How to Write the NYU Supplemental Essay (with an Example!) [UPDATED FOR 2024-2025]
Let’s talk about how to write NYU's supplemental essay....
How do you write NYU’s supplemental essay, Lisa? What are they asking for? I don’t know where to start!
The NYU supplemental essay for the 2024-2025 college application cycle is finally out! And it’s a doozy!
Considering that NYU’s supplemental essay from last year was one of the essays that I got asked about the most last year (along with the Stanford roommate essay), I’ve put together this guide to help you as you start tackling this challenging new essay.
Do I have to Write the NYU Supplemental Essay?
To be clear, the NYU supplemental essay is optional. The essay is in the optional, pre-checked Writing section and is not a required part of the NYU application.
To drive that point home, NYU notes that the essay is for “if it feels right for you to tell us a little more about yourself in the application” and “it really is optional!.”
So no, you absolutely can submit your NYU application without ever writing the supplemental essay.
That being said, NYU received 118,00 applications last year for its class of 2028, and its overall acceptance rate dropped to a new low of 8%. With NYU admitting fewer than 1in every 10 applicants, most applicants are going to be doing anything they can to stand out in that enormous pile of applications, and the supplemental essay is one way to do that.
So while you don’t have to write the supplemental essay, if you’re serious about applying to NYU, I would strongly suggest thinking long and hard about it!
And here is NYU's supplemental essay prompt for 2024-2025....
The NYU supplemental essay prompt [updated for 2024-2025]
So here’s the NYU supplemental essay prompt for the 2024-2025 college application cycle:
“In a world where disconnection seems to often prevail, we are looking for students who embody the qualities of bridge builders—students who can connect people, groups, and ideas to span divides, foster understanding, and promote collaboration within a dynamic, interconnected, and vibrant global academic community. We are eager to understand how your experiences have prepared you to build the bridges of the future.
Please consider one or more of the following questions in your essay:
What personal experiences or challenges have shaped you as a bridge builder?
How have you been a bridge builder in your school, community, or personal life?
What specific actions have you taken to build bridges between diverse groups, ideas, or cultures?
How do you envision being a bridge builder during your time at our university and beyond?”
How to Write the NYU Supplemental Essay: a Breakdown
So where to start with this essay prompt?
Well, as all my students know, I first like to take a step back and think about what the college trying to get at with a question before trying to put together an answer.
The reason is because with NYU receiving over 100,000 applications a year at this point, if they’re asking a question, there has to be a good reason they want to read another 100,000 essays. If NYU is asking a question like this, there’s something specific they want to know about you, something important that’s going to help them say “yes” or “no” to your application.
When writing the NYU supplemental essay, rememnber to answer the question!
College Essay Coach Pro Tip: Unlike personal statements prompts which are open to all kinds essays, supplemental essay prompts are asking you about something specific that they want to know about you. Supplemental essay prompts often ask you to tell the admissions committee something about your background, what you plan to do in college, or how you interact with people.
These are not theoretical questions. They actually want to know those specific things about you, so please don’t go off on tangents. You usually only have 150-300 words to answer the question!
Step #1 to acing any supplemental essay prompt is answering the question that the admissions committee is asking!
So what does NYU want to know here and why?
Well, this one is easy to figure out. NYU wants to know how you interact with people who think differently than you and/or may have different beliefs, may come from different backgrounds, and/or in some cases, just flat out disagree with you.
And in particular, NYU wants to know how you have connected with and maybe even worked together with people who are different from you in the past. What are your experiences with people from different backgrounds? How do you describe those experiences? And how has your background influenced how you act in those situations?
NYU's supplemental essay question is tryiing to get a sense of what you would lbe like in a diverse university community with many points of view.
Why Is NYU Asking this Question?
The reason for this supplemental essay is also pretty obvious.
Colleges have always been been places that students from a wide, wide range of backgrounds come together to form a learning community. To foster a vibrant university community, it is vital that schools find students who are going to be able to connect and learn from students of different races, religions, cultures, and backgrounds.
