Scripps College, a women's college in the Claremont Colleges consortium, asks for two required supplemental essays on top of the Common App personal statement. The first is a short "Why Scripps" essay (up to 200 words). The second is a creative choice essay (150-300 words) where you pick one of three playful prompts. Both are short, so every sentence has to earn its place.
Scripps is test-optional for 2026-2027, which means the writing carries real weight. The core challenge here is range: you have to be concrete and researched in the "Why Scripps" answer, then loose and genuinely fun in the creative one, without letting the second essay turn into a humble-brag in costume. Treat them as two different muscles.
01Specific knowledge of Scripps, not the 5Cs in general. Scripps shares a campus and cross-registration with Pomona, CMC, Pitzer, and Harvey Mudd, so it is easy to write an essay that could belong to any of them. Scripps rewards applicants who name Scripps-specific things: Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities, a specific professor or program, Motley Coffeehouse, the residence-hall culture. Show you know the difference.
02A real reason this is a women's college. You do not have to write a thesis on single-sex education, but the strongest applicants signal that they chose a women's college on purpose. A sentence that connects your goals to Scripps's mission of educating women to lead reads very differently from one that ignores it entirely.
03Voice and play in the creative essay. The choice prompts (trade lives, time machine, podcast) exist to see how your mind works when it is having fun. Scripps rewards wit, curiosity, and a point of view over safe, resume-style answers. They want to meet a person, not a candidate.
04Intellectual curiosity that crosses fields. Scripps's identity is interdisciplinary humanities. Essays that link two unlike interests, or that show you thinking sideways rather than just achieving, fit the culture. Connection-making is the trait that lands.
2 prompts for Scripps, each broken down with annotated examples.
Why ScrippsUp to 200 words
Why have you chosen to apply to Scripps College?
Creative choice essay150-300 words
Choose one: (1) If you could trade lives with someone (fictional or real) for a day, who would it be and why? (2) You've invented a time machine! When and where is your first destination, and why? (3) You have just been invited to host your own podcast. What will you talk about, and why did you select that topic?