Major Shift in College Admissions: Why So Many Colleges Are Eliminating Supplemental Essays

3 min. read I written by: Ava-Mariya Gencheva, Founder of VoicED

Cornell has officially released its 2026–2027 supplemental essay prompts for students applying for Fall 2027 entry, and one change stands out above all others:

The university-wide supplemental essay is gone.

Instead, every applicant will respond only to the prompt required by the specific undergraduate college they are applying to—Engineering, Arts & Sciences, Dyson, CALS, Human Ecology, Architecture, Hotel Administration, ILR, Brooks School of Public Policy, and others.

But Cornell isn't alone.

This admission cycle marks one of the most significant shifts in college admissions writing in years.

Among the universities that have removed or substantially reduced supplemental essays for the 2026–2027 application cycle are:

• Cornell University (removed the university-wide essay)
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Tulane University
• University of Miami
• Washington University in St. Louis (reduced supplemental writing requirements)
• University of Georgia

So why are colleges making these changes?

Many families assume colleges are becoming "easier" or simply trying to reduce student stress. That is not what is happening.

The reality is far more strategic (and tragic) 

1. AI has changed the value of supplemental essays.

Admissions officers know that generative AI can now produce polished "Why Us?" essays in seconds. Unfortunately, students who never spent effort improving their writing skills become dependent on AI "Ramen Noodles" like sloppy writing. No feeling, character, authenticity or effort spent into the writing. When thousands of essays begin sounding remarkably similar, those essays become less useful for distinguishing applicants.

Admissions offices are increasingly asking themselves:

"Which essays actually help us make better admission decisions?"

Many concluded that generic institutional essays no longer provide enough meaningful insight.

2. Colleges are receiving record numbers of applications.

Every additional essay discourages some students from applying.

Removing supplements lowers the barrier to applying, increasing application volume while allowing admissions offices to focus on the writing that matters most.

3. Colleges want more targeted information.

Rather than asking broad questions about the university, many institutions now want to know one thing:

Why this specific college, major, or academic program?

For Cornell, that makes perfect sense.

Students are admitted directly into individual undergraduate colleges, not into Cornell as a whole.

An aspiring engineer should sound fundamentally different from an applicant to Dyson, Human Ecology, or Architecture.

The new prompts encourage students to demonstrate academic direction instead of generic school spirit.

4. Holistic review is evolving.

Supplemental essays are not disappearing because writing no longer matters.

In many ways, the opposite is true.

As colleges reduce the number of essays, every remaining piece of writing carries more weight.

Your Common App Personal Statement becomes even more important.

Your single supplemental essay must accomplish more in fewer words.

Every sentence has to reveal something authentic that cannot simply be generated by AI.

What does this mean for future applicants?

Many students believe fewer essays mean less work.

In reality, the challenge has simply shifted.

Instead of writing six average essays, applicants may now have only one opportunity to demonstrate:

• intellectual curiosity
• academic fit
• personal motivation
• future goals
• understanding of the institution

There is much less room for generic responses.

The strongest applicants will be those who can connect their experiences directly to a specific academic environment and articulate exactly why they belong there.

My prediction?

This is only the beginning.

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape college admissions, expect universities to rely less on repetitive supplemental essays and more on writing that is deeply personal, program-specific, and difficult to outsource.

Students who develop an authentic voice (not simply string of sentences or a wall of prose) will have the greatest advantage.

For those who are cheering in glee about doing less work than more this admissions cycle: The essay isn't disappearing.

It's becoming far more valuable.