And that’s especially true of a school like NYU which is in New York City, a diverse global city where over 200 languages are spoken and which serves as the home to a kaleidoscope of faiths.
In particular, at a time when protests on college campuses have become a cultural flashpoint and college are just bracing for more, knowing how a student has handled being in situations with people who aren’t just like them and may disagree is an issue that can weigh heavily in a college admissions committee’s decision.
The NYU Supplemental Essay: Step #1
Okay, all that being said, where to start with the NYU essay?
In fact, in this case, NYU makes it very explicit exactly what they’re looking for: “…we are looking for students who embody the qualities of bridge builders—students who can connect people, groups, and ideas to span divides, foster understanding, and promote collaboration within a dynamic, interconnected, and vibrant global academic community.”
So above all, what you need to do in your answer to NYU is show how you are a “bridge-builder” who can “connect people, groups,” “foster understanding” and “promote collaboration” in a “vibrant academic community.”
So as you approach this question, clearly the most important thing for you to do is to show NYU that you are what they are looking for: a student who is a bridge-builder!
This is in no way a theoretical question! Looking at NYU’s own guidance on this essay, the admissions committee wants to learn about “where you will turn to for inspiration, and what experiences have shaped you and resonate with you.”
Over and over, NYU’s guidance states that they want to know about YOU. But how to do this 250 words or less?
The NYU supplemental essay for 2024-2025 is all about how you build bridges.
NYU is actually straightforward in their guidance for this question, giving you 4 points to consider in your answer. Let’s take them step by step:
Personal Experiences or Challenges that Have Shaped You as a Bridge-Builder
The first element that NYU asks you to consider in your answer is: What are the p personal experiences or challenges that have shaped you as a bridge builder?
The best way to think about this part of the question is: “Well, why are you a bridge builder? What in your background and/or experiences have made you someone who builds bridges?”
If nothing is immediately springing to mind for you, here’s some guidance on how to think about this part of the question. Usually with “Why are you the way you are?”-type questions, the answer starts one of two ways:
Bridge-Building Has Been a Part of Your Life Since Childhood
This is something that’s always been a part of you and your life since childhood. Think of those vet origin stories where the person was always taking care of sick cats and dogs. It’s the same idea.
Maybe you grew up in a multicultural household or neighborhood and bringing together different groups of people was part of the fabric of your family: As long as I can remember, my family home has been meeting place for Or maybe you came from a place that was culturally volatile, and it informed your strong beliefs in working across cultures.
If who you are as a bridge-builder is rooted in how you grew up, this is probably the approach you should take.
Write 2-3 sentences about how your childhood shaped who you are as a bridge-builder.
A Specific Experience Made You Become a Bridge-Builder
The other approach is to write about a specific experience which made you become a bridge-builder. For example, did you witness a conflict which made you realize that you wanted to build bridges across groups of people? Or perhaps you had a realization when you saw a unlikely group of people coming together to solve a major problem?
This involves about a specific moment in which you had a major realization that change d something in you. If this is you, write 2-3 sentences about this moment inspired you to want to build bridges and connect people.
The NYU supplemental essay asks how you've built bridges in your school, community, or personal life in the past.
2. You as a Bridge-Builder in Your School, Community, or Personal Life
The second point in NYU’s guidance is to consider how you have been a bridge-builder in your school, community or personal life.
Okay, now that you’ve established why you are a bridge-builder, this guidance is asking you to think about your “What?”: What are the bridges that you are building?
So think back over the connections that you build: Who are the groups that you bring together? How do you foster relationships between people who are not alike and who may disagree? What connections are so meaningful to you that you spend your time and energy building them?
This could encompass many different aspects of your life from the global and political to the very personal. What matters is that this needs to be about you and what’s important to you. Again, write 2-3 sentences on this.
3. Building Bridges Between Diverse Groups
The third part of NYU’s guidance asks about what “specific actions” you have taken to “build bridges between diverse groups, ideas, or cultures.”
So now comes the nitty-gritty. Now that you’ve established the why of your bridge-building and the what you’re building bridges for, now NYU wants to know the how: What are the specific actions you’ve taken to build those bridges?
