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Don’t be fooled by the minimal word count on these—they still require close consideration and strategy! Short answer questions are your opportunity to convey a sizable amount of personal information that most likely won’t appear anywhere else on your application. What was your favorite thing about last Friday? What would you like your future roommate to know about you?
By thoughtfully answering seemingly simple questions like these, you can reveal important aspects of your personality and character, even changing up the tone of your application (if your personal statement is on the serious side, here you might showcase your humor). Short answer questions are also a college’s opportunity to differentiate itself. A school that asks you to talk about your favorite book outside of the classroom is making it clear that self-directed learning is a priority.
Short answer prompts can really run the gamut. We’ve included a few prompt examples below that demonstrate the kind of variety you might come across in your college application adventures.
Tell us about a leader that you admire. Who are they? How have they influenced you? (5-100 words)
What’s your favorite book you have read outside the classroom (not assigned reading) and why? (500 characters)
If you could visit anywhere, where would you go and why? (500 characters)
Elon:
Name three songs from your perfect playlist. We look forward to creating a Spotify playlist from your answers. (75 characters max for each song title and artist)
USC:
Describe yourself in three words.
The following prompts have a 100 character limit:
What is your favorite snack?
Best movie of all time:
Dream job:
If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
Dream trip:
What TV show will you binge watch next?
Which well-known person or fictional character would be your ideal roommate?
Favorite book:
If you could teach a class on any topic, what would it be?
As with any college application question, your first step should be to read the prompt carefully and then brainstorm ideas before you start writing (making sure you distinguish between character-limited and word-limited answers). Some students interpret the short answer questions as offering blanket permission to take a “first response is the best response” approach, but again, it’s important not to conflate “short” with “quick.” It can be much trickier to find a way to thoughtfully reflect in 500 characters versus 500 words (ask any haiku writer and they’ll nod five times in agreement).
We recommend you focus on the best angle in your response without worrying too much about length restriction—in other words, write as much as you need to and then condense. Refining your answer will involve editing out unnecessary language during the revision process. One example of this might be removing the language of the prompt itself, which students tend to repeat in a first draft (so “If my life had a theme song, that song would be ‘My Shot’ from the musical Hamilton” becomes “‘My Shot’ from Hamilton captures my desire to leave my mark.”) Whether you need help brainstorming an approach to a short answer question or an experienced editing hand to reduce your word count, we’re here to help!
Concision doesn’t mean you should sacrifice vivid details in your short answers; it just requires you to be even more discerning about the ones you choose to include! Your responses will be more memorable if you use specific language that represents your distinct voice. For example, when USC asks “Best movie of all time,” you should take full advantage of the 100 characters and give more than the title of a film. “Julia” is vague and offers no context, as opposed to “Julia, because I’ve attempted every puff pastry and souffle recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.” Short answers should be used to complement your overall application strategy by offering new information about your interests and revealing additional aspects of your personality.
Do:
Don’t:
You may be fatigued from writing longer essays, but rushed responses to short answers lead to missed opportunities. Make sure you take the time to brainstorm, draft, revise, and polish these just like you would for a longer essay. Consider what the question is really getting at.
For example, when Stanford asks you to write a letter to your future roommate, admissions is hoping to not only learn more about your hobbies and habits, but also get a sense of how you interact with others. Does your letter contain any questions for your roommate or acknowledgement that they might have different interests? Do you show that you look forward to expanding your knowledge of other cultures or perspectives? Additionally, as in any essay, you don’t want to be too self-disparaging or too full of bravado. Avoid picking the extremes of “insecure” or “cocky” as words to describe yourself.
We at College Essay Advisors have been guiding students one-on-one through the Short Answer writing process for school-specific supplements for over twenty years. We take a holistic approach to these written responses, considering each student’s application package as a whole while helping them to stand out from the pack with thoughtful, unique, and authentic responses.
Our Advisors accommodate each student’s scheduling needs to virtually brainstorm, draft, and revise winning Short Answers. It’s incredibly important to us that each student’s voice is preserved, and we pride ourselves in helping students write successful short answers that differentiate them from similarly qualified applicants. For more information, submit a contact form and/or review our one-on-one advising services.
"[My son] got accepted into USC!!! Thank you for all of your help with the supplemental essays, Common App personal statement, and activities section. We're incredibly grateful for your support and could not have done it without you and your team at College Essay Advisors."
– CEA Parent, USC, Class of 2027
"I am officially bound for Elon this fall! I could not be more excited about my decision, and cannot wait to see where Elon will take me. It is impossible for me to express my gratitude to both of you enough. I am positive that I would not have had the opportunities I did if it weren't for my strong essay and supplements."
– CEA Student, Elon University, Class of 2028
We recommend you take full advantage of the available word and character count, which can vary from school to school. In a 50-word response, for example, 45 words isn’t noticeably under, but 25 words could come across as insufficient and underwhelming.
Yes! Just make sure humor is appropriate for the question and comes naturally to your writing. Making an admissions reader laugh isn’t a guaranteed acceptance, but could help them think twice as they consider whether or not you would be a valuable addition to their community.
The goal is to present a well-rounded and complete portrait of yourself as an applicant, and given the uniqueness of short answer prompts that often encourage you to pull from all areas of your life, it’s best to try and not repeat information verbatim. However, there can be some creative crossover. If your personal statement is about working at a wildlife sanctuary, you might answer USC’s What is your favorite snack? with “Figs. It’s what I feed the ring-tailed lemurs, and I’ve seen them nod through the glass in approval.”
This depends on the college and ranges from none to multiple of varying word/character lengths.
