Amherst Supplemental Essays & Deadlines 2026-2027

Amherst College, Amherst, MA. Every 2026-2027 prompt and deadline, verified against the school's own materials on August 7, 2026.

Amherst Application Deadlines 2026-2027

Amherst Supplemental Essay Prompts 2026-2027

Under each prompt: what it is really asking, the mistake most applicants make, and the first question Jim asks you so the essay comes from your story, not a template.

1. If you would like to share more about yourself that is not captured elsewhere in your application, please tell us more here.
   175 words · optional

   What they are really asking: Is there a piece of you the application has not shown?

   The mistake most applicants make: Using it to repeat an achievement. It is for the thing with no other home.

   Do this instead: One thing: a responsibility, a habit, a skill from home or a job. Show it in a moment. 175 words is one scene and one sentence of meaning.

   Jim starts by asking you: “What do you do that matters to you and has no box on this form?” Answer it with Jim, free →

2. If you have engaged in significant research in the natural sciences, mathematics, computer science, social sciences or humanities that was undertaken independently of your high school curriculum, please provide a brief description of the research project.
   75 words · optional

   What they are really asking: Did you do real research, and can you explain it plainly?

   The mistake most applicants make: Overselling a class project as research, or drowning the reader in jargon.

   Do this instead: One sentence on the question, one on what you did, one on what you found. If a non-scientist could not follow it, rewrite it.

   Jim starts by asking you: “What question did your research ask, in one sentence a friend would understand?” Answer it with Jim, free →

3. Where, when and under whose mentorship did you conduct this research? (Provide mentor's name, title and institutional affiliation.)
   50 words · optional
4. If your research has been submitted for national consideration (e.g., Concord Review, Regeneron STS) and/or accepted for professional publication, please provide additional details here.
   50 words · optional
5. Please briefly elaborate on an extracurricular activity or work experience of particular significance to you.
   175 words

   What they are really asking: What did one commitment actually do to you?

   The mistake most applicants make: Picking the biggest title and describing duties.

   Do this instead: Choose the one with a story: a hard day, a person, a change in you. Show the moment, then say why it mattered, in your own words.

   Jim starts by asking you: “What is the activity where something happened that you still think about?” Answer it with Jim, free →

6. Choose one of the following quotations, and respond to the question posed, in an essay of not more than 350 words. Prompt 1: "Hope and curiosity — these are qualities that are the foundation of what Amherst College means..." What does curiosity mean to you? How do you experience curiosity in your own life? Prompt 2: "We seek an Amherst made stronger because it includes those whose experiences can enhance our understanding..." In what ways could your unique experiences enhance our understanding of our nation and our world? Prompt 3: "We are working together to build a community that makes room for both true disagreement and true connection..." Tell us about a time that you engaged with a viewpoint different from your own. How did you enter that engagement, and what did you learn about yourself from it?
   350 words

   What they are really asking: Which of these three can you answer with a specific experience that reveals how you think?

   The mistake most applicants make: Writing about curiosity in general. Every applicant is curious in general.

   Do this instead: The curiosity prompt works if you have one real rabbit hole to describe. The disagreement prompt works if you changed your mind once. Choose the one with a scene, tell it, and connect it to something else in your application so it reads as a pattern in you.

   Jim starts by asking you: “What is a question you chased further than any class asked you to, or a view you actually changed?” Answer it with Jim, free →

Stuck on one of these? Open it in AlphaApply.ai and Jim will work through the prompt with you, in your own words.

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Deadlines and prompts change. This page was verified on August 7, 2026; always confirm on Amherst College's official admissions site before submitting.