Swarthmore College

Essay prompts (2)

1. identity2026-27250 words

   Applies to: All first-year applicants — REQUIRED. The page states: "For the 2025-2026 admissions cycle, students will be asked to answer both of the following questions" and "As part of the Common Application and Coalition Application, you will be asked to submit no more than 250 words in response to each short answer question (QuestBridge applicants are asked the same question on our Swarthmore-QuestBridge Intent to Apply form)."

   What aspects of your self-identity or personal background are most significant to you? Reflecting on the elements of your home, school, or other communities that have shaped your life, explain how you have grown in your ability to navigate differences when engaging with others, or demonstrated your ability to collaborate in communities other than your own.

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Swarthmore 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. academic interest2026-27250 words

   Applies to: All first-year applicants — REQUIRED. The page states: "For the 2025-2026 admissions cycle, students will be asked to answer both of the following questions" and "As part of the Common Application and Coalition Application, you will be asked to submit no more than 250 words in response to each short answer question (QuestBridge applicants are asked the same question on our Swarthmore-QuestBridge Intent to Apply form)."

   Tell us about a topic that has fascinated you recently – either inside or outside of the classroom. What made you curious about this? Has this topic connected across other areas of your interests? How has this experience shaped you and what encourages you to keep exploring?

   This is the 2025-26 wording, carried over: Swarthmore 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

Swarthmore allows AI as "a useful aid for many parts of your college search and application process" — researching colleges, summarizing application requirements, "brainstorming ideas for essay topics or asking for feedback on readability, spelling, and mechanics." It prohibits submitting work substantially created by AI or another person, specifically: "Asking AI or another person to outline or draft an application essay"; "Using AI or another tool to translate your writing from another language into English"; "Using AI to modify the tone of your writing (e.g., rewriting to sound more academic or conversational)"; and "Asking AI or another person to rewrite a significant portion of your essay(s)." The College states: "The best way for us to learn about you is through your own writing, not through essays that have been created by AI or other people," and warns that "Overuse or uncritical use of AI when crafting application materials can flatten or erase your authentic voice." One narrow exception applies to supporting documents, not to your own writing: "AI may be used to assist with the translation of documents that are not prepared in English (e.g., transcripts or recommendation letters). However, all documents as prepared in their original language must be submitted alongside translations." Finally, "The submission of any AI-generated writing, audio, video, or graphic content in your application must include proper acknowledgement or citation."

How reviews use this page

When you request a review for a Swarthmore 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.