St. John’s College 2025-26 Supplemental Essay Prompt Guide

St. John’s College 2025-26 Application Essay Explanations

The Requirements: 1 essay of 400 words; 1 optional essay of 200 words

Supplemental Essay Type(s): Why, Oddball

St. John’s would like to learn more about you than grades and test scores alone can reveal. The following essay topic, with a word minimum instead of word maximum, is designed to give you an opportunity to write fully and freely to the Admissions Committee. As the essay conveys your voice and your ideas, the Admissions Committee considers it one of the most important elements of your application. If you find yourself struggling to respond to the prompt, you can view examples of strong essays. 

Discuss a book that you would call a “great book.” We want to learn both about the ideas in the book and about you. What makes the book great in your view? What effect has it had on what you think or how you think? Minimum 400 words.

With this prompt, St. John’s is looking for more than just a summary of your favorite book. Admissions wants to know why a certain book or novel is meaningful to you and how it connects to your interests, identity, history, worldview, and/or values. Does Kurt Vonnegut’s dark humor entertain while alleviating anxiety about death? (So it goes.) Do Maya Angelou’s words transcend cultural boundaries and offer a new way to look at the world? Be careful to avoid self-aggrandizing or pandering choices or pop fiction like Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code; instead, write about a work that truly speaks to you. Just remember that this prompt aims to reveal new information about you to admissions, so skip the intricate plot explanations and dive right into your takeaways and the book’s impact on what you think and/or how you think. Since you have to write a minimum of 400 words here, we recommend selecting a book that you know very well.

The following question is optional but strongly encouraged. 

What about St. John’s and the curriculum interest you most? (Approximately 200 words)

This is the classic Why Essay. St. John’s wants to make sure you are psyched for the full college experience at their school, and the secret to a successful Why Essay is research. Take some time to explore the school website or even visit campus and get to know all that St. John’s has to offer. Jot down everything that excites you! When you have a solid list in hand, consider how each club, professor, or program connects to your own interests and goals. Locate specific opportunities within your department and related programs that really make your heart sing with excitement. Just remember that the goal is to offer deeper insight into your interests and vision, not to just rattle off a list of facts about the school! In fact, there shouldn’t be a single sentence that only lists a feature of the school without any connection back to you or what it means to you. For example, if admissions could read a sentence and say, “Yeah, we know,” it’s time to go back and rework it. Talk about your passions, goals, and dreams so admissions can understand what a St. John’s education will mean to you.