rutgers application essay prompt

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How to Respond to the 2023-2024 Rutgers Supplemental Essay Prompts

Cece Gilmore is a Content Writer at Scholarships360. Cece earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communications from Arizona State University. While at ASU, she was the education editor as well as a published staff reporter at Downtown Devil. Cece was also the co-host of her own radio show on Blaze Radio ASU.

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Bill Jack has over a decade of experience in college admissions and financial aid. Since 2008, he has worked at Colby College, Wesleyan University, University of Maine at Farmington, and Bates College.

The Rutgers University essay prompts are ready and waiting! If your goal is to become a Scarlet Knight, then read on because we have a handy dandy guide on how to best respond to the Rutgers’ application prompts. Keep in mind that students can also apply to Rutgers through the Common Application , but our guide focuses on the Rutgers specific prompts. Ok, let’s learn how to best respond to the Rutgers supplemental essay prompts!

First, some background on Rutgers University

Rutgers University is the state university of New Jersey. As a diverse public research university. Rutgers offers three regional campuses in the following cities in New Jersey: 

• New Brunswick

Rutgers offers more than 150 undergraduate majors throughout their schools and colleges across all three campuses. Therefore, Rutgers has something for everyone! Let’s break down the Rutgers essay choices to make responding as clear as possible. 

The Rutgers University supplemental essay prompts

Rutgers requires applicants to complete only one essay – so it is your lucky day!  Applicants can choose from a list of five different topics or submit an essay on the topic of their choice. Therefore, be sure to select the prompt that most interests you. Essay responses should be up to 3800 characters (or 500 words).

Remember, do not select a prompt or write your own essay about a subject you have already written about for your Common App or in any other part of your application. You want Rutgers to get a good well-rounded sense of who you are so avoid repetition when possible! 

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“Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.”

For this prompt, think about a moment in your life that has changed you. If an event did not immediately pop into your mind, this may not be the prompt for you. However, if you read this prompt and said, “I have a profound story to share…,” think of the following questions to help you write your response. 

Questions to consider

• Who was involved and what happened during this experience? 
• What did you learn from this instance?
• How has this event changed you as a person? 
• What do you want someone to take away from this story of your life? 

The most important aspect of this essay response is to focus on how this experience demonstrates your character or helped to shape it. Don’t get too caught up in describing the experience in extreme detail. Connect back to Rutgers at the end of your response and show how you plan on using your experience to help you in your future endeavors. It will also demonstrate that you are the type of person who truly learns from the past and will continue to blossom while attending Rutgers.

Also see: How to write an essay about yourself  

“What interests or excites you? How does it shape who you are now or who you might become in the future?”

For this prompt, it is important to focus on your main hobbies and interests. You want to be completely authentic in your responses to allow Rutgers to truly get to know you. Therefore, truly reflect on your passions and life and select the one that means the most to you. 

• What is something you are passionate about? 
• What have you learned from this passion/interest? 
• How did you become interested in this topic? 

After writing about your passion or interest, it is important to answer the second part of this question, “How does it shape who you are now or who you might become in the future?” 

In order to answer the second part of this question, you will need to reflect deeply on this passion or interest you selected. 

• How has this interest changed you? 
• What have you learned about yourself through this passion? 
• Why is this an interest you have? 

The most important thing is that you are reflecting upon your passion and digging deep to discover what motivates you and how it has shaped you. 

Also see: What looks good on a college application?

“Describe a time when you had a positive impact on others. What were the challenges? What were the rewards?”

To answer this prompt, choose a distinct time in your life where you had a positive impact on others. Be sure this is a very obvious event or time when you had a positive impact.  Once you decide what event to write about, make sure that you provide meaningful details. This includes setting the scene, describing what exactly happened, and how you had a positive impact.

After describing the time, dive into the challenges and rewards of this particular time in your life. In addition, write about what you have learned from this experience. 

• How did you make a positive impact on others? 
• Would you want to be in a similar situation again? 
• What were the responses of those around you? Positive or negative? 
• Why did you take on the role of being a positive impact on others? 
• What did you learn about yourself from this experience? 

“Has there been a time when an idea or belief of yours was questioned? How did you respond? What did you learn?”

To begin this prompt, think about a time in which you were questioned. This could be a time in which you realized your beliefs were right or even wrong!

Once you choose an example, set the scene and make that experience come to life. 

• What led up to your beliefs being questioned?
• Who questioned you? A stranger? A close friend? 
• Was this questioning of beliefs friendly? Or more confrontational? 
• Did this event make you question your beliefs? Or uphold these beliefs more strongly? 
• What did you learn from this event? 
• How will you demonstrate what you learned from this event while attending Rutgers? 

The most important part of responding to this prompt is your demonstration of growth and learning from this experience. Therefore, be sure to truly reflect on this experience and share how you will continue to take what you learned with you. 

“What success have you achieved or obstacles have you faced? What advice would you give a sibling or friend going through a similar experience?”

For this response, choose to write about either a success you have achieved or an obstacle you have faced. No matter which option you choose to write about, it is important to describe what exactly happened. After describing either the success or obstacle, you should then describe what you learned from this experience. 

Then, you should detail advice you would give a friend or sibling that is going through a similar situation. This genuine advice should be that you would actually give a friend or family member. 

• What accomplishments mean the most to you?
• What obstacle have you had to overcome?
• Did anyone support your success or help you through a difficult time?

“Submit an essay on a topic of your choice”

The final topic example for the Rutgers supplemental essay is to just simply submit an essay on a topic of your choice. Select this option if none of the other options stood out to you. Remember, this is an admissions requirement, so you want to ensure that you are putting your best foot forward and not using an essay from another school.

The most important thing to note if you select this option is that you should not be repeating yourself in your application. Therefore, if your Common App essay is about your soccer career, this essay should not be about your soccer career! Rather, highlight one of your other amazing characteristics. Write about something that has not yet been discussed on your application.

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Wrapping up

Although Rutgers only requires one essay response, it can be quite daunting trying to choose between all of the options they provide. Therefore, try to pick the topic that most appeals to you–the one that makes you feel you could  write a novel about! Also, remember if none of the topics appeal to you, you can choose to write an essay on a topic of your choice. Remember, Rutgers is viewing your application as a whole, so it is important to be authentic and avoid repetition. Best of luck! 

Additional resources

Scholarships360 is a great source that offers an abundance of assistance in the college application process! Check out our other helpful guides on how to write a great supplemental essay , how to respond to the Common App prompts , how to write an essay about yourself , and how to write 250 or 500 word essays. 

Other colleges to consider

• University of Delaware (Newark, DE)
• Cornell University (Ithaca ,NY)
• New York University (New York, NY)

Frequently asked questions about responding to the Rutgers supplemental essay prompts

Does rutgers care about application essays, how long should my rutgers essay be, how to i stand out when writing my rutgers essay, can i reuse essays from other applications for my rutgers essay, scholarships360 recommended.

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A Good Rutgers Essay Example

What’s covered:, essay example , where to get feedback on your essay .

With over 60,000 students, Rutgers University is the largest higher education institution in New Jersey. With such a large school, there is something for everybody, which is why it might seem that everybody applies. In order to make your Rutgers application stand out from the crowd, you need to have well-written essays. In this post, we’ll share a real essay a student submitted to Rutgers, and outline its strengths and areas of improvement. (Names and identifying information have been changed, but all other details are preserved).

Please note: Looking at examples of real essays students have submitted to colleges can be very beneficial to get inspiration for your essays. You should never copy or plagiarize from these examples when writing your own essays. Colleges can tell when an essay isn’t genuine and will not view students favorably if they plagiarized. 

Since the Rutgers essay prompts are the same as the Coalition Application prompts, we recommend checking out our guide to the Coalition Application essays for a comprehensive breakdown on how to write these supplemental prompts.

Prompt: Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs? (No word count given)

I was about to eat the last cookie when I heard a low growl. I looked up at my friend, her cheeks flushed red, and her brow pinched in a tight dip. She didn’t make eye contact with me when I extended my hand to give her the cookie. She pushed it away, and I kept insisting until she finally gave in. Growing up, family was extremely important to me. I was taught to treat others like my family, a mantra we would repeat. Sharing that cookie, despite not having lunch that day, was like sharing the last tortilla with my brother.

As much as I would like to say family is important to me now, it’s not. At least not the accepted concept of family which is the people you are related to by blood. The problem with this concept of family is that you don’t get to choose the people in your family, no matter how good or bad of a person they are. 

