?

Albany Medical College Essay

Describe a personal service experience in your high school or community, what you gained from this experience and how it reflects the unique values of the Siena-Albany Medical College Program.

Nursing Essay

Discuss activities, interests and/or volunteer experiences you have had in school or community organizations that will enhance your experience as a nurse.

Common App Personal Essay

The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you‘ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

What will first-time readers think of your college essay?

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See Three College Application Essays That Worked

"When I was five years old..." "My lifelong dream has always been..." "Once upon a time..." Can't get past the first sentence on your college application essay? Or, perhaps you're midway through when the pangs of writer's block are starting to creep in. Before all creativity and motivation have completely left the building, how about some inspiration? 

“Käse,” the elderly Swiss woman said to me, pointing to the mountain of shredded Swiss cheese. She looked at me expectantly and then motioned for me to add the käse to the pot that was situated over a burning flame atop the old-fashioned stove. She pointed back to the pot and put her hand to her mouth, gesturing that she wanted me to repeat the word.

I am dust and ash but fire at the same time. I am smoke blown by the breeze; when air and self are merged. When one is nothing and everything at the same time, we are all-knowing yet completely ignorant. This leads me to believe life is riding a half-inch piece of fiberglass and metal down a snow covered mountain and leaping into frantic oblivion. 

When I was little, I was always amazed by the ease with which my father and older brothers could pick me up and throw me around while playing. They reminded me of titans. They could move objects that seemed as immovable as mountains without breaking a sweat. There was nothing that I wanted more than to be as strong as they were. As I grew older, I got my wish, however gradually. 

Once you download the essay guide, you can find all three essays in full by clicking  "SEE 3 ESSAYS THAT WORKED."  Good luck to you, and remember: be authentic, be honest and share what you know. When you do, it's hard to go wrong.

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How to Write a Supplemental Essay for College Applications

Discover tips for tackling writing supplements, and read a sample essay from a current student.

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A supplemental essay gives you an opportunity to tell the admissions committee about something you weren't able to cover in your main essay.

Prospective students are usually aware that they must write an essay as part of the college application process . But they may not know that some schools will ask for additional writing samples such as a supplemental essay.

Avoid These College Application Mistakes

Courtney Rubin and Cole Claybourn July 26, 2023

These writing supplements are usually shorter than the main college essay , but they're no less important, experts say.

"Every word counts in getting your story across," says Deborah Davis, president and founder of Davis Education & Career Consultants LLC, based in Ridgefield, Connecticut.

Some colleges ask for just one supplemental essay while others may require several.

For example, Wake Forest University in North Carolina had six additional questions for prospective students to respond to on its 2020 undergraduate admissions application. However, a couple of the questions asked applicants to write lists – for instance, a personal top 10 list – rather than a full paragraph or two.

Supplemental essay prompts come in all shapes and sizes. In some cases, schools let applicants choose from several options. For instance, the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill 's fall 2019-20 application included four prompts – such as "What do you hope will change about the place where you live?" – from which prospective students had to select two.

Davis says two of the most common prompts she's seen are "What do you want to major in?" and "Tell us about a favorite activity."

While word counts for supplemental essays vary, they tend to be limited.

Wake Forest has a 150-word limit for each of its supplements, says Tamara Blocker, the university's senior associate dean of admissions. UNC caps applicants' short answer responses at 250 words each, according to the school's website.

In contrast, The Common Application , a platform that allows students to apply to multiple colleges at once, has a suggested 650-word limit for the main essay and 250 words for others.

These types of written responses are more like vignettes or snapshots, rather than full-blown essays, says Stephen Farmer, vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions at UNC.

"I think – I hope, anyway – that students feel the opportunity maybe in the shorter responses to worry less about form and just be a little more open with us," he says.

To help prospective students familiarize themselves with supplemental essays, U.S. News obtained an example from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. Ryan Sheehan from Wallingford, Pennsylvania, wrote the short piece and is a computer science major in the class of 2021.

As part of his application, Sheehan responded to the following prompt: "There is a Quaker saying: 'Let your life speak.' Describe the environment in which you were raised – your family, home, neighborhood, or community – and how it influenced the person you are today."

"As the son of two journalists, I have grown up under a lifelong inquisition: How is your room such a mess? Can you please stop chasing the cat? Will you come down from the tree already? Granted, those are all from this past year, but the point still stands. Like any good journalists, my parents have also always had a propensity for uncovering the truth. On the third night that I had my license, I decided to go to the library to study. Before 15 minutes had passed, I noticed the librarian peering at me through the shelves before quickly averting her eyes and whispering, "He's here," into her phone. Even so, regardless of how many spies they've hired over the years, I have always looked up to my parents immensely. However, I have found my inherited inquisitiveness to be a trait most useful in a place far from the realm of reporting: the robotics lab. After four years of spending almost more time in the lab than at home, I have learned that nothing is more important than asking the right questions. As a programmer, I need to be able to communicate with my builders. Come press time, if I don't interview them properly, our robot will invariably end up as a hunk of unresponsive aluminum. To make a machine, the team must work as one. So although I may be writing source code instead of a breaking story, I am glad I had such nosy parents after all."

Karen Richardson, former dean of undergraduate admissions and enrollment management at Tufts who is now dean of admission at Princeton University in New Jersey, explained why she liked this response: "This is a great essay because, in just 250 words, it shows rather than tells the reader who Ryan is and the things that matter to him. It gives us a sense of his family life and academic interests, and it even shows us he has a sense of humor. As an admissions committee, we learned a lot about Ryan in just one paragraph."

