Lewis and Clark College 2025-26 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

Lewis and Clark 2025-26 Application Essay Question Explanations 

The Requirements: 1 essay of 300 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Oddball, Community, Diversity

To help us get to know you better, please provide a short response to one of the following questions (about 300 words).

1) Most colleges have mottos—a word or phrase that expresses the ideals that guide their actions. Lewis & Clark’s motto is Explorare, Discere, Sociare—to explore, to learn, to work together. Tell us about your personal motto and how it guides you (Latin not required).

Admissions wants to know about the code by which you live. This is an opportunity for you to provide Lewis & Clark with a phrase or motto to remember you by. Puns and all manner of wordplay are welcome and encouraged! Can you boil your life down to one recurrent theme? Have your webbed toes propelled you through endless laps at the swimming pool? Has your practice of dyeing your own hair defined your personal brand since the age of 12? Through what lens do you view your life? How do you want to be known?

2) At Lewis & Clark, we strive to be an inclusive community in which students benefit from exchanging ideas with people whose perspectives may differ from their own. Reflect on a time when you engaged with someone whose background or life experiences are different from yours and share with us what you learned from that experience.

When have you encountered diversity? How have you engaged meaningfully with others who are different from you? Has your identity ever been the topic of a discussion? Let’s be real, we are in a polarized chapter of American history, and it’s important to be able to have conversations with people who come from different places, upbringings, and cultures. Most colleges and universities want to foster productive conversations between their students and create a community that is inclusive of all its members, and Lewis & Clark doesn’t seem to be any different. Tell admissions about a time when you engaged with a fish from another pond.