How to Write the Tufts Supplemental Essays: Examples + Guide 2026/2027

Last Updated on 08/10/2026 by Ethan Sawyer

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re familiar with the three-ring circus that is college admissions, and these Tufts supplements may feel like yet another hoop to jump through. You may not be familiar with the fact that ringmaster P.T. Barnum was an early founding trustee and benefactor of Tufts, or that the college’s mascot, Jumbo the Elephant, was his circus’ biggest draw in the late 19th-century.

Yup, The Greatest Showman co-founded Tufts.  
We considered the circus life, but we’re better at taming college essays than lions.

Thankfully, you only need to respond to two short Tufts supplemental prompts, which you can complete by either a) pulling content from essays you’ve already written and customizing it for Tufts, or b) re-using what you write for your Tufts supplementals in other supplemental essays. 

Want to get a better sense of what Tufts is looking for? You’ll find an extensive, by-the-numbers look at Tufts’ offerings, from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information, in its Common Data Set. For deep insights into how this private research university envisions its role and how it wants to grow and evolve, read over its Strategic Plan.

You can treat this prompt to a great degree as a  “Why us?” essay, only it’s a bit on the short side with a max of 150 words. 

One option: open with how you learned about Tufts, and then build into what specific things about the school fit what you’re looking for, and illustrate why the two of you fit together well.

We recommend checking out our complete guide on how to write the “Why us?” essay and pay close attention to the “Why Cornell” and “Why Penn” examples, which are our favorites. The “Why Tufts” essay on that guide (conveniently) is a nice example of how you can write a shorter version of the “Why us?”

Here’s the abbreviated version of how to write the “Why us?” essay:

1. Spend 1 hr+ researching 5-7  reasons why Columbia might be a great fit for you (ideally 3-5 of the reasons will be unique to Columbia AND connect back to you).
2. Per the last sentence of the prompt, make sure you’re focusing on opportunities you can only (or mostly only) find at Columbia (and not, say, New York City). That’s so important to school officials, they made a point to add that clarification to the prompt this year.
3. Make a copy of this chart to map out your college research (see it below as well).
4. Create an outline for your essays based on either Approach 1, 2 (recommended), or 3 in my full guide above.
5. Write a first draft!

Here are a few example essays written for older versions of this prompt:

Example 1:

My interest in Tufts began with bubbles. On a campus tour, our guide talked about blowing bubbles with her roommate at 1am and watching them freeze. The tour was actually five years ago when I accompanied my sister on a campus visit. This story highlights what excites me about going to Tufts: the students share an intellectual curiosity that carries beyond the classroom into the friendships and memories they create. After imagining myself at Tufts for five years, I can clearly see myself there. I will use my own intellectual curiosity to research infectious diseases in Dr. Aldridge’s lab, learn about nuclear nonproliferation in Nuclear Weapons and International Politics, and teach Climate Action workshops on the climate change-social justice intersection. Although my interests are diverse, I know Tufts will not only support my freedom to explore, but encourage it. (139 words)

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Tips + Analysis

1. Paint a vivid picture. Bubbles freezing in midair is a memorable image, and memorable is exactly what you want. Bonus points that the story came from a campus visit five years prior, which shows the author’s demonstrated interest over time. If you choose to reference a college visit or tour, take the extra time to research the name of the admissions rep or guide you met and make a clear and specific explanation, or “so what?” as to why that information is relevant to your desire to attend. And heads-up: You totally do not have to visit campus in order to write a great “Why us?” essay, as you’ll see from the example below. If you can’t visit campus, you can search for virtual campus tours, webinars with admissions officers, or simply Google “a day in the life of a Tufts student” to find great short video clips and interviews that will help you visualize yourself there and provide great potential “Why us?” references. 
2. Name clear values. Even though this is an undergraduate prompt, intellectual curiosity happens to be #1 on the list of values for Tufts’ School of Medicine. This is no coincidence given her expressed research goals, and with such a small word limit, this student cleverly chose to ground her short essay in a value that’s shared by both Tufts and herself. Make sure to keep your whole list of core values handy as you peruse Tufts’ strategic plan, mission, and values statements to see what lines up for you.
3. Connect specific wants to specific resources. Despite the length, the author manages to name her desires to contribute to Dr. Aldridge’s infectious disease lab, learn about nonproliferation in a class on nuclear weapons, and teach extracurricular climate activism workshops. Use your internet research superpowers to find the most specific resources possible, and make sure they overlap with interests you’ve described elsewhere in your application.

