The University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia is a well-respected medium-sized university that is focused on undergraduate education. 3,000 of the 3,700 students are undergraduates, and they have access to over 60 majors. Richmond prioritizes making learning personal, and the average class has only 16 students. No undergraduate courses are taught by teaching assistants, which is very common at large universities, and students represent over 70 countries. The overall acceptance rate for first-year applicants is about . For international students, though, the acceptance rate is only about 8.5%, following a trend we see across the country of a much lower international acceptance rate than that for applicants from the United States.
Richmond has a application process for first-years, which means that you get to decide whether to submit scores or not. That doesn’t mean that you should simply write off the importance of standardized testing, though. Strong test scores can underline an impressive application, so students applying to Richmond an SAT that is 1460 or higher, or an ACT of 33+. Ultimately, Richmond does care more about the rigor of the courses you take than they do about standardized tests, but it is best if you have both.
They also offer a few different avenues for admission. The university offers Early Decision I and II, as well as an Early Action option, which is not binding. If the University of Richmond is your top choice, you should be applying ED. Richmond heavily emphasizes the Early Decision options when filling their classes, with of the first-years admitted for the Class of 2028 coming from the ED I and ED II pools. But if you like the school but aren’t sold, EA is a great way to receive a decision early — perhaps alongside an ED application to another school — without having to commit. Think of it as a bit of college application insurance.
In this post, we’re going to focus in on the supplement portion of the application, breaking down your options and sharing the best approach for each. As you brainstorm and draft, remember that the supplements are a place to spotlight something about yourself that won’t show up in detail in your application otherwise. You never want to be repeating yourself. It’s also useful to keep in mind the top activities for accepted students, as this tells us what Richmond is looking for when reading application. for accepted students include leadership in student government or on a sports team, community service and volunteer work, and work through paid employment, internships, or independent research.
Now, let’s get into the supplement.
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The Richmond supplement is fairly straightforward, but there are also some hard decisions to be made. There is one question, but you have three prompts to choose from when responding. You are also given a lot of space — up to 650 words — which is as long as the main college essay. This means that writing the Richmond supplement requires time and patience. This should not be a rush job, and we start working with our students on supplements as soon as they are out, typically in late July or early August.
There is no reason to wait to start a supplement once it is finalized, so dive into it as soon as you can.
One essay response is required. Word Limit: Minimum 350. Maximum 650 words.
Let’s talk about length before we even get into the precise prompts you have to pick from. 650 words is the length of the main college essay. It’s long, and it’s not something that you can do well at the last minute. It’s also interesting how Richmond employs a 350-word minimum, which suggests that maybe applicants were really phoning it in at one point and they got sick of the minimal show of effort.
You don’t need to use all 650 words, but we work with our students to write a Richmond supplemental essay between 550 and 650 words.
Now, let’s talk prompts.
Choose from the following prompts:
You have a platform to create change. What is an action or policy you might propose to address an issue of social injustice in your school or local community, or on a national or global scale?
This is an interesting prompt, but it also invites bad answers. What is a bad answer, you ask? Well, a bad answer isn’t necessarily bad because it isn’t objectively a good idea. Rather, a bad answer is one that isn’t personal. Yes, getting rid of all wars would be cool — but it isn’t precise and it isn’t personal (unless it is for you, but then it still isn’t precise).
We work with our students to pick a topic for this essay that is relevant to their school or community (not national or global), and personal to them. A big problem in your community that doesn’t impact nor intersect with you isn’t a good option either. This shouldn’t just be personal to where you live, but also to who you are.
Once you have picked a topic, it’s time to tell a story. This should be a specific experience that you have had, ideally while in high school, that highlights the topic in your life. Even if the experience is long-term, find a specific, very zoomed in, example to talk about.
For example, maybe you would want to expand universal Pre-K to increase access to early education for children in your area. This could be personal because your parents both worked, and navigating childcare for your younger siblings without sticking them in front of a screen was a roller coaster ride. You could write about reading a book to a sibling, and use that as a launching pad for an essay about the power of early childhood education.
Tell us about a time you learned something unexpected. What did you learn, and what happened next?
This is another really interesting prompt, sort of for similar reasons. It invites strong, dynamic, and exciting writing. However, it also risks inspiring students to write about something so out of left field that it’s fundamentally irrelevant. If you write about something about sea stars here, but you want to study economics, and don’t find a way to connect the two, this is sort of a waste of a supplement. The reader might love it conceptually and think you are super cool, but it won’t increase your chances of getting into Richmond.
Instead, you want to write about something that is relevant to what you want to study at Richmond — either directly or through a creatively crafted connection. Back to that sea star and economics. Maybe there is something about sea stars that is mathematically fascinating, or something about how they navigate resource management that connects to economics. We don’t know, as we are not experts on sea stars, but that’s why this is an example! Now, make it yours.
Richmond welcomes students from various backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences. What is at least one way you will contribute to our community that is not already mentioned in your application?
For most schools, this is a strong prompt to pick. For Richmond, you have two other really interesting prompts that you could pick from — so why would you select this one? Sometimes it does make sense, especially if neither of the other prompts got you excited about writing. The most important part of this prompt, if you do pick it, is to listen to the “not already mentioned” instruction. You cannot repeat something for this prompt. That would be, essentially, a failure of an answer because no matter how good your answer is you didn’t listen to instructions.
That doesn’t mean that this cannot be linked to something else that has come up in your activities or college essay, though. For example, maybe there is a lot of leadership on your application already, but here you could focus on your experience mentoring up-and-coming leadership that are poised to replace you. The ability to identify and support other students, who some may see as ‘competition’, is a meaningful addition to any community, including Richmond.
Richmond cares a lot about attracting, and accepting, students who are passionate about what they offer. Remember to dot in mentions of specific things at Richmond that you would like to take advantage of or tap into, as this will underline your interest.
And if you want personal attention, get in touch.
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