Unfortunately, I learned this through my dad’s death. Before this tragedy, my family was inseparable. We would have parties every weekend to celebrate the big game or just see each other. Now, those parties only frequent the occasional birthday. It was weird for me to lose my closeness with my family, but this closeness was quickly replaced by relationships with my friends. I’ll never forget the heartfelt discussions I had with my friend Nick, who would give his shoulder for me to cry on and tell a joke that would make me wheeze in laughter.

Two years have passed, and I stand towering over my dad’s grave. There’s a flag pierced in the dead grass, and my hands are frozen. It’s quiet, and I think about the detrimental truth my mom whispered in my ear. It took me so long to realize this, blind to the hints he left behind. He would have improved his chances of surviving cancer if he took care of himself. He didn’t care about my brother and me, and at his grave I accepted that. I talked to him genuinely one last time, touched his tombstone, then walked away. I moved on.

This truth of my dad not caring for his health dawned the realization that my family was just a bunch of people who didn’t know me. I coped through isolation as I was comfortable being alone, but my family tried to force me out to go places and surround myself with people who weren’t emotionally available. In response, I instead surrounded myself with the people I chose to be my family, such as Nick. We would often go to the mall and browse each store or go to the Rollercade and spend hours falling. I would steal sips from his red ICEE, and he would always try to catch me but slip on the floor. These moments meant more than scarce instances I had with my dad. 

Every day I message my friends, some new and others old. I cherish these people who are not bound by blood, but for my personality, my laughter, my jokes, and my intelligence. I’ll never forget how my reformed belief of family allowed me to make friends who have made long lasting impressions and positive influences in my life.

What the Essay Did Well

The first thing that jumps out at you is how vulnerable this essay is. The author wasn’t afraid to let the reader into their personal life, and because of that, the essay is stronger. So much more is revealed about who this student is and how they respond to difficult situations because they were honest with us.

Another thing that this essay does well is describing what family means to this student. Taking an accepted concept like family and boiling it down to the little moments helps us see what they value. For them, seeing each other frequently, celebrating together, having a shoulder to cry on, sharing the last bite of food, and losing track of time by just being in each other’s company is what makes a family. Sprinkling in all these examples and anecdotes shows us what their definition of a family is, without explicitly needing to tell us.

There’s a nice balance in this essay between what this student accepted as the traditional idea of family and how they now see family. For this prompt, it’s important to have that balance so you can show what the long-cherished belief was, as well as how a challenge to that belief changed your perspective. This essay does a good job of encompassing both.

What Could Be Improved

Although a really vulnerable topic can be great for revealing personal details and creating empathy, it can also backfire and make the reader uncomfortable. This isn’t a guarantee, but it’s something to keep in mind when choosing a deeply personal and somewhat traumatic topic. For the most part, the author did a good job of keeping the story focused on themselves and their emotions, but it’s always a possibility that someone reading the essay lost someone close to them and finds this essay too hard to read.

In terms of the structure of the essay, it wavered back and forth between focusing on the student’s dad and their friends. To make it a little easier to follow, they should have started with how their traditional family was important to them until their dad died, and then explain how they found a new definition of family among their friends. This structure is more concise and clearer than starting with the dad, jumping to Nick, going back to the dad, and then going to Nick once again.

Want feedback like this on your Rutgers essay before you submit? We offer expert essay review by advisors who have helped students get into their dream schools. You can book a review with an expert to receive notes on your topic, grammar, and essay structure to make your essay stand out to admissions officers.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, rutgers essay prompts for 2023-2024 applicants.

I'm starting to work on my Rutgers application and I'm trying to find the essay prompts for 2023-2024. Can anyone help me out? Also, any advice on how to approach these prompts would be greatly appreciated!

I understand you're looking for the Rutgers essay prompts for the 2023-2024 application cycle. While I don't have the exact prompts in front of me, I recommend checking the Rutgers University undergraduate admissions website for up-to-date information on their essay requirements. Keep an eye out for updates, as they typically release essay prompts during the summer months before the application cycle begins.

As for advice on how to approach writing your essay, consider the following tips:

1. Read and understand the prompt carefully: Take time to fully understand what the essay question is asking, and ensure that your essay addresses all aspects of the prompt.

2. Be genuine and authentic: Write about something that is meaningful to you, and share your unique perspective. Avoid cliché topics and focus on conveying a personal story that says something significant about who you are.

3. Stay organized: Create an outline to ensure that your essay has a clear structure and logical flow. This will help you stay focused on addressing the prompt while maintaining coherence.

4. Show, don't tell: Use specific examples and anecdotes to illustrate your points, rather than relying on generic statements. This will create a more engaging and memorable essay.

5. Edit and proofread: This is a key step in the writing process. Make sure to review your essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as clarity and coherence. It is a good idea to have someone else read your essay to provide feedback and catch any errors or areas for improvement.

Remember that your essay is an opportunity to showcase your personality, strengths, and interests to the admissions committee. It is important to be honest, engaging, and thoughtful. Lastly, don't forget to give yourself plenty of time to brainstorm, write, and revise your essay. The more time and effort you put into your writing, the better your essay will be. Good luck with your application!

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Rutgers University Supplemental Essays Guide: 2021-2022

Not sure how to approach the Rutgers essay prompts? CollegeAdvisor.com’s guide to the Rutgers supplemental essays will show you how to write engaging Rutgers essays and maximize your admissions odds.

For more help crafting your Rutgers supplemental essays, click here to create your free account or schedule a free advising consultation by calling (844) 343-6272.

Rutgers Essay Guide Quick Facts:

• According to U.S. News , the Rutgers University Ranking is #63 in National Universities.
• Rutgers has an acceptance rate of 66.9%.
• Rutgers requires one essay of 3800 characters through the Coalition Application or their Rutgers portal.
• We recommend completing the Rutgers supplement essay cohesively and thoroughly to maximize your admissions odds. Strong Rutgers essays can make a huge difference!

Rutgers University wants students who will be active members of their academic community and the Global Rutgers network . Rutgers looks for students who can clearly articulate their beliefs and values to others. This is why the Rutgers application essay is so important.

Ready to get started? Let’s talk Rutgers essays.

Does Rutgers have a Supplemental Essay?

Yes. Rutgers accepts applications through the Rutgers Application Portal or the Coalition Application. All applicants must complete one Rutgers supplement essay, which can be submitted either through the Coalition Application or through the Rutgers Application Portal.

The Rutgers-specific essay prompts are the same as those listed on the Coalition Application.

Check out the Rutgers admissions website for more specific details, including information about the Rutgers application essay and tips on how to write strong Rutgers essays.

How Many Essays does Rutgers Require?

Good news! There is only one Rutgers supplemental essay.

Rutgers requires one essay of 3800 characters including spaces (around 500 words). This essay should address one of four topics . Your Rutgers application essay can also be on a topic of your choosing.

Does Rutgers Care about Supplemental Essays?

Yes—all schools care about supplemental essays, and Rutgers is no exception.

The Rutgers essay is a great chance for applicants to show who they are and why they should be admitted. Additionally, your Rutgers application essay is your only chance to address the admissions team on your own terms. The Rutgers admissions team will read thousands of Rutgers essays, and you want yours to stand out. In your Rutgers supplement essay, then, you should do all you can to show what makes you unique.

How do I Write the Rutgers College Essay?

We have provided the prompts for the Rutgers supplemental essays 2021-2022 below. You’ll find a breakdown of how to approach the Rutgers essays as well as tips for creating a strong application narrative.

In your Rutgers supplemental essays, you’ll want to keep your application narrative in mind. An application narrative is the story that your application tells. Ideally, each part of your application will work together to form a full picture. For example, a student looking to study architecture may seek out recommendation letters from their math teachers. That student may also highlight a summer internship at a local architecture firm. Finally, they may write an essay on the moment that they discovered their interest in building design.

Unsure of what an application narrative would look like for you? Check out CollegeAdvisor’s article A Deep Dive into the Personal Narrative .

What are the Essays for Rutgers?

The Rutgers supplemental essays 2021-2022 are available on the main Rutgers website along with a full list of application requirements. You can also find the Rutgers application essays on the Coalition Application.

Additionally, we’ve outlined each of the Rutgers supplemental essays below. We’ve also included strategies on how to respond to each of the Rutgers essay prompts.

Have questions about how to approach supplemental essays for other applications? Then check out our FAQs on all things Supplemental Essays .

Let’s break down the Rutgers essay prompts!

Choosing one of the Rutgers essay prompts is one of the most important parts of the essay process. There are five Rutgers essay prompts. Not sure which to choose? Try thinking about the following questions as you approach each potential Rutgers supplemental essay topic.

