Cornell Supplemental Essays 2022-2023

When it comes to applying to the top schools in the country, your application is vitally important. In order to give yourself the best chance of gaining admission, you need to make sure all aspects of your application are top-notch. In this post, we’re going to do a deep dive into how to write Cornell supplemental essays and everything you need to keep in mind as you write.

Cornell uses the common app, and this means that you will be asked to answer essay questions contained in the common app. But like many top schools, Cornell also requires that you complete a specific supplemental essay depending on which of the schools you choose. The Cornell supplemental essays 2022-2023 are fairly in-depth, but we’re going to look at each essay prompt and discuss the best way to respond to each topic.

Cornell Supplemental Essay Prompts 2022-2023

So, let’s start by looking at each supplemental essay prompt, and then we will discuss how to approach each one individually.

Below are the Cornell supplemental essays 2022, but we’re also going to show you how to write the Cornell supplemental essays. Let’s take a look at each prompt individually.

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Required: Why are you drawn to studying the major you have selected? Please discuss how your interests and related experiences have influenced your choice. Specifically, how will an education from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and Cornell University help you achieve your academic goals?

Cornell has one of the nation’s most prestigious schools of agriculture, and many of the students who apply to this school already have an agricultural background of some kind. While an experience with agriculture isn’t necessary, this prompt asks you to be specific about why attending Cornell will further your pursuits toward a career in agriculture. The goal of this prompt is to be as specific as possible about where you have been and where you see yourself in the future.

Optional: At Cornell CALS, we aim to leave the world better than we found it, so we seek out those who are not simply driven to master their discipline, but who are also passionate about doing so to serve the public good.  Please elaborate on an activity or experience you have had that made an impact on a community that is important to you. We encourage you to think about community broadly – this could include family, school, or local and global communities (300-word limit).

Like many schools, Cornell asks about experiences in your life that have been significant to you and your development. Cornell also has a deep commitment to community service, and they want to understand why service is important to you. The goal with this prompt isn’t to try to impress Cornell with a monumental achievement, but rather to communicate an experience that was particularly important to you.

Optional: The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is dedicated to the exploration of the agricultural, life, environmental, and social sciences and welcomes students with interests that span a wide variety of disciplines. Given our agricultural history and commitment to educating the next generation of agriculturalists, please share if you have a background in agriculture or are interested in pursuing a career in agriculture.

This prompt also asks about your background, and again, the key is to be as specific as possible. If you want to work on a farm in the future, use this prompt to explain what has driven you to pursue this. Did you grow up in a place where fresh food wasn’t available, and you want to serve this community? Or perhaps you came from a farming family that faced hard times. Regardless of your background and goals, make sure you convey your passion.

College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

What is your “thing”? What energizes you or engages you so deeply that you lose track of time? Everyone has different passions, obsessions, quirks, and inspirations. What are yours?

The only prompt required by the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning focuses on your passion. This prompt asks you to reflect on what makes you want to get out of bed in the morning and pursue your goals. The broad nature of this prompt allows you near-complete freedom to discuss the things that make you fascinated with the world. It also gives you the opportunity to talk about what makes you interesting. While there is no Cornell supplemental word limit, it’s best to try to keep your responses to around 250 words.

College of Arts and Sciences

Students in Arts and Sciences embrace the opportunity to delve into multifaceted academic interests, embodying in 21st century terms Ezra Cornell’s “any person…any study” founding vision. Tell us about the areas of study you are excited to explore, and specifically why you wish to pursue them in our College.

This prompt is similar to the previous one, but it is more focused on what you want to accomplish at Cornell. The College of Arts and Sciences offers you the freedom to study a variety of different disciplines because many students are looking for a well-rounded education. If you plan to apply to this school, think about the various rewarding academic experiences you’ve had and how they may have worked in concert with one another.

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

What kind of a business student are you? Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should convey how your interests align with the school to which you are applying the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management or the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration).

When you apply to the Cornell College of Business, they don’t want to hear that your goal is to make a lot of money. They want to know about the passions that drive you towards a career in business. Because there are myriad different types of business, Cornell wants to know about the specific businesses you’ve already worked with, and those you’d like to work with in the future. They want to know your philosophy on the subject of business and where you fit into our current business landscape.

