Essay planning list

Supplemental essay word limits by college

Compare school-specific supplemental essay counts and listed word limits before deciding which college essays need the most drafting time.

  1. Cornell University

    Ithaca, NY · 13 supplemental essays

    13 prompts
    5150 total listed words, up to 650 words · 2026-2027

  2. Common App — Personal Statement

    Universal · 7 supplemental essays

    7 prompts
    4550 total listed words, up to 650 words · Current cycle

  3. UC System — Personal Insight Questions

    California (UC system) · 8 supplemental essays

    8 prompts
    2800 total listed words, up to 350 words · Current cycle

  4. University of California, Berkeley

    Berkeley, CA · 8 supplemental essays

    8 prompts
    2800 total listed words, up to 350 words · 2026-2027

  5. University of California, Merced

    Merced, CA · 8 supplemental essays

    8 prompts
    2800 total listed words, up to 350 words · Current cycle

  6. University of California, Riverside

    Riverside, CA · 8 supplemental essays

    8 prompts
    2800 total listed words, up to 350 words · Current cycle

  7. University of California, Santa Cruz

    Santa Cruz, CA · 8 supplemental essays

    8 prompts
    2800 total listed words, up to 350 words · Current cycle

  8. Georgetown University

    Washington, DC · 6 supplemental essays

    6 prompts
    2700 total listed words, up to 500 words · 2026-2027

  9. Brown University

    Providence, RI · 10 supplemental essays

    10 prompts
    2553 total listed words, up to 650 words · 2025-2026

  10. Dartmouth College

    Hanover, NH · 10 supplemental essays

    10 prompts
    2350 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2029-2030

  11. Duke University

    Durham, NC · 7 supplemental essays

    7 prompts
    2150 total listed words, up to 650 words · 2026-2027

  12. Northwestern University

    Evanston, IL · 8 supplemental essays

    8 prompts
    1900 total listed words, up to 300 words · 2025-2026

  13. Rice University

    Houston, TX · 6 supplemental essays

    6 prompts
    1800 total listed words, up to 500 words · 2025-2026

  14. Yale University

    New Haven, CT · 7 supplemental essays

    7 prompts
    1505 total listed words, up to 400 words · 2026-2027

  15. Princeton University

    Princeton, NJ · 7 supplemental essays

    7 prompts
    1400 total listed words, up to 500 words · 2025-2026

  16. University of Chicago

    Chicago, IL · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    1300 total listed words, up to 650 words · 2026-2027

  17. Amherst College

    Amherst, MA · 4 supplemental essays

    4 prompts
    1050 total listed words, up to 350 words · 2025-2026

  18. University of Texas at Austin

    Austin, TX · 4 supplemental essays

    4 prompts
    1050 total listed words, up to 300 words · 2026-2027

  19. Tufts University

    Medford, MA · 5 supplemental essays

    5 prompts
    950 total listed words, up to 200 words · 2026-2027

  20. Carnegie Mellon University

    Pittsburgh, PA · 3 supplemental essays

    3 prompts
    900 total listed words, up to 300 words · 2026-2027

  21. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Cambridge, MA · 4 supplemental essays

    4 prompts
    900 total listed words, up to 225 words · 2026-2027

  22. Pomona College

    Claremont, CA · 4 supplemental essays

    4 prompts
    900 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2025-2026

  23. Columbia University

    New York, NY · 6 supplemental essays

    6 prompts
    850 total listed words, up to 150 words · 2025-2026

  24. University of Michigan

    Ann Arbor, MI · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    850 total listed words, up to 550 words · 2026-2027

  25. Harvard University

    Cambridge, MA · 5 supplemental essays

    5 prompts
    750 total listed words, up to 150 words · 2025-2026

  26. Stanford University

    Stanford, CA · 3 supplemental essays

    3 prompts
    750 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2026-2027

  27. University of Wisconsin-Madison

    Madison, WI · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    650 listed words · 2026-2027

