Auburn University supplemental essays

Program-specific prompts

These apply only if you are applying to the named program or school.

• Honors CollegeRequired600 words max

  Honors Goals & Values

  Describe your academic and/or professional goals and the experiences that have shaped them. Explain how Auburn's Honors College will advance your education and what you will contribute to the Honors community.

  How to approach it

  Community and identity prompts reward specificity over significance. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label described from the outside. End on what you carry from it into a campus, not on a moral.

• Honors CollegeOptional600 words max

  Personal Object Significance

  Tell us who you are, and who you want to become, by describing in detail a material object belonging to you or to someone in your family.

  How to approach it

  Community and identity prompts reward specificity over significance. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label described from the outside. End on what you carry from it into a campus, not on a moral.

• Honors CollegeOptional600 words max

  Flow State Activity

  Describe an activity that creates a 'flow state' for you—a state of complete engagement and focus. What does this activity reveal about your interests, strengths, or values?

  How to approach it

  The activity elaboration works best zoomed all the way in: one meeting, one build, one shift, told concretely. The reader already saw your activities list; show them what it felt like to do the thing.

• Honors CollegeOptional600 words max

  Meaningful Quote Reflection

  Select a quotation that resonates with you and explain how it reflects your values or has shaped your perspective.

  How to approach it

  Community and identity prompts reward specificity over significance. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label described from the outside. End on what you carry from it into a campus, not on a moral.

• Honors CollegeRequired600 words max

  Your goals in Honors

  Describe your academic and/or professional goals and the experiences that have shaped them. How will your participation in the Honors College at Auburn University further your education, help you pursue these goals, and prepare you for your next steps?

  How to approach it

  Goals prompts fail when they stay noble and vague. Pick one concrete problem you care about, connect it to something you have already touched in real life, and let the ambition be specific enough that a reader could disagree with it. Specific beats impressive.

• Honors CollegeRequired600 words max

  An object that matters

  Tell us who you are, and who you want to become, by describing in detail a material object that holds personal significance to you or someone close to you.

• Honors CollegeRequired600 words max

  Your flow state

  Describe an activity that can put you into this flow state, when your attention, energy, and sense of self align.

  How to approach it

  The activity elaboration works best zoomed all the way in: one meeting, one build, one shift, told concretely. The reader already saw your activities list; show them what it felt like to do the thing.

• Honors CollegeRequired600 words max

  A quote that resonates

  Select a quote that deeply resonates with you and explain why it matters to you.