Here are five additional tips from admissions officers to help prospective college students craft strong supplemental essays.

Answer the Question

This may seem obvious, but applicants should carefully read a supplemental essay prompt and make sure they understand what it is asking before answering it, Richardson says.

Prospective students may want to reuse an essay they wrote for another college, but that doesn't always work because supplemental questions tend to be more tailored to an individual institution, she says.

Start With an Outline

Applicants may have their own writing process, but Davis encourages those she works with to create outlines. She says prospective students should brainstorm the personal qualities, skills or experiences they would like to convey in their supplemental essays.

Don't Repeat Yourself

Supplemental essays are a chance for applicants to give more information to an admissions committee to further show why they are a good fit for a school, Davis says. So prospective students should make sure they aren't repeating something that's already been covered in their main essay.

Narrow Your Focus

Probably the biggest mistake applicants make in supplemental essays is choosing a topic that's too big, Farmer says. For example, he says prospective students may attempt to settle a complex political issue in just one paragraph.

"I think it's better to do something small and do it well than to do something big and skate over the surface," he says.

Maintain Your Voice

It's a good idea for applicants to ask another person for editing help, but too much input can be detrimental to an essay, experts say. If lots of people – teachers, parents, peers – read and weigh in on an essay, they can weaken how clearly a student's voice comes through in the writing.

"It's great to read something that sounds like it was written by an 18-year-old and not by a machine," Farmer says, "or by someone who's trying to be prematurely middle-aged."

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Siena College Requirements for Admission

Choose your test.

What are Siena College's admission requirements? While there are a lot of pieces that go into a college application, you should focus on only a few critical things:

• GPA requirements
• Testing requirements, including SAT and ACT requirements
• Application requirements

In this guide we'll cover what you need to get into Siena College and build a strong application.

School location: Loudonville, NY

Admissions Rate: 70.8%

If you want to get in, the first thing to look at is the acceptance rate. This tells you how competitive the school is and how serious their requirements are.

The acceptance rate at Siena College is 70.8% . For every 100 applicants, 71 are admitted.

This means the school is lightly selective . The school will have their expected requirements for GPA and SAT/ACT scores. If you meet their requirements, you're almost certain to get an offer of admission. But if you don't meet Siena College's requirements, you'll be one of the unlucky few people who gets rejected.

We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies . We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools , from state colleges to the Ivy League.

We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools.

Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in.

Siena College GPA Requirements

Many schools specify a minimum GPA requirement, but this is often just the bare minimum to submit an application without immediately getting rejected.

The GPA requirement that really matters is the GPA you need for a real chance of getting in. For this, we look at the school's average GPA for its current students.

Average GPA: 3.54

The average GPA at Siena College is 3.54 .

(Most schools use a weighted GPA out of 4.0, though some report an unweighted GPA.

With a GPA of 3.54, Siena College requires you to be around average in your high school class. You'll need a mix of A's and B's, and very few C's. If you have a lower GPA, you can compensate with harder courses like AP or IB classes. This will help boost your weighted GPA and show your ability to take college classes.

If you're currently a junior or senior, your GPA is hard to change in time for college applications. If your GPA is at or below the school average of 3.54, you'll need a higher SAT or ACT score to compensate . This will help you compete effectively against other applicants who have higher GPAs than you.

SAT and ACT Requirements

Each school has different requirements for standardized testing. Only a few schools require the SAT or ACT, but many consider your scores if you choose to submit them.

Siena College hasn't explicitly named a policy on SAT/ACT requirements, but because it's published average SAT or ACT scores (we'll cover this next), it's likely test flexible. Typically, these schools say, "if you feel your SAT or ACT score represents you well as a student, submit them. Otherwise, don't."

Despite this policy, the truth is that most students still take the SAT or ACT, and most applicants to Siena College will submit their scores. If you don't submit scores, you'll have one fewer dimension to show that you're worthy of being admitted, compared to other students. We therefore recommend that you consider taking the SAT or ACT, and doing well.

Siena College SAT Requirements

Many schools say they have no SAT score cutoff, but the truth is that there is a hidden SAT requirement. This is based on the school's average score.

Average SAT: 1157

The average SAT score composite at Siena College is a 1157 on the 1600 SAT scale.

This score makes Siena College Competitive for SAT test scores.

Siena College SAT Score Analysis (New 1600 SAT)

The 25th percentile SAT score is 1050, and the 75th percentile SAT score is 1260. In other words, a 1050 on the SAT places you below average, while a 1260 will move you up to above average .

Here's the breakdown of SAT scores by section:

SAT Score Choice Policy

The Score Choice policy at your school is an important part of your testing strategy.

Siena College ACT Requirements

Just like for the SAT, Siena College likely doesn't have a hard ACT cutoff, but if you score too low, your application will get tossed in the trash.

Average ACT: 25

The average ACT score at Siena College is 25. This score makes Siena College Moderately Competitive for ACT scores.

The 25th percentile ACT score is 22, and the 75th percentile ACT score is 31.

Even though Siena College likely says they have no minimum ACT requirement, if you apply with a 22 or below, you'll have a harder time getting in, unless you have something else impressive in your application.

ACT Score Sending Policy

If you're taking the ACT as opposed to the SAT, you have a huge advantage in how you send scores, and this dramatically affects your testing strategy.

Here it is: when you send ACT scores to colleges, you have absolute control over which tests you send. You could take 10 tests, and only send your highest one. This is unlike the SAT, where many schools require you to send all your tests ever taken.

