2026–27 application cycle · via institution_portal
University of Denver supplemental essays
Every writing prompt on the University of Denver application, with word limits, taken from the application itself. 5 prompts, including program-specific ones.
Program-specific prompts
These apply only if you are applying to the named program or school.
- DU Honors CollegeRequired300 words max
Honors Program Interest
Why do you want to join the DU Honors Program?
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.
- DU Honors CollegeRequired300 words max
Learning Curiosity
Honors is a community of students who are hungry for knowledge. What's a topic you haven't had an opportunity to learn about in high school that you are excited to learn about in college?
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.
- DU Honors CollegeRequired300 words max
Independent Passion
Honors is a community of students who are self-directed learners and are passionate about a wide range of topics. What is something outside of school that you've independently developed a passion for?
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.
- DU Honors CollegeRequired300 words max
Long-Term Project Experience
The DU Honors Program cultivates student capacity for original academic inquiry and creative exploration. To graduate with University Honors, you must earn Distinction in your major. While requirements vary by department, distinction involves an extended research, scholarly, or creative project that is guided by the student's own interests and is completed over the course of a year or longer. Tell us about a time when you worked on a long-term project. What motivated you to pursue this project? What barriers did you face and how did you work to overcome them? What are you proudest of about the process or the outcome?
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.
- DU Honors CollegeRequired300 words max
Distinction Project Ideas
If you were asked to choose a topic for your distinction project today, what ideas, questions, or curiosities come to mind? What drives your curiosity in these topics?
Common questions
University of Denver essays, answered
How many essays does University of Denver require?
University of Denver lists 5 writing supplements for the 2026–27 cycle, all required. That is on top of the main personal statement.
How long are the University of Denver supplemental essays?
Word limits across the listed prompts add up to roughly 1,500 words. Budget real time for them: supplements are where admissions sees your specific interest in University of Denver.
Do the University of Denver 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
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