Agnes Scott Supplemental Essays 2026–27: Prompts & Tips

Applicants to Agnes Scott College must complete four mandatory short-answer essays totaling approximately 400 words. This guide covers the core prompts required of all first-year applicants. Keep in mind that Agnes Scott may ask for additional writing depending on specific scholarships or programs you select.

Tell us about a leader you admire. Who are they and how have they influenced you? (100 words)

What this prompt is really asking: This is less about the person you choose and more about the values you project onto them. Admissions officers want to know what traits you associate with effective leadership and how those traits have actively shaped your own behavior.

A strong approach:

• Pick an unconventional leader: Consider choosing a local community organizer, a peer, or a family member who leads through service rather than status.
• Focus on the "how": Spend 20 words introducing the person and the remaining 80 words detailing the specific ways their leadership style changed your perspective or actions.
• Define their impact: Detail a specific instance where you mirrored their leadership approach in your own life.

Most common mistakes:

• Writing a biography: Dedicating the entire 100 words to praising the leader while forgetting to connect their influence back to your own growth.
• Choosing a cliché figure: Picking a globally recognizable historical figure often leads to generic essays that fail to reveal anything personal about you.

Agnes Scott’s innovative Summit experience teaches our students that leadership is more than a position. Describe a quality of leadership that you have learned in high school and… (100 words)

Agnes Scott’s innovative Summit experience teaches our students that leadership is more than a position. Describe a quality of leadership that you have learned in high school and how you wish to apply that quality in the future.

What this prompt is really asking: Agnes Scott explicitly centers its Summit curriculum on inclusive and dynamic leadership. They want you to define a specific actionable leadership trait you have developed and explain how you will wield it on their campus and beyond.

A strong approach:

• Isolate one clear quality: Choose a nuanced trait like active listening, delegating, consensus-building, or resilience rather than a broad term like responsibility.
• Ground it in experience: Briefly mention the high school context where you learned this quality to prove you actually possess it.
• Project into the future: Connect this trait directly to a potential role at Agnes Scott. You could discuss leading a specific student organization or contributing to collaborative classroom discussions.

Most common mistakes:

• Focusing on the title: Bragging about being club president instead of dissecting the actual interpersonal skills required to lead.
• Vague future plans: Stating you will be a good leader in college without naming the specific ways you intend to apply your chosen quality.

As part of Agnes Scott’s Summit experience, our courses focus on seeing the world from a global perspective, and our students have the opportunity to do so first-hand… (100 words)

As part of Agnes Scott’s Summit experience, our courses focus on seeing the world from a global perspective, and our students have the opportunity to do so first-hand during their Summit Journeys trip in their first-year. What is a global issue that is important to you, and how can you imagine yourself addressing that issue during your time at Agnes Scott?

What this prompt is really asking: This question directly tests your alignment with the Summit curriculum's emphasis on global citizenship. It asks you to identify a large-scale problem you care about and then shrink it down to what you can realistically study or impact during your four years at the college.

A strong approach:

• Choose a specific sub-issue: Narrow your focus to topics like sustainable urban agriculture or microfinance for women rather than broad categories like climate change.
• Leverage campus resources: Name specific Agnes Scott offerings you will use to address this issue. Mention a particular academic department or how the Summit Journeys trip might inform your perspective.
• Stay action-oriented: Explain the precise steps you want to take on campus to engage with this global problem locally.

Most common mistakes:

• Trying to solve the world: Claiming you will single-handedly fix a massive global crisis during your undergraduate years.
• Ignoring the "at Agnes Scott" clause: Spending all 100 words summarizing the global issue without mentioning how you will tackle it on campus.

Why did you choose to apply to Agnes Scott College? (50-100 words)

What this prompt is really asking: This is an incredibly brief "Why Us" question. With only 100 words to work with, admissions readers are looking for the absolute core reason you are drawn to their specific academic and cultural environment.

A strong approach:

• Identify your main driver: State your primary reason immediately. This could be the SUMMIT program, the women's college environment, or a niche academic major.
• Be radically specific: Name the exact course, professor, or campus tradition that seals the deal for you.
• Connect it to your goals: Show how this specific aspect of Agnes Scott serves as the perfect launchpad for your academic or professional ambitions.

Most common mistakes:

• Wasting words on flattery: Praising the beautiful campus or its ranking instead of discussing how it fits your academic needs.
• Copy-pasting generic answers: Using a template that could easily apply to any other small liberal arts college in the South.