Amherst College 2025-26 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Amherst College 2025-26 Application Essay Question Explanations 

The Requirements: Two short essays of 175 words and one essay of 350 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why, Diversity 

If you would like to share more about yourself that is not captured elsewhere in your application, please tell us more here. (Maximum: 175 words)

Amherst is giving you an opportunity to further distinguish yourself from other applicants—not with amazing test scores or impressive grades, but by painting a more detailed picture of who you are. Think about activities you enjoy, places that give you peace, or aspects of your personality or background that you haven’t discussed in your application yet and tell that story. Maybe you’d like to write about your experience growing up in a military family, competing in the Junior Olympics, or playing Mancala with your grandpa. The options are endless! Just be sure to tell admissions something about you that they don’t already know.

Please briefly elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience of particular significance to you. (Maximum: 175 words)*

Activity essays like this one are more common than participating in icebreaker activities during your first week of college (that’s very common, you’ll see…). All things considered, the hardest part is selecting the activity you want to write about! So, we return to our favorite mantra: tell admissions something they couldn’t learn from anywhere else in your application. If you wrote your Common App essay about your time walking dogs for your local animal shelter, focus here on a different activity or work experience that reveals a new aspect of your personality. This can be a great opportunity to highlight your leadership skills and any awards or special recognition you may have received throughout high school. Were you nominated for an award after going undefeated with your doubles tennis partner? Were you asked to manage a team of volunteers at the food pantry based on your community-minded reputation and leadership skills? No matter what you choose, it should probably be something you’ve been involved in for a while, so you can demonstrate your growth and the impact that you have had on others.

In addition to the essay you are writing as part of the Common Application, Amherst requires a supplementary essay from all applicants. There are three options for satisfying Amherst’s supplementary writing requirement: Option A, Option B or Option C. You may select only one of these options. Before deciding, carefully read the descriptions of all three options.

Option A:

Choose one of the following quotations, and respond to the question posed, in an essay of not more than 350 words. It is not necessary to research, read, or refer to the texts from which these quotations are taken; we are looking for original, personal responses to these short excerpts. Remember that your essay should be personal in nature and not simply an argumentative essay. 

Prompt 1: “Hope and curiosity — these are qualities that are the foundation of what Amherst College means, of everything that we do here. Curiosity is at the core of a liberal arts education — a spirit of inquiry that shapes not only what our students do in the classroom, but also how they learn from and about each other.” – Michael A. Elliott, 20th President of Amherst College, address at Amherst College’s 203rd Commencement

Prompt 1 Question: What does curiosity mean to you? How do you experience curiosity in your own life?

This first prompt is a two-parter: First, admissions wants you to define curiosity in your own words. Second, they want you to describe how curiosity manifests in your life. Start by doing some free word associations or doodles related to curiosity. What comes up? Think about something that really captured your attention. What about that idea, person, or thing piqued your interest? Don’t just copy the Merriam-Webster definition of the word, but rather describe what the term means to you. Once you’ve explained your concept of curiosity, describe how you experience it in your daily life. Perhaps when you’re gripped by curiosity, you focus deeply on one topic to the exclusion of all other stimuli. Or maybe you start feverishly researching tangents until you’re so far down your Wikipedia rabbit hole you forgot how you even got there. (Those blue hyperlinks are so tempting…) The goal of this question is to show that you are a thoughtful person who can think deeply about intangible ideas and has a thirst for knowledge, information, and skills. 

Prompt 2: “We seek an Amherst made stronger because it includes those whose experiences can enhance our understanding of our nation and our world. We do so in the faith that our humanity is an identity forged from diversity, and that our different perspectives enrich our inquiry, deepen our knowledge, strengthen our community, and prepare students to engage with an ever-changing world.” – from the Trustee Statement on Diversity and Community

Prompt  2 Question: In what ways could your unique experiences enhance our understanding of our nation and our world?

This is a Diversity Essay in disguise, perfect for students who have a unique background, identity, or interest that has impacted how they interact with the world. Maybe you grew up on a working farm and look forward to using your experience to educate your peers as an EcoRep in your dorm. Perhaps you’ve lived all over the world because your parent was in the Foreign Service and you bring a fresh perspective on American imperialism. You could also write about your race, nationality, or any other aspect of your background, personality, or experiences. Make sure to focus on not only what makes you unique, but also how that has primed you to educate your peers and make your mark on Amherst’s campus.

Prompt 3: “We are working together to build a community that makes room for both true disagreement and true connection, one that practices the kind of recognition and robust negotiation that the everyday life of democracy requires, and one that explicitly prepares our students to work for the greater good in their professional and personal endeavors.” -Presidential Priorities: Serving the Greater Good

Prompt 3 Question: Tell us about a time that you engaged with a viewpoint different from your own. How did you enter that engagement, and what did you learn about yourself from it?

Whether it was during a pregame pasta party with your teammates, a long bus ride with classmates, or your family Thanksgiving dinner, odds are you’ve disagreed with someone about an idea or an issue—and Amherst wants to hear about it. Admissions wants to know not only how you went about engaging with someone with an opposing viewpoint, but also what you took away from the experience. To make sure your response stands out from the pack, be as specific and purposeful as possible. What did you disagree on and how did you communicate? How did you broach the subject and what was the outcome of your conversation? Maybe you used some deescalating tools you picked up from your psych major sister or, perhaps, you made an effort to see things from their point of view while still making a case for your perspective. Whatever conversation you decide to write about, remember to address what you learned from the experience. Were you surprised to discover how emotionally invested you were in the topic? Did you become a better listener or speaker because of this chat? Amherst wants to foster the kind of learning environment that encourages respectful discussions about beliefs and values, so show admissions that you’re game to learn, listen, share, and grow.

Option B:

Please submit a graded paper from your junior or senior year that best represents your writing skills and analytical abilities. We are particularly interested in your ability to construct a tightly reasoned, persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological or historical evidence. You should NOT submit a laboratory report, journal entry, creative writing sample or in-class essay. If you have submitted an analytical essay in response to the “essay topic of your choice” prompt in the Common Application writing section, you should NOT select Option B. 

Okay, we’ll keep it short. Although this is technically an option, the wording should make it clear that admissions is really angling for a response to option A. We only see two sets of circumstances where an applicant might want to consider option B: (1) if you somehow procrastinated to the eleventh hour and have no time to write an original essay or (2) you have written something you are so proud of that it could have won an award (and maybe it did). Just make sure it is what admissions is asking for (a persuasive argument that calls upon literary, sociological, or historical evidence)⸺if not, you’re better off scrambling to write a response to one of the Option A prompts!

Option C:

If you are/were an applicant to Amherst’s Access to Amherst (A2A) program, you may use your A2A Writing Supplement essay in satisfaction of our supplementary essay requirement. If you would like to do so, please select Option C. However, if you would prefer not to use your A2A Writing Supplement for this purpose and you want to submit a different piece of writing, select either Option A or Option B. Option A, Prompt 2 is the same prompt as the A2A Writing Supplement essay; if you would like to submit an updated version of your A2A Writing Supplement essay, please choose Option A, Prompt 2.

[Please note that Option C is available only to applicants to Amherst’s A2A program. Non-A2A applicants must choose either Option A or Option B.] 

No explanation necessary! If you think that this essay will be the best way for you to represent yourself to Amherst admissions, then feel free to use it here. If it’s so nice, why write it twice?