Clark University 2026-27 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Clark University 2026-27 Application Essay Question Explanation

The Requirements: One essay 250 words, one short answer

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Community, Short Answer

Please complete this sentence in three to five words.

In Worcester, Massachusetts, I hope to discover______________.

Ultra-short answer questions like these can be more stressful for students than regular old 300-word essays. But don’t freeze up when you see the low word limit! Start by listing all the things you hope to experience in Worcester. Are you excited to be so close to Boston and the Red Sox? Will you search for historic buildings from each century of America’s history? Are you hoping to meet other geocachers among your peers? Once you have a few options, play around with the wording to see how short you can make them. If you’re extra concise, you might even be able to fit more than one of your options: “…I hope to discover American history and baseball fanaticism.” Your answer here can be earnest, cute, tongue-in-cheek, or humorous. Your only requirement is that it’s true to you! 

Clark’s motto is “Challenge Convention. Change Our World.” Whether close to home or on a global scale, positive change often happens when we work with others.

Share a story about how you worked with others to make a positive impact on your community. What role did you play, and what did you learn from the experience? (250 max) 

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 smaller-scale, like performing a concert with your best friend at your grandma’s nursing home. 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. Finally, what did this experience teach you? Bonus points 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.