  28. Wake Forest University

    Winston-Salem, NC · 4 supplemental essays

    4 prompts
    650 total listed words, up to 300 words · 2026-2027

  29. California Institute of Technology

    Pasadena, CA · 3 supplemental essays

    3 prompts
    600 total listed words, up to 200 words · 2026-2027

  30. University of Pennsylvania

    Philadelphia, PA · 3 supplemental essays

    3 prompts
    600 total listed words, up to 200 words · 2025-2026

  31. Barnard College

    New York, NY · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    550 total listed words, up to 300 words · 2026-2027

  32. Bowdoin College

    Brunswick, ME · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    500 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2026-2027

  33. Harvey Mudd College

    Claremont, CA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    500 listed words · 2026-2027

  34. Swarthmore College

    Swarthmore, PA · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    500 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2025-2026

  35. The Cooper Union

    New York, NY · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    500 listed words · 2026-2027

  36. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    Chapel Hill, NC · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    500 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2026-2027

  37. University of Virginia

    Charlottesville, VA · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    500 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2026-2027

  38. Boston College

    Chestnut Hill, MA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    400 listed words · 2026-2027

  39. Emory University

    Atlanta, GA · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    400 total listed words, up to 200 words · 2026-2027

  40. New York University

    New York, NY · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    400 listed words · 2026-2027

  41. University of Notre Dame

    Notre Dame, IN · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    400 total listed words, up to 200 words · 2026-2027

  42. Johns Hopkins University

    Baltimore, MD · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    350 listed words · 2025-2026

  43. University of California, Davis

    Davis, CA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    350 listed words · 2026-2027

  44. University of California, Irvine

    Irvine, CA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    350 listed words · 2026-2027

  45. University of California, Los Angeles

    Los Angeles, CA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    350 listed words · 2026-2027

  46. University of California, San Diego

    La Jolla, CA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    350 listed words · 2026-2027

  47. University of California, Santa Barbara

    Santa Barbara, CA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    350 listed words · 2026-2027

  48. Bates College

    Lewiston, ME · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  49. Boston University

    Boston, MA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  50. Carleton College

    Northfield, MN · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  51. Case Western Reserve University

    Cleveland, OH · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  52. Colby College

    Waterville, ME · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  53. College of William & Mary

    Williamsburg, VA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  54. Georgia Institute of Technology

    Atlanta, GA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  55. Hamilton College

    Clinton, NY · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  56. Kenyon College

    Gambier, OH · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  57. Lehigh University

    Bethlehem, PA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  58. Middlebury College

    Middlebury, VT · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  59. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

    Troy, NY · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  60. Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

    Terre Haute, IN · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  61. Tulane University

    New Orleans, LA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  62. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Champaign, IL · 2 supplemental essays

    2 prompts
    300 total listed words, up to 150 words · 2026-2027

  63. Vassar College

    Poughkeepsie, NY · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  64. Washington and Lee University

    Lexington, VA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  65. Williams College

    Williamstown, MA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    300 listed words · 2026-2027

  66. University of Southern California

    Los Angeles, CA · 3 supplemental essays

    3 prompts
    270 total listed words, up to 250 words · 2026-2027

  67. Brandeis University

    Waltham, MA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  68. Bucknell University

    Lewisburg, PA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  69. Claremont McKenna College

    Claremont, CA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  70. Colgate University

    Hamilton, NY · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  71. Davidson College

    Davidson, NC · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  72. Grinnell College

    Grinnell, IA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  73. Haverford College

    Haverford, PA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  74. Olin College of Engineering

    Needham, MA · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  75. University of Florida

    Gainesville, FL · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  76. University of Rochester

    Rochester, NY · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  77. Vanderbilt University

    Nashville, TN · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  78. Washington University in St. Louis

    St. Louis, MO · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    250 listed words · 2026-2027

  79. Macalester College

    Saint Paul, MN · 1 supplemental essay

    1 prompt
    150 listed words · 2026-2027

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FAQ

How should I use supplemental essay word limits?

Use word limits to estimate workload. A 650-word supplement needs a different drafting plan than a 100-word answer, even if both count as one prompt.

Do word limits change during the application cycle?

They can, especially when application platforms refresh. Confirm the final limit in the official portal before submitting.