Illinois Institute of Technology 2025-26 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Illinois Institute of Technology 2025-26 Application Essay Question Explanation

The Requirements: One essay of 250 words, one optional essay of 200 words, one essay of 800 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why, Activity, Community

Why are you interested in Illinois Institute of Technology? (250 words or less)

Why IIT? Odds are that you’ve seen this prompt before (or one very similar to it), and our advice is the same: start with research. Go to the Illinois Institute of Technology’s website and take a look (and click) around. What stands out to you? If you have the opportunity to visit campus, even better! Take notes and picture yourself as a student there. What academic programs, courses, professors, research labs, or study abroad opportunities excite you? Would you complete your assigned readings under a tree in Grant Park? Would you revel in the restaurant scene and skyscrapers of the windy city, a welcome escape from the small town you were raised in? Which clubs would you join? Who would you want to take classes with? Are you excited to participate in Pumpkin Launch, so you can engineer the best pumpkin catapulting device ever known to humankind? Your response should combine both academic and non-academic aspects of IIT’s offerings so admissions knows exactly why you’re eager to attend next fall.

Would you like to share additional information not covered in your application? (200 words)

If you think your application to Illinois Institute of Technology would be incomplete without an essay on _________ (fill in the blank), then this essay is for you. Maybe 250 words wasn’t enough for you to describe your personal interest in IIT and address your family’s ties to the school, so you’d like to use this space to talk about attending women’s soccer games with your mom, an alumna with a golden boot, and how campus already feels like home. Or, perhaps, you have an Activity Essay in hand that you wrote for another school that you think would enhance admissions’ understanding of your background and character. (If you do that, however, just make sure to double-check that your recycled essay doesn’t include any school-specific details that you need to swap out!) Finally, it’s worth noting that this submission is completely optional, so if you don’t feel like you have anything obvious to contribute here, feel free to skip it!

How have your background and lived experiences shaped your perspective, and how would you bring those insights to the classroom and community at Illinois Tech? (800 words)

Admissions wants to know what has made you into the person you are today and how those experiences will affect the way you engage with and contribute to the IIT community. If you haven’t already written a Community Essay that you plan to adapt and recycle here, we recommend considering the things that make you unique. What has shaped you as a person and how has that made your perspective unique? Can you think of an experience or aspect of your background, interests, or identity that has influenced who you are today? And how can that experience, interest, background, or aspect of your character enrich the learning environment at IIT for others? Maybe you have always been an organizer and the glue that holds your summer camp community together during the school year. How will you bring people together on campus? Maybe you were raised in a multigenerational household and value relationships across generations. Will you devote your time to volunteering and building bridges between IIT students and local seniors? Make sure your response to this prompt shows that you have put some serious thought into the experiences that have shaped you and how you will apply those lessons and experiences to your time at IIT next fall. What do you hope to share with others about your lived experience? How will you incorporate this element of your identity to enrich the world around you? Show admissions that you’re eager to make your mark in their community. 

A note about the word limit: 800 words is a lot, but don’t feel pressured to hit that mark—or even get close to it! Think of it as admissions granting you ample room to play and infuse your essay with as many details as possible to paint a picture and set yourself apart from other applicants. As long as you’re telling a complete story that addresses each aspect of the prompt with sincerity, authenticity, and personality, you’ll ace this response regardless of the word count.