The Common App personal essay is the same for every university. The supplemental essays are specific to each, and that is where an applicant stands out or gets lost. The most feared is the "Why us": why this university. For a student at a French lycée who has never set foot on the campus, it is also the hardest to write without sounding like a brochure.
Why this college essay: the 2026-2027 questions
Not every university asks the question, and those that do give it different weight. The wording below is what was published for 2026-2027 applications.
| University | "Why us" question | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Columbia | "Why are you interested in attending Columbia University?", plus a question on the intended areas of study | 150 words each |
| Michigan | The qualities of the chosen college or school, and how its curriculum will support the applicant's interests | 100 to 550 words |
| Penn | "How will you explore community at Penn?", plus a question specific to each school | 50 to 200 words each |
| Yale | No "why Yale" this year: a topic that excites the applicant, three very short answers, one essay from a choice of prompts | 200 words, 200 characters, 400 words |
| Brown | No direct "why Brown": an essay on the Open Curriculum, Brown's flexible programme | 150 to 250 words |
| Stanford, MIT | No "why us": short questions and essays about the student | From 3 to 250 words depending on the question |
Columbia asks six questions of 150 words in total and a reading list of 100 words. 150 words is one paragraph: every sentence must carry information the reader will find nowhere else in the application.
Why us essay examples: what works, what doesn't
Universities say themselves what they expect. Michigan advises naming specific professors, courses and research opportunities. Penn asks applicants to be precise about why they are applying to Penn and to the chosen school in particular. The principle is the same everywhere: a successful "why us" could not be sent to any other university.
What doesn't work: rankings, prestige, the city, the "beautiful" campus, sentences that could appear on the university's home page. What works: linking something the student has already done, a problem worked on, a book, a project, to something specific this university offers, a course, a lab, a programme, a way of teaching, and saying what they intend to do with it.
The case of a student from a French lycée
A French student arrives with two handicaps and one asset. The handicaps: they know little about how American universities work, majors, core curriculum, undergraduate research, and they write in a language that is not their own, under word limits that leave no margin. The asset: a background readers rarely see, with a demanding curriculum in maths, philosophy or languages, often a life in several countries. Used well, that background gives the "why us" the precision others lack: what the student learned in France and what they are coming to find there.
The research takes time: you have to read department pages, course descriptions and research programmes open to undergraduates. One more reason to limit the list to the universities you truly aim for.
2026-2027 questions. Wording and limits published by Columbia (page updated on 28 July 2026), Michigan, Penn, Yale, Brown, Stanford and MIT for applications submitted in autumn 2026 and January 2027. Questions change from year to year: check them in the Common App when you start writing.
Organising the writing
Supplemental essays are written after the personal essay, which establishes who the student is, and before the early application deadlines: 15 October for Stanford, 1 November for most others. Columbia alone asks for seven texts; a list of ten universities quickly adds up to several dozen. Spot the ones that overlap and plan the calendar from the summer. For the rest of the application, see The Common App from a French lycée.
That is the work we do at Carmine: building the list, finding for each university the precise link between the student and what it offers, reviewing each version, without ever writing for them.