The University of Richmond is lowkey having a moment. Don’t get us wrong, it has always been an impressive Virginia-based private liberal arts school, but ten years ago we didn’t work with many students who had it at the top of their college lists. In the past couple of years, that has changed. The University of Richmond has seen an explosion of popularity. Now, we get multiple students every year who are dreaming of becoming a Spider (yes, that is their mascot, very Tom Holland of them).
And we understand why more students are flocking to Richmond. The school has amazing career services, stellar financial aid, a program that guarantees every undergraduate $5k for a summer internship or research, a beautiful campus, and the distinction of being one of the few liberal arts colleges in America that has a business school. Plus, they are test-optional! What isn’t to love? That being said, as it has gotten much more popular, it also has become more selective. Unlike other schools, they didn’t publish an overall acceptance rate. Instead, they all their acceptance rates aka 46%. Early Decision: 19%. Early Action: 24%. Regular Decision: 11%. Wait List (they publish a lot of school stats, which we are obsessed with. Other colleges should take note!)
Now, that 46% ED might give you a false sense of security. Make no mistake, it is hard to get into Richmond. Applicants to Richmond, especially during the ED round, are generally very accomplished. Their test scores and GPAs are on average very high. On top of Richmond’s fairly strict, they are especially looking for rigorous transcripts. TLDR: it is not easy to get into Richmond. You need to submit a great application. We can help with that. No matter where you are in your college application process, we help freshmen, seniors, transfers, you name it, get into the school of their dreams. We have worked with many Richmond applicants to help them craft strategic and eye-catching applications, and we can help you. Reach out today! Working with a professional can make all the difference when it comes to getting into nationally ranked schools like Richmond.
To get into Richmond, you need to be the whole package. Part of that package needs to be a standout supplemental essay. Richmond only asks applicants to answer one question, but it is on the long side (Minimum 350, maximum 650 words). Good news: they let you choose from 3 prompts. They changed the wording of their prompts from last year, but the meat of what they are asking is pretty similar. If Richmond is your top choice, we highly recommend working with one of our dedicated counselors, but we also wanted to help with some basic tips and tricks for writing the Richmond supplement.
Richmond is a community that strives to be relentlessly welcoming. Tell us about a time you made a space better for other people by helping them feel welcome, heard, included, or supported.
This is a very classic question. We have helped write hundreds of this version of this essay for many different applicants to many different schools. Our favorite version of this question has emotional stakes. When brainstorming this question with students, their first thought is often to write about a leadership role they have. For example, they might be tempted to write about when they became head of the debate teams; they took on a lot of organizational duties and excelled in them. Technically, this is making a space better by supporting a team, but these types of stories run the risk of sounding like a resume. We love that you have taken on leadership tasks, but it is hard to make that into a 500ish word essay.
Instead, we gravitate towards stories where there are some emotional stakes or human connection. For example, we had a student write a story about his robotics team. He was the captain, but he didn’t focus on that. Instead, he told a story about cheering his team up and motivating them after a big loss. Technically, he could have written about sending outreach emails or planning travel, but instead he focused on human connection. We like this approach a lot better.
Richmond students turn ideas into actions. Tell us about a time you learned by doing, making, building, testing, helping, or leading and what that experience taught you about yourself, the world, or the kind of impact you want to have.
This is a great prompt, and there are two ways of approaching it. The first is a chance to nerd out about your academic interests. That said, this essay shouldn’t be about class. This essay should be a story about how you have pursued those academic interests outside of your regular school day. Richmond is looking for students who know what they want to study and are already pursuing those interests. When freshman, sophomores, and even juniors start working with us, we help them build a resume that supports their academic goals. We push our students to get involved in research and help them find impressive internships. This prompt is an opportunity to tell a dynamic story about these kinds of experiences. For example, we had a student who hoped to study biology and assisted in a lab at a local university. She started this essay about her research and then spoke about what the experience taught her about being part of a team.
There is a second approach to this prompt. You can also write about a time you learned a (non-academic) lesson that leads to personal growth. For example, we had a student who wrote this essay about playing Scrabble with her grandmother. She used this simple story to write about what it taught her about being a gracious winner and that you don’t have to win every time.
Richmond’s mascot is the Spider. Just as you are unique, this singular mascot represents over 52,680 unique species of spiders. Tell us about the communities, experiences, or ambitions that have shaped you into the unique person you are and how you will make your mark as part of a Spider community.
You can ignore the first part about spiders. The crux of this essay is just “tell us about how your background or community has shaped you.” This is another classic question that we help students with constantly, and many universities ask near-identical versions of this classic essay prompt. That being said, it isn’t always our favorite because it is a little broad.
We always advise our students to be a little more specific when addressing this question. You should choose a specific experience in a specific community that you are a part of. Tell a story that shows how that community and experience taught you a skill or a lesson. One note here: sometimes when students hear “community,” they think they have to write about an ethnic or religious community. You can certainly write about these types of communities, but you can also write about what we call “lowercase c” communities. A community is really just any group of people connected by a common interest or experience.
Either type of community can be a great base for this essay as long as you tell a good story and connect it to who you will be in college. For example, we had a student who wrote this essay about her time volunteering to teach ESL at the Boys and Girls Club and how she connected with one very shy student in particular. She wrote about how with her help, he became less shy and how it was still hard to leave him at the end of the program. She connected this to how she wanted to get involved with specific community service and tutoring opportunities at Richmond.
The University of Richmond feels like a bit of a hidden gem. If it is at the top of your list, strategy is important. We can help you with that. This isn’t a short essay. Give yourself enough time and don’t be afraid to work with a professional. We would be happy to help you at any step of the college application process.