The George Washington University (GW), located in Washington, D.C., has provided unparalleled educational opportunities to students for over 200 years. From poet Elizabeth Acevedo, astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, CNN anchor Dana Bash, to Senator Elizabeth Warren, George Washington’s accomplished alumni span countless career fields. Hoping to join their ranks? First, you’ll need to nail your George Washington supplemental essays. Let’s dive in.
George Washington 2024-2025 Prompts
Below are the prompts for the George Washington supplemental essays. Note that there are also required essays for certain programs, including the Cisneros Leadership Institute and the School of Media & Public Affairs. That said, this article will focus on the optional essay prompts for all applicants, as well as the required essay prompts for applicants to the University Honors Program.
Optional for All Applicants
Every applicant can choose from one of the following two essay prompts to submit, but writing an essay is optional. That said, we encourage all serious applicants to write one of the George Washington supplemental essays. If nothing else, the essay is an exercise in knowing yourself better. Ideally, the essay provides the admissions team with more favorable data points about who you are as an applicant.
- At the George Washington University, our students frequently interact with policymakers and world leaders. These experiences and those of our alumni can shape the future of global affairs. If you had the power to change the course of history in your community or the world, what would you do and why? (500 words or fewer)
- The George Washington University encourages students to think critically and to challenge the status quo. Thus, civil discourse is a key characteristic of our community. Describe a time when you engaged others in meaningful dialogue around an issue that was important to you. Did this exchange create change, new perspectives, or deeper relationships? (500 words or fewer)
University Honors Program Applicants
Applicants to the University Honors Program at GW must write these essays in order to receive admissions consideration.
- With small classes and a dedicated faculty, the University Honors Program (UHP) embraces the ideals of a liberal arts education. Within the UHP, students take classes in many different academic fields (philosophy, science, history, art, social science, etc.) and hone their critical thinking skills. Explain why, as a member of the UHP, you would value the opportunity to engage with topics outside your major field(s) of study. (500 words or fewer)
- The UHP represents a community of scholars at GW. First-year UHP students live and take classes together on the Mount Vernon Campus. Upper-level UHP students remain connected to our community for the remainder of their time at GW through courses, faculty mentoring, advising, research, an optional Foggy Bottom housing opportunity, and our many co-curricular/social activities. How do you see yourself contributing to and/or benefiting from this community as a member of the UHP? (500 words or fewer)
General Tips
Each of these essays permit more words than the average college essay. Apart from the Common App personal essay, which has the same word count maximum of 650 words, most college essays tend to be less than 500 words, with most required to be less than 300. Therefore, these essays don’t have to be especially long, but they might be on the higher end.
With longer supplemental essays, students tend to either have trouble writing too much, or not writing enough. To tackle the first problem, it can be helpful to restrict yourself to a smaller word count for the first draft. Then, if you later realize anything essential is missing, you have the space to add it in. In order to keep the word count down, focus on avoiding passive voice, cutting down on your conjunctions (use punctuation marks instead), and using more concise verbs. For instance, “I thought” is more concise than “I was thinking.” Little changes like this one can help your whole essay shrink to fit the space it’s allotted.
To tackle the second issue of not writing enough, look for areas where the reader might have questions. If you have a description in your essay, make that description more vivid. If you jumped through a narrative, consider providing more of the interim steps. Remember, though, as long as you comprehensively answer the question asked by the prompt, you’ll be okay.
Optional George Washington Short Essay Questions
At the George Washington University, our students frequently interact with policymakers and world leaders. These experiences and those of our alumni can shape the future of global affairs. If you had the power to change the course of history in your community or the world, what would you do and why? (500 words or fewer)
This is a big question for a college applicant to answer in a short essay, but it gives you the opportunity to show who you are as a person and what your vision is for the future. Moreover, it gives you the opportunity to think about how a George Washington education will shape your future.
While working on this essay, consider focusing one just one change (or maybe a few related/interconnected changes) you’d like to see in the world. Once you begin thinking about this topic, it can be tempting to list out everything in the world that you wish would change. However, you only have 500 words to make this essay happen. Thus, it can be helpful to focus on one change, even if that change has a global reach.
The change you decide to discuss can be “in your community or the world,” according to the prompt. Thus, if you see yourself returning to your hometown and making a difference after college, that’s just as valid an essay topic as describing your vision for world peace.
Regardless of what topic you choose to focus on in this essay, it’s important to keep your ideas grounded in specificity. For instance, if you decide to write about solving world hunger, you should probably dive into what particular policies, actions, or movements you hope to see come to fruition in the future.