Here’s another 150 word example essay (that’s not about visiting the campus) that also works well:

Example 2:

At Tufts, I will major in Environmental Studies, choose the track of Environmental Policy and research under Professor Ninian R.Stein to find out effective ways to use community resources for sustainable development. Afterward, I will participate in the Tufts Civic Semester under Tisch College at Urubamba, Peru to learn about how NGOs address sustainable development and community health issues. Back at  Tufts, I will apply my classroom and study abroad knowledge to my Yuanyang project (see additional info), become a Tisch International Project Summer Fellow, and minor in Entrepreneurship to upscale the project into a mature social enterprise that can address the sustainable development issues at the villages. After all, Tufts is also the place I can have fun! With its close-knit community, Quidditch games and novel experimental college courses such as The Avengers and Beyond (seriously?), I cannot find a better place where I want to belong. (149 words)

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For the School of Arts and Sciences

Tufts wants a bright, curious student body. Here, you can help them see your  intellectual vitality. 

You can talk about one of those school assignments or projects that you just can’t get enough of, that make your mind spin about the big questions and dream up the answers. 

Think about things that have inspired you to go down research rabbit holes, that have motivated you to take action, or that have enhanced your understanding of a subject. 

Choose experiences that genuinely pique your curiosity. Don’t pick something just because you think Tufts will like it. Genuine interest is both easy to write about and hard to fake. 

Check out this example about one high school experience:

At the Biotechnology Open House at Santiago Canyon College, I participated in gel electrophoresis, separating red, blue, and purple dyes by running current through the gel with the buffer solution. The purple dye separated into two bands of blue and red. Observing that the red moved farther than the blue, I concluded that the molecules were smaller and moved through the gel quicker. After learning that electrophoresis is even used to separate DNA, I had the opportunity to extract DNA from my cheek cells. I was amazed to see my own genetic blueprint in a tube! These experiments excited me to learn more about how biology and engineering can create pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and environmental products to benefit society. (118 words)

And here’s an essay written for another school (and a longer word count), that isn’t about a high school assignment, but shows the kind of detail and structure to use here: 

Example: 

I am fascinated by patterns. Learning the art of writing Chinese characters taught me to pay attention to a pattern’s reference points, where deeper meaning lies. My favorite character, XIAO, from the word XIAOSHUN, visualizes a central tenet of Confucianism: the lifelong supporting relationship between parent and child. The top part, LAO, means old. The bottom part, ZI, means son. Mandarin, like many other ancient languages, provides a code of behavior. 

During quarantine, I enrolled in IBM’s AI For Everyone and Harvard’s CS50 on edX and traveled down a TED rabbit hole. While intriguing to learn that each emoji is made up of patterns like this: 11111011000000010, I was captured by the human applications technology like AI provides. With AI’s pending impacts worldwide, I feel driven to ensure society doesn’t experience potentially harmful implications of technology. 

How do we embed universally ethical reference points in algorithms for AI to exhibit empathy, recognizing XIAO encourages a relationship of support? 

Humans and machines have processing limitations. In his research paper, Linguistics Professor John Whitman taught me that grammar, typically regionally similar, immensely influences humans’ cognition abilities. AI’s applications will be universal, so likewise, its grammar or code must be universal. By learning how people segment information and optimizing this cross-cultural data in a beneficial way, algorithms’ limitations will be reduced. If ethically structured, AI will inherently learn to reflect moral behaviors. 

While it’s a big task to construct an ethical and empathetic AI, I believe I will find the tools at Stanford. (250 words)

 

For the School of Engineering

Our guidance here is largely the same as for the School of Arts and Sciences prompt. Choose something that helps them see your curiosity, drive, initiative, and what you care about.

Here’s an example essay written for a similar prompt for Caltech:

Example:

When I was doing customer research for my chemistry practice website, I came across another, much larger issue with education: the lack of personalized learning. It stuck with me. I knew if I could create a solution, I would be helping many students, like my friends, reach their goals. Also, the idea of an engine that can recommend lessons based on your learning style just seemed super cool. As I dug deeper into the issue, I realized I didn’t have the skills to even scratch the surface. So I started developing what I needed to build a system that recommends lessons based on learning style.

On my own time, I learned about machine learning algorithms, from linear regressions to k-nearest neighbor classifiers, and whenever I could I applied these skills on mini research projects—finding trends, then using data to create an algorithm that predicts other data. At school, I took a rigorous machine learning course where one of my final projects was using data from Portuguese schools to analyze what factors lead to good grades. 

