In all my days as an athlete, I have seen and experienced the potential for burnout in the home stretch of an important race or training session. Maybe I went out too hard, or did not plan my nutrition or hydration accordingly, or maybe it has been one of those high volume weeks where cumulative fatigue detracts from a top performance. Either way, sometimes the most difficult portion of any effort is the ‘one lap to go’ when you have run out of energy and the will to continue.
For high school seniors, often the ‘home stretch’ of applying to any college is the “SAQ” - or Short Answer Questions - portion of the application. Just like a sprint finish, this can be the most important effort in the application process for students applying to highly selective universities. The answers to these questions are equally if not more important than the other writing sections of the application.
Let’s unpack why these SAQ’s are so important, what the most common questions are, and provide a few tricks to answering them successfully as the last lap of your college application.
What Are Short Answer Questions and Why Do They Matter?
Short answer, or supplemental essay questions, are unique to each college and are usually an application requirement for that particular school. The typical length range is about 150-300 words, with significant variation; I’ve seen word counts as short as 25-50 words, or as long as 450. Their purpose is the same as the main, 650-word essay, which is to humanize and bring context/additional information about who the applicant is as a scholar and young adult. Some schools will have a few ‘optional’ SAQ’s, and unless it is a question about a hardship which you did not experience, I recommend answering even the optional prompts.
Since, especially for early action or early decision applicants, these are often the last application task the student gets to, procrastination is common. Why? The prompts are usually released on the Common Application on or around August 1st, when some students have already completed their main essay or activities lists. When students postpone thinking about their responses until well into the first semester of 12th grade, they may feel the crunch of AP/IB coursework and other responsibilities creeping in.
Since they are just short responses, it is easy to put them off, leading to sub-par, last minute efforts. If students are already burned out and tired of writing, the last few SAQ’s can take a disproportionate amount of time. Students may be, understandably, burned out. I implore you to take the equivalent of a mental energy gel and just finish up. Putting it off until later will not, indeed, yield good results.
Common Short Answer Question Prompts and How to Answer Them
The most common SAQ prompts are the “Why This Major?” and “Why This College?” questions. Let’s look carefully at each. One pro tip to stop application fatigue is to begin drafting these the summer before the senior year.
Why This Major?
This common prompt is the college’s attempt to determine genuine interest in the first-choice major that the student selected at that college. A great approach here is to give a very brief, chronological timeline of how you became interested in this topic, and what cool things you have done to showcase and explore that curiosity. Perhaps interest sparked at middle school career day, or when you observed a person or event in your early teens. Maybe you have always wanted to study this, and have done some cool activities in search of confirming this interest. Even though the words you have are few, a short hook or interest grabber is never a waste of words.
There is an art to this question, as students should still follow the general rule of providing NEW information on EVERY PART of the application.
Pro Tips:
It is fine to mention things from the Activities List section, but if you do, provide additional details
Avoid simply making a laundry list of things that are already listed
Provide context and depth in your why
Include what you wish to do with the education you receive at that school
Another pro tip for answering this question is to save a few words at the end for why you wish to study this major at the college you are applying to. The college wants to know why their particular program in this major is awesome for you, and although the “Why This College?” prompt will provide the details, a nod to the college itself somewhere in your response will give you an edge. Here is an example of a body paragraph from a student who explains her interest in a Chemical Engineering major:
I aspire to be a chemical engineer because I want to both understand how physical systems
work and manipulate them to better serve our world, our environment, and our posterity. I can take this base of knowledge and apply it to society’s most integral processes in nearly every area, from manufacturing and pharmaceuticals to energy and fuel, and the breadth of this discipline will allow me to work on projects that can improve quality of life for thousands of people by taking innovation from the lab to the large-scale. I hope to change the world through the field that I find most fascinating, and I know this will be extremely fulfilling. As I continue to learn, the more I recognize that chemistry, physics, and calculus are the world. They describe its behavior and all of the life in it, and I find the process of forming a complex understanding of these systems absolutely essential to not only my reason for pursuing INSERT UNIVERSITY PROGRAM HERE, but to myself.
Why This College?
The Why This College prompt is essentially the proof that you have done your research and are certain that the school is an excellent fit. Write each of these essays as if that college is your very first choice. The biggest pro tip I can suggest here is to research at least 5 academic and 2 social reasons why you want to attend the school. You can and should do this long before the Common App opens on August 1st. Demonstrate a working knowledge of the professors, research opportunities, course trajectory, labs, study abroad, co-op/internships, campus traditions, academic organizations, etc. that appeal to you.
This research is not futile, and should be done for EVERY college you apply to whether or not you think this question will be asked on the application. Here’s why: If students want to spend at least four years of time and a ton of their parent’s money at a school, there probably should be some darn good reasons.
Don’t cite things like location, rankings, proximity to the beach or mountains, the weather, campus size, the VIBE, etc, as the school already knows these things about itself. Rather, give them the reason why THIS school is a great match for YOU. What interests you about going there? What are you excited about learning? Why will this school be an awesome place for you to grow? What opportunities will be provided to you as a result of your having attended there? The answers to questions like these should be addressed throughout the creation of your balanced college list. In fact, these reasons should be the cornerstone of why the school ended up on your list in the first place.
Pro Tips for Writing Strong SAQ Responses
These two questions are not the only two that will be asked by highly selective colleges, yet they are by far the most recurring. If you are prepared to answer these about each college on your list, much of the work can be done ahead of the August 1st Common App release, so there is no excuse to wait until the first semester of the senior year to conquer them.
Although prompts can and sometimes do change from year to year, students can get a pretty good idea of how many questions are required by each college on their list by looking at the prompts from the previous application cycle. Yes, it really is that simple. Keep in mind that when creating a balanced college list, students should keep their writing load in mind. Not always, but often the most selective schools have the largest number of SAQ’s. This is yet another reason to balance the list and apply to extreme reach schools sparingly. Imagine the potential for burnout when a student realizes that they have 40 extra essays to write!
FAQ's:
How Long Are Short Answer Questions?
Short Answer Questions are usually about 250 words, but lengths can vary.
When can I begin working on Short Answer Questions?
Ideally, these answers should be drafted during your college research, and can be done
before the August 1st Common App Opening.
Are short Answer Questions as important as the Main Essay?
Yes, absolutely! They may even be MORE important!
Where can I find a college's Short Answer Questions?
These can be found on the Common Application in the college specific section of the application. Verification of these questions happens when the current application cycle opens, on or around August 1st.
Final Thoughts on Short Answer Questions
Since SAQ’s can be even MORE important than the main essay, students should not think of them as ‘last lap’ type tasks. In the college application process, every student is an endurance athlete. With a little bit of knowledge and pre-planing, students can finish the race strong and with energy to spare (scholarship essays, anyone?). Research and introspection are the training modules for this part of the race. Let’s get after it!
Access College America helps scholars with ALL portions of the application and college prep process! Whether you need help with the sprint or endurance training, book your DISCOVERY CALL today to see how we can help!
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