Clark University 2025-26 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Clark University 2025-26 Application Essay Question Explanation

The Requirements: One essay 250 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Community, Activity

Clark is known for being a rigorous academic environment that is also equally committed to being a kind, welcoming, engaged, and inclusive community. Choose one of the following prompts to help us get to know you better:

1) The communities we belong to shape our values, our aspirations, and who we are as people. Share a story of the community that has impacted you the most and how it will influence what you will bring to the Clark community. 

Can you think of a community you belong to that has shaped who you are today? The community you choose to write about can be as small as the eight people in your school’s a cappella club or as large as the worldwide fanbase of a football club. A community can be any group of people that gathers together over a common interest, pastime, identity, culture, etc. So, give yourself time to think through the communities that have influenced your identity, then tell a story about one that has shaped your sense of self. Finally, don’t forget to share how being part of this community will allow you to bring value to the Clark community at large. And be specific. Will you start a weekly board game night with your first-year intensive cohort, launch an intramural sports league for pickleball, or build a haunted house in your dorm incorporating everyone in your suite? 

OR

2) At Clark, we are a force for change. We work together to improve the lives of others and the future of our planet. Share a story of how you’ve worked with others to make a positive impact.

What issues get you fired up? What collaborative experiences have been the most meaningful to you? How have you worked to make your community a better place? Your response to this prompt can be large-scale, like organizing fossil fuel protests in your city, or more small-scale, like planting trees in the wake of wildfires with your baseball team. The two things to keep in mind are collaboration and change; whatever you choose to write about, make sure it outlines how you worked with others and how that made a positive impact. Even better if you can connect the impact to larger plans or your vision for continuing to play a role in enacting positive change in the future.