For each potential Rutgers application essay topic, ask yourself:

• Do I have a specific story to tell?
• Why am I telling this story?
• How does my story connect to my interest in Rutgers?
• Can I address what I like about Rutgers that I can’t find anywhere else?

If you can answer these questions clearly, then you are ready to write your Rutgers application essay!

Need more inspiration? Then, check out CollegeAdvisor’s article 39 essay tips from Admissions Experts .

Rutgers Supplemental Essays – Topic 1 (Optional)

Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.

The Rutgers essay prompts are designed to help you introduce yourself to the admissions committee. In your Rutgers supplemental essay, you want to discuss an experience that is about YOU. This prompt asks you to tell a story about who you are or who you have become.

Consider what values and personality traits you hold. What story might reflect these traits? For example, you might have plenty of stories about going fishing with your grandpa. However, if none of these stories emphasize your patience or your passion for family, then we won’t learn much from your Rutgers application essay.

The first of the Rutgers essay prompts asks you to tell a “story.” This story should be a full narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. However, the most important part of this story is that it revolves around you. Don’t spend so much time in your Rutgers application essay discussing what happened that you don’t have the space to tell your reader why it mattered and how it relates to your identity.

In addition, you’ll want to connect this story with the kind of student you’d be at Rutgers. Among other things, the Rutgers essay prompts are designed to assess how you’d “fit” at Rutgers. You should use your Rutgers application essay, then, to show how your priorities align with Rutgers’ offerings and values.

Have you read the Rutgers mission statement? Check out their about page for more info.

Rutgers Essay Draft Key Questions:

• Does your essay emphasize your core identity?
• Do you clearly showcase your values and personality traits?
• Does your essay show how you would embody Rutgers’ ideals?

Rutgers Supplemental Essays – Topic 2 (Optional)

Describe a time you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution.

This Rutgers supplement essay topic has two parts. Firstly, it asks you to describe a meaningful contribution you made to others. This contribution can be large or small-scale. What matters most is that the contribution you discuss in your Rutgers application essay reflects something important about you.

With prompts like this, writing can sometimes feel like bragging—this makes some students downplay their achievements out of self-consciousness. In your Rutgers supplement essay, however, don’t discount the value of your contribution. Your Rutgers application essay should show that you care about the common good and have actively dedicated yourself to others. In your Rutgers supplement essay, you should foreground what’s important to you and how you’ve served the world around you.

The second part of this Rutgers supplement essay question asks you to discuss the challenges and rewards of your contribution. When you talk about challenges, don’t undermine yourself. Avoid sentences that start with “I didn’t do…” or “I failed at…” Instead, focus on how you solved these challenges or how you would have solved them if you were to do it over again. The strongest Rutgers essays will use specific details to discuss how you contributed to your community, the impact you made, and any complications that you faced.

• Does your essay respond to both parts of the question?
• Do you clearly state the impact of your contribution?
• Do you avoid fixating on the challenges and shortcomings of your contribution?

Rutgers Supplemental Essays – Topic 3 (Optional)

Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?

As you approach this Rutgers supplement essay, start by finding a clear and concise way to describe your belief. A belief can be anything as serious as your religion or as simple as the belief that hot dogs are also sandwiches (controversial, I know). In both scenarios, your readers need to understand what your belief is and where it came from.

The story you tell in your Rutgers supplement essay should reveal something deep about your character and values. The best Rutgers essays, then, will use an instance of a belief being challenged to reveal something essential about how a student deals with conflicting perspectives.

Once you’ve established your belief, then discuss how it felt for this belief to be challenged. How did this conversation affect you? Did it force you to reconsider your perspectives? Did it create an emotional response? As you write, describe how you felt specifically. Ask yourself if you felt attacked by this challenge or if it opened your eyes to the viewpoints of others. Finally, describe how your belief system changed. Discuss any realizations you had and how you changed as a result of the situation. Overall, your Rutgers supplement should discuss what kind of student or thinker this conversation helped you become.

• Do you describe your belief and its origins?
• Does your Rutgers supplement essay describe how you were emotionally affected by this situation?
• Do you share how this challenge changed you as a student and thinker?

Rutgers Supplemental Essays – Topic 4 (Optional)

What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

This Rutgers essay may seem difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. The key to this Rutgers supplemental essay is to be honest. You don’t need to spend your Rutgers supplemental essay describing big-picture issues. Instead, just make sure your Rutgers supplement essay speaks clearly and deeply about something that matters to you.

Additionally, make sure you describe how these issues directly impact your life and shape the person you’re becoming. Discuss both the positives and the negatives, and make sure you use clear language.

Finally, remember that your Rutgers supplemental essays should be about you. In this Rutgers supplement essay, don’t just focus on general struggles and triumphs that teenagers face. Instead, make sure you tie these experiences to your own development. The best Rutgers essays will use a student’s view of the world to relate to their own experiences.

• Do you speak honestly about your experiences?
• Does your Rutgers supplement essay clearly define the positives and negatives of the teenage experience?
• Do you focus equally on the positives and negatives?
• Is your essay about you?

Rutgers Supplemental Essays – Topic 5 (Optional)

Submit an essay on the topic of your choice.

Not interested in any of the other Rutgers essay prompts? This is a perfect chance to show Rutgers who you are on your own terms.

However, make sure you don’t use this Rutgers application essay to tell a story about someone else. If you choose your own topic for your Rutgers supplement essay, make sure that it reflects an important aspect of yourself that you can’t discuss anywhere else. If you read your essay and it can apply to any other topic above, choose another of the Rutgers essay prompts.

Moreover, if your essay says a lot about a topic but nothing about you, then you should change your topic. This comes from the scope of your question. If your topic is something like “why I like bread,” then your reader will learn a lot about bread and nothing about you. However, if your topic is “why baking bread with my grandma taught me to value patience,” then your reader will learn about your experiences and insights. The strongest Rutgers essays will use specific details to tell a story that your reader couldn’t learn from any other part of your application.

• Does your Rutgers application essay topic reflect something not shown elsewhere in your application?
• Does your topic not fit with any of the other Rutgers essay prompts?
• Do you discuss what kind of student or person you are?

Additional tips for writing your Rutgers Supplemental Essays

Choose your topic wisely.

Do not choose a Rutgers application essay topic that does not speak to you. At the end of the day, your response to the Rutgers essay prompts needs to connect to your own experiences. Many essays might be well-written, but they would still be ineffective if they tell us nothing about the writer. In your Rutgers essays, the admissions team wants to understand what kind of person and student you are. Don’t make up a story in order to seem more interesting. Instead, just be yourself and thoroughly explain why your topic matters to you.

Do Your Research

Don’t forget to read the official Rutgers materials. In these materials, the school explains what makes Rutgers unique. This should be in your mind while you write your essay. Ultimately, your answers to the Rutgers essay prompts should work in conversation with Rutgers’ own values.

Connect it back to Rutgers

Although you are writing an essay about yourself, remember that this is a school-specific application. For this reason, you should probably mention Rutgers at least once. Your responses to the Rutgers essay prompts should describe something specific about Rutgers you couldn’t find elsewhere.

Rutgers Supplemental Essays: Final Thoughts

Your Rutgers application should connect yourself to the school. Remember that Rutgers wants to admit students who have a clear definition of why they need to be at Rutgers specifically. Spend time on the Rutgers website, and focus your essay on values related to the school. Finally, don’t forget to proofread your work. Good luck!

This 2021-2022 essay guide on Rutgers was written by Joy Nesbitt , Harvard ’21. For more CollegeAdvisor.com resources, click here . Want help crafting your Rutgers supplemental essays? Create your free account or schedule a free advising consultation by calling (844) 343-6272.

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When faced with the task of crafting a compelling personal statement for admission to Rutgers University, consider seeking guidance from StudyMoose's expert team. A well-crafted personal statement is crucial in showcasing your experiences, goals, and suitability for the university. StudyMoose's skilled professionals specialize in creating personalized and impactful statements that resonate with admissions committees. With their assistance, you can effectively navigate the process of presenting your unique attributes and aspirations, significantly enhancing your prospects of gaining acceptance to Rutgers University.

Why Rutgers university?

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, offers lots of study programs for bachelors and for master’s degree students. It is one of the most diverse high schools in the USA that has a broad experience of interdisciplinary studies and courses. Rutgers is also famous with its great opportunities for scholarships.

According to their site, 74 percent of the enrolled students receive financial aid. The Rutger’s diplomas quickly pay back: the survey of the alumni community shows that 83% of the fresh bachelors are being employed during six months after graduation. The median starting salary of more than 58 000 US dollars, which is a decent start for internship or first job. The University states that the cost-benefit analysis of their study shows that it is one of the optimal places for the student to be. Having such a salary without a significant tuition debt may give young adults great advantages at the start of their independent life.