This means that you have more chances than you think to improve your ACT score. To try to aim for the school's ACT requirement of 22 and above, you should try to take the ACT as many times as you can. When you have the final score that you're happy with, you can then send only that score to all your schools.

ACT Superscore Policy

By and large, most colleges do not superscore the ACT. (Superscore means that the school takes your best section scores from all the test dates you submit, and then combines them into the best possible composite score). Thus, most schools will just take your highest ACT score from a single sitting.

We weren't able to find the school's exact ACT policy, which most likely means that it does not Superscore. Regardless, you can choose your single best ACT score to send in to Siena College, so you should prep until you reach our recommended target ACT score of 22.

Download our free guide on the top 5 strategies you must be using to improve your score. This guide was written by Harvard graduates and ACT perfect scorers. If you apply the strategies in this guide, you'll study smarter and make huge score improvements.

SAT/ACT Writing Section Requirements

Currently, only the ACT has an optional essay section that all students can take. The SAT used to also have an optional Essay section, but since June 2021, this has been discontinued unless you are taking the test as part of school-day testing in a few states. Because of this, no school requires the SAT Essay or ACT Writing section, but some schools do recommend certain students submit their results if they have them.

Siena College considers the SAT Essay/ACT Writing section optional and may not include it as part of their admissions consideration. You don't need to worry too much about Writing for this school, but other schools you're applying to may require it.

Final Admissions Verdict

Because this school is lightly selective, you have a great shot at getting in, as long as you don't fall well below average . Aim for a 1050 SAT or a 22 ACT or higher, and you'll almost certainly get an offer of admission. As long as you meet the rest of the application requirements below, you'll be a shoo-in.

But if you score below our recommended target score, you may be one of the very few unlucky people to get rejected.

Admissions Calculator

Here's our custom admissions calculator. Plug in your numbers to see what your chances of getting in are. Pick your test: SAT ACT

• 80-100%: Safety school: Strong chance of getting in
• 50-80%: More likely than not getting in
• 20-50%: Lower but still good chance of getting in
• 5-20%: Reach school: Unlikely to get in, but still have a shot
• 0-5%: Hard reach school: Very difficult to get in

How would your chances improve with a better score?

Take your current SAT score and add 160 points (or take your ACT score and add 4 points) to the calculator above. See how much your chances improve?

At PrepScholar, we've created the leading online SAT/ACT prep program . We guarantee an improvement of 160 SAT points or 4 ACT points on your score, or your money back.

Here's a summary of why we're so much more effective than other prep programs:

• PrepScholar customizes your prep to your strengths and weaknesses . You don't waste time working on areas you already know, so you get more results in less time.
• We guide you through your program step-by-step so that you're never confused about what you should be studying. Focus all your time learning, not worrying about what to learn.
• Our team is made of national SAT/ACT experts . PrepScholar's founders are Harvard graduates and SAT perfect scorers . You'll be studying using the strategies that actually worked for them.
• We've gotten tremendous results with thousands of students across the country. Read about our score results and reviews from our happy customers .

There's a lot more to PrepScholar that makes it the best SAT/ACT prep program. Click to learn more about our program , or sign up for our 5-day free trial to check out PrepScholar for yourself:

Application Requirements

Every school requires an application with the bare essentials - high school transcript and GPA, application form, and other core information. Many schools, as explained above, also require SAT and ACT scores, as well as letters of recommendation, application essays, and interviews. We'll cover the exact requirements of Siena College here.

Application Requirements Overview

• Common Application Accepted, supplemental forms required
• Electronic Application Available
• Essay or Personal Statement Required for all freshmen
• Letters of Recommendation 1
• Interview Not required
• Application Fee $50
• Fee Waiver Available? Available
• Other Notes

Testing Requirements

• SAT or ACT Considered if submitted
• SAT Essay or ACT Writing Optional
• SAT Subject Tests
• Scores Due in Office February 15

Coursework Requirements

• Subject Required Years
• Foreign Language 2
• Social Studies 3

Deadlines and Early Admissions

• Offered? Deadline Notification
• Yes February 15 March 15
• Yes October 15 January 7
• Yes December 1 January 1

Admissions Office Information

• Address: 515 Loudonville, NY 12211-1462
• Phone: (518) 783-2300 x2300
• Fax: (518) 783-4293
• Email: [email protected]

Other Schools For You

If you're interested in Siena College, you'll probably be interested in these schools as well. We've divided them into 3 categories depending on how hard they are to get into, relative to Siena College.

Reach Schools: Harder to Get Into

These schools are have higher average SAT scores than Siena College. If you improve your SAT score, you'll be competitive for these schools.

Same Level: Equally Hard to Get Into

If you're competitive for Siena College, these schools will offer you a similar chance of admission.

Safety Schools: Easier to Get Into

If you're currently competitive for Siena College, you should have no problem getting into these schools. If Siena College is currently out of your reach, you might already be competitive for these schools.

Data on this page is sourced from Peterson's Databases © 2023 (Peterson's LLC. All rights reserved.) as well as additional publicly available sources.

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Articles & Advice > College Admission > Blog

3 Common Supplemental Essay Questions

Here are three common supplemental essay questions colleges might ask you to write, plus unique brainstorming material for how to answer each one.

by Phoebe Bain Freelance Writer

Last Updated: Jun 8, 2023

Originally Posted: Nov 12, 2018

Great college application essays are like hit songs: there’s no exact formula for perfection, but you know one when you hear one. And like every song in the top 40, the best college application essays exist in the negative space—they rise to the top of admission counselors’ stacks because they say something that hasn’t been said before. I know what you’re thinking: how am I, a person who has existed on this planet for less than two decades, supposed to say something that hasn’t been said before and make myself sound good to the admission office?

