Schools / 2025-2026
Brandeis UniversitySupplemental Essays
All 3 required prompts, taken apart one by one: what each is really asking, plus two annotated example essays each, so you can see more than one way to do it well.
- None
- Universal supplement
- 2 (250 words each)
- Conditional prompts
- Required (650 words)
- Common App essay
- Test-optional
- Testing
Deadlines Early Decision I Nov 3, 2025 (notify Dec 15) · Early Action Nov 3, 2025 (notify Feb 1) · Early Decision II Jan 15, 2026 (notify Feb 15) · Regular Decision Jan 15, 2026 (notify Apr 1) Admit rate Test-optional. Brandeis does not require any test scores, and fewer than 40% of recent applicants chose to submit them. Submit scores only if they sit comfortably inside or above the mid-50% ranges and genuinely strengthen your file. Prompts verified from Brandeis’s official requirements ↗
Here is the surprising part: for 2025-26, Brandeis does not have a supplemental essay that every applicant writes. Most students apply with just the Common App personal statement (650 words) and the activities list. That makes your main essay carry almost all of the storytelling weight, so it has to do double duty as both your personal statement and your unspoken "why I belong here."
Two groups do write a short extra essay, each capped at 250 words: international applicants answer a prompt about being an international student at Brandeis, and students applying to the Myra Kraft Achievers Program write about what they will bring to, and gain from, a small cohort. Brandeis is test-optional, with a recent acceptance rate around 40%. The core challenge is that with no required "Why Brandeis" box, your fit has to come through in voice and values rather than a checklist of programs.
Brandeis was founded on the principle that truth and justice go together. Readers respond to essays where you have actually done something about a value you hold, however small, not just admired it from a distance. Show the action, not the slogan.
Brandeis prizes students who ask hard questions and chase them down. An essay that shows you wrestling with a problem, changing your mind, or refusing an easy answer reads as a strong fit.
Both Brandeis-specific prompts ask, in effect, what you add to a group. Even in the Common App essay, the students who land are the ones who clearly bring something to a room, not just take a seat in it.
Because there is no formulaic supplement to hide behind, a vivid, particular, slightly imperfect human story beats a glossy one. Concrete detail signals honesty, and honesty is what gets remembered.
The strategic move at Brandeis is to treat the absence of a "Why Brandeis" essay as an opportunity, not a relief. Because admissions cannot see a paragraph listing your favorite professors, they read your Common App essay asking, "Would this person thrive in a community built around justice, debate, and care for one another?" So choose a personal-statement topic that quietly answers that question. You do not need to name Brandeis. You need to be the kind of person Brandeis is built for, on the page.
If you are international or applying to Myra Kraft, the 250-word prompts are your one chance to be explicit about fit, so do not waste them restating your resume. Spend those words on one concrete scene plus one clear claim about what you will do once you are on campus. The reader should finish thinking, "I can picture this student in our dining hall, our lab, our protest, our late-night dorm conversation."
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Brandeis requires no universal supplemental essay, so this is the essay every applicant writes and the one that carries your story. You may answer any of the seven Common App prompts; this is the most open one. Note: applicants to the Myra Kraft Achievers Program submit an 800-word personal statement to a Common App prompt instead of the standard 650.
With no 'Why Brandeis' box, admissions reads this essay to judge both who you are and whether you fit a community built on justice, inquiry, and care. It is your fit essay in disguise.
Pick one specific moment that reveals a value you actually act on, then widen out to what it taught you.
Write about a time you changed your mind or did the harder right thing, which signals the intellectual honesty Brandeis rewards.
Show yourself adding something to a group, so the reader can picture you adding to their campus, not just joining it.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I have been passionate about helping people and making the world a better place.”
“The food pantry's intake form asked for a permanent address, and the man in front of me had stopped filling it out.”
- 1Opens mid-scene with a concrete, specific image. No throat-clearing, no thesis about 'helping people.'
- 2Shows action and initiative, plus a small flaw (resentment, expecting a no). The honesty makes the growth believable.
- 3Lands on a value (justice as small concrete action) without ever saying 'I am passionate about social justice.' This is exactly the Brandeis ethos, shown not stated.
- When did I do the harder right thing when no one was watching or grading me?
- What is a value I claim to hold, and what is the most recent moment I actually acted on it?
- What small object, place, or task have I changed for the better, and what did fixing it teach me?
- Does my essay open inside a specific scene rather than with a general claim about myself?
- Could a reader name one value I live, based on something I did and not something I asserted?
- If I deleted the word 'passionate' and every cliche, does the essay still feel like me?
What excites you the most about being an international student at Brandeis University?
For international first-year applicants only. Brandeis wants to know what specifically draws you to its community as someone coming from another country, and, by implication, what you will add to it.
At 250 words this is your one explicit fit essay. It tests whether you have thought concretely about Brandeis and about the perspective you bring, rather than treating it as a generic US school.
Pick one concrete thing about Brandeis (a tradition, a value, a way of debating) and connect it to who you are.
Say what your home context taught you that you want to carry into discussions on campus.
Say what you will do or start once you arrive, not just what you admire from afar.
“I have always dreamed of studying in the United States, and Brandeis is the perfect place for me to achieve my dreams.”
