Fewer Supplemental Essays, More Applicants: Why These Schools Got Harder to Get Into
Updated: 9th October, 2026
TL;DR
At least seven colleges dropped required supplemental essays for 2026-27, including Georgia Tech, Tulane, UNC Chapel Hill, and the University of Georgia. Cornell, Yale, and WashU cut some prompts. Less writing sounds like a gift, but an essay screens applicants, so removing it can pull in far more of them for the same seats. UVA's regular decision applications rose 52.4% after it dropped its essay. If you want something concrete to stand out in a bigger pool, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you one-on-one with a PhD mentor to write an independent research paper.
Which colleges dropped supplemental essays for 2026-27?
At least seven colleges dropped their required supplemental essays for 2026-27. Cornell, Yale, and WashU cut prompts without removing writing entirely. Georgia Tech, for one, announced the change on July 29, 2026. Here is what each school changed.
School | What changed for 2026-27 |
Georgia Tech | Dropped its short-answer supplement. The Common App personal essay is still required. |
Tulane | Paused its “Why Tulane?” essay. |
UNC Chapel Hill | Dropped its short-answer questions. The Common App essay is the only required writing. |
University of Georgia | Dropped its second essay, the book essay. You write only the personal essay. |
University of Miami | Does not require a supplemental essay. |
University of Washington | Uses the Common App essay as its required essay. |
Santa Clara University | Dropped both required essays. One optional essay remains. |
Cornell | Dropped its universitywide essay. The essay for your college or school is still required. |
Yale | Dropped the “Why Yale?” question and cut Short Takes from four to three. |
WashU | Dropped its optional essay. You still write a 250-word response about what you want to study. Added an Early Action round and now considers demonstrated interest. |
UVA made the same move a year earlier, for the 2025-26 cycle. Rules shift fast, so check each school’s admissions page before you start writing.
Why are colleges dropping supplemental essays?
Schools give a mix of reasons, and AI is only one of them. In its report on the trend, Inside Higher Ed found several different motives.
Georgia Tech: Its admissions team said the supplement “was no longer a differentiating factor.” The school also got a record of nearly 68,000 first-year applications last year.
Tulane: Dean of admissions Shawn Abbott told counselors the essay might discourage strong students from applying. He also cited more students using AI to write applications.
WashU: Stress was the main reason. Its optional essay “did not feel optional to students.” WashU said AI was not a factor.
University of Georgia: Reader fatigue played a part. The admissions team said it was exhausted at the end of every read season.
Cornell: The universitywide essay wasn’t helping readers see a fuller picture of you beyond the essays for each college.
Why does dropping an essay bring in more applicants?
A supplemental essay is real work, and that work used to screen people out. A student applying to twenty schools will often skip the one that asks for another few hundred words about why they want to attend. Drop that essay, and a school that once filtered for real interest gets a share of the overflow.
UVA shows how big the effect can get. After it dropped its essay, its regular decision applications rose from 17,568 to 26,767, up 52.4%, according to the Cavalier Daily. Total applications rose 27.4%, to 82,118. UVA’s test-optional policy likely played a part too, so the essay was not the only reason.
None of this means schools want a different kind of student. Two colleges can look for the same applicant and still end up with very different pools. It comes down to how much extra work the application asks for.
Does dropping a supplemental essay make a school harder to get into?
In raw odds, it usually does. More applications for the same number of seats means a lower acceptance rate for everyone, strong applicants included. UVA offered admission to 10,287 of its 82,118 applicants for the class of 2030, about 12.5%. The Independent Educational Consultants Association has told Inside Higher Ed to expect “inflating application volumes and admit-rate pressure” at schools that make these changes.
This does not change what makes an application strong. Fit, a clear reason for choosing that school, and real depth in your activities still matter most. There is just more competition to stand out inside a bigger pool. For a look at what a crowded pool does to the odds at a top school, see our guide to Harvard’s acceptance rate.
Should you apply casually to schools that dropped their essay?
A dropped essay is not a green light to apply casually. A school that asks for nothing extra costs almost nothing to add, so it’s tempting to toss it on the list. The trouble is that a rushed activities list and a generic main essay leave a reader with nothing specific to hold onto. With no supplemental essay, you have no second chance to fix that impression.
If a school is a real option for you, treat the missing essay as a reason to work harder elsewhere, not less. Some of these schools also track demonstrated interest, so a campus visit or an info session can help. Our guide to showing demonstrated interest covers how.
How can you strengthen your application when the essay disappears?
The school didn’t stop caring about fit. You just lost one chance to show it. Here is how to make up for that.
Write the optional essay if you have something real to say. Many schools that drop a required essay still offer an optional one. Our guide to acing a supplementary essay shows how to make a short response count.
Make your main essay do more work. It is now the only writing many of these schools read, so give it a specific story. See what admissions officers look for in college essays.
Build depth you can point to. A genuine research project is exactly the kind of concrete detail that can carry your main essay when a supplemental slot to explain it disappears. Start by learning how to choose a research mentor and subject area, then how to write about research in your application.
Use your activities list well. With less writing to read, your activities list and recommendation letters carry more weight. Pick specific details over long lists.
Frequently asked questions: schools that dropped supplemental essays for 2026-27
Which Ivy League schools dropped supplemental essays?
Cornell and Yale cut essays, but neither dropped them fully. Cornell dropped its universitywide essay, so you write only the essay for the college or school you pick. Yale dropped its “Why Yale?” question and cut its Short Takes from four to three. Both schools still ask for other writing, so plan on essays at each.
Do schools that dropped essays still track demonstrated interest?
Some do. WashU says it considers demonstrated interest as a small part of your whole application, and it recently began doing so. Campus visits, virtual info sessions, and talks with admissions officers all count. Not every school tracks it, so check each school’s admissions page. Our guide to how to show demonstrated interest lists the common ways.
If a school’s essay is optional now, should you still write it?
Yes, if you have something specific and real to say. An optional essay left blank is a missed chance to stand out, not a neutral choice. Skip it only if you would repeat what is already in your application. Keep it short and focused on one detail the reader can’t find anywhere else.
Will more colleges drop supplemental essays?
Possibly. The reasons schools gave are ones many other schools share: reader fatigue, applicant stress, and AI. Georgia Tech said its essay was no longer a differentiating factor, and UGA’s team said it was worn out by the end of every read season. Rules can change from one year to the next, so check each school’s requirements before you apply.
Should you skip a school because it still requires a supplemental essay?
No. An essay requirement is not a sign that a school is harder to get into. It often means a smaller, more self-selected applicant pool. Pick schools for fit, not for workload. If a school matches your goals, the extra essay is a chance to show why.
How do you write a strong supplemental essay?
Start with one specific detail about the school that connects to something you have actually done. Skip general praise that any applicant could write. Name a real class, program, or professor, and stay inside the word limit. Our guide to 7 tips to ace your supplementary essay goes deeper.
Worried that a dropped essay leaves you one less place to show what you care about? Look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you one-on-one with a PhD mentor for an independent research project, done online, so you arrive with something concrete to show. Apply here. If cost is the main barrier, also look at the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students.
Stephen Turban is the co-founder of Lumiere Education and a graduate of Harvard College, where he earned an A.B. in Statistics before beginning a PhD at Harvard Business School. A former McKinsey & Company consultant and former researcher, his research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, The Economist, BBC News, Freakonomics Radio, and the Washington Post. In his articles for Forbes, he writes on what students and professionals can learn from high school research, high school passion projects, critical thinking, and mentorship. At Lumiere, he leads a selective research program where students work one-on-one with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper. Connect with him on LinkedIn.