Another important thing both for students and for professors is a powerful research base. Rutgers University is a leading health care provider in the state and public research facility. It allows the students to get rich practical experience and become valuable specialists after their graduation. The custom requirements don’t allow you to use any other essay — Coalition or Common App — to copy and paste it. Still, you may use the ideas of those prompts to recombine them. If you have any doubts, our writers are ready to help and make a perfect and tailor-made paper for you in a couple of days. We do hope that our collection of Rutger application essay examples will help you to create an excellent text.

The mission of the University consists of the three main theses:

• providing for the instructional needs of New Jersey’s residents through its undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education programs;
• conducting the innovative research that contributes to the medical, environmental, social, and cultural well-being of the state, as well as aiding the economy and the state’s businesses and industries;
• performing public service in support of the needs of the residents of the state and its local, county, and state governments.

Rutgers University harbors more than 530 000 students in the three major cities of the state. This division is one of its main peculiarities: you have to check the differences between the different campuses and decide which one is the best for you.

The Rutgers undergraduate application process and admission essays

The three universities of Rutgers are situated in Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick. Be very attentive while choosing the right one, don’t just pick the closest to your home. Though they share a single application form, with Rutgers application essay and a list of documents, they have different admission terms, different majors, and other slight differences. So, if you are prepared for College Camden, it doesn’t mean that it will do for Newark without any adjustments.

To get started you have to create the profile at the Rutgers application portal. Lots of people wonder does Rutgers use the Common App for enrollment, but, unfortunately, the answer is no. It has its own admission system, so if you apply to several different universities, you’d have to write your Rutger admission paper from scratch. The good news is that the Rutgers essay prompts are very similar to Common App or Coalition ones, so, with a few adjustments, you may use your previous text.

The application process may look tricky, but we’ll try to explain each of them. Here’s what you need to get enrolled:

• Create your Rutgers Community ID (remember, there is no such thing as Rutgers University Common App account, but you still can copy and paste all the relevant information)
• Rutgers University will need your Self-Reported Academic Record (or SRAR). You have to list all your courses and grades from 9 to 11. It’s a good idea to list the 12 th -grade courses even if they aren’t finished yet and you don’t have the final grades. Remember, that you should add an official transcript to your SRAR if you have already finished high school. Any differences between them may result in your application being banned. Double-check all the figures before submitting them!
• If you have earned a GED, the Rutgers admission commission will need its results, too.
• SAT/ACT test results are optional because no one can be sure of test dates. We don’t know how the presence or absence of the test results may influence the graduation process (we still recommend submitting the test result if you can do it though), but the Rutgers university site states that full admission is still available for students without tests. The admission committee states that they accept the official tests, sent directly from the agency only. The writing components are not required, the internal Rutgers application essay will be evaluated instead. Rutgers doesn’t have any preferences for SAT or ACT, both test results are equal.
• Advanced Placement tests aren’t required until the admission is accepted by the student. But if you have the results, save them for later.
• The admission commission expects you to write a single Rutgers supplemental essay. Again, it’s very similar to the Common App essay, just with a slightly less word limit, around 500 words. The essay is optional for students who transfer from other universities.
• You may list your extracurricular activities, volunteering, and other relevant personal experiences in the corresponding field. The admission committee states that any papers about extracurricular activities sent separately won’t be considered.
• When your application is submitted it’s time to pay your application and enrollment fees. Keep in mind that some fees may be non-refundable and you won’t get the money back if you are not enrolled.
• Check your application at the Rutgers Community site. They may still need some credentials except the main ones listed here. Fill them and wait for the official admissions announcements.
• You should accept an admission offer, so don’t plan long vacations while you are waiting for the decision.

The internal Rutgers entrance essays

The Rutgers supplement essay is mandatory for first-time applicants and optional for the transferring students, as a possibility to tell more about their personalities. They should be included in the application form together with all the documents. The papers submitted separately won’t be considered. Rutgers University asks to clear the formatting before copying and pasting the text into the application form field. Writing right at the site may shift the formatting and punctuation and your Rutger admission essay may look worse than it should be.

The Rutgers college essay prompt is so similar to the yearly Coalition and Common App ones that we wonder why isn’t Rutgers on the Common App. The main difference is the word limit. Rutgers undergraduate application maximum character amount is 3800. It is roughly about 500 words. Be careful with the character limit, because the admission form may discard any extra characters and your Rutgers essay will look unfinished.

A smaller word limit might be a challenge. You can’t just take your Common app paper and use it as is if you have used all the 650 words there. Cutting down an already proofread and finished text is always a tricky task, because every sentence seems polished and right where it needs to be. If you have troubles with it, you may use a wide variety of our Rutger essay examples gathered at our site. Or, you may ask our professional writers to shorten your Common App paper or create the shining Rutgers admission essay from scratch, using the personal information you provide.

If you are determined to write your Rutgers college essay by yourself, here are some hints and tips that will help you create a magnificent paper:

Make it personal

Don’t try to describe the abstract principles even if they fully align with your mindset. They want to know about your personal experience and the practical proof that your values are important to you. Find a good illustrative case, show its premise, tell what you felt during it and the lessons you learned from it.

Reflect on this case from your current vantage point

Who would you have been without that event? Did it help to shape your feats or skills that you can use in your future life? Did it reinforce your beliefs or made you doubt them?

Be careful with humor

Cracking a joke or two can make your essay stand out, but don’t try to impress the admission officers too much with them. Don’t use the memes and tropes that are funny for your generation only: the admission committee usually consists of tired people who are slightly older then you. If you have some doubts, try to let someone of their age read your Rutger admission essay.

Motivation Letter Requirements

It may take a bit more time, but you are constrained by your word limit. You have enough space for one idea only. If you have more than one, just write down every possible variant and let them cool down for a day or two. Then read it again and take the most appealing draft to turn it into a full-fledged paper.

The golden rule for the short texts is one idea — one sentence

Each phrase should move the plot further and tell the reader something new about the subject. You don’t have extra space for sentences that are just beautiful, but not practical. Don’t try to repeat yourself. If you want to underline a pivotal idea, use stronger words or stress this with a kind of punchline, but repeating it twice isn’t a great way to express yourself in such a short essay.

Ask your friends to become the test audience

Find at least a single person to read your essay and give you feedback. Don’t try to get reassurance from them and try to take critics well. The more errors you’ll correct before submitting the better chances you’ll have when the actual admission officers will read it.

Rutgers application process isn’t very tough. The hardest part is gathering documents, but the requirements and deadlines are pretty lenient. You don’t have to run circles and hurry up the test agencies, the admission committee will understand if the text isn’t ready yet. The hardest part, as always, is the Rutgers admission essay you have to submit at the university’s admission portal.

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2023-2024 Rutgers (Robert Wood Johnson)

• Thread starter wysdoc
• Start date Mar 23, 2023

Plain-spoken Texan

• Mar 23, 2023

Full Member

• Jul 7, 2023

Received secondary today, IS  

Secondary Recieved @wysdoc 1. RWJMS has identified the core values below as critical to our mission and vision. We strive to matriculate learners who embody these values. R -- Respect, dignity and humanism for the diverse population we serve W -- Wellness and resilience J -- Joining learners hand in hand with care delivery M -- Making patients first with safe, compassionate, high-quality care S -- Science to advance human health Please select a RWJMS core value that resonates the most with you. In two paragraphs or less, reflect on one of your experiences to discuss how you have built a foundation for this value and how it will contribute to our community of learners. (No Word Limit) 2. Discuss a difficult or challenging situation you have encountered and how you dealt with it. Be sure to include the skills you called upon to resolve the dilemma, and the support person(s) from whom you sought advice. (250 words) 3. Please feel free to comment on any course grades, GPA trends, or MCAT scores and what you have learned about yourself. (No Word Limit) 4. Please use this space if you would like to provide additional information to the admissions committee. (No Word Limit)  

Thanks for sharing the questions @Ajchen06  

Rocky1976$ said: Received secondary today, IS Click to expand...

demetriusclair

• Jul 8, 2023

Yasuo23 said: When were you verified on AMCAS? They said they would send secondary's to all applicants but I have yet to hear anything Click to expand...

harry_potter138

• Jul 9, 2023

OOS secondary received  

• Jul 10, 2023

+1 OOS  

Mine still says that the CASPER score has not been received but mine got transmitted two weeks ago. is it only updated once you actually submit the secondary?  

absdot4 said: Mine still says that the CASPER score has not been received but mine got transmitted two weeks ago. is it only updated once you actually submit the secondary? Click to expand...

