Schools / 2025-2026
Colgate 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.
- 3 (all optional)
- Supplemental prompts
- 250 words each
- Longest essays
- 13 fill-ins, 13 words max each
- Short answers
- Test-optional
- Testing
Deadlines Early Decision I November 1 · Early Decision II January 15 · Regular Decision January 15 Admit rate Test-optional. Applicants who do not submit SAT or ACT scores are reviewed holistically and, in Colgate's own words, are at no disadvantage. Prompts verified from Colgate’s official requirements ↗
Colgate gives first-year applicants three supplemental prompts, and every one of them is officially optional. Two are short essays capped at 250 words each (one on the value of diversity, one on what inspires you and why you want to pursue it at Colgate). The third is a set of 13 fill-in-the-blank statements, each capped at 13 words. None of this appears inside the Common App itself. The prompts live on Colgate's applicant portal and, in practice, you complete them after submitting.
Here is the trap: "optional" is doing a lot of work. Colgate reads roughly 17,000 applications for about 800 seats and is test-optional, so the writing carries real weight. Strong applicants answer all three. The core challenge is range. You have to be reflective in 250 words, then witty and precise in 13-word bursts, without sounding like two different people wrote them.
Colgate wants to see that you understand a small, rural, residential liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, and want exactly that. Name a course, a professor's research, the Core curriculum, a study group abroad, the Picker Art Gallery, the size of the place. Vague praise that could apply to any school is the fastest way to read as a backup choice.
The diversity prompt is not asking you to perform virtue. It rewards a real moment where another person's background or perspective changed how you thought, and a believable picture of how you would seek that out on a small campus where you can't hide in a crowd.
The pursuits prompt rewards a passion that points somewhere. Colgate likes students who are inspired by something and can connect it to a concrete way of chasing it at Colgate, whether that is a major, a lab, an outdoor program, or a club.
The 13-word answers are a personality test disguised as a form. Colgate rewards specificity and a little surprise. A real, oddly precise detail beats a polished generality every single time.
Treat the two 250-word essays as a matched set, not as a checklist. The diversity prompt and the pursuits prompt together should make a reader feel they have met a whole person: one essay shows how you engage with people unlike you, the other shows what lights you up intellectually. If both essays orbit the same anecdote or the same trait, you have wasted one of them. Decide upfront which story goes where, and make sure they cover different ground.
Then spend real time on the 13 short answers, because most applicants throw them away. These are your chance to be funny, exact, and human in a way long essays rarely allow. Anchor at least one answer in a tradition, a place, or a fascination that no one else could have written, and make the final answer ("I am drawn to Colgate University because") concrete enough that it could not be copied into another school's form. That single line is your shortest, sharpest "Why Colgate."
On Colgate's campus, students engage with individuals from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religions, and perspectives during the course of their educational and social experiences. In 250 words or less, please share the benefits you see in engaging with a diverse body of students, faculty, and staff as part of your Colgate experience.
Colgate wants to know that you can grow from people unlike you, and that you'll actively seek that out on a small, residential campus. They want a real moment of engagement across difference, plus a believable sense of what you'd do with that at Colgate specifically. This prompt is officially optional, but strong applicants answer it.
Colgate is small and rural. You will eat, study, and live alongside the same people for four years, with nowhere to retreat into anonymity. They are screening for students who treat difference as something to learn from rather than tolerate, and who will make the community better by being in it.
A specific exchange or friendship that genuinely changed your mind about something, and what you carried away from it.
A community you belong to that gave you a viewpoint most classmates won't share, and what you'd offer Colgate because of it.
A time you were the one who didn't fit the room, and what that taught you about listening before speaking.
“Diversity is one of the most important values in today's society, and I have always believed in being open-minded toward everyone.”
“For two summers I bussed tables next to Marisol, who left school at fourteen and could read a dining room faster than any manager I've met.”
- 1Opens on a specific person with a specific skill, not on the abstract idea of diversity. We immediately want to know more.
- 2Names the real benefit honestly: a shift in self-awareness, not a tidy lesson. This reads as earned, not performed.
- 3Connects the lesson to Colgate's specific smallness and even names a real place, so the ending could not be pasted into another school's form.
- When did someone whose background differs from mine actually change my mind, and what exactly changed?
- What perspective do I bring that most Colgate students probably won't, and where did it come from?
- On a campus this small, who would I want to end up in long arguments with, and why?
- Is there one specific person, conversation, or community at the center, not a list of categories?
- Does the essay name a concrete benefit I'd seek at Colgate, not just praise diversity in general?
- Have I avoided sounding like I'm performing a virtue rather than telling the truth?
Colgate students immerse themselves in social and intellectual pursuits that inspire them. Tell us in 250 words or less what inspires you and why you want to pursue that at Colgate.
This is Colgate's combined passion plus fit essay. They want one genuine source of inspiration, shown in action, then linked to a specific way you'd chase it at Colgate: a major, a course, a professor, a lab, a club, an off-campus study group. It is the closest thing to a "Why Colgate" essay in the long-form section.
Colgate is built on close faculty contact and a residential, all-in campus culture. They want students who will dive into something fully, not sample everything lightly. Showing a real pursuit and a real Colgate destination proves both your curiosity and your homework.
Something you chase on your own time, with the moment it grabbed you, then the exact Colgate course, professor, or program that extends it.
An activity that is both (debate, theater, a research team) and how Colgate's size would let you go deeper into it.
A question you keep asking, and the specific Colgate path that finally lets you chase it.
“Ever since I was young, I have been passionate about science and helping others, and Colgate's strong academics would help me grow.”
