What are the essay questions for the first-year application? What is the word limit on the first-year application essays?
All first-year applicants are required to submit three essay questions. The full essay prompts are available on the admissions website, but in general they are:
- One Common Application personal essay (minimum 250 words/maximum 650 words)
- One U-M Question essay related to a community and your place within it (minimum 100 words/maximum 300 words)
- One U-M Question essay related to what is compelling to you about the U-M's curriculum opportunities (minimum 100 words /maximum 550 words).
In addition, one optional essay related to the impact of COVID-19 on the applicant may be submitted. We encourage students to share their specific circumstances, and we will bring empathy and compassion to our holistic review process.
We strongly encourage applicants to stay within the given guidelines regarding word limits. Any words beyond the stated limit will be cut off, and applications with incomplete essays will not be viewed as competitive.