IS secondary received today. For some reason it says CASPER was not sent but I submitted it over a month ago. I emailed the office to ask about this.  

Yasuo23 said: IS secondary received today. For some reason it says CASPER was not sent but I submitted it over a month ago. I emailed the office to ask about this. Click to expand...

demetriusclair said: Thanks, Let me know what they say cause I have the same issue Click to expand...

Yasuo23 said: Of course! Quick question though, are you planning on using the first question of this secondary as a "why us" essay? I wasn't sure if I should or not Click to expand...

• Jul 11, 2023

They've updated my application with my casper score and I was just now marked as complete for everyone wondering about why their CASPER score wasn't received.  

• Jul 16, 2023

how much are you guys writing for the 1st question? no word limit but "in two paragraphs or less"  

ok-patient said: how much are you guys writing for the 1st question? no word limit but "in two paragraphs or less" Click to expand...

deleted1163306

• Jul 19, 2023

what are people using the "additional information" question for, if anything?  

ok-patient said: what are people using the "additional information" question for, if anything? Click to expand...

• Jul 26, 2023

If we accidentally used a challenge essay for the second one instead of a difficult choice essay, are we screwed?  

Rocky1976$ said: If we accidentally used a challenge essay for the second one instead of a difficult choice essay, are we screwed? Click to expand...

sparky1021 said: Isn’t it asking for a challenge? I don’t rly see where it wants a difficult choice Click to expand...

• Jul 27, 2023

demetriusclair said: Imo it is a challenge essay Click to expand...

areptiledysfunction

• Jul 29, 2023

Does RWJ screen for secondaries?  

entropymania

areptiledysfunction said: Does RWJ screen for secondaries? Click to expand...

SunshineMD_AD

I know it’s a little late in the cycle but I just removed one school from my list and am thinking of replacing it with Rutgers. Anyone know how to send my Casper score to this school after i’ve received my score? I’ve looked on the website and im either dumb/ my brain is fried from these secondaries or its not possible ?? thanks in advance and good luck to all of you!!  

docbrownbear

SunshineMD_AD said: I know it’s a little late in the cycle but I just removed one school from my list and am thinking of replacing it with Rutgers. Anyone know how to send my Casper score to this school after i’ve received my score? I’ve looked on the website and im either dumb/ my brain is fried from these secondaries or its not possible ?? thanks in advance and good luck to all of you!! Click to expand...

• Aug 2, 2023

When did people who received secondaries submit their primary? This is the only school that I haven't received a secondary from and I submitted 7/4.  

areptiledysfunction said: When did people who received secondaries submit their primary? This is the only school that I haven't received a secondary from and I submitted 7/4. Click to expand...

demetriusclair said: If you have a sub 498 MCAT, a subsection lower than 123, or a sub 3.0 gpa, you get screened out of the applicant pool. Otherwise, I'd email them. I submitted 6/3 but I got my secondary on July 7 Click to expand...

• Aug 10, 2023

Has this school not sent out II yet?  

• Aug 11, 2023

II! Submitted and completed on 7/12 LM 65  

luckycharms!

II, IS, completed 7/16, LM 75  

• Aug 13, 2023
• Aug 14, 2023

Everyone who got II, what were your Casper scores?  

Submitted 7/15 (3.9 | 515) - Reapplicant - still nothing  

anyone know how OOS friendly RWJMS is?  

bdizzle646 said: anyone know how OOS friendly RWJMS is? Click to expand...

Rocky1976$ said: Submitted 7/15 (3.9 | 515) - Reapplicant - still nothing Click to expand...

TTR228 said: Are you IS or OOS? Did you get an interview last year? Click to expand...

• Aug 17, 2023

II recieved, submitted on 7/18. OOS but born and raised in NJ  

II received, submitted and complete on 07/21. IS, LM 75  

IS II LM 84  

lbjofpremeds said: IS II LM 84 Click to expand...

• Aug 19, 2023

Did anyone apply to MD PhD and have any md phd specific questions?  

• Aug 20, 2023

Did anybody do the PACCE interest essays? If so, how long did you make them? They don't seem to provide a limit  

• Sep 1, 2023

UniCrys said: Did anyone apply to MD PhD and have any md phd specific questions? Click to expand...

dodo2442 said: congrats! when were you complete? Click to expand...

Similar threads

• Oct 18, 2023
• Oct 11, 2023

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Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Essay Prompts

• Cracking Med School Admissions

Other than a strong academic performance (strong GPA, strong MCAT score, and strong letters of recommendation), the way to differentiate yourself is through submitting phenomenal Rutgers New Jersey Medical School secondary application essays. Rutgers New Jersey Medical School wants to recruit medical students who want to serve the New Jersey community in the future. Additionally, they want to recruit students who strive to give quality healthcare to all residents. Read all our Rutgers secondary application tips below.

The Rutgers Medical School secondary has not changed in the past couple of years. Therefore, we think this is a great secondary to pre-write! It is EXTREMELY to submit your secondary early. In our opinion, the Rutgers secondary application should be one of the first secondaries you submit during the secondaries application process. 

Our Cracking Med School Admissions team has a track record of helping our mentees receive acceptances to both Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School each year. We do this by helping students tailor their Rutgers secondaries and ace their medical school interviews. Contact us if you want help with your secondary essay edits and mock interviews . 

• Personally Tailored Essays
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Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2023 – 2024

• We are committed to an environment which fosters collaboration, humanism, equity and social justice. With this in mind, how will you contribute to the NJMS community? (1,500 characters max)
• We seek students who are self-aware, resilient and adaptable. Discuss a personal or professional challenge you’ve experienced and how you resolved it. Please include insight on what you learned about yourself as a result.  (1,500 characters max)
• (If applicable) If you will not be a full time student between June 2023 and August 2024, please describe in detail your planned activities, including projected time commitment for each activity. (1,500 characters max)
• (If applicable) If you chose to pursue one or more growth years prior to applying to medical school, please share insight on your decision. (1,500 characters max)
• (If applicable) If you are a re-applicant, please share what you have done to enhance your candidacy and re-application? (1,500 characters max)
• Please elaborate on challenges not thoroughly addressed anywhere else in your application (Please feel free to address any or all of the following if applicable: impact of COVID, institutional actions, academics, MCAT, personal difficulties, etc.).  (1,500 characters max)
• Please discuss any additional information you feel may help us in our review of your candidacy.  (1,500 characters max)

Tips to Answer RutgersNJMS  Secondary Application Essays

Rutgers NJMS Secondaries Pre-Writing Guidance: The Rutgers Medical School secondary has not changed in the past couple of years. Therefore, we think this is a great secondary to pre-write! It is EXTREMELY to submit your secondary early . In our opinion, the Rutgers secondary application should be one of the first secondaries you submit during the summer application cycle. 

• Download our  Cracking Med Secondary Essay Workbook and Examples .

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Tip #1: The NJMS Admissions Committee values medical students who have: ample direct patient care & clinical experience; research experience and exhibit critical thinking skills; and a commitment to New Jersey residents. Talk about how you want to serve New Jersey in your future career as a physician.  Additionally, if you have experiences in New Jersey, you should mention them throughout your NJMS secondary application! For example, our accepted students have written about doing community service work or clinical work on 2 or more of the essays. 

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Tip #2: Answer as many questions as possible on the Rutgers secondary application. And, make sure you answer the questions thoroughly. For example, for the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School secondary application essay, “ If you chose to pursue one or more growth years prior to applying to medical school, please share insight on your decision, ” use all the space to discuss everything you’ve been doing in your gap year(s). Don’t forget to add both clinical and non-clinical activities.

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Tip #3: Do you need to answer the optional question? YES! You always want to “sell” yourself as a strong applicant, and one way to do that is to write as many excellent secondary application essays, which show various perspectives about you. You can literally write about anything and we suggest that if you have no extenuating circumstances that you want to mention, then talk about an activity or passion that is important to you. 

For the question, “ Please discuss any additional information you feel may help us in our review of your candidacy, ” we tell our medical school application advisees to write about their strengths. For example, if a medical school applicant was not able to discuss his or her research in the other Rutgers secondary essays or extensively in your AMCAS primary application, then you should write about it in the last essay.  

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Tip #4: Don’t forget to incorporate a little bit about “Why Rutgers New Jersey Medical School” throughout the Rutgers secondary application. Talk about projects and research you want to do at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

• Read our HIGH-YIELD blog post:  Why this Medical School? Secondary Essay Example

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Tip #5: Get our help to edit your Rutgers Medical School secondary application. We can help you through our secondary essay packages , and we can help you tailor your essays towards each medical school and personalize your responses based on your strengths. Have questions about how you can stand out to the admissions committee? Contact us below

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Tip #6:  The Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Admissions Committee appreciates it when medical school applicants reflect on broader healthcare issues (like COVID-19) and how these healthcare issues affect New Jersey communities specifically. For example, if you read about healthcare disparities, you should think about what healthcare disparities there are in New Jersey.

