College Essay Prompts 2026-27
WashU Supplemental Essay Prompts 2026-27
Washington University in St. Louis's published supplemental essay prompts for first-year applicants in the 2026-27 application year, quoted from the college's own website, with the limit for each and whether it is required.
- Application
- Common App or Coalition
- Status
- 2026-27 prompts published
- What to write
- Every first-year applicant answers 1 prompt.
- Last checked
- September 26, 2026
The 2026-27 prompts
Quoted word for word from Washington University in St. Louis. Limits are as the college states them. These are the first-year prompts the college publishes; transfer essays and questions that appear only inside the application portal are not listed.
We no longer have an optional writing supplement. However, applicants are still required to submit the Common Application or Coalition Application essay. We also ask for a 250-word response to the question “Please tell us what you are interested in studying at college and why.”
Required of all applicants
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01
Please tell us what you are interested in studying at college and why.
What these prompts are really asking
One line per prompt type, from our supplemental essay guide.
- Intellectual curiosity
- How does your mind move when no one is handing you points?
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Common Questions
How many supplemental essays does Washington University in St. Louis require for 2026-27?
Every first-year applicant answers 1 prompt. This page lists 1 prompt in all, including choices and optional prompts.
What are the word limits for WashU's supplemental essays?
250 words. Each prompt above shows its own limit as the college states it.
Which application does Washington University in St. Louis use?
Common App or Coalition.
Where are these prompts from?
We copied them word for word from WashU Undergraduate Admissions: What's New at WashU (Important updates for fall 2027) and last checked on September 26, 2026. The prompts inside your application portal are the final word.
Sources, last checked September 26, 2026
Prompts for other colleges
- Brown University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Dartmouth College
- Duke University
- Emory University
- Georgetown University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- Princeton University
- Rice University
- Stanford University
- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Tufts University
- University of Chicago
- University of Michigan
- University of Notre Dame
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Southern California
- University of Virginia
- Vanderbilt University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- William & Mary
- Yale University