Northwestern is a prestigious research university with about 8,000 undergraduates that encourages interdisciplinary learning, exploration, and the sort of exploration often thought of as unique to liberal arts colleges. The school has become iconic for offering students opportunity to both explore intellectually and develop practically. Northwestern is ranked in the top 10 in the country, and the acceptance rate is only about 7%. They receive around 50,000 applications annually, so figuring out how to stand out in that pool is crucial.
In this post, we’ll be focusing on using the supplements to best support your application, but there are also other ways to boost your profile beyond your grades and extracurriculars. One way that is particularly powerful is standardized testing. Northwestern is test optional for the 2024-2025 application cycle, so you don’t have to submit any ACT or SAT scores. However, 79% of students who entered as first-years in the fall of 2023 had submitted SAT or ACT scores as part of their application. So, most successful applicants submit scores and, to push it further, most successful applicants submit very strong scores. Aim for an SAT over 1530 or an ACT at 34 or above. If you can’t reach those scores, don’t submit them.
But let’s get back to the point of this post — it’s about supplements, not scores! So below we’ll break down the Northwestern supplements for first-year applicants and how you can turn them into powerful tools to increase your chance of admission.
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Northwestern really wants to know you, so they’ve designed a supplement to help them do just that. One weird thing, though, and you may need to read this twice, is that they don’t require the main Common App essay. Yes, you read that right. The essay that every other school prioritized above all else, to the point that many don’t have a supplement at all, Northwestern doesn’t really want. They even encourage students to repurpose parts of their Common App essay in the supplements, and doing this won’t hurt your application.
At the same time, they will still let you submit the main personal essay if you want, so we recommend doing so and writing new work for the supplements.
Now, let’s get into the questions.
We want to be sure we’re considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background (your identity, your school setting, your community, your household, etc.) have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern’s community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise? (300 words max)
First, this prompt is a mouthful. There’s a lot going on here, and it’s because this is their way of opening the door for you to talk about things that they aren’t technically allowed to ask you about anymore, like race. But they’re also interested in economic class, educational background, community, and familial situations. Some students read this as a hardship prompt, and we understand the impulse. If they are interested in class, they must be looking for poverty. If they are interested in your familial situation, they must be looking for a dysfunctional or difficult family situation. Again, we understand that impulse, but we encourage you to back away from the sob story to find something that tells them more about who you are rather than simply what has happened to you.
Perhaps you have faced real hardship. If so, writing about that here does make sense, but be sure to spend at least half the supplement focusing on things you did and choices you made, rather than spending the whole prompt on things that happened to you.
If you have to dig around to find a challenge in your life, stop digging. This prompt doesn’t require one. They didn’t ask you to tell them the worst thing that’s ever happened to you. They asked you about what has shaped you, and that can absolutely be something positive. For example, perhaps there is a club that opened your eyes to a path in life you’re excited to embark on, or a role you play in your community that improves the lives of others — and your own.
Finally, you need to tie whatever you’ve chosen to write about to what you hope to do at Northwestern. They need to leave this supplement with a strong vision for how your past experiences will positively contribute to the community at Northwestern, whether through leadership, service, community organizing, or another avenue.
We encourage you to answer at least one and no more than two of the following questions. Please respond in fewer than 200 words per question:
There are five prompts to choose from here, and you can do up to two of them. Which is to say, you need to do two of them. Optional isn’t really optional when you’re up against a 7% acceptance rate. Now that’s clear, let’s break down your options.
Option 1: Painting “The Rock” is a tradition at Northwestern that invites all forms of expression—students promote campus events or extracurricular groups, support social or activist causes, show their Wildcat spirit (what we call “Purple Pride”), celebrate their culture, and more. What would you paint on The Rock, and why?
This is a super fun prompt if you haven’t had a chance to let loose and show a little bit of your silly side anywhere else in the application. That said, walking the funny line on college applications can be tricky. If you try to make a joke, you won’t get to see if it lands. And, if they don’t get it, you don’t get to explain yourself. Instead of making a joke, show that you can have fun by being a little bit playful and a lot-a-bit earnest. And watch this video to get some inspiration!
You’ll see in the video that sometimes the rock has a political message. We highly recommend that students focus their applications on things that bring people together, so if you’d paint the rock with something that could be seen as political, make sure it’s a message of unity that welcomes people into a conversation. Northwestern doesn’t want to admit students who would look to create division, but they’re absolutely interested in those who find way to build bridges through conflict.
Option 2: Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance, etc.), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?
This is another really fun prompt, and we love when students write this one as a story imagining what it would be like to be in the class you’ve dreamt up, or as a course proposal with a course name, description, and assigned books. Or you could plan a research trip with field-based data collection, or a community-minded art initiative like a film festival focused on Claymation shorts all made in dorm rooms. Or you can be super serious here. What matters most is being true to who you are and what you are most passionate about from through an academic lens.
Once again, Northwestern also tacks a sneaky question onto the end that asks you to bring other people into whatever it is you’ve dreamed up. Don’t just wait till the end of the supplement to address who your classmates or collaborators would be, though. Incorporate the concept of community and collaboration into every aspect of your answer to this prompt.
Option 3: Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.
We know community matters a lot to Northwestern because they keep bringing it up, but in this prompt, you want you to zoom in even further and specify one (or more, but please not more) communities that you can see yourself joining on campus. We don’t love this prompt because it can be tricky to find the perfect approach. You have 200 words, and you really don’t need 200 words to name a club and share why you like it. If you are going to answer this prompt, we would love to see you write yourself into the club. Tell a story of you being part of whatever it is they do as if you already are. Chart that future and help them see it, then be sure to clarify that this is what you hope for once as Northwestern.
Option 4: Northwestern’s location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?
This one is a no for us, respectfully. There are so many good prompts here that you don’t need to write about geography. The one exception is if you want to study rocks and there is something about the rocks in Evanston (and not The Rock), that you simply must be close to. Unless you are a rock nerd, this one is off the table.
Option 5: Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern’s classrooms and around our campus?
This prompt is quite similar to the initial prompt, but that isn’t a reason to skip it on its own. We love anything that invites you to connect your culture with their community, so consider focusing on a singular aspect of who you are and where you come from, like a food tradition, a hobby that was passed down to you from a grandparent, or passion you discovered on accident but now are totally obsessed with. Tell the story of this piece of who you are, then link it to Northwestern. Maybe you make a mean pancake breakfast and are excited to fuel study sessions, or you are a paper airplane champion. We’re not sure how that second one would like to Northwestern, but we also aren’t paper airplane champions — so what do we know?! Honestly, though, a lot. And we know that this prompt is awesome.
As you’re working on your Northwestern supplement, remember that some programs require additional materials. These can include additional supplemental essays, portfolios, recommendations, and more, so it’s important to review all of the materials required for your particular program before you start writing.
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