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How to Respond to the Lafayette Supplemental Essay Prompts
Lafayette College, located in Easton, Pennsylvania, is a private liberal arts college with a 36% acceptance rate and roughly 2,500 students. Responding to the Lafayette supplemental essay prompts in an authentic and meaningful way is an important part of your application. Keep on reading to learn a few tips for writing your Lafayette supplemental essay.
The Lafayette College supplemental essay prompt
Lafayette offers all their applicants only one supplemental essay prompt. This means it’s essential for your story to be unique. While it’s optional to submit a supplemental essay, doing so demonstrates just how determined you are to go there. After all, that’s exactly what the admissions office is looking for. So, let’s get started on writing your essay!
The prompt
“Optional: Students identify Lafayette as an excellent fit for countless reasons. In your response, be deliberate and specific about your motivation for applying to Lafayette. Why do you see yourself at Lafayette? (20-200 words).”
This prompt is a common question for college applications because schools want to know what draws you to their campus. However, the wording that Lafayette uses is unique, and signifies that your supplemental essay should tell them who you are. It also means that generalizations aren’t going to cut it and the more “specific” the better.
While you’re jotting down the most important details of your story, remember to be concise. The word count has a wide range, and 200 words equates to around one page double-spaced. Your goal should be to make the biggest impact with the fewest possible words.
You can achieve this by starting with a compelling hook or using an anecdote throughout your essay. Don’t just write what you think the admissions office wants to hear, instead focus on what you want to communicate. You could use your essay to discuss an interesting scientific discovery and reveal in the last paragraph that you hope to major in biology.
There are a lot of different ways to approach this essay, but the most important thing is for the reader to walk away knowing who you are and why you’re an ideal fit for Lafayette.
Questions to consider:
- What do you plan on getting involved in at Lafayette?
- How did you find out about Lafayette College?
- When did you decide you wanted to go to Lafayette?
These rather to the point questions will help you get started, but there is more to consider. Make sure that no matter what your answer is, you are showing why Lafayette is particularly suited for your goals and aspirations. Make sure you do your research on Lafayette and mention specifics about the college in your response.
Final thoughts for applicants
Now that you’ve started brainstorming for your Lafayette supplemental essay, here’s a few additional tips! First things first, get started on your first draft ASAP. The sooner you start, the longer you’ll have to figure out main ideas and workshop your essay before the application deadline.
Starting early can also give you time to try new ideas. You could approach the essay in an unconventional way, or write two and have other people read them to decide which to submit–ask them which is more “you.” Either way, adding your unique touch is bound to make your essay stand out.
Additional essay help
Odds are, this will not be the only essay you’ll write in your admissions process. Luckily, we have guides to help you through the others as well. Check out our guide to the Common App essay prompts, and our database of supplemental essay guides for a wide variety of colleges.
On top of that, we have guides to help you write an essay about yourself, a “Show, Don’t Tell” essay primer, and a guide to adapting your writing to 250 or 500 word limits. Good luck!
Also see: What looks good on a college application?
Additional resources
The transition to college can be very fast-paced, so stay on top of your academic journey with Scholarship360 resources. Find out college application deadlines and stay on top of that important information early in the application process. Our guide can help you fill out your FAFSA, and we also have informative guides on most college majors.
