Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas has 150 years of history as a university centered on helping students become “ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community.” The school is fairly selective, with an acceptance rate a little over 50%. The Honors programs at TCU are highly-respected and only about 275 first-year Honors students are admitted annually, compared to nearly 11,000 undergraduate students overall. Well-performing students often look to the TCU Honors program as a strong option in their college admissions journey. The average GPA of incoming honors students is 3.8, and students represent 15+ countries. TCU is also a member of the Big 12 athletic conference, making it very popular among elite athletes who also want a rigorous academic experience.
It's also important to note that, while TCU has a religious affiliation, you are not required to be of any religious or faith background to be admitted. Today, TCU students come from more than 60 faith backgrounds and traditions.
Admissions to TCU is test optional through at least 2026, so you won’t be required to submit an ACT or SAT score. However, we do still encourage students to try to score well on one of the two tests, and to submit the scores if you feel they are reflective of your potential. TCU finds scores, when included, can provide useful additional context for your application as well as serve to underline your academic successes in the classroom.
In this post, we’ll break down what you need to know when working on your application to write supplements that will increase your chances of admission to TCU — and the Honors programs.
If you’re considering TCU, contact us. We help match students with their perfect fit.
TCU has four ways of applying. You can use the ApplyTexas application, the Coalition Application, the TCU application, or the Common App. Unless you are only applying to schools in Texas, we suggest using the Common App and the guidance we provide here is specifically geared towards students who choose to use the Common Application.
If you use the Common Application, there are two additional short essays you’ll need to write, in addition to one really unique thing they ask you to submit: The Freedom of Expression Page. Below, we’ll break down all three.
At TCU, it is our vision to be a world-class, values-centered university. We value academics, intellectual inquiry, creative expression, leadership, service, diversity, and the appreciation of the human experience. With which one of TCU’s core values do you most align and why? (Maximum length: 200 words)
For this prompt, they want you to pick one of the 7 values listed in the prompt. So, before you start writing, and long before you decide what to write about, you need to select a framework, in the form of one of the values, to guide your work. From the values above, we encourage students to pick between a smaller selection. Namely, “intellectual inquiry,” “leadership,” “service,” or “the appreciation of the human experience.” The reason we narrow down the seven to these four is that, when taking other aspects of the application into account, these four things are the most crucial to highlight here, for this supplement, in particular. Creative expression will come up in the Freedom of Expression Page. Diversity will come up in the next prompt. But this is the ideal place to talk about how you serve, how you lead, how you engage intellectually, or how you reflect on what it means to be human.
“But, how?” you may be asking. Good question. The key to this prompt is to tell a story. Tell a small story from your life that embodies the value you select. Use that story as the way in to talking about the value, rather than saying explicitly in the first sentence which one you’re focused on. Share the why in the same way. Show it before you name it so that they can envision the role of the value in your life. And keep the story you tell here short and focused. Zooming in close will let you include details that won’t fit into a larger narrative. Those details are what brings this supplement to life, and truly give it the power to make a difference for your application.
TCU is committed to creating an inclusive campus culture for all people. We have a shared responsibility to enhance our community by encouraging inclusive environments through learning opportunities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Describe how you have already contributed to creating an inclusive environment in your community or how you plan to contribute to an inclusive college environment in the future. (Maximum length: 200 words)
This is a diversity, equity, and inclusion question (obviously, they say that in the second sentence), but it takes a ‘big tent’ approach. They leave it open for you to define ‘community’ however you like, and this means that anyone and everyone will have a strong answer to this question if you give yourself the time to find it. By this, we mean brainstorming, drafting, and editing before submitting.
Like with the previous prompt, we encourage you to pick one story from your life that exemplifies the themes they want you to focus on. Namely, community, inclusivity, and your role in fostering it. Perhaps there is a club you are part of, a team you lead, or a service organization you are committed to. But don’t balk if you none of those apply to you. You don’t need to be a captain of a team or head of a club for you to contribute to creating an inclusive community. Look at your close relationships and friendships. How do you welcome other people in? Tell that story.
The Freedom of Expression Page
There are a small handful of colleges and universities that give students a blank slate upon which to represent themselves, and TCU is one of them. It’s an amazing opportunity, but it can also be a daunting one. Whereas a prompt gives you direction and something to focus in on, being told to fill a metaphorical piece of paper is, well, a tad overwhelming.
So, what do you do when you can do anything? Well, first let’s set some parameters. This is called the “Freedom of Expression Page,” not “Pages,” not “Novel,” and not “Portfolio.” Page. Some students see this prompt and think, “great! I’ll send them my super long thing I’m really proud of.” That is precisely the wrong reason. When we are approached by students who are seeking answers for why they were rejected by their dream schools (note: not our clients), the most common reason is that they weren’t a good academic fit. The second most common reason is that they didn’t follow directions. They ignored the supplement prompts to write whatever they wanted, they incessantly pestered the admissions officers, or they did something like submit a 12-page resume (do this instead). The inability to follow directions is a huge red flag for admissions officers, and so following directions here is paramount.
With that clear, now you need to decide what to fill your single page with. TCU offers some ideas, “an essay, poem, work of art or a URL that showcases another side of you.” All of these are great ideas, but the most important factor is that this should be true to you. Don’t submit a poem if you don’t write poetry. Don’t submit a drawing if you don’t draw. However, you choose to express yourself, whether it’s through writing, art, dance, or athletics, choose to spotlight that. Yes, sports can even work here, too. If you aren’t ‘artsy,’ but love soccer, for example, you could create a fun video compilation of trick shots. If you have are passionate about knitting, you could submit a pattern for something you made and a picture of it. The bounds of your own interests are the only limitations subject-wise.
TCU has become a very popular university for high-performing students who want an honors college with a close-knit community and a lot of resource. We love it as a foundation school for top students, and a target for those who are in the top 25% of their class.
If you’re struggling to create a college list email us. We help passionate students find their perfect fit.