Sarah Lawrence College 2025-26 Supplemental Essay Guide

Sarah Lawrence College 2025-26 Application Essay Question Explanations 

The Requirements: 1 Optional Essay of 250-500 words

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

We know that there may be elements of who you are as a person and student that you may not feel are conveyed fully in the other sections of this application. If you wish to showcase a little more about your particular interest in Sarah Lawrence College, please select one of the prompts below (in 500 words or fewer) and write your essay in the text box. If you do not wish to respond select the prompt “I will not be submitting this optional essay”. 

Sarah Lawrence students are often described as hyphenates: filmmaker-sociologist-historian, environmentalist-photographer, psychologist-novelist, economist-poet. In 250-500 words, tell us about seemingly disparate interests you have brought together, or hope to bring together at Sarah Lawrence.

You’re a multifaceted person with a bunch of different interests and passions, right? Of course! In that case, admissions wants to know how you’ve married two or more of those interests or how you plan to do so as a Sarah Lawrence student. Think about words you would use to describe yourself or the range of hobbies that you enjoy. Maybe you were able to fuse your sweet tooth with your passion for accessorizing by creating your very own candy jewelry. Are you a confectioner-fashion designer? Perhaps you love identifying and painting the local flora and fauna you see in the woods behind your apartment building. Are you an artist-botanist? If you have yet to combine two or more interests in a cohesive way, focus on your intentions and explore Sarah Lawrence’s website, so you can illuminate for admissions exactly how you will bring two (or more!) interests together by taking advantage of their offerings, clubs, and other exclusive SLC opportunities.

Students at Sarah Lawrence are asked to design their own research questions directly with faculty, and then answer them through intensive semester-long projects that frequently inspire a blend of intellectual rigor and creativity. In 250-500 words, tell us about a text, problem or topic you would love to explore over a semester or a year, and what you would hope to achieve through that work.

This prompt is for those of you who have a pretty clear idea of your academic goals. If you choose to respond to this question, we recommend introducing the text, problem, or topic that you’d like to explore, and then digging into the why and how of it all. If you’d love to spend a semester or year exploring the ways in which global warming is impacting public health in tropical regions, for example, be sure to explain why this topic is important to you, why it is imperative to study, and what you’re hoping to accomplish by dedicating a semester or year to exploring it. Your research question should be related to the academic area you’re pursuing in some way, and your response to this prompt should reveal new information about your motivations, interests, and convictions. 

Liberal arts and sciences colleges have a long and robust history of providing the educational foundation for the careers of influential politicians, financiers, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, CEOs, and more. Many of them cite their liberal arts degree as foundational and transformative for how they took on challenges in the world and for shaping their lives after college. How do you see your upcoming college studies leading to your future career (or careers)?

This prompt will likely jump out to applicants who have a specific major or future career path in mind. To prevent your essay from reading as generic, be as specific as possible when exploring your interest and motivation. This means you’ll need to block off an hour or two to do some research on the school website. How will SLC’s multidisciplinary offerings prepare you for your future? Look ahead five or ten years and imagine what you’d like your professional life to look like. Maybe you’ve been interested in the human brain ever since you were an inquisitive little kid. Will SLC’s Neuroscience major aid you on your quest to understand humankind? Perhaps you come from a family of entrepreneurs and you dream of running your own business one day. How will an SLC education help you to achieve your goal? Are there specific courses, clubs, research opportunities, or study abroad experiences that will prepare you to enter the working world? For those among you who don’t have a clear idea of your future goals, this prompt also leaves space for you to discuss how your studies could lead you to multiple careers. 

In today’s rapidly changing world, many social, political, and ethical issues spark intense debate and demand nuanced understanding. Choose a contemporary issue that you find both challenging and urgent—whether it relates to identity, justice, artificial intelligence, environment, or another area—and critically explore your perspective on it. How have your previous experiences, background, and/or values shaped your viewpoint? How do you envision engaging with this issue during your college education and beyond?

If you choose this prompt, odds are you’re passionate about something impacting you, your community, or the world at large. What issue could you talk about for hours on end with your friends, family, or even a complete stranger? Maybe it’s the need for more stringent legislation to regulate toxic chemicals in everything from our cosmetics to our food and water sources. Perhaps it’s the impending water crisis and the public policy that you believe would change the way Americans (and corporations?) use and think about water. With this prompt, it’s a good idea to touch on when or where your passion first began, how it developed over time, and how you are planning to pursue this issue or interest at SLC. This prompt gives you a wonderful opportunity to reveal something new about yourself by discussing your enthusiastic engagement with a given issue; in the process, you will showcase your curious, well-rounded nature to admissions—and huzzah for that!