Lewis & Clark / Essays
Lewis & Clark supplemental essays
All 2 required prompts for 2025-2026, each with its own deep guide: what it is really asking, annotated examples, and what to avoid.
The single most useful move at Lewis & Clark is to treat the supplement as a second window, not a second resume. Your Common App statement already shows one big thing about you. Pick the supplement prompt that reveals a different corner. If your personal statement is about a hardship or a passion project, do not repeat that energy here. Choose the motto or the difference prompt that lets readers meet a part of you they have not seen yet.
Then go small and specific. A 350-word essay cannot hold your whole philosophy, so anchor it in one concrete moment: a kitchen-table argument, a shift at work, a line your grandmother repeats. The best Lewis & Clark supplements zoom into a single scene and let the larger idea rise out of it. Readers remember the detail, not the abstraction, and detail is exactly what a test-free, writing-first admissions office is reading for.
Mistakes that sink Lewis & Clark essays
Option A fails when the motto is a borrowed quote you Googled. Choose a phrase you actually say or live by, even an unglamorous one, so the essay can prove it with a real example instead of explaining a stranger's words.
Option B is about what you learned, not a profile of the interesting person you met. Keep yourself in the frame: what shifted in your thinking, what you got wrong at first, what you do differently now.
With only two essays total, overlap is wasteful. If your Common App piece already covers your immigrant family or your robotics team, steer the supplement somewhere new so the reader meets more of you.
Sentences like 'I value open-mindedness and lifelong learning' say nothing. Replace every abstraction with a moment a reader can picture, then let them draw the conclusion you would otherwise have stated.
Lewis & Clark essay FAQ
How many essays does Lewis & Clark require for 2025-26?
Two pieces of writing. The Common App personal statement (250 to 650 words) plus one Lewis & Clark supplemental essay of 300 to 400 words, where you choose between a personal motto prompt and a prompt about engaging with someone different from you.
What are the Lewis & Clark supplemental essay prompts?
You pick one of two. Option A: 'Tell us about your personal motto and how it guides you (Latin not required).' Option B: 'Reflect on a time when you engaged with someone whose background or life experiences are different from yours and share with us what you learned from that experience.'
How long should the Lewis & Clark supplemental essay be?
300 to 400 words. The instruction asks for a short response to one question, so aim for the middle of that range and make every sentence specific rather than padding to the ceiling.
Is Lewis & Clark test-optional or test-free?
Test-free. Beginning with the fall 2025 entering class, Lewis & Clark does not consider SAT or ACT scores at all. The college has been a test-optional leader since 1991 and has now moved fully test-free, which makes your essays and transcript carry more weight.
What are the Lewis & Clark application deadlines for 2025-26?
Early Decision and Early Action are both due November 1, with Early Action applicants notified by January 1. Regular Decision is due January 15. Lewis & Clark uses the Common Application and charges no application fee. Confirm exact dates on the official admissions site.
Do I have to write about the personal motto prompt?
No. You choose only one of the two supplemental prompts. Pick whichever one reveals a side of you that your Common App personal statement does not already cover.
Prompts and facts verified against Lewis & Clark Admissions: Essay Topics and Tips, Lewis & Clark Admissions: Apply (deadlines and test-free policy), CollegeVine: How to Write the Lewis & Clark Essays 2025-2026 and College Essay Advisors: Lewis & Clark 2025-26 Supplemental Guide (Lewis & Clark College, 2025-2026 cycle). Supplements change yearly, re-verify each cycle.
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