This is where your essay gets grounded in reality. It’s not enough to say that building bridges is important to you, NYU wants you to talk about real steps you’ve taken to build bridges. That doesn’t mean that if you haven’t organized and hosted peace talks for the Middle East you have nothing for this essay, but NYU clearly wants to hear about tangible steps that you’ve taken to build bridges.
That could be hosting a lunch table for students of different faiths at school or starting a gay-straight alliance for teens at your church. Maybe you started a podcast inviting people of opposing political viewpoints to come on and have a conversation. Or maybe it’s something as simple as building a bridge across family members who have become estranged because of differing viewpoints.
Whatever it is, jot down another 2-3No sentences about what you’ve done.
The NYU supplemental essay asks how you envision building bridges at NYU... and beyond!
4. Your Vision of Building Bridges at NYU and for the Future
Now, unlike Part 3 which was all about the concrete steps you’ve already taken to build bridges in your community, the fourth part of NYU’s guidance is all about your vision for the future.
I often tell my students that college essays are about helping admissions officers make sense of your application. The essays help admissions officers answer the essential questions of “Who are you?,” “Why have you done what you’ve done?”. “Where do we think you’re going in the future?”
So part of this question is to help the NYU’s admissions committee understand who you would be on their campus: How would you interact with NYU’s diverse, international community of students, faculty and staff? How would you connect with your fellow students and help foster connections between your classmates? Is there an issue that you would want to bring members of the NYU community together over to accomplish something greater?
And ultimately, looking out into the future, are you someone that NYU may one day point to as an example of how their alumni promote collaboration in an ever-changing and global world? Is there something you’ve been passionate about bringing together people for? If so, is this something you plan to continue with beyond college? Or is there another problem that you plan to collaborate with others on to solve?
Whatever it is, jot another 2-3 sentences down on it.
The NYU Supplemental Essay: Putting It Together
If you’ve been following along on this guide, you probably have the beginnings of a draft for the NYU supplemental essay by now. It may be more of a rough outline, but it should give you someplace to start.
What this look like when you put it all together though?
Here's an example of the NYU supplemental essay!
An Example of the NYU Supplemental Essay
Because this is a new prompt for the 2024-2025 college application season, I don’t have an actual example of a successful essay, but I’ve put together an example of what a successful essay may look like based on essays that some of my students have written for other applications:
Growing up as a preacher’s son, I thought everyone’s parents spent 12 hours a day in deep prayer. It’s wasn’t until I started school that I realized that these marathon prayer sessions weren’t quite the norm.
I also realized that even though I loved my mom, I actually despised many of her views as a preacher. It was painful to realize how hateful my mom’s views were to marginalized people like my best friend who is openly gay.
At first, I tried to “correct” her views, but my mom remained steadfast. But over time, I realized our dialogue could not be about “right” or “wrong.” They had to be about understanding each other, and that’s how I approach every conversation now—even when viewpoints are very different. I have no desire to be “right.” Curiosity thrives in me—why do they have this viewpoint? How can I understand them?
It was in this spirit that I co-founded my school’s first Genders and Sexualities Alliance Club with my best friend. It’s a place where students of all genders and sexualities can come together to work to effect change and also to understand each other better.
At NYU, I can’t wait for the opportunity to be curious about everything and everyone. I’m looking forward to continuing to promote dialogue among students from different backgrounds and with different viewpoints in in solving problems we all face like climate change. I expect to change, understand, be understood, and to grow with my fellow classmates.
Writing the NYU Supplemental Essay: Last Thoughts
Above all, remember, the NYU admissions committee needs to be able to see you as a student at NYU and participating as a vital member of their community. Paint that picture for them!
How would you engage with your fellow NYU students, and what of your experiences can give them some indications of what that would be like?
If you can start from there, you will be well on your way to acing this supplemental essay!
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Are you applying to the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)? Check out my guide: How to Write the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) Supplemental Essays (with Examples!)
Or How to Write the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) Supplemental Essays (with Examples!)
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