While you’re correct that writing these essays won’t be easy, try not to psych yourself out. Every student applying for college across the country (and beyond) has to write these, so if they can do it, you can too. Here we’ll break down three common supplemental essay questions colleges might ask you and give you unique brainstorming material for each one. By the end of this article, you’ll be ready to write the next great American novel… as long as that novel only consists of standout application essays.

Essay #1: “Why our school?”

A lot of colleges and universities will have you answer a supplemental essay question that asks you why their school is the right school for you. Personally, these were my least favorite essays to write. But the good news is the readers aren’t looking for anything too out of the box here. The bulk of the writing in these essays comes from research. Look up a list of prominent clubs or organizations unique to the school and explain why they interest you. If a specific department’s major or minor program sounds appealing, tell them why with lots of specifics. Maybe the Biology department offers hands-on research with a rare species of dolphin you’re passionate about saving, or maybe the English department spawned Emily Dickinson herself. Either way, the more specific you can get, the better. It also doesn’t hurt to mention aspects of the school’s location that interest you, such as your desire to get a part-time job as a ski instructor if the school is in the mountains, or your passion for New York City’s Broadway scene if you’re applying in the Big Apple.

Related: How to Write a Strong and Unique Application Essay That Works for You

Essay #2: The book question

Almost everyone has at least one book that’s stuck with them by the time they turn 18, even the most math- and science-oriented students. If you read a lot already, that’s great—but you could still fall into a few common pitfalls that will make admission counselors roll their eyes. First off, you should not write down the most popular book at the bookstore over the past five years. That means no Harry Potter series, no John Green, and definitely no Twilight saga. Secondly, don’t talk about a book that relates to your love life, even if you and your crush met over a copy of Rupi Kaur poems at Barnes & Noble. I’d also advise against talking about any classics you read during high school if they’re well known. Thousands of students will write about The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye , and you want to stand out, don’t you?

So what books can you write about for this essay? Tons of them. There are a million books out there that don’t fall into the categories above, and there has to have been one that touched you in some way. A memoir would be a good choice, or an obscure book of poetry from your grandfather’s bookshelf; your take on a YA novel that middle schoolers are reading these days; a feminist manifesto of any sort, or a self-help book that made you see the world differently. The point is, while you can (and should) write about your favorite book for these questions, if your favorite book is extremely popular, pick your second favorite instead. Try to work your interests or something unique about yourself into these literature-related questions. Want to be a history major and interested in American History and female leaders? Write about a biography on your favorite First Lady. Studying to be a high school teacher? Pick a book by a teacher, for future teachers. These questions serve as a great way to highlight your love of learning.

Also, a note about writing about children’s books: If you feel as though you have fantastic writing skills and a very deep or unique take on a children’s book, go for it. But if you want to write about Green Eggs and Ham because that was the last book you remember reading, ask your friends what books they’ve enjoyed reading in the past five years and pick up one of those. You have to follow the rules before you can break them, and this essay is no exception.

Essay #3: The weird one

We’re looking at you, University of Chicago . This school (among others) has been notorious for putting out incredibly quirky questions for years now. For example, one of their past essay questions asked students to write about “What’s so odd about odd numbers?” Where do you even start with that one?! For these types of questions, go with your gut feeling. These essays give you a chance to really think outside the box and flex your creativity . No matter how weird your answer might sound, trust it, make sure it’s well written, and run it by a few English teachers at your high school before sending it in (for good measure). As for the “What’s so odd about odd numbers?” question…my answer would be along the lines of how it’s odd that we call them “odd” when there are just as many odd numbers as there are even. A friend of mine who actually answered and submitted that application question wrote about why he walks upstairs two steps at a time, and when there’s an odd number of stairs, he has to walk up the last stair as a single stair and it makes him feel odd. Whose answer was better? You be the judge.

Related:  Best Ways to Prepare for 5 Different Supplemental Essays

Supplemental essay questions can be intimidating because after putting your heart and soul to that one essay you can use for multiple schools, you have to explore yourself, your passions, and your goals even more. But the beauty of the supplemental questions is the school is giving you even more of an opportunity to showcase your personality and why you should be accepted at their school. Take advantage of the opportunity by being ready with a killer response!

Find more writing advice in our Application Essay Clinic .

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About Phoebe Bain

Phoebe Bain is an avid writer, reader, runner, ukulele player, and user of the passive voice. Her favorite show is How I Met Your Mother , and she loves how giraffes look when they sleep.

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• Nov 25, 2020

Colleges Without Supplemental Essays

Supplemental Essays are essays required by a college or university in addition to those included on the Common Application , the Universal Application , or the Coalition Application .

There are many excellent schools that DO NOT require a supplement and we've started a list below.