“In Lagos, my debate club argued about justice constantly, but we never once agreed on what the word meant.”
- 1Specific place plus a real intellectual tension. Immediately signals the 'justice and inquiry' values Brandeis is built on.
- 2Shows genuine knowledge of Brandeis (its motto) and ties it to the student's own habit of mind, not a brochure fact.
- 3Concrete picture of campus life and explicit value added: the international perspective as contribution, not decoration.
- 4Forward-looking commitment with a light, human closing image. Stays well under 250 words.
- What is one specific Brandeis value, tradition, or practice that genuinely connects to my own experience?
- What did growing up where I did teach me that would change a class discussion here?
- What do I actually want to start or join once I am on campus?
- Did I name something concrete about Brandeis rather than something true of any US university?
- Is it clear what I will contribute, not just what I will receive?
- Am I comfortably under 250 words with no sentence wasted on summary?
This is a program to guide you toward adjusting to the rigors and challenges of the college experience with a small cohort of peers. What strengths will you bring to the group, and in what areas will you benefit from the strengths of others?
For applicants to the Myra Kraft Achievers Program. Brandeis wants honest self-awareness: what you offer a tight cohort, and where you will genuinely lean on others. Both halves matter.
The prompt rewards humility and reciprocity. Students who only list strengths miss the point; the program is about mutual support, so naming a real area of growth is a feature, not a weakness.
Pick one concrete strength tied to a moment you actually showed it, not an adjective.
Name a place where you genuinely struggle, framed as something a cohort could help with.
Show you understand the group as reciprocal: you give and you receive, on purpose.
“I am a hard worker, a strong leader, and a team player who always helps others succeed.”
“I am the person who reorganizes the group chat into folders; I am also the person who has never once asked for help on a math problem, even when I needed it.”
- 1One sentence delivers both halves of the prompt: a real strength and a real flaw, with a specific, slightly funny image.
- 2Strength is shown through a concrete scene and a small original insight ('morale is logistics'), not just claimed.
- 3Names a genuine growth area and frames it precisely in the program's own terms (the cohort, working together).
- 4Closes on reciprocity, the heart of the prompt, with a believable and humble forward commitment.
- What is one strength I can prove with a specific story rather than an adjective?
- Where do I genuinely struggle in ways a supportive cohort could actually help with?
- When have I both led a group and depended on it, and what did that teach me?
- Did I answer both halves, what I bring and where I will benefit, with equal honesty?
- Is my strength shown through a real moment, not just asserted?
- Does my weakness sound genuine and specific, not like a humblebrag?
Mistakes that sink Brandeis essays
Some students relax because Brandeis has no universal supplement, then submit a generic Common App essay. That essay is now doing all the work. Make it your best piece of writing, not your safest.
Writing 'I am passionate about social justice' with no story behind it reads as empty at a school that takes the phrase seriously. Show one moment where you acted, hesitated, or learned something uncomfortable.
For the international and Myra Kraft prompts, applicants often recap their whole biography. With only 250 words, pick one image and one forward-looking commitment. Cut everything else.
Listing centers and majors you found in five minutes online does not show fit. A single honest sentence about how you think or treat people tells admissions far more.
Brandeis essay FAQ
Does Brandeis require a supplemental essay for 2025-26?
Not for most applicants. Brandeis has no universal supplemental essay, so the typical applicant submits only the Common App personal statement (650 words). Two groups write a short 250-word essay: international applicants and students applying to the Myra Kraft Achievers Program.
What are the Brandeis supplemental essay prompts?
International applicants answer: 'What excites you the most about being an international student at Brandeis University?' (250 words). Myra Kraft Achievers applicants answer a prompt about what strengths they will bring to a small cohort and where they will benefit from others (250 words). Everyone writes the Common App essay.
How many essays do I write for Brandeis?
Most domestic applicants write one essay, the Common App personal statement. International students write that plus one 250-word essay. Myra Kraft applicants write an 800-word Common App personal statement plus the program's 250-word essay.
Is Brandeis test-optional?
Yes. Brandeis is test-optional and does not require SAT or ACT scores. Fewer than 40% of recent applicants submitted scores. Submit only if your scores are strong relative to the mid-50% ranges of about 1415-1510 SAT or 31-34 ACT.
What are the Brandeis application deadlines for 2025-26?
Early Decision I and Early Action are both November 3, 2025. Early Decision II and Regular Decision are both January 15, 2026. Notifications go out December 15 (ED I), February 1 (EA), February 15 (ED II), and April 1 (RD).
How hard is it to get into Brandeis?
Brandeis is selective, with a recent acceptance rate around 40% (roughly 4,234 admits from 10,462 applicants for the Class of 2028). Strong applicants show clear academic ability and a genuine fit with the school's focus on justice and inquiry.
Prompts and facts verified against Brandeis Deadlines and Notifications, Brandeis Application Process, Myra Kraft Achievers Program: Apply, College Essay Guy: Brandeis Supplemental Essays, CollegeVine: How to Write the Brandeis Essays and College Transitions: How to Get Into Brandeis (Brandeis University, 2025-2026 cycle). Supplements change yearly, re-verify each cycle.
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