Chỉ còn vài tháng nữa hạn nộp hồ sơ ứng tuyển sẽ đến. Nhiều trường Đại học Mỹ đã công bố chủ đề bài luận phụ cho mùa tuyển sinh năm nay. Hãy cùng Spark Prep cập nhật và chuẩn bị lên chiến lược viết luận từ sớm để gia tăng cơ hội cạnh tranh của mình nhé.

University of Chicago

Question 1 (Required): 

How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

Question 2: Extended Essay (Required; Choose one):

Essay Option 1

We’re all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being “caught purple-handed”? Or “tickled orange”? Give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents.
– Inspired by Ramsey Bottorff, Class of 2026

Essay Option 2

“Ah, but I was so much older then / I’m younger than that now” – Bob Dylan. In what ways do we become younger as we get older?
– Inspired by Joshua Harris, Class of 2016

Essay Option 3

Pluto, the demoted planet. Ophiuchus, the thirteenth Zodiac. Andy Murray, the fourth to tennis’s Big Three. Every grouping has something that doesn’t quite fit in. Tell us about a group and its unofficial member, why (or why not) should it be excluded?
– Inspired by Veronica Chang, Class of 2022

Essay Option 4

“Daddy-o”, “Far Out”, “Gnarly”: the list of slang terms goes on and on. Sadly, most of these aren’t so “fly” anymore – “as if!” Name an outdated slang from any decade or language that you’d bring back and explain why you totally “dig it.”
– Inspired by Napat Sakdibhornssup, Class of 2028

Essay Option 5

How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? What is the total length of chalk used by UChicago professors in a year? How many pages of books are in the Regenstein Library? These questions are among a class of estimation problems named after University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi. Create your own Fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there.
– Inspired by Malhar Manek, Class of 2028

Essay Option 6

And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun! 

University of Richmond 

Ứng viên chọn trả lời một trong các chủ đề bài luận dưới đây:

1. You have a platform to create change. What is an action or policy you might propose to address an issue of social injustice in your school or local community, or on a national or global scale?
2. Tell us about a time you learned something unexpected. What did you learn, and what happened next?
3. Richmond welcomes students from various backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences. What is at least one way you will contribute to our community that is not already mentioned in your application?

Word Limit: Minimum 350. Maximum 650 words. 

University of Texas at Austin

Summer/Fall 2025 Essay

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. Please keep your essay between 500–650 words (typically two to three paragraphs).

Bài luận ngắn (Short Answers)

Submit the required short answers to prompts in your admission application. Answers are limited to no more than 40 lines, or about 250–300 words per prompt, typically the length of one paragraph.

Summer/Fall 2025 Prompts

1. Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major?
2. Think of all the activities — both in and outside of school — that you have been involved with during high school. Which one are you most proud of and why? (Guidance for students: This can include an extracurricular activity, a club/organization, volunteer activity, work or a family responsibility.)

Bài luận ngắn tùy chọn (Optional Short Answer)

Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance. 

Villanova University

Ứng viên chọn trả lời một trong các chủ đề bài luận dưới đây (Giới hạn: 250 chữ)

1. St. Augustine states that well-being is “not concerned with myself alone, but with my neighbor’s good as well.” How have you advocated for equity and justice in your communities?
2. What is a lesson in life that you have learned that you would want to share with others at Villanova? 
3. “Villanova” means “new home.” Why do you want to call Villanova your new home? 
4. As an Augustinian community, we value recognizing individuals for their true selves. Please share with us a time when you were misjudged based on your identity or background.
5. At Villanova, we often say “each of us strengthens all of us.” Please detail a time when someone has borrowed some of your strength in their time of need. 

Wake Forest University 

• List five books you’ve read that have intrigued you.
• Tell us what piques your intellectual curiosity or has helped you understand the world’s complexity. This can include a work you’ve read, a project you’ve completed for a class, and even co-curricular activities in which you have been involved (limit 150 words).
• Dr. Maya Angelou, renowned author, poet, civil-rights activist, and former Wake Forest University Reynolds Professor of American Studies, inspired others to celebrate their identities and to honor each person’s dignity. Choose one of Dr. Angelou’s powerful quotes. How does this quote relate to your lived experience or reflect how you plan to contribute to the Wake Forest community? (limit 300 words)
• Give us your Top Ten List. (The choice of theme is yours.) (limit: 100 characters per line)

Yale University

Short Answer Questions

Ứng viên nộp hồ sơ qua hệ thống Coalition Application, Common Application, hoặc QuestBridge Application sẽ cần trả lời các câu hỏi sau:

• Students at Yale have time to explore their academic interests before committing to one or more major fields of study. Many students either modify their original academic direction or change their minds entirely. As of this moment, what academic areas seem to fit your interests or goals most comfortably? Please indicate up to three from the list provided.
• Tell us about a topic or idea that excites you and is related to one or more academic areas you selected above. Why are you drawn to it? (200 words or fewer)
• What is it about Yale that has led you to apply? (125 words or fewer)

Ứng viên nộp hồ sơ qua hệ thống Coalition Application hoặc Common Application,cũng sẽ cần trả lời các câu hỏi sau:

• What inspires you?
• If you could teach any college course, write a book, or create an original piece of art of any kind, what would it be?
• Other than a family member, who is someone who has had a significant influence on you? What has been the impact of their influence?
• What is something about you that is not included anywhere else in your application?

Giới hạn: Không quá 200 ký tự (trung bình 35 chữ)

Essay

Ứng viên nộp hồ sơ qua hệ thống Coalition Application hoặc Common Application sẽ cần trả lời các câu hỏi sau (Giới hạn tối đa: 400 chữ).

1. Reflect on a time you discussed an issue important to you with someone holding an opposing view. Why did you find the experience meaningful?
2. Reflect on your membership in a community to which you feel connected. Why is this community meaningful to you? You may define community however you like.
3. Reflect on an element of your personal experience that you feel will enrich your college. How has it shaped you?

Danh sách sẽ tiếp tục được cập nhật. 

• Supplemental Essay Prompts