VIRGINIA COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
ESSAY QUESTIONS FOR 2002-03

Even though the prompts are on our page, it is a good idea to double-check its accuracy with the college you are applying to.

Christopher Newport University – Please provide any additional information you would like to share that will assist in the admission process.

College of William and Mary – William and Mary uses The Common Application. This application is used my many schools, so it’s possible to write an essay that can be used more than once. Write an essay (250-300 words) on a topic of your choice or on one of these options.

Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you and explain that influence.

Additionally, William and Mary offers students the opportunity to submit an optional essay:

Beyond your impressive academic credentials and extracurricular accomplishments, what else makes you unique and colorful? Within the restrictions of one side of one 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper, provide us with some limited measure of your personality. We know that nobody fits neatly into 500 words or less, but you can provide us with some suggestion of The Type of Person You Are. Your submission may rhyme, or it may not consist of words at all. It may come from a photo album, a newspaper, a graded project or the Internet. Anything goes! Inspire us, impress us or just make us laugh. Think of this optional opportunity as Show and Tell, by proxy and with an attitude.

Elizabethtown
a) Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, or risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have face and its impact on you.
b) Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and it’s importance to you
c) Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science) that has had an influence on you.

George Mason University – The Admissions Committee is interested in learning more about you. On a separate sheet of paper, please write at least 150 words about yourself. Please use this essay to relay information about yourself that cannot be found elsewhere on your application. You may choose to write about your future ambitions and goals, a special talent or unusual interest that sets you apart from your peers, or a significant event or relationship that has influenced you during your life.

Georgetown (1 pg each)
REQUIRED
a) Write about the significance of the school or summer activity that you had been most involved in.
b) Tell about yourself (autobiography)
c) Applicants to Georgetown college
a. Relate studying at Georgetown to your future goals. How do these thoughts relate to your chosen course of study?

George Washington (no more than 500 words)
REQUIRED
a) What motivated you to apply? Describe contacts to obtain complete profile of GW (classroom, campus, city relationship). How will you make these resources help you reach your educational goals?
b) Additional information about yourself that is not mentioned in the application (this part of the essay is optional)
EACH PROGRAM HAS IT’S OWN ESSAY

James Madison University – Complete a one page personal statement. You may use your statement to highlight your special interests, talents, goals or unique experiences.

Longwood University – In a paragraph for each, complete statements one and two. The Admissions Committee will evaluate your creativity, insightfulness, and writing style. Statement three is optional and should be no longer than one page.

1. I will be an asset to Longwood University because…
2. The accomplishment of which I am the proudest is…
3. A circumstance or obstacle about which the Admissions Committee should know is…I overcame it by…

Mary Washington College – The Committee of Admissions is very interested in you as an individual. Please write a short essay about yourself, which you feel, will help the Committee know you (elaborate on a special talent or characteristic, describe an unusual interest, discuss your ambitions, relate a significant event, etc.)

The Honor System is an important element of student life at Mary Washington College. The Committee on Admissions would like to know something of your views about honor. Please select one of the following topics and construct a short (2-3 paragraph) essay.

Describe how you might benefit from living under the Honor System at MWC.

Relate an event or situation in your life where your personal sense of honor influenced you or guided your actions.

Norfolk State University – none required

ODU (400 or less words)
a) What is the greatest gift you have ever received and why?
b) What is the best book you have read and why?
c) What invention or technological breakthrough in the last 100 years has had the greatest impact on society? Why?

Radford University – How did your interest in Radford University develop?

If you have any special circumstances you would like the admissions committee to consider or if you simply would like to provide a personal statement, please do so.

Randolph Macon’s Women College
a) Describe a character in fiction, an historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science) that has had an influence on you.
b) Topic of your choice
c) An experience where you did the right thing in spite of your feelings.

University of Virginia – Answer one of the following questions. Limit your response to half a page, or approximately 250 words.

What is your favorite word, and why?

Look out any window in your home. What would you change about what you see?

You’ve likely heard that college will be the best four years of your life. If only you could get there! Describe how the process of “getting there” has affected you. What have you learned about yourself or others – peers, parents, admission professionals – during the college search process?

What form of discrimination most concerns you?

Technophobe or technophile?

Additionally, please answer the question (approximately 250 words) that corresponds to the school you selected on your application.

College of Arts and Sciences: What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised or unsettled or challenged you, and in what way?

School of Engineering: As “artists and scientists of the practical,” engineers enhance quality of life and raise new questions about ourselves and society. As a future engineer, what contributions do you hope to make and what societal constraints might affect your work?

School of Architecture: If you could change the architecture of your school or of another public space, what change(s) would you make?

School of Nursing: What experiences have led you to choose the School of Nursing?

University of Virginia’s College at Wise – To supplement the information supplied by your academic records, you are strongly encouraged to provide a statement of your educational goals.

VCU
Personal statement for scholarship or early decision (1-2 page)
a) Compose page 87 of your autobiography. Be creative and consider where your life story would be at this point.
b) Education and life-A personal statement about your educational goals and why you want to study in that chosen major.

Virginia Military Institute – Optional: Submit a graded essay or original paper on a topic of your choice.

Virginia State University – Write a personal statement as to why you would like to attend Virginia State University.

Virginia Tech – (optional) Tell the Admissions Committee something about yourself, your achievements to date, and you goals for the future. If there is something that has affected your academic performance in a negative way and it requires an explanation, please take this opportunity to explain.