A Guide to the Columbia Supplemental Essays 2020-2021
Located in the heart of New York City, Columbia University has long been one of the most competitive schools in the world. Consistently ranked among the top five colleges in the U.S., Columbia attracts a wide range of students from all over the world. Although it is no easy task, , it’s time to think about ways to distinguish yourself among a strong pool of applicants. If your interest in Columbia stems from genuine enthusiasm towards the unique opportunities offered by the school, then the Columbia supplemental essays 2020-2021 can help you bolster your candidacy.
The Columbia supplemental essays 2020-2021 are designed to help the admissions committee understand your intellectual pursuits, interests outside the classroom, and the real motivations behind your interest in Columbia beyond its esteemed ranking. Help the admissions officers understand why you’d ber an ideal Columbia student by carefully considering and answering the prompts below. To guide you through a smooth-sailing writing process, I’ve outlined each prompt, provided some tips and tricks for answering them, and included some further advice to help you write your Columbia supplemental essays 2020-2021
Prompts for the Columbia Supplemental Essays 2020-2021
Prompt 1
For the four list questions that follow, we ask that you list each individual response using commas or semicolons; the items do not have to be numbered or in any specific order. No explanatory text or formatting is needed.
- List the titles of the required readings from academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school.
- List the titles of the books, essays, poetry, short stories or plays you read outside of academic courses that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school.
- List the titles of the print or digital publications, websites, journals, podcasts or other content with which you regularly engage.
- List the movies, albums, shows, museums, lectures, events at your school or other entertainments that you enjoyed most during secondary/high school (in person or online).
The instructions make it very clear that there’s no minimum number of titles you must include. That being said, don’t just insert one answer for each topic. For the first prompt within this question, don’t just mention the classics just for the sake of letting admissions officers know you’ve read them. They are aware of the usual high school reading lists, so they have a good idea of the kinds of books most applicants have read. Think honestly about what you actually enjoyed. It doesn’t have to be a novel – or even limited to your literature courses. It could be a chapter in your chemistry textbook, an essay on a historical event, or a particular poem that you’ve been unable to get out of your head.
From your answers to the Columbia supplemental essays 2020-2021, the university also wants to know what kind of topics and genres you enjoy outside academics. All of these could follow a particular theme – your answer to the latter three bullets could be a great way to show that you’ve pursued your academic interests through more than just schoolwork. Or, you could highlight a passion outside your intended major, such as sports or cooking, by mentioning relevant books or magazines.
Don’t list big-name publications such as The New York Times just because you think it sounds impressive. It will probably be one of the more common answers anyway. Go through your subscriptions, browser history, and think about which publications you’re always drawn to when at a newsstand or library.
