The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art supplemental essays

Program-specific prompts

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

• EngineeringRequired350 words max

  Why Cooper Union

  The Cooper Union is a small, highly specialized, and academically challenging school in New York City. Beyond these traits, what specific aspects of our community and resources excite you? In what ways are you inspired to contribute to and benefit from our learning community?

  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.

• EngineeringRequired350 words max

  Why your engineering major

  What drives your interest in pursuing your chosen major (e.g., Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Computer Science)? How do you envision engaging with Cooper's labs, research opportunities, and faculty?

  How to approach it

  An academic-interest prompt wants the origin story and the evidence, not the resume. Pick the moment the interest became yours, show one or two things you did about it on your own, and let the school see how you think when nobody assigns the work.

• EngineeringRequired250 words max

  A community challenge

  Identify a challenge facing a community you identify with or care about. Explain how your experiences and perspective influence the way you would approach a solution.

  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.