Supplemental essays · 2026–27 application
Harvey Mudd College supplemental essays.
All 2 essay questions Harvey Mudd College asks this year, word for word, with the word limits and how to approach each one.
Checked against hmc.edu on October 17, 2026
What you write: Answer both.
Problems you want to solve
Share how an experience you’ve had or community you belong to has shaped the kinds of problems you want to solve and the impact you want to make.
Harvey Mudd introduces it with its interdisciplinary curriculum and its mission that students understand the impact of their work.
How to approach it
- Say plainly what the community is.
- Show your place in it with one real scene.
- End with what you’d bring to campus.
Asking for help
Describe a time when asking for help made a difference in your work or wellbeing. What led you to reach out, and what did you take away from the experience?
How to approach it
- Pick one moment and stay there. Readers remember a scene, not a summary.
- Spend at least a third of the essay on what you thought and how you changed.
- Read it out loud. If a line doesn’t sound like you, it isn’t done yet.
Want a mentor on your essays?
Clarity Prep members get a mentor who reads every draft with them, knows their whole application and checks in every week until it’s done.