Admissions Insight: The Primary Importance of Supplementary Essays

About Brandon Mack

Brandon Mack has spent 16 years helping students find their place at Rice University and beyond. He began as an admission counselor at his alma mater, rising to Associate Director of Admissions, where he leads both domestic and international recruitment and chairs selection committees across Rice’s undergraduate schools. Nationally, Brandon lends his voice to the National Association for College Admission Counseling and serving on several of its committees.

About the class

Of all the elements of college admissions, the personal statement is the one that students spend the most time thinking about and working on–and with good reason. But with that emphasis on the personal statement, it’s easy to treat supplementary essays as a secondary concern–and at many highly selective colleges, the supplementary essays are arguably even more important to your candidacy.

So join Brandon Mack–former admissions officer at Rice and longtime admissions advisor–to put these supplementary essays in the spotlight. You’ll learn how admissions officers use and assess them, which elements are the most important to include, and how to fit your individual essays together to maximize your overall word count and tell a cohesive, compelling story.