College of Engineering

Instructions: All applicants are required to write two supplemental essays. Each has a limit of 250 words. Essay 1 is required of all applicants. For Essay 2, you must choose between Question A and Question B.

Essay 1
Required response (250 word limit)

How do your interests directly connect with Cornell Engineering? If you have an intended major, what draws you to that department at Cornell Engineering?  If you are unsure what specific engineering field you would like to study, describe how your general interest in engineering most directly connects with Cornell Engineering. It may be helpful to concentrate on one or two things that you are most excited about.

Much like the above essay prompts, this required Cornell supplemental essay 2022-2023 asks you to describe your passion. In this case, your passion for engineering. The best way to approach this prompt is to consider what first made you passionate about engineering. Was there a specific event that drew your attention, or was it the culmination of years of study? Whatever your background, the goal is to make your essay come alive with detail. You will also want to do some research about Cornell’s engineering programs so that you can state, specifically, what it is about Cornell’s programs that appeal to you.

Essay 2
Choose either Question A and Question B. (250-word limit)

• Question A: Describe an engineering problem that impacts your local community. This could be your school, neighborhood, town, region, or group you identify with. Describe one to three things you might do as an engineer to solve the problem.

This prompt asks you to address a specific problem. If you plan to become an engineering student, there’s a good chance you have a keen eye for the environment around you and how it has been constructed. From Los Angeles traffic patterns to the construction of wind turbines in the Midwest, your goal is to detail an issue you are personally familiar with and offer your own unique solution. As you do this, keep in mind that your creativity in solving the problem will be the most important aspect of your response.

• Question B: Diversity in all forms is intrinsic to excellence in engineering.

Engineering the best solutions to complex problems are often achieved by drawing from the diverse ingenuity of people from different backgrounds, lived experiences, and identities. How do you see yourself contributing to the diversity and/or inclusion of the Cornell Engineering community? What is the unique voice you would bring to the Cornell Engineering community?

Much like the first optional question, this one asks you to reflect on a problem that needs to be solved. This prompt, however, asks you to elaborate on the diverse perspective you can bring to the table. Perhaps you grew up in an inner city that dealt with complex urban issues like water management or street construction. Perhaps you come from a rural community where modern communication is a challenge. Whatever your background, the goal here is to use your unique perspective to show your passion and creativity.

College of Human Ecology

How has your decision to apply to the College of Human Ecology been influenced by your related experiences? How will your choice of major impact your goals and plans for the future?

Again, this prompt asks you to relate your personal experiences with your future academic and professional goals. Before starting this essay, reflect on the experiences you’ve had that have led you to apply to Cornell. Select one or two specific experiences and then apply these experiences to courses you might choose once at Cornell. The goal of this prompt is to create a cohesive narrative about your personal journey. Starting with your origin story and continuing with your education at Cornell.

School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Using your personal, academic, or volunteer/work experiences, describe the topics or issues that you care about and why they are important to you. Your response should show us that your interests align with the ILR School.

Before you can respond to this prompt, you have to research this specific school and their mission. This will inform how you craft your essay. Like many of the Cornell supplemental essays 2022-2023, this prompt asks you to think about your experiences, and then explain why these experiences made you passionate about an issue.

With this prompt you need to be very specific about the issues you care about, and why they are so important to you. If you’ve watched as plant closings have devastated your home state, tell Cornell why you want to get involved in making the lives of workers better. Has anyone in your family had experiences with organized labor? If so, what were those experiences, and how did they shape your views of labor? Perhaps you even grew up in a country where labor rights were rare. Tell Cornell what that experience meant to you, and why you want to further your education.

At AdmissionSight, our goal is to help you with every step of the college admissions process. The Cornell supplemental essays 2022 can seem daunting at first, but our experience and expertise will help you navigate the entire process with confidence. Hopefully, this guide to the Cornell supplemental essays 2022-2023 has been helpful, but if you want more information about how AdmissionSight can help you realize your dreams, set up your free consultation today.