LIBERAL ARTS SCHOOLS WITHOUT A SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAY

Albion College

Allegheny College

Beloit College

Coe College (personal essay optional for students who meet Coe’s minimum academic standards )

Colby College

Connecticut College

DePauw University

Drew University (applicants who select certain Specialty/Dual Degree programs will be required to complete an additional writing question)

Farleigh Dickinson

Furman University

Gettysburg College

Goucher College

Grinnell College

Hanover College

Hollins University

Hope College

Juniata College

Kenyon College

Middlebury College

Muhlenberg College

Ripon College (optional personal statement)

Sewanee—University of the South

Siena College (option to submit a graded paper in place of an essay on Siena application)

Skidmore College

Spelman College (additional essay for Honors program)

St. John’s University (essay for Pharmacy program or if not submitting testing scores)

St. Lawrence University

Susquehanna University

Wesleyan University (international students will be required to complete a writing prompt, depending on answers to some questions)

UNIVERSITIES WITHOUT A SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAY

Case Western Reserve University (Pre-Professional Scholars program requires additional writing questions)

Clemson University

DePaul University

Drexel University (essay for Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and custom-designed majors)

Fordham University (For 2020-2021, there will be a COVID-19 question)

Miami University—Oxford

New Jersey Institute of Technology (Albert Dorman Honors College has an essay requirement)

Northeastern University

Ohio State University (Honors, Scholars, Morrill Scholarship Program and some majors have additional essay requirements)

Seton Hall University

Stevens Institute of Technology (Accelerated Medicine program has an additional writing question)

Stony Brook University (Honors College, University Scholars, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), Scholars for Medicine and Scholars for Dental Medicine have additional essay requirements)

SUNY Binghamton University (depending on answers to some questions, a writing question may be required)

SUNY Buffalo (depending on answers to some questions, a writing question may be required)

University of Alabama

University of Arkansas

University of Colorado -Denver

University of Connecticut

University of Dayton

University of Delaware (supplemental essay required for Honors Program)

University of Denver

University of Iowa (supplemental essays for certain programs of study)

University of Minnesota (depending on answers to some questions, a writing question may be required)

University of Nebraska—Lincoln (personal statement required to be considered for leadership and diversity scholarships)

University of New Hampshire

University of the Pacific

University of Pittsburgh (In lieu of an essay or personal statement, interested applicants are asked to answer short answer questions. Specific questions required for Pitt Honors admission.)

University of St. Thomas (essays recommended, but not required)

University of Vermont (optional essay questions available as part of application process)

Whether your list of schools requires supplemental essays or not – we’re here to help you share your story through the Essays on the Common application.

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What do the 2024-25 supplemental essay prompts really mean, and how should you approach them? CEA's experts are here to break them all down.

Acceptance Rate

Undergrad population.

• Liberal Arts (52)

* Tuition filtering is based on out-of-state fees

Agnes Scott College 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Alvernia University 2023-24 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide  

American university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, amherst college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, babson college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, bard college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide  , barnard college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, baylor university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide  , bennington college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, bentley university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, berry college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, bethany college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, bishop’s university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, boston college (bc) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, boston university (bu) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, bowdoin college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, brandeis university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide , brown university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, bryn mawr college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, bucknell university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, butler university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, california institute of technology (caltech) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, california lutheran university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, capitol technology university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, carleton college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, carnegie mellon university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide , catawba college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, centre college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, chapman university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, claremont mckenna college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide  , clark university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, college of mount saint vincent 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, college of william & mary 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, college of wooster 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, colorado college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, colorado school of mines 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, columbia university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, cornell university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, culver-stockton college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, d’youville university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, dartmouth college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, davidson college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, drexel university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, duke university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, earlham college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, elon university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, emerson college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, emory university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, flagler college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, fordham university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, george mason university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, georgetown university 2023-24 essay prompt guide, georgia state university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide  , georgia tech 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, gonzaga university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, harvard university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, harvey mudd college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, haverford college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, hillsdale college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide  , hofstra university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, illinois institute of technology 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, illinois wesleyan university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, indiana university bloomington 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, ithaca college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, johns hopkins university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, kalamazoo college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, lafayette college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, lehigh university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, lewis and clark college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, linfield university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, loyola marymount university (lmu) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide , lynn university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, macalester college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, malone university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, manchester university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, marist college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, mary baldwin university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, massachusetts institute of technology (mit) 2023-24 essay prompt guide, meredith college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, monmouth college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, moravian university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, morehouse college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, mount holyoke college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, new york university (nyu) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, north park university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, northwestern university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, occidental college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, oklahoma city university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, olin college of engineering 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, pepperdine university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, pitzer college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, pomona college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, princeton university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, providence college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, purdue university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, rensselaer polytechnic institute 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, rice university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, saint elizabeth university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, santa clara university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, sarah lawrence college 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, scripps college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, seattle pacific university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, smith college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, soka university of america 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, southern methodist university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, st. john’s college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, stanford university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, stonehill college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide  , swarthmore college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, syracuse university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, texas a&m university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, texas christian university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, the college of idaho 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide  , the george washington university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, the new school 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, trinity college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, tufts university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, tulane university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of california 2023-24 essay prompt guide, university of central florida 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of chicago 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of cincinnati 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of colorado boulder 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of florida 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of georgia 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of illinois urbana-champaign 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, university of maryland 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of massachusetts amherst 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of miami 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide  , university of michigan 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of minnesota twin cities 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide , university of north carolina (unc) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of north carolina at charlotte 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of north carolina at greensboro 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of notre dame 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of oklahoma 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide , university of oregon 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of pennsylvania (upenn) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of pittsburgh 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide , university of richmond 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, university of san diego 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide , university of san francisco 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of southern california (usc) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of texas at austin 2023-24 essay prompt guide, university of tulsa 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of vermont 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of virginia (uva) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of washington (uw) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, university of wisconsin-madison 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, vanderbilt university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, vassar college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, villanova university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, virginia tech 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, wake forest university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, washington and lee university 2023-24 supplemental essay guide, washington university in st. louis 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, wellesley college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, williams college 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, worcester polytechnic institute (wpi) 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide, yale university 2023-24 supplemental essay prompt guide.

