Prompt database · 2026-27 cycle
Swarthmore College
Deadlines
source| Early Decision | November 15, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Early Decision II | January 4, 2027 |
| Regular Decision | January 4, 2027 |
Essay prompts (2)
- identityAll first-year applicants — required2026-27250 words
Source details
All first-year applicants — REQUIRED. The page states: "For the 2024-2025 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.
- academic interestAll first-year applicants — required2026-27250 words
Source details
All first-year applicants — REQUIRED. The page states: "For the 2024-2025 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.
The school's published AI policy
Whether you are getting help from AI or another person, we recommend that any assistance with writing comes at the beginning or end of the process — such as brainstorming ideas for essay topics or asking for feedback on readability, spelling, and mechanics. ... When we read your application, we expect to learn about you and how you think, which means you are not submitting work that has been substantially created by AI or another person. ... Asking AI or another person to outline or draft an application essay ... Using AI to modify the tone of your writing (e.g., rewriting to sound more academic or conversational) ... Asking AI or another person to rewrite a significant portion of your essay(s)
the school’s published policyChecked Sep 8, 2026
Our reading
Swarthmore recommends that any writing assistance come at the beginning or end of the process — brainstorming topics or asking for feedback on readability, spelling and mechanics — while prohibiting AI from outlining, drafting, translating, retoning or rewriting a significant portion of the essay, and requiring citation of any AI-generated content submitted.
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.
Prompts move mid-season
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