• Read our Top 10 Current Events , updated by the Cracking Med School Admissions team each year!

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Tip #7: If you are a re-applicant, it is important to discuss how your application has changed from the first time you applied to this current time you are applying. First, identify weaknesses in your previous application. Make sure to discuss how you have improved on those weaknesses. For example, if you faced academic challenges in the previous application cycle, then you can discussed how you improved your academic profile – did you re-take the MCAT? Take extra-courses? enroll in a postbacc program? Additionally and importantly, if you have other significant extra-curricular activities or new work experiences, you should mention them. 

[Other Secondary Essay Tips:  University of Pennsylvania Perelman (UPenn); Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School ; Mount Sinai  (Icahn);  Cooper Medical School of Rowan University ]

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Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2022 – 2023

• If you will not be a full time student between June 2022 – August 2023, please describe in detail your planned activities, including projected time commitment for each activity.  (1,500 characters max)
• If you chose to pursue one or more growth years prior to applying to medical school, please share insight on your decision. (1,500 characters max)
• If you are a re-applicant, please share what you have done to enhance your candidacy and re-application? (1,500 characters max)

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Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2021 – 2022

• If you will not be a full time student between June 2021-August 2022, please describe in detail your planned activities, including projected time commitment for each activity.  (1,500 characters max)

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2020 - 2021

• If you will not be a full-time student between June 2020-August 2021, please describe in detail your planned activities, including projected time commitment for each activity. (1,500 characters max)

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2019 – 2020

• If you have participated in any program(s) affiliated with NJMS (i.e. summer programs, research, high school programs, internships, volunteering, graduate school, etc.), please indicate below. Please provide name(s) and date(s) of program participation. (1,500 characters max)
• If you have any relatives currently enrolled or who have graduated from NJMS please provide name(s), relationship to you and graduation year in the space provided below. (1,500 characters max)
• If you have any other connections to NJMS, or Rutgers University, please provide details below. (1,500 characters max)
• If you previously applied to NJMS through AMCAS or an accelerated program, please provide the following: Program name(s) and Application year(s). (1,500 characters max)
• Please indicate below if you previously met with either Dr. Heinrich or Ms. Rivero (prior to July 1, 2019). With whom did you meet and date(s). 
• How do you self-identify Racially
• How do you self-identify Ethnically
• How do you self-identify Culturally
• Integrity is a core value at NJMS. Please share your thoughts on Integrity. Additionally, we seek students who are self-aware, resilient and adaptable. Discuss a personal or professional challenge you have experienced and how you resolved it. (1,500 characters max)
• NJMS is committed to fostering a collaborative and cohesive environment. With this in mind, how will you contribute to our medical school community? (1,500 characters max)
• Please discuss any additional information you feel may help us in our review of your candidacy. Feel free to elaborate on any gaps (educational or experiences), discrepancies in academic history, institutional actions, etc. (1,500 characters max)

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2018 – 2019

• Please indicate below if you previously met with either Dr. Heinrich or Ms. Rivero (prior to July 1, 2018). With whom did you meet and date(s). 

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2017 – 2018

• We value qualities of integrity, humanism, diversity, and cultural competency in our student body. What would you bring to our medical school community? (1,500 characters max)
• Please discuss additional information not addressed in your application that you feel is important for the screening committee to know in reviewing your application (i.e. personal experiences, examples of resilience, discrepancies in academic history, etc.). (1,500 characters max)
• If there is any other information you feel enriches your candidacy, please feel free to share it here. (1,500 characters max)
• If you don’t currently reside in NJ, please share connections (if any) you may have. (1,500 characters max)
• If you will not be a full-time student between June 2016-August 2017, please describe in detail your planned activities, including chronology and time commitment. (1,500 characters max)

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2016 – 2017

Rutgers new jersey medical school secondary application questions: 2015 – 2016.

• We value integrity, humanism, cultural competence in our student body. What would you bring to our school? (1,500 characters max)
• If your legal residence on your AMCAS application is not NJ, please discuss specific reasons you have applied to NJMS and include connections you may have (if any) to New Jersey. (1,500 characters max)
• Please discuss any additional information that you feel is important to your candidacy for medical school. (1,500 characters max)
• If you are not attending college/university full-time as of fall 2014 or during the rest of the academic year, please describe your planned activities from June 2015 – August 2016. (1,500 characters max)

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Secondary Application Questions: 2014 – 2015

• Please discuss any personal characteristics that make you a good fit for medicine, as well as a good fit for NJMS. (1,500 characters max)
• If you are not attending college/university full-time as of fall 2014 or during the rest of the academic year, please describe your planned activities from June 2014 – August 2015. (1,500 characters max)

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Rutgers Honors prompt

Hello-- This is the prompt for the Rutgers Honors College essay. What are they trying to ask? (I guess Im not smart enough for Honors if I cant even help my child interpret the question!)

“Please share with us your concept of an educational challenge that interests you, and how you anticipate meeting this challenge at Rutgers through your involvement in an honors program.”

To clarify…i think they are asking for a societal problem but why are they assuming every student is interested in solving an issue related to education in their next 4 yrs?? What if they are focused on curing cancer or reversing climate change? Usually the questions are more broad so all students can have an authentic answer.

My son was puzzled too. After few discussions and brainstorming with me, I think the question is not asking the challenge in education field but the challenge a student interests/seeks when in school.

Thank you! She found more detail on the Rutgers website:

• In the question, the term “educational challenge” refers to a concept you might encounter in the classroom, in a service-based setting, during research or artistry, or in your everyday life; an issue you envision confronting. The choice is yours and you have some latitude.
• But please note, this question is less about what you define as the problem, and more about how you will engage in an honors program to address this challenge. That is the facet on which we hope you will focus.
• Please do not restate or iterate your accomplishments or what is already on your resume and application. Use this statement to tell us something about you that we don’t already know.

As illustrated by the post by @albanat , Rutgers has given a response in a generalized fashion.

It will be interesting to see if the new Honor prompt (first year they have done it) changes their admission criteria. Recently it has mostly just been GPA (not even test scores).

I’m also interested in seeing the outcomes of adding an essa!

so they don’t have essay in the past? That’s why my son’s friend knows nothing about the prompt and she told him she did not have that last year.

Correct, no essay prior to this year. There wasn’t any Honors application at all, or even checkbox. They either invited you or they didn’t based on your regular app info.

we interpreted the prompt as what educational challenge you personally feel that an honors program can help you overcome so say someone is looking to overcome the challenge of feeling lost in a big school, being in an honors program gives them access to smaller classes. another educational challenge is access to research opportunities so how would being enrolled in an honors program then allow a student to overcome that challenge?

they are going to get a lot of different answers and various interpretations of the prompt. with this being the first year they are on the CA and even allowing students to raise their hands for consideration into the various honors paths at Rutgers, they still will use scores and grades but just get a better idea around how the student thinks and writes. there is no wrong answer to this prompt because everyone defines educational challenge differently and no one should be judged on what they consider challenging.

also, again, with this being the first year Rutgers is using the CA, this is just another way for them to sort out the applications because they are going to get inundated with even more than they have ever received in past years.

Rutgers University Undergraduate College Application Essays

These Rutgers University college application essays were written by students accepted at Rutgers University. All of our sample college essays include the question prompt and the year written. Please use these sample admission essays responsibly.

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College Application Essays accepted by Rutgers University

A simple smile merudh vijay patel, rutgers university.

"Merudh, get up, get up!" It was four in the morning, and I was four years old. The heart-pounding sound of my dad's voice woke me out of a deep sleep. As I peeked through my bedroom door, I saw my father bolt out of our house with my mother in...

A Commitment to Change Anonymous

For most of my adolescent life, I had always hidden behind the somewhat comforting excuses for my weight: "You're just big boned," "You just have a slow metabolism," "Someday you'll grow into your body." But there was no denying the obvious truth:...

How Multiculturalism Shaped Me Anonymous

I grew up overseas, frequently visited my home country of Bangladesh, and have interacted with a great variety of people – all experiences that have shaped the person I am today. I have traveled to over twenty countries and lived for an extended...

How I Will Contribute to Rutgers University Anonymous

Though I am a white male who has grown up in the predominantly uniform communities of Englishtown and Monroe, my life experiences have been far from homogeneous or commonplace. My deep commitments to different clubs and organizations have deeply...

