Supplemental essays · 2026–27 application
Mount Holyoke College supplemental essays.
All 3 essay questions Mount Holyoke College asks this year, word for word, with the word limits and how to approach each one.
Checked against mtholyoke.edu and the Common App application on October 17, 2026
What you write: Optional. If you write one, answer one of three, 250–400 words.
Optional: why Mount Holyoke
What unique characteristic about Mount Holyoke makes you interested in attending?
Pick one of the three.
How to approach it
- Name things you could only find at this college: a class, a professor, a program, a tradition.
- Tie every detail to something true about you.
- Swap test: if another college’s name fits your sentence, it’s too general.
Optional: where you grew up
Every day, our students cultivate the competence, confidence and courage to make an impact — whether on a personal, community or global level. Tell us about the context in which you have grown up, what forms your aspirations and how your community has shaped your outlook.
Pick one of the three.
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.
Optional: what fascinates you
What do you find fascinating? Choose a person, place, concept, idea, or theory and tell us why!
Pick one of the three.
How to approach it
- Take the question seriously enough to play with it.
- Let your answer show how you think.
- Keep it honest under the fun.
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