Occidental 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 Occidental supplemental essays and everything you need to keep in mind as you write.

Occidental 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, Occidental also requires that you complete a short essay about why you want to attend Occidental. The Occidental supplemental essays 2022-2023 allow applicants a certain amount of freedom when choosing their supplemental essay topic, but we’re going to look at each essay prompt and discuss the best way to respond to each topic.

Occidental 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.

When it comes to answering the Occidental supplemental essays 2022, there are some things to keep in mind. First, these essays are in addition to the personal statement found in the common app. The first Occidental supplemental essay is required, but you are then free to choose an essay to write from a list of two prompts. There are also two short answer prompts, and we’ll look at these as well. The Occidental supplemental essay word limit varies from essay to essay, but we will highlight the word limit for each one. Let’s take a look at the Occidental supplemental essays 2022-2023.

• Why are you applying to Occidental? What are your academic interests and why do you think Occidental is the right place for you to pursue them? (200 words maximum length)
• Please answer one of the following questions (300 words max):

1. 1. Research is an integral part of an Oxy education. Completing a senior comprehensive is a requirement of every Oxy student and there is a myriad of opportunities for research throughout your four years. Imagine you were just awarded one of our research grants for a project of your choice. What are you researching and why?
   2. Briefly describe a current event or social movement that is affecting a place that is important to you. Describe its significance to you and the future implications for that community. How do you anticipate an Oxy education helping you better understand and respond to that event/movement?
   3. Oxy’s central mission emphasizes the value of community amidst diversity. What do you value in a community and how do you see your perspectives and life experiences enhancing it? (200 words maximum length)

• What is the first song you would play for your roommates on move-in day? (150 characters)

As you can see, Occidental makes you do quite a bit of writing in addition to your personal statement in the common app. Let’s discuss each prompt individually and figure out the best way to approach them.

How to write the Occidental supplemental essays?

Many applicants wonder how to write Occidental supplemental essays because there are so many different topics. Let’s dig into each prompt and discuss how to craft your response.

Why are you applying to Occidental? What are your academic interests and why do you think Occidental is the right place for you to pursue them? (200 words maximum length)

This is the standard “why do you want to go here?” question, but it’s also a required prompt, so you need to treat it very carefully. There’s a good chance that you will be asked to respond to some variation of this prompt on several applications, but you have to approach each one individually.

Keep in mind, this is about why you want to go to Occidental, not why you want to go to college. So, you need to do in-depth research every time you write this essay for a different school. Spend time on the Occidental website and figure out what they offer that specifically speaks to you. Is it a particular program or faculty member? Is it something specific about the campus or the activities they offer? Whatever your reason, make sure you are as specific and detailed as possible.

For the next section, you will choose from two different essay prompts.

1. Research is an integral part of an Oxy education. Completing a senior comprehensive is a requirement of every Oxy student and there is a myriad of opportunities for research throughout your four years. Imagine you were just awarded one of our research grants for a project of your choice. What are you researching and why?

If you’ve chosen to apply to Occidental, you are probably expecting to write an essay about which subjects you would like to research in greater depth. So, there isn’t anything really tricky about this essay prompt. The real challenge is to convey your passion for your field. What got you into this field in the first place? What made you want to continue? What would you do if given the opportunity to study it further? These questions can serve as the basis for your response.

2. Briefly describe a current event or social movement that is affecting a place that is important to you. Describe its significance to you and the future implications for that community. How do you anticipate an Oxy education helping you better understand and respond to that event/movement?

This prompt asks you to reflect on your community and the issues you’ve noticed as a member of the community. Part of writing the Occidental supplemental essays 2022-2023 is demonstrating that you have a social conscience. Are you aware of the world around you, and do you care about what happens to that world?

When writing this essay, try to focus on a single aspect of your community. Be specific and choose something that you can explain relatively quickly. You only have 300 words for this response, so you need to be economical or you won’t be able to fully explain how you think an Occidental education will allow you to better understand the situation.

The next essay is 200 words maximum.

Oxy’s central mission emphasizes the value of community amidst diversity. What do you value in a community and how do you see your perspectives and life experiences enhancing it?

This is a big question for a 200-word essay, so you will need to be concise and specific. You are free to define community however you’d like, but you should emphasize the value of diversity and different points of view when considering your response. Occidental wants students who are enthusiastic about new ideas and new perspectives, so make sure this is part of your essay.

What is the first song you would play for your roommates on move-in day? (150 characters)

This is Occidental’s “fun” essay prompt, and you should really just focus on being genuine here. The admission staff isn’t going to reject your application because they don’t agree with your taste in music, so be honest. The goal isn’t to come up with the most impressive song, but rather to explain why this song is a good reflection of who you are. Or perhaps the song holds a special significance to you because of how it fits into your life. Regardless of what you choose, just make sure it’s an honest reflection of who you are.

At AdmissionSight, our goal is to help you with every step of the college admissions process. The Occidental 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 Occidental 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.