University of Maryland (UMD) is renowned for its innovative research programs and support for entrepreneurship. UMD’s accomplished alumni include Google co-founder Sergey Brin, comedian Larry David, and Carly Fiorina, the first woman to lead a Fortune Top-20 company. Hoping to follow in their footsteps? First, you’ll need to master the UMD supplemental essays. Let’s dive in.
University of Maryland’s 2024-2025 Prompts
- If I could travel anywhere, I would go to… (650 characters or fewer)
- The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was… (650 characters or fewer)
- In addition to my major, my academic interests include… (650 characters or fewer)
- My favorite thing about last Friday was… (650 characters or fewer)
- Something you might not know about me is… (650 characters or fewer)
- Because we know that diversity benefits the educational experience of all students, the University of Maryland values diversity in all of its many forms. This includes (but is not limited to) racial, socio-economic, gender, geographical, and sexual orientation. We are interested in hearing about your own individual life experiences. In a few sentences, will you please describe how you have learned, grown, been inspired or developed skills through one or more components of diversity. (650 characters or fewer)
General Tips
These six prompts are unique among supplemental essay questions asked by universities. Instead of requiring a word count, each prompt has a character count of 650 or fewer. This works out to approximately 90-150 words, depending on how long your words are and how close you come to hitting the character limit. Put differently, these are very short essays. Only a couple sentences will be required for each question.
The admissions officers at UMD ask these questions to learn about who you are as a person. Because of this, you can and should bring your authentic self to the page. Humor is welcome in these responses, as long as you still appropriately answer the question at hand.
In order order to write your UMD supplemental essays effectively, you will need to be concise and precise. Avoid passive voice, roundabout language, and nonessential descriptive language. When possible, use specific details to make your points, and avoid generalizations. Keeping these general tips in mind during your writing and editing process will help bring your UMD supplemental essays to the next level.
UMD Supplemental Essays
All of the UMD supplemental essays are required, so it may be useful to read through the questions before beginning your drafts in order to get a sense of the scope you’re working with. Now, let’s break each prompt down.
If I could travel anywhere, I would go to… (650 characters or fewer)
For a college essay prompt, this is a relatively fun, light-hearted question. That said, it has more layers than might be discerned at first glance. You don’t have to take the question literally: consider time travel, intergalactic travel, etc. What if you could travel to the interior of the mitochondria? What if you could follow the trajectory of the asteroid that struck the Yucatán Peninsula? Or what if you could travel to the future to see the impact of AI on human society?
In order to bring your most creative, genuine answer to the page, you might want to invest in a brainstorming session. Make a list of 8-10 different places (or times) you could, hypothetically, travel to. Then, narrow down your list to the few that seem most enjoyable to write about. Make sure that the ideas you narrow down to are manageable enough to write about in 650 characters or fewer. Then, write a couple sentences about each idea and choose your favorite for this essay topic.
This brainstorming process might sound like more work than necessary, but the process is likely to produce a much more original and engaging essay than just writing about the first thing that pops into your head. Of course, you can also modify this process to suit your working style. Whatever you do, have fun with it, and don’t hesitate to get creative in this response, perhaps more than any of the other UMD supplemental essays.
The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was… (650 characters or fewer)
This prompt is open-ended, just like the first one. Note the prompt’s usage of the word “research.” In order to narrow down the many interesting facts that you surely know, consider the occasions when you have researched topics. This research counts whether it was big or small, but if you have any larger-scale, higher-commitment research projects under your belt, this essay could be your opportunity to share some of that research with the reader.
The prompt specifically requests one fact that you have learned from research. Therefore, be sure to distill your response’s topic to a single piece of information, even if you describe more details relating to the fact in the essay as well. Given the low character count mandated for this essay, though, you may just want to stick to the fact, brief context as to how you researched this fact, and why you find it interesting.
In addition to my major, my academic interests include… (650 characters or fewer)
This response can go in many different directions. If your academic interests are numerous, feel free to list them with only the briefest explanations. On the other hand, if you have fewer, but deeper interests, then you may want to list just two or three additional interests with a bit more explanation.
Regardless of how much explanation you have space to provide, bear in mind the following:
- You list more than one academic interest.
- Your academic interests are distinct from your major.
- This list should not be exhaustive.