This essay can also be an opportunity for you to share your academic interests with the reader. For instance, you might hope that your future career has a positive impact on society. If so, discuss how you hope to achieve that goal in this essay. You can even mention how a George Washington education will bring you closer to that goal.
The George Washington University encourages students to think critically and to challenge the status quo. Thus, civil discourse is a key characteristic of our community. Describe a time when you engaged others in meaningful dialogue around an issue that was important to you. Did this exchange create change, new perspectives, or deeper relationships? (500 words or fewer)
Ideally, you choose to focus this essay on an exchange that did create change, new perspectives, or deeper relationships with those whom you engaged in meaningful dialogue. If you’re having trouble thinking of topics to focus on, consider the times when you have disagreed with others. How has that changed your perspective(s)?
If you’re still brainstorming, consider times when you have changed your point of view on a topic, issue, or person. If civil discourse brought about one of these changes, then you have a potential essay topic. Alternatively, consider the issues that are important to you. When have others civilly challenged these issues, beliefs, or values? Consider writing about one of those occasions in your life.
Remember, this essay should focus on one time when you engaged others in meaningful dialogue. Focusing on just one occasion will keep your essay cohesive and direct. Writing an organized essay will also help; consider whether you want to begin by recounting the event or by describing your opinion(s) on a specific issue. Regardless of what structure you choose, be sure to include some reflection, ideally at the end of the essay (though it can be worked in throughout).
George Washington University Honors Program Applicants Short Essay Questions
With small classes and a dedicated faculty, the University Honors Program (UHP) embraces the ideals of a liberal arts education. Within the UHP, students take classes in many different academic fields (philosophy, science, history, art, social science, etc.) and hone their critical thinking skills. Explain why, as a member of the UHP, you would value the opportunity to engage with topics outside your major field(s) of study. (500 words or fewer)
This prompt asks you to briefly explore your interdisciplinary interests, as well as your belief in the value of a liberal arts education. The liberal arts educational model is defined by its breadth and depth. While you’re expected to dive deeply into the topic(s) within your major(s) , you will also need to take classes across a wide range of disciplines. Consider what you’d miss out on if you could only take classes in your major(s).
Perhaps you have multiple academic interests that one or two majors can’t possibly cover. Alternatively, you might be wholly STEM-focused but still hoping to improve your writing skills. Or, perhaps, as a future policymaker, you’d like to take language courses outside of your Political Science major. Whatever your rationale, write about it in this essay with clarity and specificity.
If you still need inspiration for this essay, consider looking up GW course lists. Understanding the opportunities available to you as a liberal arts student at George Washington will help you explain why this educational model is right for you. You can make specific reference to courses, professors, and/or other opportunities you’d like to maximize while studying at George Washington.
Lastly, consider how these unique learning opportunities provided by a liberal arts education will help you in your future career. Clearly stating how a diverse course-load will help you reach your goals will provide a strong argument to the admissions team for why they should accept you into this prestigious program.
The UHP represents a community of scholars at GW. First-year UHP students live and take classes together on the Mount Vernon Campus. Upper-level UHP students remain connected to our community for the remainder of their time at GW through courses, faculty mentoring, advising, research, an optional Foggy Bottom housing opportunity, and our many co-curricular/social activities. How do you see yourself contributing to and/or benefiting from this community as a member of the UHP? (500 words or fewer)
Many colleges ask you to write about who you will be once you enter their academic community. This essay, more than any of the other George Washington supplemental essays, will benefit from some background research before you begin to write.
In this essay, you will need to specifically explain what programs, values, extracurriculars, social dynamics, or other opportunities in George Washington’s UHP speak to you. Name-dropping these opportunities and explaining how they interest you in particular will show the admissions team how serious you are about your future at GW.
The prompt also mentions some types of opportunities George Washington UHP students can enjoy. These include “courses, faculty mentoring, advising, research, an optional Foggy Bottom housing opportunity, and our many co-curricular/social activities.” Thus, you may want to focus on expressing how you will personally benefit from these opportunities, while also getting more specific than the prompt. Name a few faculty members you hope to receive mentoring from or a few co-curricular activities you hope to participate in, for instance. Doing so will demonstrate your interest in attending GW.
Lastly, don’t forget to discuss how you hope to contribute to the scholarly UHP community. Consider any clubs or initiatives you’d like to start, cultural knowledge you hope to share with your peers, or events you hope to help organize. Do you aspire to reinvigorate a certain organization or spearhead an environmental initiative on campus? If so, mention those aspirations here, and provide details.
If you need help polishing up your George Washington supplemental essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.
