2026–27 application cycle
Claremont McKenna College supplemental essays
Every writing prompt on the Claremont McKenna College application, with word limits, taken from the application itself. 2 prompts.
- Prompt 1Required
Why CMC
CMC's mission is to prepare students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions. With this mission in mind, please explain why you want to attend Claremont McKenna College.
How to approach it
This is a why-us prompt. The trap is describing the school back to itself; rankings and campus beauty read as filler. Name the two or three specific things (a program, a professor's work, a structure like open curriculum) you would actually use, and tie each to something you have already done.
- Prompt 2Required
Open Academy dialogue
A critical part of fulfilling our mission is living out the commitments of CMC's Open Academy: Freedom of Expression, Viewpoint Diversity, and Constructive Dialogue. We want to learn more about your commitment to listening and learning from others with different viewpoints, perspectives, and life experiences from your own. Describe a time when engaging with someone about a specific topic resulted in you changing your attitude, belief, or behavior, or you changed the belief or behavior of someone else. What was the change that occurred for you, and what facilitated that change? What did you learn from that experience, and how has it informed how you engage with others?
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.
Common questions
Claremont McKenna College essays, answered
How many essays does Claremont McKenna College require?
Claremont McKenna College lists 2 writing supplements for the 2026–27 cycle, all required. That is on top of the main personal statement.
Do the Claremont McKenna College supplemental essays matter?
Yes, and more as selectivity rises. Grades and scores put you in the pool; supplements are one of the few places you control what the reader learns about you, and a generic why-us essay is one of the most common self-inflicted wounds in admissions.
What Spike does with this
Get help planning Claremont McKenna College essays.
Spike helps students connect each prompt to their own experiences, outline a response, and revise without ghostwriting.
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