Diversity Anonymous

Although I may appear to be a typical male suburbanite from the predominantly white Monroe Township, I have intimately known and collaborated with a most diverse group of staff members through my experiences with the Monroe Falcon newspaper. As...

Lesson Well Learned Anonymous

The black and white keys mesmerized me, as always. They were of another ancestry - Steinway – different from the Yamaha I owned; but as I sat on the meticulously handcrafted ebony bench, I felt at home. My hands floated effortlessly upward, and...

Culture Shocked in Monroe Anonymous

In the summer before high school started, my family completed the year-long process of moving from our apartment in Brooklyn to the quiet suburbs of New Jersey. This extreme culture shock during such an important and transitory phase of my life...

A Month in Ghana Anonymous

For the first time, I was an outcast. The minority. The one who didn’t fit in. I was a speck of white in a sea of black, and everyone around me made sure that I realized that. I was in an unfamiliar country, across the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded...

Finding Purpose as a Nanny Anonymous

As I watch the edges on the shiny four-by-six memories that I pinned to my wall warp and curl, I cannot help but feel my heart ache. I spent an entire school year and summer investing my time, energy, and love into my job as a nanny for six...

Modesty. Simplicity. Practicality. Anonymous

I could not understand. There was no sign of trash on the streets. There was no trace of graffiti on the benches or walls. Everything was impeccably clean and simple in the middle of Stockholm, Sweden, with its 780,000 inhabitants. It is still a...

It’s a typical week during the autumn season. After school on this short Wednesday, I stay at school to lead the community service group, A.R.T.E., with my friend. We plan and organize for the upcoming “Fall Fest” at our school. After a short but...

Success In Humiliation Anonymous

It was May 3, 2007, a warm, bright day. Every field was filled with blooming flowers and all the trees were covered with lime green leaves; everything seemed beautiful and normal besides this madness. I was in the back seat of a police car that...

David Wolkoff's eBay Store David Wolkoff

When I was fifteen I borrowed $200 from my father, bought a broken Sidekick phone on eBay, watched YouTube videos to learn how to repair it, and re-sold it for an $80 profit. That was the start of David Wolkoff’s Store, an eBay business, which has...

My Greatest Influence Rebecca Seibert

My greatest inspiration, and my greatest influence, comes from not just one person but from a group. This group is my non-biological family, and happens to be a small, homegrown nonprofit organization. Without this group, I would not be the person...

A Vibrant Student for a Vibrant Community Kelvin Yao

I am an Asian, upper middle class, suburban kid, and I am not really that diverse if one simply looks at skin color, race, ethnicity, place of origin, or religion. But diversity is more than simple geography or socioeconomic status, especially in...

The Depth of Life Anonymous

Although I woke up that morning and most likely performed my usual routine, I cannot recall what was going through my mind. I can tell you for sure that I had no idea that day would end up altering the way I value life. Before the sun ruptured the...

A Dream Benjamin Gordon

I had a dream last night that my most revered mentors came together to weave their unique threads into the fabric that ultimately became my Common Application essay.

Kurt Vonnegut, my favorite novelist, was in charge of the introduction to this...

Experience is Key Anonymous

As I walk down the bustling streets, merchants are shouting for me to buy their various goods and children zoom by me as they play with one another. I attempt crossing the busy street to be confronted by the incessant honking of horns. I smile...

Looking Past the Rearview and into the Future Anonymous

Computers, video games, iPhones. Fuel injected, cereal box import rice rockets dominate the streets. Hybrid cars and green technology. Pop, rap and screamo. For better or for worse, times have changed. While modern applications serve their...

Excellence Anonymous

Excellence: a virtue, an ideal, a lifestyle. Excellence has not only come to embody myself; my actions, from their very core, induce excellence. A misconception exists that success is an indication of excellence—in fact, excellence is an...

The Climb Anonymous

People’s cultures are like fingerprints--no two are ever the same. Although I was born in the United States, I can truly say that I have grown up with two different cultures. My family originates from Egypt, and I am the first generation to be...

Never give up so easily Anonymous

Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.

--Hippocrates

I am fortunate to have grown up in a medical family: my grandfather and his brothers are traditional Chinese medical doctors. In fact, since my parents took...

My Intertidal Inspiration Ana Amalia Calvo

I stare out from the bay, my hip waders sunken into the mushy sand as I admire the smooth and confident glide of a blue heron landing on a rusted rack off the next sandbar. My father and I share an affinity towards nature, as well as an...

Space. The Final Frontier Anonymous

These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before ...

People sit on their couches awaiting the first-ever episode...

Recent Questions about Rutgers University

The Question and Answer section for Rutgers University is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Would This Be a bad idea for a College Essay?

I think this really depends on the context of what is expected for your essay. Unfortunately this is only a short-answer space about specific literature.

Do my quotes strongly support the author's purpose which is to inform us on the importance of finding a purpose, path, and journey in your life?

I'm not sure what novel your quotes pertain to, but I would say that they seem to fit in with the categories you've cited.

How does the apartment building itself create problems for the Younger family as they begin the day? Since the family has to share a bathroom they fight over the bathroom.

From the text:

Moreover, a section of this room, for it is not really a room unto itself, though the landlord's lease would make it seem so, slopes backward to provide a small kitchen area, where the family prepares the meals that are eaten in the...

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For the Rutgers Honors essay prompt, should I talk about my educational challenges and poor educational performance in elementary and middle school, and talk how I was able to overcome that by the time I got to high school?

Issue is, I feel as if I shouldn't talk about the things I did in elementary and middle school on a college application in general.

Prompt: You indicated interest in honors community consideration and participation. Please share with us your concept of an educational challenge that interests you, and how you anticipate meeting this challenge at Rutgers through your involvement in an honors program. Your response can be up to 500 words.

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More From Forbes

Harvard business school announces 3 new application essays.

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Harvard Business School.

Harvard Business School announced a surprising departure from its single, open-ended application essay to three short essays with specific prompts. The HBS website sums up the kind of applicant the school is seeking: “We are looking for future leaders who are passionate about business, leadership, and growth.”

The prompts for the class that will begin in fall 2025 instruct applicants to address each topic in turn.

• Business-Minded Essay : Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
• Leadership-Focused Essay : What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)
• Growth-Oriented Essay : Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

The prompts ask applicants to go beyond simply asserting their allegiance to the ideals of business, leadership and growth. Each of the three questions asks for evidence: “experiences,” “experiences” and “an example,” respectively.

The prompts do not expect a straightforward list of what happened in the past. Rather, they encourage reflection on how these experiences affected present realities and future goals.

Applicants are asked to reflect on past, present and future as an ongoing process of becoming who they are now and who they wish to become. Even the “Business-Minded Essay” is about past choices and future impact; it also assumes you “plan to serve.” The “Leadership-Focused Essay” does not ask applicants to recite a list of titles, but to discuss who they are and how they relate to others; not what title they aspire to, but “what kind of leader you wish to become.”

Perhaps the most surprising essay prompt is No. 3, which asks about curiosity. It opens the door for applicants to discuss a more personal aspect of their candidacies. The prompt asks not about end result, but about the process of change. Once again, the emphasis is on “growth.”

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In short, the prompts ask about person and process.

How The 3 New Prompts Differ From Last Year’s Single Question

This year’s prompts give applicants more direction than the previous open-ended instruction, which was: “As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?”

Applicants may find it easier to follow these more detailed instructions and to stay on topic. They no longer need to face an open question and a blank page.

Another aid is the shorter word limit. The essay on being business-minded has a limit of 300 words, and the essays on leadership and growth through curiosity are limited to 250 words each.

A third difference is the specific inquiry about business. Last year’s prompt allowed candidates to choose anything they thought would be important for HBS to consider. Some applicants struggled to decide whether to focus on business or something beyond work. While the “Business-Minded Essay” is still personal, it does ask applicants to reflect on their careers.

One might also speculate that the new, more directive prompts makes it easier for the admissions committee to compare essays across applications, while still leaving room for considerable variation in how applicants choose to address the essay prompts.

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Harvard Business School NEW MBA Essay Prompts (2024-2025)

Your essential guide to the latest HBS MBA essay prompts, featuring expert advice, strategic insights, and additional resources to help you craft standout essays for your Harvard Business School application.

Posted June 26, 2024

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Harvard Business School (HBS) has once again set the stage for aspiring leaders to showcase their potential with the release of its new MBA essay prompts for the 2024-2025 application cycle. This extremely rare update presents both a challenge and an opportunity for applicants to showcase their unique experiences and perspectives. In this article, we’ll explore these new prompts, provide strategic advice on how to approach them, and offer tips to help you craft top-of-the-barrel essays that can enhance your application.

