Northwestern University

Essay prompts (6)

1. identity2026-27300 words

   Applies to: Required for first-year applicants via Common App or Coalition with Scoir; optional for QuestBridge applicants

   We want to be sure we're considering your application in the context of your personal experiences: What aspects of your background, your identity, or your school, community, and/or household settings have most shaped how you see yourself engaging in Northwestern's community, be it academically, extracurricularly, culturally, politically, socially, or otherwise?

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Northwestern University 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. weird2026-27200 words

   Applies to: First-year applicants; optional (answer 0-2 of the optional questions; all optional for QuestBridge applicants)

   If you had the opportunity to paint the Rock, what would you paint on the Rock, and why?

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Northwestern University 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

3. academic interest2026-27200 words

   Applies to: First-year applicants; optional (answer 0-2 of the optional questions; all optional for QuestBridge applicants)

   Northwestern fosters a distinctively interdisciplinary culture. We believe discovery and innovation thrive at the intersection of diverse ideas, perspectives, and academic interests. Within this setting, if you could dream up an undergraduate class, research project, or creative effort (a start-up, a design prototype, a performance), what would it be? Who might be some ideal classmates or collaborators?

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Northwestern University 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

4. community2026-27200 words

   Applies to: First-year applicants; optional (answer 0-2 of the optional questions; all optional for QuestBridge applicants)

   Community and belonging matter at Northwestern. Tell us about one or more communities, networks, or student groups you see yourself connecting with on campus.

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Northwestern University 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

5. why us2026-27200 words

   Applies to: First-year applicants; optional (answer 0-2 of the optional questions; all optional for QuestBridge applicants)

   Northwestern's location is special: on the shore of Lake Michigan, steps from downtown Evanston, just a few miles from Chicago. What aspects of our location are most compelling to you, and why?

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Northwestern University 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

6. identity2026-27200 words

   Applies to: First-year applicants; optional (answer 0-2 of the optional questions; all optional for QuestBridge applicants)

   Northwestern is a place where people with diverse backgrounds from all over the world can study, live, and talk with one another. This range of experiences and viewpoints immeasurably enriches learning. How might your individual background contribute to this diversity of perspectives in Northwestern's classrooms and around our campus?

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Northwestern University 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

Northwestern permits constructive AI use while applying (researching colleges and admission terms, building a tour itinerary, exploring academic interests, brainstorming essay topics, and reviewing grammar, punctuation, and spelling of completed essays) but prohibits using generative AI to write the personal statement or supplemental essays, translating an essay written in another language, submitting an AI-completed piece from an outline, or using AI to rework a supplemental essay written for another school. Applications must reflect the applicant's own work, in their own voice.

How reviews use this page

When you request a review for a Northwestern University 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.