How to Write the Harvard Supplemental Essays
Quick answer: The Harvard supplemental essays are five required short answers, each capped at 150 words. [1] They cover your life experiences, a time you disagreed with someone, your activities, how you will use a Harvard education, and three things your roommates should know. There is no separate Why Harvard essay. The Harvard supplemental essays […]
How to Write the MIT Supplemental Essays
Quick answer: The MIT supplemental essays are the only essays MIT reads, since MIT does not use the Common App or ask for a personal statement. You apply through MIT’s own portal and write four essays of roughly 100 to 200 words, four short responses of 40 to 50 words, and one open-ended additional information […]
InGenius Prep’s Guides to College Supplemental Essays
Quick answer: College supplemental essays are school-specific questions you answer alongside your personal statement. This page collects our guides for 25 selective US colleges, each covering that school’s 2026-27 prompts, official word limits, and what readers look for. Start with the schools on your list, then draft in the order you plan to submit. Every […]
How to Write the Princeton Supplemental Essays
Quick answer: The Princeton supplemental essays include one 250-word academic essay (academic interests for A.B. and undecided applicants, or Why Engineering for B.S.E. applicants), a 400-500 word Your Voice essay on your lived experience, a 250-word service response, and three 50-word More About You answers. You also submit a graded written paper. Quick answer: Princeton’s […]
InGenius Prep x US Squash: A Student Success Story from the Court to Duke
Quick answer: InGenius Prep is an official partner of US Squash, the national governing body for squash in the United States, offering admissions guidance to squash families. To launch the partnership, InGenius Prep shared the story of Leonard, a squash player and classics student who worked with the firm from 10th grade and was admitted […]
Crafting a Cannes-Worthy Narrative: What College Applicants Can Learn from the 2025 Film Festival
Quick answer: Storytelling in college essays works the way it does in film: authenticity beats perfection, specific details create emotional impact, and a clear point of view makes a story memorable. The films of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival show that the best personal statement tells a story only you could tell, in your own […]
USA Fencing Summer Nationals 2025 Recap
Quick answer: The 2025 USA Fencing Summer Nationals ran from June 28 to July 7 at the Baird Center in Milwaukee, drawing thousands of athletes to the largest fencing tournament in the world. The final day crowned six new national champions in youth and Division III events. InGenius Prep shared the recap in collaboration with […]
Former Admissions Officers Discuss Personal Statement Red Flags
Quick answer: The most common personal statement red flags, according to Former Admissions Officers, are plagiarism, factual errors, careless proofreading, an inauthentic voice, inconsistencies with the rest of your application, generic statements, and unclear structure. The best essays are original, specific, and carefully revised so they sound like you. When writing the Common Application personal […]
What Is Cumulative GPA? Explanation, Importance, and Grade Calculations
Quick answer: Cumulative GPA is the average of every grade you have earned across all semesters of high school or college, weighted by each course’s credits. To calculate it, multiply each course’s grade points by its credits, add the totals, and divide by the total credits attempted. Colleges use it to see academic performance over […]
The New Ivies and the Truth About Test-Optional
Quick answer: The New Ivies are selective universities, such as Vanderbilt, MIT, Duke, and UCLA, that now rival the Ivy League in selectivity and outcomes. At the same time, colleges including MIT, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale, and Harvard have reinstated testing requirements after finding that scores helped identify talented students, so solid test scores matter again. […]