Claremont McKenna College

Essay prompts (2)

1. why us2026-27

   Applies to: All first-year applicants — REQUIRED. The page describes both questions as "required supplemental essay prompts found in both the Common Application and the Coalition Application." No restriction by major, program or applicant type is stated. CMC also accepts the QuestBridge Application; the page does not say how the supplement is handled there.

   CMC's mission is to prepare students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions. With this mission in mind, please explain why you want to attend Claremont McKenna College.

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Claremont McKenna College has not republished this prompt for 2026-27 yet. Schools usually post updates around the Common App opening on August 1; we re-check after that and change this text only against an official source.

   source

2. community2026-27

   Applies to: All first-year applicants — REQUIRED. The page describes both questions as "required supplemental essay prompts found in both the Common Application and the Coalition Application." No restriction by major, program or applicant type is stated. CMC also accepts the QuestBridge Application; the page does not say how the supplement is handled there.

   A critical part of fulfilling our mission is living out the commitments of CMC's Open Academy: Freedom of Expression, Viewpoint Diversity, and Constructive Dialogue. We want to learn more about your commitment to listening and learning from others with different viewpoints, perspectives, and life experiences from your own. Describe a time when engaging with someone about a specific topic resulted in you changing your attitude, belief, or behavior, or you changed the belief or behavior of someone else. What was the change that occurred for you, and what facilitated that change? What did you learn from that experience, and how has it informed how you engage with others?

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Claremont McKenna College has not republished this prompt for 2026-27 yet. Schools usually post updates around the Common App opening on August 1; we re-check after that and change this text only against an official source.

   source

CMC addresses AI directly in its first-year application instructions: "What about non-human assistance, such as AI? If you choose to use AI, it should be limited to basic proofreading, such as correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Remember, we value your authentic voice most of all." AI use is therefore permitted only for mechanical proofreading — grammar, punctuation and spelling — and not for drafting, generating or substantively revising application writing.

How reviews use this page

When you request a review for a Claremont McKenna College supplement, the feedback is grounded in exactly what you see here: the prompt itself, its word limit, and what the school publishes about its values and programs. That's the whole claim — calibrated to the prompt and the school's own published guidance, scored against a consistent rubric. Not insider knowledge, and never a rewrite: Second Read is a coach, not a ghostwriter. It flags weaknesses and tells you what to fix and why; it never writes a sentence of your essay.

Something wrong on this page?

A wrong deadline is worse than no deadline. If anything here doesn't match the school's official page, tell us — same-day fix is the goal.