To address each of the above points, you might notice that the prompt asks for academic interests, plural. Second, these interests are in addition to your major (thus, they do not include and are not overlapping with your major). Third, you’re asked to list what your academic interests include, meaning that these are not all of your academic interests.
In other words, the admissions team would like to see that you are broadly curious, even outside of your chosen discipline. This is because well-rounded students are often assets to academic communities. These students tend to bring multifaceted perspectives, develop interdisciplinary research, and connect with peers across departments.
Think about all the classes in high school that you have enjoyed, outside the area you’ve chosen to major in. Consider the topics you’ve enjoyed reading about or watching documentaries on. If any of the topics you’ve enjoyed learning about are studied in academic contexts, then they can work for this answer.
My favorite thing about last Friday was… (650 characters or fewer)
This is another question seeking out your personality and individuality. Contrary to popular belief, admissions officers aren’t looking to fill classes with like-minded people. Instead, they seek to build communities full of diversity. This includes diversity of personality and life experience. By describing your favorite thing about last Friday, you bring a bit of your personality and life experience to your application.
If you’re struggling to see how this essay response fits into the larger picture of your college application, consider the parts of you that haven’t made it into your application. Is it your fun-loving relationship with your younger sister? The joy you find in skateboarding with friends after school? Your excitement when your favorite YouTuber uploads a new video? Think expansively, and see if any of those parts of you fit into last Thursday.
Alternatively, write up a brief list of everything that happened last Friday. Once you’ve settled on your favorite thing about the day, consider turning your short essay into a narrative (that is, a story). If 650 characters or fewer seems like not enough space to craft a real story with a beginning, middle, and end, look up “Six Word Memoirs” for inspiration. There are thousands available online, and they demonstrate the power you can imbue in just a few words.
Something you might not know about me is… (650 characters or fewer)
This essay question gives you another opportunity to zoom out and consider all the parts of you that have or have not made it into your college application. Although this prompt is set up to expect a surprising conclusion to the sentence, remember that the UMD admissions officers don’t know much about you. The way you would finish this sentence when writing to a friend or family member is very different than the way you would finish it when writing to a stranger.
Therefore, a way to rephrase this prompt is, “Something I would like you to know about me is… ” Phrased this way, the essay becomes less about giving the reader a surprising, exciting piece of information and more about filling in one of your application’s blanks. You can take this essay as an opportunity to explain a confusing part of your academic profile. You could also share a quirky skill you’ve developed. Alternatively, you could describe an aspect of your personality that otherwise wouldn’t come through on the page. The options are almost endless.
Moreover, there might be something that you thought about writing into your last essay (”My favorite thing about last Thursday was… ”), but that didn’t happen last Thursday. If so, this essay response is your opportunity to write about it!
Because we know that diversity benefits the educational experience of all students, the University of Maryland values diversity in all of its many forms. This includes (but is not limited to) racial, socio-economic, gender, geographical, and sexual orientation. We are interested in hearing about your own individual life experiences. In a few sentences, will you please describe how you have learned, grown, been inspired or developed skills through one or more components of diversity. (650 characters or fewer)
This is an expansive essay question that asks you to explore the role diversity has had in your life. However, like the more light-hearted essay questions above, you’re still restricted to 650 characters or fewer. In other words, this prompt, perhaps more than the rest of the UMD supplemental essays, presents a tall order.
If you’re stuck on ideas, here a few mini-prompts to get you started:
- Describe a conversation you’ve had that was influenced by the differences between you and your conversation partner. In other words, if you are your conversation partner shared all the same identities, the conversation would have gone differently.
- Describe an occasion when an aspect of your identity impacted a significant decision in your life.
- Explain how you gained a new perspective through encountering diversity.
- Explain how you have changed as person after encountering different types of people.
- Describe a travel experience you have had that significantly impacted on your worldview.
Note that UMD defines “diversity” broadly, writing that it “includes (but is not limited to) racial, socio-economic, gender, geographical, and sexual orientation.” Therefore, if you hold an identity that isn’t covered by the most standard definition of diversity, that doesn’t mean you can’t write about it.
That said, because of the limited space in which to answer this essay question, don’t feel pressure to write about a very complex identity or life experience. This essay question should be taken seriously, but you don’t have to cover a lot of ground to write an effective essay. Keep your answer focused and specific!
If you need help polishing up your UMD supplemental essays, check out our College Essay Review service. You can receive detailed feedback from Ivy League consultants in as little as 24 hours.