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How to Write the Williams College Essays 2020-2021

Found in rustic, western Massachusetts, Williams College is a small liberal arts college known for its stellar undergraduate education. With a tight knit community of 2,000 students, Williams boasts a 7:1 student to faculty ratio and offers 36 different majors. Williams was founded in 1793, and through its 227 year history, it has accrued deep traditions, such as a school-wide Mountain Day, in which students hike up nearby Mount Greylock. 

Williams College has consistently been ranked by US News as the number one liberal arts college in America. The college is also highly selective, and for the class of 2023, only 13% of applicants were accepted (most recent official stats). Williams alumni are also diverse, ranging from President James Garfield to composer Stephen Sondheim to photographer Walker Evans. 

A key aspect of the Williams application lies in the strength of your supplemental essay, which gives the admissions committee a more personal look at your profile, and we’ve broken down each essay prompt below! Want to know your chances at Williams? Calculate your chances for free right now.

Want to learn what Williams College will actually cost you based on your income? And how long your application to the school should take? Here’s what every student considering Williams College needs to know.

How to Write the Williams College Supplemental Essays

This is an opportunity for you to present another writing sample. It’s entirely optional, and you can either respond to one of the prompts below in an essay of no more than 300 words, or you can upload an academic paper (preferably in the humanities or social sciences) completed in the last academic year.

Option 1: The first-year Entry—a thoughtfully constructed residential microcosm of the student community that’s a defining part of the Williams experience—brings together students from around the world with different perspectives, interests and backgrounds. Imagine having a late-night conversation with your Entrymates about a community that you value. Describe that community and why it’s important to you.

Option 2: All-Campus Entertainment (ACE), a student organization, hosts a weekly event called “Stressbusters”—an opportunity for students to focus on self-care by stepping away from their typical routine and enjoying some unscheduled time—and snacks!—with friends. Weekly Stressbuster activities might include a concert, playing with a therapy dog, painting pumpkins, building with Legos, etc. What’s your version of a “stressbuster,” and how does it help you rejuvenate in the midst of a hectic week?

Option 3: At Williams, we believe that bringing together students and professors in small groups produces extraordinary academic outcomes. Our distinctive Oxford-style tutorial classes—in which two students are guided by a professor in deep exploration of a single topic—are a prime example. Each week the students take turns developing independent work—an essay, a problem set, a piece of art—and critiquing their partner’s work. Focused on close reading, writing and oral defense of ideas, more than 60 pre-determined tutorials a year are offered across the curriculum. Imagine yourself in a tutorial at Williams. What topic would you be most excited to study in that setting and why?

Option 4: I would like to upload my own essay (from a humanities or social science course and ideally 3-5 pages in length).

The first-year Entry—a thoughtfully constructed residential microcosm of the student community that’s a defining part of the Williams experience—brings together students from around the world with different perspectives, interests and backgrounds. Imagine having a late-night conversation with your Entrymates about a community that you value. Describe that community and why it’s important to you. (300 words)

In this essay, you want to first brainstorm the communities that have been valuable to you growing up, any community that has been formative for you as a person. This can be a cultural or ethnic community, a family, a sports team, a musical ensemble, a neighborhood, an online community, or a workplace. The key simply is to bring this community alive in your essay, illustrate how much it means to you, and show how you’ve given back to it. 

You want to show the admissions committee passion and commitment to groups and organizations that you’re invested in, just as you would in a freshman residential community. Then, you could look toward the future, toward your time at Williams, and talk about wanting to meet people outside of your own bubbles, and have intimate conversations with people from all over the world. 

Williams College consistently admits students from the vast majority of states in America, as well as from over 30 countries worldwide, so their commitment to diversity is deep. As a result, you want to think about what perspective you would uniquely bring to the Williams Entry, what kinds of conversations you could contribute to foster a diverse community. There’s enough space to also think critically about the communities you’ve been a part of, and think through the different problems that you had to undergo while being a part of them. 

Here are a few different examples for you to think about:

• Maybe you have been committed to your Indian Bhangra team for the past four years. You could talk about the technical aspects of your work, such as choreographing dances, organizing practices, and putting on performances. However, you could also dive into the most difficult parts of your commitment, such as the time a dance wasn’t coming together leading up to the concert, or dealing with a sudden drop out in your group, or having communication issues within the team. Through these experiences, you could talk about drawing closer to your team, as well as feeling closer to your own Indian heritage through dance and performance.
• Maybe you’ve been shaped by your environmental surroundings, being from Idaho. You could talk about how you never grew up in a city or a large community, but spent most of your time with your family and friends hiking mountains and going camping. You could talk about how as an Idahoan, you have come to value land conservation, indigenous rights, and an overall respect for the places you inhabit. You could illustrate for the reader the beautiful scenery that surrounded you growing up, the thrill of looking out from a mountaintop, and the difficulties of living outdoors. 
• Maybe you’re not American, and grew up in Brazil. You could talk about your own local customs and culture, how it differs from the stereotypes of Americans you have grown up hearing. Maybe your interest is primarily in politics, and so you envision having long conversations that compare the Brazilian government to the American government, and how race relations operate in both countries. 

