Why Colleges Are Dropping Supplemental Essays, and What It Means for Students
Several selective colleges have reduced or eliminated supplemental essays for the 2026–27 admissions cycle. Here is why the shift matters and how students should adjust their application strategy
Aiden Kjeldsen • August 20, 2026 • 6 min read
For years, supplemental essays have been one of the clearest ways for colleges to ask questions the Common Application cannot: Why this college? Why this major? What community shaped you? What will you contribute on campus?
Now, some prominent universities are deciding they can learn enough without asking every one of those questions. The long-standing staple is being slowly phased out, with unknown implications for this upcoming application cycle.
For the 2026–27 application cycle, several selective colleges have reduced or eliminated school-specific writing requirements. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill removed both of its short-answer supplements, stating that the purpose "was to simplify the application". The University of Georgia and the University of Miami eliminated their supplemental essays. Georgia Tech now lists only the main Common Application essay for first-year applicants. Tulane paused its “Why Tulane?” response, while Washington University in St. Louis and Cornell reduced (but did not eliminate) their additional writing.
On an initial reading, this sounds like good news for applicants. One could conclude, fewer essays mean fewer late nights and less pressure during an already demanding process.
But a shorter application is not necessarily an easier admission process. In some ways, students will have fewer opportunities to distinguish themselves.
Why are colleges removing supplemental essays?
1. Colleges want to reduce application stress
A student applying to 10 or 12 colleges can easily face dozens of additional responses and work. That workload can become especially difficult for students balancing demanding classes, jobs, athletics, family responsibilities, or limited access to application support.
Removing an essay makes the process more manageable and may improve access for students who have less time or fewer resources.
2. Application volume has made review more difficult
Selective colleges receive enormous applicant pools, and every additional essay must be read, evaluated, and considered consistently. Reducing the amount of required writing can make the review process more efficient.
There is also an enrollment incentive. When an application takes less time to complete, more students may decide to submit it. That can expand a college’s applicant pool, but it can also create more competition for the same number of seats.
3. Formulaic and AI-assisted responses
The traditional “Why us?” essay has become increasingly predictable. Students can find extensive online advice, sample structures, and lists of campus resources. Generative AI can also produce a polished-looking answer within seconds. They believe that supplemental essays are the most exploitable by students and therefore lose their legitimacy.
These Colleges still believe that AI can cause rising issues with the Common App essay, but it is still an integral and very necessary part of an application to see a student's character and fit in the University.
4. Best Intentions or Something more?
Finally, these points are framed in a positive light with the universities' 'best intentions', but it could also be argued that it comes down to saving and making more money.
With the universities cutting down on the amount of work on each application for admission, readers can complete more applications per hour, which would save the University thousands of dollars. Also, with an increase in the application pool due to removed barriers, the university will gain more money per year.
Does this make it easier to get admitted?
Complicated, but ultimately no. It makes some colleges easier to apply to, not necessarily easier to enter.
The main tradeoff is that students lose a direct opportunity to explain why they fit a particular college. A strong “Why us?” essay could once show careful research, academic alignment, and genuine interest. Without it, the rest of the application must communicate those qualities indirectly. As for some students, the "Why Us" essay was a powerful opportunity to potentially alter their waitlist into an acceptance.
It also places further stress and emphasis on the other factors such as GPA, extracurriculars, and the Common App essay. Removing a leg from a stool does not make it stronger, while a 4-legged stool has the pressure more equally distributed.
The change therefore creates both greater convenience and a new strategic challenge: fewer pieces to complete, but fewer places to add dimension.
What should students do differently?
- Make the Common App essay do more work
When a college has no supplemental essay, the personal statement may be the admissions committee’s primary sample of the student’s voice. It should reveal more than an accomplishment already listed elsewhere. A strong personal statement gives the reader insight into how the student thinks, what they notice, how they respond to change, or what values guide their choices.
- Strengthen the activities section
Without an extracurricular or community supplement, the activities list must provide more context in much less space. Titles should accurately communicate responsibility, and descriptions should focus on action, initiative, contribution, and outcomes. If the experience shaped how a student spends time or contributes to others, it belongs in the application.
- Treat every remaining short response as important
Fewer essays can make the essays that remain more consequential. At WashU, for example, the optional general supplement is gone, but students still answer a focused question about what they want to study and why. Cornell applicants no longer write a university-wide response, but they must still address the prompts for their chosen undergraduate college or school.
- Build a coherent application
When there are fewer writing opportunities, consistency becomes especially important. Admissions readers should be able to see both a pattern and a person: what the student cares about, how those interests developed, what the student has done with them, and what direction may come next.
The bottom line
The move away from some supplemental essays is a meaningful development, but it is not a sign that colleges expect less from applicants.
For students, the best response is not to add more applications simply because they are easier to submit. It is to use the saved time to improve the applications that genuinely fit: refine the personal statement, clarify activities, confirm testing requirements, review recommendations, and make sure the college list is academically and financially balanced.
Fewer essays reduce the workload. They do not reduce the need for strategy.
