UNC Chapel Hill Essays 2025-2026
UNC Chapel Hill Supplemental Essay Prompts: 2025-2026
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently released their supplemental essays for the 2025-2026 admissions cycle. In this article, we will explain exactly what they are looking for in responses from applicants, so you can write essays that get you admitted there.
1. Discuss one of your personal qualities and share a story, anecdote, or memory of how it helped you make a positive impact on a community. This could be your current community or another community you have engaged. (250 words)
The key to a standout UNC Chapel Hill essay is to show a strong before and after. You want the reader to clearly visualize the impact of your actions.
To make this essay convincing, I'd start with a vivid first-person anecdote that demonstrates why you greatly value a particular personal quality. You want to convince the reader that you genuinely possess this quality and that it's integral to who you are.
Next, I would explain what this quality is, providing concrete examples of how you demonstrate it positively in real-world situations. From there, I would describe how you initially connected with the community that this quality enabled you to help. Paint a clear picture of what this community looked like before your involvement, how your interactions with its members created positive change, and how this experience truly highlighted your defining quality. Then show what the community looked like afterward.
To conclude, I'd focus on one of two approaches: either discuss how helping this community shaped you as a person compared to who you were in your opening anecdote, or explain how the experience influenced your future goals and aspirations.
2. Discuss an academic topic that you’re excited to explore and learn more about in college. Why does this topic interest you? Topics could be a specific course of study, research interests, or any other area related to your academic experience in college. (250 words)
This is not a "why major" essay. This is a "why academic topic" essay. So don't recycle your other "why major" essays. You want to pick a topic that falls within what you intend to major in at UNC Chapel Hill. For example, if you are majoring in physics, you might discuss the black hole that resides at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The more specific the topic, the better, this specificity indicates that you are genuinely passionate about your intended field of study.
I would start this essay with a strong personal anecdote that enables you to establish an emotional connection to this topic. Then introduce the topic and explain how this anecdote gives you a personal connection to it. From there, nerd out about the topic and explain, without directly addressing the reader, why they should care about it as well. You want to make the reader believe we need more people studying this topic and why you should be one of them. Finally, conclude by discussing what it would mean personally for you to further explore this topic in college or to use the knowledge from studying this topic to tangibly improve the world in some way.
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