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Chapman University’s 2023-24 Essay Prompts
Select-A-Prompt Short Response
Chapman seeks to enroll a class of students that help create a diverse, dynamic and welcoming campus community. To support this goal, we encourage you to discuss any aspect of your identity. This can include race, unique perspectives, experiences and background, and how those aspects of identity have shaped who you are. We are committed to creating a welcoming university where all of our students can fully participate, reach their potential, and benefit from living, learning, and socializing with people different from themselves. With this in mind, please answer one of the following questions
Option 1
Our committee would like to hear about a personal experience or lesson that has helped you better understand who you are now and/or appreciate a perspective different from your own. How would you utilize this understanding to contribute to the values and welcoming fabric of our campus community?
Option 2
Part of the Chapman experience is to help students expand their perspectives. How do you plan to develop yourself during your time at Chapman?
Select-A-Prompt Essay
Fast Facts are a way for us to get to know you. We want to see who you are as a student and as a person! Feel free to be creative, but remember what we’re asking. Just because they’re “fast” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put some thought into your answers.
Option 1
What is your dream job?
Option 2
What song should we be listening to while reading your application?
Option 3
Name one dish you would cook for our admission team.
Option 4
What is your favorite subject?
Option 5
What is the top thing on your bucket list?
Option 6
If Chapman’s admission team came to visit your hometown, what site would you take them to?
Option 7
What makes you happy?
Option 8
What is something you have always wanted to learn but never had the chance to?
Option 9
What can you give a 30-minute presentation on without any preparation?
Option 10
What are the best words of advice you have received?
Why This College Short Response
Out of the thousands of universities and colleges, what excites you about attending Chapman University specifically?
Select-A-Prompt Essay
Fast Facts are a way for us to get to know you. We want to see who you are as a student and as a person! Feel free to be creative, but remember what we’re asking. Just because they’re “fast” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put some thought into your answers.
Option 1
What is your dream job?
Option 2
What song should we be listening to while reading your application?
Option 3
Name one dish you would cook for our admission team.
Option 4
What is your favorite subject?
Option 5
What is the top thing on your bucket list?
Option 6
If Chapman’s admission team came to visit your hometown, what site would you take them to?
Option 7
What makes you happy?
Option 8
What is something you have always wanted to learn but never had the chance to?
Option 9
What can you give a 30-minute presentation on without any preparation?
Option 10
What are the best words of advice you have received?
Common App Personal Essay
The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want the readers of your application to know about you apart from courses, grades, and test scores? Choose the option that best helps you answer that question and write an essay of no more than 650 words, using the prompt to inspire and structure your response. Remember: 650 words is your limit, not your goal. Use the full range if you need it, but don‘t feel obligated to do so.
Option 1
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Option 2
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Option 3
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Option 4
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
Option 5
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Option 6
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Option 7
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.