“I got into geology because of a pothole. It cracked open on my street and exposed a layer of blue clay no one in town could explain.”
- 1A tiny, weird, specific origin. It signals genuine curiosity instead of a resume-ready passion.
- 2Names the real inspiration underneath the hobby, which is more durable and more interesting than the hobby itself.
- 3Lands on concrete Colgate offerings (field courses, a specific off-campus study program), proving the fit is researched, not generic.
- What do I read about, watch, or tinker with when no one is assigning it?
- What is the exact moment that pursuit first grabbed me, and can I put a reader inside it?
- Which specific Colgate course, professor, lab, or off-campus program would let me go deeper, and why that one?
- Have I shown one genuine inspiration in a scene, not just claimed to be passionate?
- Did I name a specific Colgate path (course, faculty, program) rather than generic strong academics?
- Does this essay cover different ground from my diversity essay, so the two together show a whole person?
Please complete the following so we can learn a bit more about you: I am fascinated by; My favorite book, movie, or television show is; The person I admire most is; In the future, I hope to; One historical figure I would like to meet is; My favorite food is; One thing I would change is; My favorite place is; I am the best version of myself when; Something that has changed my perspective is; I am seeking a community that; My favorite family/community/cultural tradition is; I am drawn to Colgate University because.
Thirteen fill-in-the-blank statements, each capped at 13 words. This is a personality test in miniature. Colgate wants quick, specific, surprising glimpses of who you are, and the last one ("I am drawn to Colgate University because") is your shortest Why Colgate. Officially optional; answer all 13.
In 13 words you can't hide behind polish, so these answers reveal taste and texture fast. Colgate uses them to feel out personality and fit, and to see whether you can be specific under pressure. The final line tests whether your interest is real and researched.
For each blank, pick the most oddly specific true answer instead of the most impressive-sounding one.
Let some answers be funny, some sincere, and none generic, so the thirteen together feel like a whole person.
Write the final answer so concretely that it could only ever be about Colgate.
“My favorite food is pizza. My favorite place is my hometown. I am fascinated by learning new things.”
“My favorite food is my grandmother's khachapuri, eaten standing at the stove before anyone else wakes up.”
- 1Specific, slightly strange, and reveals a real ongoing interest. Far better than "learning new things."
- 2A sensory detail plus a ritual. Thirteen words doing the work of a paragraph.
- 3Shows a value (teaching, connection) through a concrete moment rather than a buzzword.
- 4Nods to Colgate's famous 13 tradition AND its size in one line. Unmistakably Colgate, impossible to recycle.
- For each blank, what is the truest answer, not the most impressive one?
- Which of my answers would make a stranger smile or lean in?
- Does my final line reference something only Colgate has, like its size or the number 13?
- Is every answer 13 words or fewer, and free of filler?
- Do the 13 answers show range (some funny, some sincere) instead of one flat tone?
- Is the last line concrete and clearly about Colgate, not transferable to any school?
Mistakes that sink Colgate essays
Optional here means optional the way dessert is optional at a dinner where everyone else orders it. With test-optional review and a flood of applications, leaving the supplement blank tells Colgate you didn't care enough. Answer all three.
Avoid the essay that lists categories and praises open-mindedness in general. Ground it in one specific person, conversation, or community, and one specific benefit you'd seek on Colgate's small campus.
"My favorite food is pizza" tells them nothing. "My favorite food is my grandmother's khachapuri, eaten standing at the stove" tells them everything. Use the tiny space to be unmistakably you.
Listing every activity you've ever done is not the same as showing what inspires you. Pick one genuine fascination, show it in action, and connect it to a real Colgate path.
Colgate essay FAQ
How many supplemental essays does Colgate require for 2025-2026?
Colgate lists three supplemental prompts, and all three are officially optional. Two are 250-word essays (one on diversity, one on what inspires you and why you'd pursue it at Colgate) and one is a set of 13 fill-in-the-blank statements. Because Colgate is test-optional and highly selective, strong applicants answer all three rather than skipping them.
What are the Colgate essay word limits?
The diversity essay and the intellectual and social pursuits essay are each capped at 250 words or less. The third prompt is 13 fill-in-the-blank statements, and each response can be no more than 13 words.
Does Colgate have a Why Colgate essay?
Not as a standalone prompt. The pursuits essay asks why you want to pursue your inspiration at Colgate, which functions as a fit essay, and the final short-answer line, "I am drawn to Colgate University because," is your shortest Why Colgate. Both should name concrete, Colgate-specific reasons.
Are the Colgate supplemental essays really optional?
Technically yes. They are not required and do not appear inside the Common App itself; they show up on Colgate's applicant portal. In practice, with about 17,000 applications for roughly 800 seats and a test-optional policy, leaving them blank works against you. Treat them as required.
Is Colgate test-optional for 2025-2026?
Yes. Submitting SAT or ACT scores is optional, and Colgate states that applicants who do not submit scores are at no disadvantage. Applications are reviewed holistically, which makes the essays and short answers more important.
What are Colgate's application deadlines?
Early Decision I is November 1. Early Decision II and Regular Decision both fall on January 15. Colgate accepts the Common Application, the Coalition Application on Scoir, and the QuestBridge Application.
Prompts and facts verified against Colgate Admissions: Apply (deadlines), Colgate First-Year Class Profile, College Essay Guy: Colgate Supplement 2025-2026 and CollegeVine: How to Write the Colgate Essays 2025-2026 (Colgate University, 2025-2026 cycle). Supplements change yearly, re-verify each cycle.
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