All-Campus Entertainment (ACE), a student organization, hosts a weekly event called “Stressbusters”—an opportunity for students to focus on self-care by stepping away from their typical routine and enjoying some unscheduled time — and snacks! — with friends. Weekly Stressbuster activities might include a concert, playing with a therapy dog, painting pumpkins, building with Legos, etc. What’s your version of a “stressbuster,” and how does it help you rejuvenate in the midst of a hectic week? (300 words)

There’s many different ways in which you can approach this essay, and it’s certainly a bit more left field than prompts one and three, but if done right, this essay can shine an equal amount of light on your character, personality, and passions. However, this essay is a bit tricky, because you want to answer the prompt and talk about the ways in which you relieve stress, but you also want to show the admissions committee a deeper picture of yourself as a person. Therefore, you should try to avoid a simplistic response, like “I binge Netflix,” without a bit more depth into your own struggles and passions as a person. 

You can be as open as you want to be, talking about stress relief side by side with your daily stresses, flipping back and forth between the difficulties and the pleasures of your daily life. Ideally, your stressbuster could also be a hobby or activity you love to do, but just don’t have enough time to pursue. Or maybe your stressbuster is an extracurricular activity, and you’ve been struggling over the difficulty in enjoying it, while being pushed to excel in it. It’s critical that you drive the essay towards not what you do, but who you are. 

Here are a few examples for you to think about:

• Maybe your stress reliever is playing the cello, but you have a particularly complicated relationship with that because playing the cello also brings you stress. You want to both excel in the instrument, winning competitions and helping your school orchestra, but also want to keep it as a hobby that brings you joy. You can talk about the times it’s been a relief, maybe when you play a certain song you love, but also dive into the times when it’s caused stress and pain in your life. 
• Maybe your destresser is watching food channels on YouTube, which not only makes you more hungry, but has also instilled within you a curiosity about the different food cultures across the world. Maybe there’s a few particular YouTubers you follow closely, which has inspired you to create your own YouTube channel, and spread joy through cooking videos of your own. Making the videos turned out to be hard work, but you found joy through seeing other people respond positively to your content. 
• Maybe your hobby is building model airplanes, which you’ve been doing with your father since you were a child. You could talk about how despite everything else changing in your life, school getting much more difficult, and witnessing different familial troubles, you’ve never stopped working on model airplanes with your dad, and it’s been a soothing and reliable activity for you. 

At Williams, we believe that bringing together students and professors in small groups produces extraordinary academic outcomes. Our distinctive Oxford-style tutorial classes—in which two students are guided by a professor in deep exploration of a single topic—are a prime example. Each week the students take turns developing independent work—an essay, a problem set, a piece of art—and critiquing their partner’s work. Focused on close reading, writing and oral defense of ideas, more than 60 pre-determined tutorials a year are offered across the curriculum. Imagine yourself in a tutorial at Williams. What topic would you be most excited to study in that setting and why? (300 words)

First, you want to brainstorm the kinds of academic fields you’re interested in, and it’ll be even better if you have past experiences studying the topic. Then, you want to choose a specific sub-topic in the particular field you chose: if you want to study English, you could choose a particular author, or literary movement, or genre of writing. If you want to study chemistry, you could choose anything from thermal dynamics to quantum mechanics to inorganic chemistry. 

The key here is to be able to both talk about a specific topic, as well as shed light into your own character, passions, and desires for your future education. You want to show the readers what you’d bring to the table in an academic discussion, and how you would engage with difficult academic questions. 

You should also do some digging into all the different tutorials Williams offers , just to get a sense of the kinds of classes taught at Williams. The topics truly span the entire range of academic disciplines, with titles ranging from “Fictions of African American History” to “Analytic Number Theory” to “Advanced Planetary Geology.” 

Next, you want to think about why you’re excited to study the subject, and here, past anecdotes are great. If you want to do a computer science tutorial, you could talk about your own experience learning how to code and working on your side projects, but then go into how Williams takes it up to the next level, with their “Machine Learning” tutorial. You could talk about how you’re excited to work with similarly passionate people, and not only get better at the technical aspect of coding, but also dive into the ethical and societal questions suitable in a tutorial-esque setting.

Maybe you want to study history, and the topic you’d be most excited to study is the Vietnamese War, because of your own history of being the child of Vietnamese refugees. You want to get to know more about your own history and culture, as well as be able to understand your parents’ own socio-political contexts better. 

While imagining your ideal tutorial, it wouldn’t hurt to brainstorm what the class itself would look like. What kinds of materials and mediums would you be engaging with in class? What primary sources excite you? What kinds of problems would you want to solve each week? Even if you don’t include all of this in the essay, it’ll help bring the tutorial to life in your head.

I would like to upload my own essay (from a humanities or social science course and ideally 3-5 pages in length).

If you feel like a high school essay captures better the essence of who you are, rather than the aforementioned prompt options, you should go for this option. Or, you could pursue this option if you’re completely crunched for time. However, we would recommend that you pursue one of the first three options, because they are all excellent avenues for you to illustrate your personality and character, but also show to Williams that you’re committed to writing about their school. 

Ideally, if you do end up choosing this option, the essay should be grammatically tidy and free of any syntactical errors. A well argued analytic essay should do the job, but it would be even better if you had a personal essay you could use, because the main point of the supplemental essays is for the admissions committee to get to know you on a personal level.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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Monday Briefing

The U.N. warns that more children will die in Gaza without aid.

By Daniel E. Slotnik

More Gazan children will die without aid, U.N. warned

The U.N. warned that deaths of children and infants in Gaza were likely to “rapidly increase ” if food and medical supplies were not sent immediately, days after an aid delivery into the enclave turned into a disaster.

The U.N. has warned that many Gazans are on the edge of famine, and some aid agencies have stopped distribution in northern Gaza because of risks there.

