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Prompt database · 2026-27 cycle

Stony Brook University

Auto-updated — spot an error? tell usLast verified August 6, 2026

Deadlines

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Early ActionNovember 1, 2026
Regular DecisionJanuary 15, 2027

Essay prompts (2)

None required of a general applicant · all 2 below are program-specific

  1. why usUniversity Honors Programs2026-27250 words
    Source details

    Applicants to the University Honors Programs (Honors College, University Scholars, or WISE)

    Please discuss why you are a good fit for your preferred University Honors Program (Honors College, University Scholars, or WISE). Applicants should keep their statement to approximately 250 words.

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  2. academic interestScholars for Medicine or Scholars for Dental…2026-27650 words
    Source details

    Applicants to Scholars for Medicine or Scholars for Dental Medicine

    What aspects about medicine/dental medicine intrigue you? Describe how these aspects influence your life.

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The school's published AI policy

An appropriate use of an AI tool is to help you explore admission essay ideas or to refine your admission essay based on the topic selected; however, it is important that the final work be yours. AI tools should be used as a resource, similar to resources you may use at your school, e.g. a counselor or teacher. As with counselors and teachers who are not writing your essay for you, AI should not either. This guidance extends to essays written for any university admission purpose*, including essays and short answers for our University Honors Programs and Simons STEM Scholars Program. *For applicants to our Creative Writing program, which requires a writing sample be submitted; AI generated or assisted writing samples are not acceptable for consideration. The foundation of the review of the writing sample is to gauge how potential students write. Writing samples are assessed by Creative Writing staff for originality and if any concerns are present the sample is submitted for review to an AI detector.

the school’s published policyChecked Sep 8, 2026

Our reading

Stony Brook names exploring ideas and refining an already-drafted admission essay as appropriate AI uses — framing AI as a resource like a counselor or teacher — so long as the final work is the applicant's own; the one prohibition is narrow, barring AI-generated or AI-assisted writing samples for Creative Writing applicants only.

How reviews use this page

When you request a review for a Stony Brook 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.

Prompts move mid-season

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