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How to Respond to the Stony Brook University Supplemental Essay Prompts
Stony Brook University is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York. It is among one of the 64 colleges in the State University of New York System, also known as SUNY. Stony Brook is one of the highest ranked schools within SUNY, meaning your Stony Brook supplemental essay should be one for the books! Keep reading this guide for tips to make your application stand out!
The Stony Brook University supplemental essay prompt
Stony Brook University offers one supplemental essay, which is optional. If you really want to be a member of the next Stony Brook Seawolves incoming class, we strongly advise you to respond to the prompt so that the admissions team can better get to know you.
The prompt
“Optional: Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (1-250 words).”
While this prompt seems general, it’s ideal to use this essay as an opportunity to give the admissions office a glimpse into your life outside academics. It might be easy to oversimplify your experiences, but your supplemental essay should feature a unique or transformative activity that you’re passionate about.
Stony Brook wants to make sure that applicants will fit into the community This applies to not only academics (which your resume will affirm), but also in regard to campus life. By telling the admissions office about an activity you were/are interested in, it signifies that you might do the same once you join their university. It would be even better if you connected that activity to a similar one on campus to show your interest in attending Stony Brook. Take the time to do your research and check out the clubs and organization offered at Stony Brook.
Since the word limit for this supplemental essay is shorter than most, try to focus on one specific activity or work experience. You should highlight how you were impacted and how you plan to incorporate that into your college experience.
Questions to consider:
- What are some activities that I participated in during high school that I would like to continue?
- Why do I want to talk about this specific activity or experience?
- How has this extracurricular activity or work experience changed me?
Related: How to write a 250 word essay
Final thoughts for applicants
Now that you’re at the final stretch, there’s only a couple things left to do. Start off by reading Stony Brook’s tips for writing their admission essays. It should be a helpful guide to check to see any of the things you might’ve missed as you wrote your supplemental essay.
After that, write out an outline for your essay. This will be particularly helpful with the minimal word count for this response. You should start by filling out the essential points you want to include before adding in any extra details.
Also see: How to write an essay about yourself
Additional resources
Finish up prepping for college with these Scholarships360 resources!
- Find out more about extracurriculars
- Know the difference between CSS and FAFSA
- Keep track of college application deadlines