The convoy that arrived in Gaza City on Thursday ended in devastation. More than 100 Palestinians were killed as thousands gathered around trucks of food and supplies, Gazan health officials said. Accounts of what happened diverged sharply. The Israeli military said that many of the victims had been trampled, though it acknowledged that troops had opened fire after feeling threatened by the crowd. The Gazan health ministry called the episode a “massacre” by Israeli forces.

Two more aid convoys organized by the Israeli government and Palestinian businessmen went into Gaza over the weekend. One of the convoys was mostly emptied by desperate Gazans before making it to Gaza City. The U.S. also began airdropping aid , which some aid experts said was insufficient.

Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza .

Israel’s lack of a clear plan for governing northern Gaza formed the backdrop to the chaos on Thursday, analysts and aid workers said.

The Kremlin tries to minimize Navalny’s influence

Moscow is seeking to suppress information about Aleksei Navalny , in life as in death.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has not said a word in public about Navalny, the opposition leader who died in an Arctic prison two weeks ago. Russian state television has been almost equally silent. And on Friday, as thousands gathered in Moscow for Navalny’s funeral , state news ignored it altogether.

The approach is not new. For years, Putin refused to say Navalny’s name, state television barely mentioned him and the authorities barred him from running in the 2018 election.

But even without the power of television, Navalny managed to make a name for himself in Russia using the internet, which continued to be the way millions of Russians followed news of his death and funeral. His online presence undermined the Kremlin’s suggestions about his irrelevance, even as Russia’s coercive apparatus went after him with increasing ferocity.

In Ukraine: Surprisingly weak Ukrainian defenses have contributed to recent Russian advances, and a Russian missile attack in Odesa killed at least 12 people .

Even Biden’s voters said he was ‘too old’

A striking 61 percent of the voters who supported Joe Biden in 2020 now believe he is “just too old” to lead the United States effectively , according to a new poll by The New York Times and Siena College. The misgivings about the president’s age, which cut across generations, gender, race and education, pose a deepening threat to his re-election bid.

Voters have not expressed the same anxieties about Donald Trump, who, at 77, is just four years younger than Biden. Their likely rematch would make them the oldest presidential nominees in history.

Supreme Court: The justices may rule today on Trump’s eligibility to hold office , one day before the Super Tuesday primaries.

THE LATEST NEWS

Around the world.

Pakistan’s Parliament approved Shehbaz Sharif for his second term as prime minister , capping weeks of upheaval with a government that faces doubts about its legitimacy.

Gangs attacked two prisons in Haiti in the latest instance of escalating violence and disorder in the country’s capital.

Blasphemy against Islam is a serious offense in Pakistan , and an accusation of it can lead mobs to take matters into their own hands.

South Korea is reliant on foreign workers, who often endure abuses like predatory bosses and discrimination.

Other Big Stories

Migration through the perilous Darién Gap resumed after a roughly five-day pause.

There’s a measles outbreak in Britain , where vaccine coverage has waned to precarious levels in some communities.

Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC, said it would extend cuts in oil production through June.

A truck driver was trapped in the cab of a tractor-trailer dangling off the side of a bridge in Kentucky for nearly an hour before a firefighter, lowered from the bridge with ropes, rescued her .

Big Numbers

LeBron James became the first N.B.A. player to score 40,000 career points .

“ Dune: Part Two” jump-started theatergoing , selling an estimated $81.5 million in tickets in the U.S. and Canada.

David French writes about the growing political gap between women and men.

To win national elections, Democrats must emulate their successful governors in red and purple states, writes Frank Bruni .

Nicholas Kristof weighs whether the West has a double standard for Israel.

Maureen Dowd’s dream State of the Union address from President Biden ends with the passing of the torch.

A Morning Read

The tiny island of Alderney feels like a peaceful haven in the English Channel. But reminders of World War II hide behind many of the island’s quiet corners.

The Nazis ran four camps on Alderney during the war, and it is not clear how many people died there. A report due this spring is meant to offer answers, but not everyone who studies Alderney’s past believes it will .

Lives lived: Iris Apfel’s brash bohemian style knocked the socks off the fashion world and inspired an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She died at 102 .

SPORTS NEWS

Paul Pogba: Is this the end for the soccer player?

Bahrain Grand Prix: What we learned from Formula 1’s season opener .

Heading toward a trial: The latest in a tennis sexual abuse lawsuit .

ARTS AND IDEAS

Activism helps a small soccer club draw a crowd.

Jerseys for the small Irish soccer team the Bohemians are being sold far and wide, but it’s not because of a star player or the team’s outstanding success. Instead, many fans are drawn to the Bohemians because of the team’s politics.

In a studiously apolitical sport, the Bohemians have become a commercial success by leaning unapologetically to the left. The team’s embrace of activism has captured the hearts and minds of a congregation of fans across the world, diffused by geography but united by common priorities.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Cook: Chashu is a Japanese adaptation of char siu, or Chinese barbecued pork, that’s typically served atop a bowl of steaming ramen .

Swell: Pants are widening , again.

Stream: The documentary “ Jodorowsky’s Dune ” chronicles the “Dune” adaptation that never happened.

Read: “ The Hunter ” — Tana French’s new thriller, which is the sequel to “The Searcher” — follows a former police officer from Chicago who settles in a remote village in Western Ireland.

Play the Spelling Bee . And here are today’s Mini Crossword and Wordle . You can find all our puzzles here .

That’s it for today’s briefing. Thank you for spending part of your morning with us, and see you tomorrow. — Dan

You can reach Dan and the team at [email protected] .

Daniel E. Slotnik is a general assignment reporter on the Metro desk and a 2020 New York Times reporting fellow. More about Daniel E. Slotnik

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