Emory Supplemental Essays 2025-26 鈥� Prompts and Advice

Emory Supplemental Essays 2025-26 鈥� Prompts and Tips

July 31, 2025

Emory鈥檚 15% acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 came after they received approximately 37,000 applicants for admission, numbers that have held steady over the past several years. Whether applying to Emory College, Oxford College, or both, applicants to this prestigious Atlanta-based research university face an epically challenging admissions process ahead. Emory is a rare school where a 1500ish SAT and 3.9 GPA are often necessary, but not sufficient for admission. In addition, application components like the Emory supplemental essays need to be exceptionally well done.

Want to learn more about how to create a strong application for Emory? In addition to our blog entitled: How to Get Into Emory University: Admissions Data and Strategies, head to for all our best free tools and resources, including an admissions calculator for 170+ institutions, college planning guides & templates, and example essays from accepted students.聽

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The good news is that this school does ultimately admit over 5,000 students each year. If you have the academic chops, then getting into Emory is an achievable goal. However, you鈥檒l need to make sure that you use the two supplemental essays to showcase your writing ability by generating powerful and detail-rich essays that will stand out to an admissions officer.

Emory Supplemental Essay Prompt #1 鈥� Academic Interests

What academic areas are you interested in exploring at Emory University and why? (200 words)

We all have a story of what drives us to pursue a certain academic pathway and career. How did your interest initially develop? What was the spark? How have you nurtured this passion, and how has it evolved over time? If you desire to go into engineering, for example, use this as a chance to talk about everything from your childhood fascination with how things work to your participation in an award-winning robotics program at your high school. Share a compelling narrative about how your love of your future area of study has blossomed to its present levels.

In addition to the above, Emory also wants to know why you desire to pursue your studies at their institution. Tie your passions into specific聽 at Emory, including courses, professors,聽, or any other aspects of your desired major that appeal most to you. The more specific, the better.

Emory Supplemental Essay Prompt #2 鈥� Getting to Know You

In addition, answer one of the following questions.聽聽Your response should be no more than 150 words.

In the university鈥檚 own words, 鈥淲e encourage you to be thoughtful in your responses and not stress about what the 鈥榬ight answer鈥� might be, as there really isn鈥檛 one.鈥�

a) Emory University has a strong commitment to building community. Tell us about a community that you have been part of where your personal participation helped to change or shape the community for the better.

鈥淐ommunity鈥� can be defined in myriad ways: it could be large-scale, like an ethnic, religious, or neighborhood community, or small-scale, like a group of individuals who gather for a club, sport, or service project. Most applicants to Emory are involved in at least one 鈥渃ommunity,鈥� whether that’s the captain of a team, the editor-in-chief of your school paper, or a member of your town鈥檚 trail clean-up team.

However, don’t just rehash your resume. Instead, bring your involvement and influence to life. Interestingly, Emory did change the wording of this year’s prompt ever so slightly, adding “personal” to the second sentence鈥攁n addition that reiterates Emory’s interest in how your individual contributions positively impacted or improved the community in question.

So, your goal is to use your writing ability to show聽what type of community member you are rather than merely聽telling. What is your role within your chosen community? Within that role, how do you lead, guide, or interact with others? Most importantly, how have you positively impacted your chosen community, and what have you learned from that experience?

b) Reflect on a personal experience where you intentionally expanded your cultural awareness.

Some students may have more direct experiences related to cultural awareness than others. But鈥攏o matter your background鈥攖his is an opportunity to demonstrate that you care about justice and fairness in your local community as well as the global community. If applicable,聽speak about a time when you spoke up for a peer in a moment of need. Alternatively, you could describe an instance when you became involved in a larger cause or movement. This could be in the realm of politics, activism, or volunteer work.

If you don鈥檛 happen to have a deeply personal story to tell in this realm, you鈥檒l probably want to select a different Emory supplemental essay prompt. While there鈥檚 nothing wrong with simply articulating your basic beliefs in the values of inclusion, equity, tolerance, and diversity, it doesn鈥檛 necessarily make for the most compelling essay, particularly when the school is asking for a specific 鈥渆xperience.鈥�

c) Emory University鈥檚 unique mission calls for service to humanity. Share how you might personally contribute to this mission of service to humanity.

To truly understand where Emory is coming from with this question, one needs to look no further than the school鈥檚 own mission statement: 鈥淓mory University’s mission is to create, preserve, teach, and apply knowledge in the service of humanity.鈥�

If you have been involved in some type of charitable/community service endeavor throughout your high school years, this is a great opportunity to speak about that venture in more detail. Looking forward, how might you continue the work you鈥檝e been doing? You can also connect your aspirations in this realm to that are available at Emory.

d) In a scholarly community, differing ideas often collide before they converge. How do you personally navigate disagreement in a way that promotes progress聽and deepens meaningful dialogue?

This Emory supplemental essay prompt is brand-new to the crew, and it’s an understandable addition. The U.S. presently finds itself in an extreme state of polarization. There seems to be little agreement even as to what constitutes 鈥渢ruth鈥� or 鈥渇acts.鈥� Within this divided world, it can be hard for individuals with competing viewpoints to engage in civil and productive dialogue. Here, Emory is giving you the chance to show that you are an open-minded, intellectually curious, truth-seeking young person.

In addition to illustrating your willingness to engage in difficult conversations, Emory wants to know how you personally navigate disagreement in a healthy and open-minded way. During a disagreement, what steps do you take to continue engaging in the conversation and driving it forward, even when it feels difficult to do so? For example, perhaps you ask a lot of genuinely curious questions in an effort to see the other person’s viewpoint in a new way or openly acknowledge the shortcomings of your argument (and encourage the other person to do the same). Or, perhaps you prioritize staying calm and focused by controlling your tone of voice, taking a pause before speaking, or agreeing not to interrupt each other.

Finally, the strongest essays will include an example of a specific disagreement, but you don鈥檛 have to be the hero of the anecdote. In fact, you may be one who found it difficult to stay civil.

How important are the Emory supplemental essays?

Emory views six factors as being 鈥渧ery important鈥� to their applicant evaluation process. They are: the rigor of one鈥檚 coursework, the GPA earned, recommendations, character/personal qualities, extracurricular activities, and talent/ability. The essays are 鈥渋mportant,鈥� alongside standardized test scores and volunteer work.

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If you are interested in working with one of 国产第一福利影院草草鈥� experienced and knowledgeable essay coaches as you craft your Emory supplemental essays, we encourage you to聽get a quote听迟辞诲补测.

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Dave Bergman

Dave has over a decade of professional experience that includes work as a teacher, high school administrator, college professor, and independent educational consultant. He is a co-author of the books The Enlightened College Applicant (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016) and Colleges Worth Your Money (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020).