Colgate is a leading university known for offering an exceptional educational experience in a stunning setting in Hamilton, NY. The school prizes offering an intimate learning environment that emphasizes conversation through small class sizes. There are 56 majors, 3,200 students, and the acceptance rate is 12%.
The university is test-optional for the 2024-2025 application cycle. When considering whether to submit scores, it can be useful to look at how important scores have been to admissions in recent years. For first-year students in the fall of 2023, 41% had submitted test scores. This isn’t an overwhelming percentage at all, and is far from a majority. Our takeaway is that it’s worth submitting scores if yours are very strong — above a 1500 on the SAT or a 33 on the ACT — but anything lower than that isn’t necessarily useful in increasing your chances of admission.
Something that can increase your chances of admission, though, are your supplements. In this post, we’ll break down how to write Colgate supplemental essays that truly strengthen your application.
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The Colgate supplement looks simple on its face, but it comes with some twists and turns. The first step looks simple, but it’s a bit of a trap. Let’s dig in.
Digital Presence
Some applicants wish to share additional digital materials which showcase their background, talents, or creativity. Some examples include creative works, Instagram accounts, YouTube videos, performances, Etsy shops, etc. If you wish to share any of these links, please use the space below to provide a brief description. Then select how many links you would like to share and enter the URLs.
First, note that this is separate from an arts supplement. If you are going to submit an arts supplement, that will be done through Slideroom and not here. What this section is for includes
things like a YouTube channel or video, or a paper or article you wrote, or an online business you run. Be careful, though. The common app is this closed box that you get to exist in and while that can be limiting, it’s also something you can curate closely. Putting a URL here is like loosening the reins. The more URLs you include, the more unwieldy it becomes. And they aren’t allocating more time to review your application just because you load them with URLs. So, drowning them in links to click may mean they spend less time on your Common App essay, activities section, or transcript. That’s a big gamble!
We only advise including one link, and we don’t advise on including any at all if you’re going to have to build something simply for this and haven’t planned well in advance. Once you’re through this section, the whole concept of a Colgate supplement gets tricky.
There actually aren’t any supplemental prompts for Colgate in the Common App, so it would be understandable if you take that to mean that there isn’t a supplement. False! There is one, but you can only access it through the Colgate applicant portal, which you can only get into after you’ve submitted your common app.
The deadlines for submitting these supplemental essays are:
Early Decision I: December 1
Early Decision II and Regular Decision: February 1
And these are the prompts:
On Colgate’s campus, students engage with individuals from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religions, and perspectives during the course of their educational and social experiences. In 250 words or less, please share the benefits you see in engaging with a diverse body of students, faculty, and staff as part of your Colgate experience.
This is an interesting prompt, because the first sentence could lead you to think they want you to write about yourself. In reality, they want you to write about them. The Colgate admissions team wants to know what you see in them, especially pertaining to diversity. To answer this prompt, start by getting to know Colgate through this particular lens. Even if you feel like you know Colgate back to front, open the website back up and look through it with diversity especially in mind. Write down 3-4 things that stand out to you as you go.
Next, think about how you have benefited from diversity, or a time you’ve felt the positive impacts of diversity upon your community. This could be at school, through an extracurricular, or in your home life. Pick one story that will serve as the ‘way in’ to your response to this prompt. From there, you’ll connect this story to what you value most about diversity at Colgate and how a diverse community benefits everyone on campus — and beyond.
Colgate students immerse themselves in social and intellectual pursuits that inspire them. Tell us in 250 words or less what inspires you and why you want to pursue that at Colgate.
What inspires you? It’s a big question, and it’s possible that you don’t immediately have an answer. If so, that’s ok. Let’s brainstorm. Use the last bit of the supplement as the key: “…why you want to pursue them at Colgate.” So, this supplement should be about what you want to major in — not simply that you think some random thing is cool. Start with your potential major, and focus in on a small piece of the puzzle. For example, if you want to major in biology, you could write this supplement about how you’re inspired by small, seemingly simple processes that transform ecosystems. Then, you could write about a Professor at Colgate who researches something similar. Finally, you may include a research opportunity that would allow you to dig deeper. This layering of the ‘thing’ that inspires you with how you’ll apply it at Colgate is imperative to successfully answering this prompt.
Please complete the following so we can learn a bit more about you. Each response should be no more than 13 words.
These are super short! So, make every word count. Finish the sentence how you naturally would, but amped up a little. We don’t love the word “curation,” but this supplement really does require some curating. Instead of going with your first impulse for each, try writing three possible responses to each prompt. Once you have three for each, it’s important to narrow things down to your final picks. Making your selections shouldn’t solely be based on which are your favorites. Instead, you need to ensure that there aren’t redundancies or repetitions, and that you show many sides of yourself.
I am fascinated by…
Go for a noun, or a concept. This doesn’t have to be in your major, but could be.
My favorite book, movie, or television show is…
Be honest, not ‘fancy.’ If you mention a movie or show that is older than you are, there should be something about it that connects to other aspects of your application. If a book is your jam, make sure it isn’t one that was assigned in school.
The person I admire most is…
Look outside of your close family, but still near to home. This should be someone you have a personal relationship with – and having a cardboard cut-out of them doesn’t count.
In the future, I hope to …
Dream big!
One historical figure I would like to meet is…
Don’t overthink sounding fancy for this one. Be honest!
My favorite food is…
Such fun! Junk food is fair game, but so are cultural traditions.
One thing I would change is…
Big question. You could go big or small for this, close to home or far away. Whatever you pick, be specific.
My favorite place is…
Don’t other think this one, but also don’t say Disney. Just kidding. You can like Disney, but we’d prefer if you picked something else.
I am the best version of myself when…
Go with your gut on this.
Something that has changed my perspective is…
Keep it simple.
I am seeking a community that…
Look at the Colgate Student Life page and pick something to echo.
My favorite family/community/cultural tradition is…
Focus on your family, community, or culture. Share a piece of yourself.
I am drawn to Colgate University because…
Don’t write about the landscaping. Seriously.
The Colgate supplement is designed to empower you to share pieces of yourself that may not otherwise come out in your college application. Embrace this. They want to know you, so show them what makes you uniquely yourself.
If Colgate if your dream school, we can help. Email us to learn more.