The University of Virginia was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson (oooh) and has been home to countless Rhodes Scholars, astronauts, governors, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Tina Fey. It’s located in Charlottesville, Virginia and offers over 49 majors and boasts some of the the best undergraduate nursing programs and business programs in the country. For 2022, UVA had a record-low 19% acceptance rate, with over 50,000 students applying. UVA’s known as a public Ivy, and it’s only going to get more competitive over time.

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois – about 40 minutes away from Chicago. Although, at the time of writing this, Google Maps says you can get there in 35. Northwestern is famous for its journalism program, which boasts a #4 ranking out of all undergraduate journalism programs in the country – and it’s a hard school to get into too, with a 7% acceptance rate. Northwestern has approximately 9,000 undergraduates and one of the largest endowments of any college, 16.1 billion. Famous alumni include Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Pharrell, George R. R. Martin, Seth Meyers, and Megan, Duchess of Sussex. And potentially you!!

Macalester College is a private school in St. Paul, Minnesota. With an urban setting important to its character, Macalester has an undergrad population of about 2,000 students. There are no graduate students and the majority of kids study abroad at some point in their college career. They also have cross-program offerings with four other liberal arts schools in the state. The acceptance rate is 32%. Below, we offer some advice on how to tackle the supplement:

Mount Holyoke is a private liberal arts college (and a historically women’s college) located in South Hadley, Massachusetts. MoHo, as its students and alumni affectionally call it, is the oldest of the Seven Sisters (7 women’s colleges in the northeast). This sister describes itself as being “gender diverse” and is committed to “equal access to opportunity.” It’s also part of the Five College Consortium, offering classes at other nearby schools. The acceptance rate is 38%.

Scripps College is a small women’s liberal arts school in Claremont, CA. Scripps is small (about 1,100 undergrads) but it’s also one of the five Claremont Colleges, along with Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna, and Pitzer. The acceptance rate is about 35% Here’s our advice on how to tackle the two-part supplement:

The University of Richmond is a private liberal arts school in Richmond, Virginia. It’s on a suburban campus with about 3,200 undergrads, most of whom live on campus. The school emphasizes research for its student body and while it’s small, it’s a Division I school. The acceptance rate is 28%. Below are some tips for diving into the supplement:

The University of Maryland is a large public research university located in College Park, MD, right outside of Washington, D.C. With more than 40,000 students, the University of Maryland offers a wide variety of degree programs and courses and has a little bit of something for everyone. The University of Maryland has strong engineering and technical programs, and the most popular majors include Computer Science, Biology, and Economics.

Lehigh is a private university located in rural Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. There are about 5,100 undergrads and an acceptance rate of 32%. Lehigh offers a wide array of academics and popular majors include Finance and Mechanical Engineering. Below are some tips for tackling the Lehigh supplement:

The University of Chicago is a private research university located in Chicago, Illinois. The acceptance rate for the class of 2024 was just 7% and the undergraduate population is about 7,000. The university is known for its rigorous academics and its quirky style. In fact, few schools offer such an array of unique essay prompts as U of Chicago. (And we don’t love them!) But, if you’re dying to get into this prestigious university, we recommend checking out our tips below on how to complete the supplement:

Amherst is a private liberal arts school in Massachusetts. The school, which is about two hours from Boston, consistently ranks highly on the list of top liberal arts schools. Amherst is competitive when it comes to admissions and has about an .

Notre Dame is a private university in Notre Dame, Indiana. One of the most famous Catholic schools in the nation, Notre Dame is also known for its football team, The Fighting Irish, which was the subject of the Sean Astin film classic, “Rudy.” Though Notre Dame is a parochial school with religious traditions and offerings, students need not practice Catholicism (or any religion) to attend. Notre Dame has an undergraduate population of about 8,500 and is also known for producing many of the nation’s Fulbright scholars. The acceptance rate is about 19%. Here’s our advice on how to tackle the most recent supplement:

Wesleyan University is a small liberal arts school located in Middletown, Connecticut. Wesleyan was originally a Christian school--it’s named after the founder of Methodism--but it’s now non-sectarian. Wesleyan is one of the “little ivies” along with Amherst and Williams, and is known for its rigorous curriculum and focus on academics. Wesleyan has a , and a 55% acceptance rate in Early Decision.

Syracuse is a private research university located in Central New York about an hour away from Lake Ontario. Founded in 1870, the university is comprised of thirteen schools and boasts 200 majors, 100 minors, and 200 advanced degree programs. With nearly 15,000 undergrads, Syracuse is no small school upstate. The University has something for everyone, but they are very proud of their D1 sports. You don’t have to love sports or play sports to go to Syracuse, but you might want to take in a basketball game while you are there. Their acceptance rate is around 45%, though to certain programs it can vary slightly.

Villanova is a private, Catholic research school in Villanova, Pennsylvania. An NCAA Division I school, Villanova is known for its athletics. There are 6,800 undergrads. The acceptance rate was 25% for the class of 2025. The supplement is pretty straightforward, but what’s interesting about Villanova is they offer a number of on their website. Be sure to check those out before you get started. Here’s some advice on how to tackle the supplement:

The College of William and Mary is a medium-sized, public research university located in historic Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the second oldest college in the United States, being founded in 1693 by King William and Queen Mary. W&M is known mostly for their STEM programs, and has an acceptance rate of 37.7%.

Colorado College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Colorado College is known for their innovative “Block Plan,” in which students take one class for three and a half weeks, and then have almost five days off between blocks. Their acceptance rate in 2020 was 13.5%, and they only have one supplemental question. Shocking no one, it asks about the Block Plan. We’ve covered Colorado College before, but the questions have changed from last year. Let’s dive in.

Colgate University is a small, private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. Colgate is famous for its dedication to environmental consciousness, and went carbon neutral in 2019. Sustainability is a big mission for Colgate, and it is incorporated into every part of their campus, from the classroom to the dining hall. It is also known as a “Hidden Ivy” or “Little Ivy” and has a 22.6% acceptance rate. We recently did an analysis of how they’ve changed their admissions process here.

William Marsh Rice University, better known simply as Rice, is a private research institution in Houston, Texas. Rice boasts eleven residential colleges and eight schools of academic study. TLDR: they have a lot of programs. Rice sits right next to Houston’s Museum District and Hermann Park. Their acceptance rate hovers for regular decision, but jumps up to 20% for early decision candidates.

Colby College is a small, private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It is one of the most selective liberal arts colleges around, with a 9.7% acceptance rate and a little under 2,000 undergraduates in total. Colby also doesn’t have a supplemental essay. We can see the light go out behind your eyes as you realize this is a whole article on how to write the Colby College supplement. “But TKG,” you say, “there is no supplement!” Not with that attitude!