Amherst Supplemental Essays

Amherst, a highly selective liberal arts college in Massachusetts, gives you the option of writing one 350-word essay or submitting a graded paper from junior or senior year. Students who apply to Access to Amherst, a diversity outreach program, have the additional option of using their Access to Amherst application essay for their supplemental essay.

Amherst Supplemental Essay Questions (2026)

Option A: Write an essay (350 words)

If you choose to write an essay, you can select from three prompts, each of which asks you to respond to a quote.

Prompt 1. “Hope and curiosity — these are qualities that are the foundation of what Amherst College means, of everything that we do here. Curiosity is at the core of a liberal arts education — a spirit of inquiry that shapes not only what our students do in the classroom, but also how they learn from and about each other.” — Michael A. Elliott, 20th President of Amherst College, address at Amherst College’s 203rd Commencement

QUESTION: What does curiosity mean to you? How do you experience curiosity in your own life?

This well-structured question is basically an Intellectual Engagement essay. In other words, it’s asking you to demonstrate your intellectual curiosity by describing one or more experiences that engaged it.

Before you start writing, make sure you understand what intellectual curiosity is: a genuine interest in ideas and learning. What subject, idea, or “thing” makes your eyes light up when you start talking about it? That’s something that you’re intellectually curious about!

Second, since the prompt mentions a “liberal arts education,” be sure you know what that is! if you’re fuzzy on that term, here’s a page on exactly that question: What’s a liberal arts education?

Once you’ve read that, refer to my guide to writing an Intellectual Engagement essay. Not only does it give you details on how to approach it, it includes a sample essay that’s a response to Amherst’s older version of this prompt!

Prompt 2. "We seek an Amherst made stronger because it includes those whose experiences can enhance our understanding of our nation and our world. We do so in the faith that our humanity is an identity forged from diversity, and that our different perspectives enrich our inquiry, deepen our knowledge, strengthen our community, and prepare students to engage with an ever-changing world." - from the Trustee Statement on Diversity and Community

QUESTION: In what ways could your unique experiences enhance our understanding of our nation and our world?

This is Amherst’s version of the Contributions/Lived Experiences essay, with a key difference: instead of giving you room to discuss any potential contribution you might make to the Amherst community, they’re looking for you to specifically address how your lived experiences could contribute to the community’s understanding of that nation in the world.

Read that essay guide for pointers on this genre, think about how your unique perspective could enhance others’ understanding of this country and/or the world (hint: EVERYONE has a unique perspective that could do that!), and then be sure to clearly tie the two together.

Prompt 3. “We are working together to build a community that makes room for both true disagreement and true connection, one that practices the kind of recognition and robust negotiation that the everyday life of democracy requires, and one that explicitly prepares our students to work for the greater good in their professional and personal endeavors.” — Presidential Priorities: Serving the Greater Good

QUESTION: Tell us about a time that you engaged with a viewpoint different from your own. How did you enter that engagement, and what did you learn about yourself from it?

This is a standard Diverse Perspectives essay; here are tips on how to write it.

Option B: Submit a Graded Paper

If you don’t want to write an essay, or if you have a particularly strong paper from junior or senior year you’d like to submit, this can be a great option. Highly selective colleges care about ideas and analysis, so I only encourage students to use this option if they have a paper that a) they’re particularly proud of, and b) is full of analysis and creative thinking.

It probably goes without saying that this should be a paper that you got an A or A+ on (unless you happen to attend a high school with an unusually strict grading scale). Also, per their requirements, this must be an analytical essay, NOT a creative writing project.

When the admissions committee evaluates your paper, they will be looking for college-level reasoning and analysis. A research paper for an AP- or IB-level course could be ideal, but keep an mind that an AP FRQ essay is not what they’re looking for (it won’t have the kind of depth they want). In most cases, this should be a paper where you’re citing multiple sources, putting them into conversation with each other, and arguing your own unique thesis.

To learn more about this option, check out Amherst’s FAQ on this prompt here.

Option C: Submit Your A2A Essay

This option is only available to students who are also applicants to Access to Amherst (A2A) a program, a diversity outreach program that “centers the experience of students from marginalized communities.” You can read more about Access to Amherst here.

Note: In 2024 the A2A deadline was in early August, so if you’re interested, it’s important to start the process during junior year.

For more help with your Common App essay, supplemental essays, and your entire application, check out my new book Write Yourself In, available from your favorite library or bookseller. You can also subscribe to my Admitted newsletter for monthlyupdates and guidance.