New Harvard MBA Essay Prompts (2024)

The old HBS essay prompt was, "As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?" Instead of one, longer essay, aspiring candidates of the class of 2027 have three, shorter essay prompts to respond to:

• Business-Minded Essay : Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
• Leadership-Focused Essay : What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)
• Growth-Oriented Essay : Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)

Prompt 1: Business-Minded Essay

Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (300 words)

Breakdown: The main goal of this prompt is to connect your past experiences with your future career goals. That said, it’s an opportunity to show how your journey has shaped your professional ambitions and commitment to making a positive impact. HBS wants to see that you know where you've been and where you're going and that there is a narrative that ties it all together. Here’s how to approach it:

• Identify Core Motivations: Start by reflecting on 3-4 pivotal experiences that you feel significantly influenced your career choices. These could be professional roles, projects, volunteer work, or personal challenges. Then, consider how your interests, passions, and motivations have evolved over time because of these experiences.
• Connect Past to Future: Clearly explain how the experience(s) you selected helped shape your career goals. How did you navigate those experiences as you did? Why did you make the decisions you made? Be specific about what you aim to achieve and why these goals are important to you.
• Make Your Essay Forward-Looking: Create a forward-looking narrative that ties your past experiences to your future goals. Show how these experiences have prepared you to make an impact on businesses, organizations, and communities. As a bonus point, use this moment as a chance to show your awareness of broader social and economic movement and demonstrate your overall desire to contribute meaningfully to your anticipated industry. Note: When looking at your application, AdComs want to see proof that you will do and accomplish what you say you will. Having a cohesive theme and clear goals will help you make a persuasive argument.
• Keep It Professional: Remember that the prompt specifically asks to see how your past experiences have impacted your career choices and how you see yourself fitting into the professional world in the next several years. With that in mind, make sure you stick to talking about your future job prospects in this essay.

Prompt 2: Leadership-Focused Essay

What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (250 words)

Breakdown: This prompt asks you to explain your personal development and leadership philosophy. It’s all about introspection and understanding how your experiences have molded your approach to leadership.

• Examine Your Leadership Journey: Reflect on the various stages of your leadership journey. Identify key moments where you had to step up, make decisions, or influence others, and think about how these experiences have shaped your leadership style.
• Use Personal Anecdotes: Use personal anecdotes to illustrate your points. Stories about how you have invested in others, facilitated a strong work environment, or even reached a breakthrough while working as a team can be very powerful in showing your leadership potential. With each example you provide, make sure to explain what you’ve learned from those interactions using the STAR Method.
• Show Investment in Others: As you’re outlining your response, an example of how you have supported and developed others will likely come to mind (i.e. mentoring, team leadership, community involvement, etc). Remember, however, that you’ll also need to show how you want to continue acting as a leader and investing in others.
• Define Your Leadership Style: Clearly describe the type of leader you aspire to be. Highlight qualities like empathy, resilience, innovation, or inclusivity, and explain how your experiences have reinforced these traits.

Pro Tip: If you’re having trouble nailing down or putting words to your particular brand of leadership, try taking a leadership style quiz. Lucky for you, Harvard has its own page for this exact dilemma! Using the resources provided here by HBS – and perhaps even mentioning them in your essays or interviews – will help you stand out as an applicant familiar with the resources HBS has to offer.

Prompt 3: Growth-Oriented Essay

Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (250 words)

Breakdown: HBS is using this prompt to see how the gears turn in your head. They want to know if you have intellectual curiosity and if so, how it drives your personal and professional growth. Treat this prompt as an invitation to highlight a specific instance where your curiosity led to significant learning or development.

• Identify a Defining Moment of Curiosity: Reflect on a time when your curiosity led you to explore new ideas or opportunities. Think about moments of genuine interest when you went beyond the surface to deeply investigate a topic, problem, or question.
• Describe Your Process: Explain what sparked your curiosity and how you pursued it. Detail the steps you took, the questions you asked, and the challenges you faced.
• Highlight the Impact: Discuss the outcomes of your efforts. What did you learn? How did it change your perspective or abilities? How has it influenced your approach to other situations?
• Show Benefits: Highlight the long-term and tangible benefits of your curiosity. Discuss how this experience has influenced your growth, changed your perspective, or contributed to your success in other areas.

HBS Essay Tips for Success

1. be specific and concrete.

Avoid vague generalizations and instead focus on giving specific examples that illustrate your points. Use detailed anecdotes to bring your experiences to life. Whether you’re discussing a professional achievement, a leadership challenge, or a moment of curiosity, specificity will make your essay more engaging and memorablee. Writing descriptive stories with clear points and imagery allow the admissions committee to better visualize your experiences and understand your unique journey, and will ultimately benefit your application in the long run.

2. Focus on Leadership and Growth

Leadership and growth are central themes in the HBS essays. Highlight instances where you’ve demonstrated leadership, invested in others, and pursued personal and professional growth. Reflect on how these experiences have shaped your leadership style and growth mindset. By letting your leadership potential and commitment to continuous improvement shine through to the admissions committee, you’ll prove that you’re a perfect match with HBS’s core values.

3. Maintain Professionalism

While it’s important to be authentic and personal, make sure your essays maintain a professional tone. Especially for the business-minded essay, focus on professional experiences and how they have influenced your career choices. Striking the right balance between personal insight and professional achievement is crucial for a compelling narrative.

4. Seek Feedback

Once you’ve drafted your essays, seek feedback from trusted mentors, peers, or professional advisors. Fresh perspectives can help provide valuable insights and help you refine your narrative. Be open to constructive criticism and use it to enhance the clarity, coherence, and impact of your essays.

5. Edit and Proofread

Keeping any given feedback in mind, carefully edit and proofread your essays to ensure they are free from any grammatical errors and typos. Clear, error-free writing tells the admissions committee that you have a strong attention to detail and commitment to excellence. Reading your essays aloud or using text-to-speech tools can help catch errors you might miss while reading silently. A polished essay enhances your professionalism and credibility.

By following these tips, you’ll be on the right track to write essays that not only meet the HBS application requirements but also perfectly embody your unique strengths, experiences, and aspirations. Good luck with your application process!

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At Leland, we have a broad network of world-class coaches who can help with any part of the MBA application. Many of them are experts in essay writing, browse them here. Want to work with an HBS alum who has first-hand experience with the Harvard application process? As for some of our highest-rated MBA admissions coaches, you can browse them all here .

HBS New Essays FAQs

How do Harvard’s new essay prompts differ from last year?

• The essay prompts for the 2024-2025 application cycle differ drastically from the previous year. Instead of HBS' traditional one essay requirement - "Is there anything else we should know about you?" - applicants now have three, shorter prompts to respond to, all targeting a different characteristic (business, leadership, and growth).

How many essays are required for the HBS application?

• For many years, HBS required only one main essay. Starting in 2024, applicants now have three essays.

What is the word limit for HBS essays?

• The word limit for the new HBS essays is as follows: 300 words for the business-minded prompt and 250 words each for the leadership-focused and growth-oriented prompts. As you’re writing your essay, remember to stick to this limit to keep your essay concise and focused. Being able to stay within the word limit while still writing a strong essay is the best way to demonstrate your ability to communicate effectively.

Can I reuse essays from other applications?

• While it may be easy to draw inspiration from essays written for other applications, each response should be tailored specifically to HBS’s prompts. Doing this helps you better present yourself as the kind of hard-working, dedicated student HBS is looking for and highlights why you are a good fit for their program. Likewise, admissions officers can quickly spot when someone is using a fill-in-the-blank style of essay, so always make sure your essay is original and direct.

How important are the essays compared to other application components?

• Essays are a critical part of the HBS application as they offer the only opportunity for you to trusly share your voice with the admissions committee. Because of this, the essays represent your chance to showcase your personality, values, and potential fit with the HBS community. While other components of your application such as test scores, resumes, and recommendations are also important, the essays help provide personal context and depth to your overall application.

When is the deadline for the HBS application?

• Deadlines for this year’s application cycle are September 4th, 2024 for Round 1 and January 6th, 2025 for Round 2. Admissions decisions will be released by December 10 and January 6 for each respective round.

For more expert advice on writing your essay and other critical components of your MBA program applications, take a look through the following articles:

• Harvard Business School: MBA Program & Application Overview
• How to Write a Powerful MBA Essay
• A Comprehensive MBA Timeline–With Chart
• How to Ace the HBS MBA Interview
• The HBS Waitlist Strategy
• Harvard Business School MBA Application Deadlines
• How I Got Into Harvard Business School With Low Test Scores

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