Kansas State University supplemental essays

Program-specific prompts

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

• Developing Scholars ProgramRequired500 words max

  Research that excites you

  What areas of research most interest you? Are there any faculty, labs, or research projects at K-State which excite you?

  How to approach it

  For a research prompt, resist the abstract. Name the question you worked on, what you actually did day to day, one moment where it got hard or surprising, and what you now want to find out next. Curiosity with a track record is the whole pitch.

• Developing Scholars ProgramRequired500 words max

  Your origin story

  If you were a character in a book, how would you write your origin story?

• Developing Scholars ProgramRequired500 words max

  Where DSP fits your goals

  What are your career goals and why do you wish to pursue them? How will DSP help you achieve your goals?

  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.

• Developing Scholars ProgramRequired500 words max

  Anything else to share

  What additional personal information do you wish to share with the DSP application committee?

  How to approach it

  The additional-information space is for context, not a bonus essay. Use it if something needs explaining (a grade dip, a circumstance, a commitment that limited activities), state it plainly in a few sentences, and leave it empty otherwise. Empty reads better than padding.