Looking ahead, I’m hoping to study computational neuroscience to properly know how the brain solidifies connections and recalls information. With the two together, I could create a model of how a person learns based on different stimuli, and recommend different lessons based on the stimuli. I still have quite a bit to learn, but if I manage it, it could have a powerful impact on the educations of students around the world. (247 words)

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Tips + Analysis

1. Identify the problem. The core of STEM is problem-solving—tackling some of society’s great challenges. Let your response show how you think and how you approach problems and solutions. The problem could be something global, like an environmental issue, or more individual, like the lack of personalized learning this student chose to address. Get your reader engaged in your curiosity by describing the impact of the problem or what it would mean if you could resolve it. Then dive into talking about a project or experience that allowed you to explore that issue. Bonus points if you can describe an outcome you’ve already achieved.
2. Show initiative. This student got curious about personalized learning and then taught themselves the skills needed to build the learning system they envisioned. This is the kind of self-starting innovation we believe Caltech is looking for. How have you pursued the subjects that pique your curiosity?
3. Use an extracurricular: We love how this student used this essay as an opportunity to elaborate on an extracurricular: building a chemistry practice website. If this prompt stumps you, look to your Activities List for inspiration!
4. Focus on the future: What takes this essay to the next level is the final paragraph. The student is doing two things: 1) transforming the issue (impersonal education) into a learning goal (“how the brain solidifies connections and recalls information”) and an action item (“[creating] a model of a how a person learns based on different stimuli, and recommend different lessons based on the stimuli”), and 2) stating a professional goal—make a “powerful impact on the education of students around the world.” This is a high-level maneuver and an inspiring way to stick the landing. 

And here’s another (shorter) Caltech example.

Example:

In my ROP Manufacturing Engineering Technology Course, I’m learning about the application of math in manufacturing. We’ve worked on isometrics, including drawing the different views of a 3D object and solving the missing dimensions. Now, I’ve begun learning g-code for CNC mill programming: first linear interpolation then circular interpolation. I’ve loved thinking through what a machine would do step by step, and I feel great accomplishment when my program finally runs correctly. I wrote a program to carve out my own design of a camera with a heart in the lens. Currently, I’m learning Mastercam CAD/CAM software. I can’t wait to take the Advanced course in the Spring semester to further pursue engineering fundamentals. (115 words)

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Tips + Analysis

1. Focus on clarity and specificity. While hooks can be great, you’ll want to be pretty stingy with your word count for this essay. The above example dives straight in, clearly setting up the experience for the reader with the first lines (and using the specificity of the experience to be a little hook-like). Then, it gets into some nice, specific detail regarding what the student did, and why the experience matters. Notice how much the language focuses on clarity and detail.
2. Show your chops. This example shows the student doing some higher-level STEM work. It gets into complex, interesting experiences in a (focused) range of areas, using language that may not mean much to the average reader but that shows they’ve already started developing the scientific chops they’ll need at Caltech.
3. Connect to your values through reflection. We refer to this as the “so what” element of the essay—above, some of the word count toward the end is devoted to helping the reader understand why this experience was meaningful. This reflection on meaning is something that the essay above has, and could have done even more so with some of the remaining word count. Be sure to spend some time exploring why the details and experiences you’ve discussed connect to some of your core values by reflecting on what they’ll allow you to pursue or explore, and why those things matter to you. Consider linking to specific, dynamic problems you’re interested in working on.

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For the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Program

We don’t have any example for this new prompt, but our guidance here is largely the same as for the School of Arts and Sciences prompt. Choose something that helps them see your curiosity, drive, initiative, and what you care about.

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For the Combined Degree (BFA+BA/BS) Program

We don’t have any example for this new prompt, but our guidance here is largely the same as for the School of Arts and Sciences prompt. Choose something that helps them see your curiosity, drive, initiative, and what you care about.

 

That’s all, folks! Come back and click deep into our blogs after checking out more application advice from the Tufts admissions team themselves.

 

Special thanks to Andy for writing this blog post

Andrew Simpson, CEG’s Editorial Director, has worked as an educator, consultant, and curriculum writer for the past 15 years, and earned degrees from Stanford in Political Science and Drama. He feels most at home on mountain tops and in oceans.

Top Values:  Insight/Growth | Truth | Integrity

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