Your application will include a personal essay from the Common Application as well as Stanford-specific questions.
Stanford Questions
Applicants must answer several short questions (limit 50 words each) and three short essay questions.
Stanford Short Questions
What is the most significant challenge that society faces today?
How did you spend your last two summers?
What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?
Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities, a job you hold, or responsibilities you have for your family.
List five things that are important to you.
Stanford Short Questions Slides
Q: A significant challenge?
A:
Pick a niche issue with which you have direct experience.
Avoid a general topic like "climate change."
Example: Political polarization that prevents action on climate policy.
Your choice reveals your intellectual maturity.
Q: Your last two summers?
A:
Show personal or intellectual growth.
Connect activities to a single theme.
Example: I learned Python, then coded a volunteer scheduling tool for a non-profit.
Your answer reveals your drive.
Q: A historical moment to witness?
A:
Pick a moment that connects to a passion.
Avoid clichés like the moon landing.
Example: The first public reading of Einstein's relativity theory.
Your choice reveals your intellectual curiosity.
Q: Elaborate on an activity?
A:
Choose a role that shows agency.
Explain a specific lesson.
Example: Leading debate taught me to understand my opponent's argument from the inside.
Your answer adds depth to your resume.
Q: Five important things?
A:
Choose items that reveal your values.
They are symbols.
Example: 1. A bus map. 2. A book of engineering diagrams. 3. My grandmother's gardening gloves. 4. My 6 a.m. running route. 5. A perfectly tuned guitar.
The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning. (100–250 words)
Stanford 'Genuine Learning' Essay Slides
Q: What story reveals your intellectual drive?
A:
The essay is not about a major. It is about a mindset.
Focus on one specific idea or experience.
Show how you learn when no one tells you to.
Your story must reveal your passion, not just state it.
Q: What was the spark?
A:
Pinpoint a specific moment.
Not "I love science," but "The physics of flight during a kite-building project."
Not "I like history," but "Reading a forgotten diary entry from a WWI soldier."
Q: How did you act on it?
A:
Provide concrete evidence of your driven learning.
After the diary, you researched battlefront logistics.
After the kite, you taught yourself aerodynamics.
Show a clear link between inspiration and your actions.
Q: What did you learn?
A:
The essay's real purpose is this reflection.
Explain the insight or new skill you gained.
Connect this learning style to your future at Stanford.
Example: "My learning is a process of asking a question, then building the tools to find an answer."
Virtually all of Stanford's undergraduates live on campus. Write a note to your future roommate that reveals something about you or that will help your roommate—and us—get to know you better. (100–250 words)
Stanford 'Roommate' Essay Slides
Q: What is this essay's goal?
A:
Reveal your personality.
Show maturity and self-awareness.
Demonstrate a collaborative mindset.
The essay is a test of your character, not your resume.
Q: What detail should I share?
A:
Choose a specific, personal detail.
Example: I spend weekends building miniature architectural models out of recycled materials. Our common area is sometimes a temporary construction zone.
Example: Every Sunday, I master a new song on my ukulele. It's my little ritual for keeping my skills sharp.
Q: What tone should I use?
A:
The tone is friendly and authentic.
It should feel like a real note.
Example: Hey, future roommate. I'm usually at the engineering library late, but I'm quiet. I am an unofficial baker for my friends and hope to extend that tradition to you.
Q: What does this detail reveal?
A:
The model-building shows you find a creative side in every problem.
The ukulele ritual reveals that you are disciplined while still having fun.
Please describe what aspects of your life experiences, interests and character would help you make a distinctive contribution as an undergraduate to Stanford University. (100–250 words)
Stanford 'Distinctive Contribution' Essay Slides
Q: What does this essay prove?
A:
Your unique contribution to the Stanford community.
How your experiences have shaped your character.
Your ability to articulate a clear narrative.
Your fit for a collaborative, innovative environment.
Q: How do you identify your contribution?
A:
Pick a unique life experience or interest.
Avoid activities already on your resume.
Example: Your open-source tool for translating vintage synth schematics, connecting music historians and engineers.
Example: The digital archive of oral histories you built for your neighborhood.
Q: How will you contribute to Stanford?
A:
Link your unique experience to a specific Stanford resource.
Example: Your work with synth schematics connects to the "Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics."
Example: Your oral history project connects to the "Bill Lane Center for the American West" and the "Stanford Libraries."
Q: How to structure your essay?
A:
Start with a compelling, specific anecdote.
Explain the skills and values you gained.
End by linking this to a specific, actionable contribution at Stanford.
