One of the biggest challenges of applying to college involves writing essays. Maybe you've spent weeks drafting your statement only to realize it doesn't mention your interest in studying business at the Wharton School. Or perhaps you feel stuck on the short response questions that seem out of nowhere. Whatever the case, the UPenn supplemental essays are a big deal. They help the admissions committee get to know you beyond your grades and test scores, and writing strong responses will significantly boost your chances of admission. For those still learning how to teach essay writing, this process highlights the importance of guiding students to connect their personal experiences with their academic goals. This guide will help you craft compelling UPenn supplemental essays that showcase your unique strengths, align with the university's values, and improve your overall application.
As you approach the UPenn supplemental essays, enlist the help of an objective third party to grade your responses. EssayGrader is a grading software for teachers to grade student essays quickly using customizable rubrics. With this software, you can achieve your goal of writing stellar UPenn supplemental essays by getting fast feedback on your writing before you submit your final drafts.
What are the 2025 UPenn Supplemental Essay Prompts?
The first UPenn supplemental essay prompt addresses gratitude and reflection. The “Thank You” essay reads:
“Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!) (150-200 words)”
This “thank you” note is not just an exercise in kindness. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the people who have shaped your life and how they have impacted your journey thus far. You might consider how a teacher helped you discover your passion for a particular subject or how a coach inspired you to overcome personal obstacles. There are no right or wrong topics for this essay, so take the time to explore your options and choose someone who will allow you to showcase a unique aspect of your background.
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How to Write Compelling UPenn Supplemental Essays (2025 Guide)
1. Align Your Responses with UPenn’s Core Values and Specific Programs
With each supplemental essay for UPenn, you’ll want to remember the university’s core values and specific programs. Doing so will help you write compelling responses that resonate with admissions readers.
2. Demonstrate Genuine Interest in UPenn
Another effective strategy for writing the UPenn supplemental essays is demonstrating genuine interest in the university. You can do this by pinpointing specific programs, clubs, activities, classes, and opportunities at UPenn that align with your interests and goals. Elaborate on why these elements appeal to you and how you hope to get involved at UPenn.
3. How to Write the UPenn “Thank You” Essay (with an Example!)
This prompt asks you to reflect on your relationships, and in particular, a relationship that has shaped you significantly and deserves acknowledgment. Admissions officers ask these questions to understand better your maturity level and ability to express authentic gratitude to those who have helped you in your life’s journey.
It’s less important who you thank and how you thank them. Use specific details and/or anecdotes in your letter, and make it clear that you didn’t take their contributions to your life for granted. Remember that this kind of essay prompt often gives rise to clichéd responses. Review each phrase in your essay and consider whether it sounds cliché.
- Have you read this phrase in a book before?
- Have you heard someone say this phrase before?
- If you want your essay to stand out, the language must also stand out.
An Example of the UPenn “Thank You Essay”
Dear Mrs. ________,
I don’t know if I’ve ever really said this but thank you for driving me home from orchestra rehearsal over these last two years. I know you’d always say that you’d have pick up Jen anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal, but it was a big deal to me. With my mom working the evening shift at the hospital most days, there was no way that I would have been able to be a part of the orchestra otherwise.
Music has always been a big part of my life, and getting to explore it in the orchestra, playing with other people, and being creative with them has been one of my favorite experiences in high school and one I will always treasure. I will never forget our conversations in the car after rehearsal.
I had never thought about putting my name down for concertmaster before, but your encouragement started me thinking that maybe I could, and I did! This past year as concertmaster has taught me much about myself and what can be possible. You played a huge role in making it possible for me.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, [Name]
How to Write the UPenn Community Essay (with an Example!)
How will you explore the community at uPenn? Consider how uPenn will help shape your perspective and how your experiences and perspective will help shape uPenn. (150-200 words) This essay question requires you to discuss your intended contributions to the community at UPenn and your past experiences in communities.
You’ll also need to briefly discuss or imply how your unique perspective influences your interactions within communities through your discussions of past and future community interactions. That’s a lot to discuss in only 150-200 words. Your past interactions with communities, current perspective on community engagement, and future intended exploration of the community at UPenn.
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5 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Penn Essays
1. Underestimating the Importance of Supplemental Essays
Supplemental essays for colleges are the only opportunity on an application for students to express their passion and excitement for wanting to attend a particular institution. As a result, it pays to have done their homework on what exactly it is that most excite them for their potential future there.
When colleges and universities review supplemental essays, they look for a fit. Will this student best utilize the education and resources of our institution, and are we the right school for them? It is the student’s job to show them these answers through their detail-rich responses. If they do this correctly, they will not question whether this school fits them.
2. Utilizing a “Cut & Paste” Approach
A common mistake is using a “cut and paste” approach, trying to recycle essays from another school’s supplemental essay and repurposing it to the new, often very different, prompt on another application.
While there are ways to recycle themes from essays, if students copy and paste their responses from one application’s essays and put them in another, they are guaranteed to lack the specificity that a supplemental essay requires.
3. Shallow Answers
Providing a shallow answer such as “Your friends go there, and they’ve told me great stories about how much fun they’re having,” or “You want to make a lot of money and graduates from your college tend to earn higher salaries,” is a way to lose the interest of your reader quickly. With how low acceptance rates are these days, your reader will move on if your supplemental essays lack depth.
4. Repeating Selling Points
Repeating the college’s selling points in their “Why Our College?” essay with no specific reason as to why you wish to attend. For example, “You want to go to ABC College because it has a great program in environmental science.”
A better answer would be:
- “You read about interesting research being conducted by Professor Williams in your Environmental Sciences department on the effect of climate change on urban areas and the impact on their economies. You would love to participate in similar research and believe ABC College is at the forefront in this study area.”
- “While visiting the campus, you sat in on a class about how climate change is affecting the polar ice caps. The professor was engaging and the class responded with a lot of questions and lively discussion. This is the kind of environment you want to study in.”
In either of these examples, adding how you would contribute to the campus is key. “you’d love to apply what I’ve learned from your independent climate change study to educate your peers on how we can lower our carbon footprint on campus.”
5. Proper Grammar, Spelling, And Vocabulary
As with all essays, appropriate grammar, spelling, and vocabulary are important, but using slang, “emojis,” uncommon terminologies, or abbreviations detracts from the content and hurts your essay.
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