How to Write the University of Richmond Supplemental Essays: Examples + Guide 2026/2027

Last Updated on 08/19/2026 by Ethan Sawyer

Impact. If you’re looking for one word to describe what drives the University of Richmond, that’s it: impact.

As the only university in the country with a spider mascot, Richmond isn’t afraid to stand out and embrace its uniqueness. And school officials want to attract students who aren’t hesitant to do the same.

Among the school’s core beliefs is that the “things we bring on day one-our talents, our passions, our viewpoints-are what equip us to make that impact.” So it’s no surprise that Richmond’s supplemental essay prompts are specifically designed to elicit from you both the things that make you unique and the qualities that will help you make a splash-on campus and in the world beyond Richmond.

If you want an even better sense of what the University of Richmond is looking for, you’ll find an extensive, by-the-numbers look at its offerings, from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information, on its Common Data Set. And for insights into how the university envisions itself and its role, and how it wants to grow and evolve, read its strategic plan, which will give you a strong idea of what the University of Richmond values.

Option #1:

One way to approach this is to treat this as a “Community” prompt focusing specifically on collaboration/inclusivity—how have you worked to build a sense of belonging within some of  your communities (whether for large groups, or small)?

To start, here’s a step-by-step guide that offers a short exercise to help you think through which communities you are a part of that might make a good topic for this essay.

Here’s the short version:

• Step 1: Create a “communities” chart by listing as many of your communities as you can think of. Keep in mind that communities can be defined in a variety of ways, including place, culture, interests, political beliefs, hobbies, and even favorite sports teams. Get creative.
• Step 2: Use the BEABIES exercise to generate your essay content for 2-3 of these communities. Simply ask yourself and jot down notes to these questions:
  • What kinds of problems did you solve or work to solve (personally, locally, or globally) in that community?
  • What specific impact did you have?
  • What did you learn (skills, qualities, values)? 
  • How did you apply the lessons you learned inside and outside of that community?
• Step 3: Pick a structure for writing this essay and focus on the community that you feel is most compelling and reveals the most about you, and possibly connect those experiences to how you will impact the college’s community (for more on how to do this, check our “Why this College” guide. 

Here’s a nice example essay written for a similar prompt from Colgate University:

Aside from my inherent love for bagels, my Jewish background has led me to become more embedded in my community, joining Jewish activists and building a website on Holocaust education.

In the 1930s, 36 members of my family were lost to the Holocaust, and that fact has led me to carry on the memory of my ancestors through tradition—with my Bar Mitzvah—as well as with an educational lens—teaching others about the Holocaust and about specific stories of survivors.

Feeling disconnected from Jewish activism, I decided to become an educator on the Student Leadership Board of the Seattle-based Holocaust Center for Humanity last year. Each week, we met to discuss present-day instances of oppression and discrimination across the world, and finished the year by building a website to share the story of a Holocaust survivor. 

Being on the board connected me to a network of other passionate Jewish activists, and helped me to channel the pride for my culture and ancestors into visual media that reaches many viewers. At Colgate, I hope to find myself surrounded not only by like-minded Jewish students, but by a diverse group of people with whom I can learn and make connections. (196 words)

Tips + Analysis

1. Highlight a core identity. In the example essay, the applicant highlights their Jewish heritage and the profound impact it has had on their life choices and commitments. This is a great way to approach this prompt—think of communities/identities that you claim, pick one that the college isn’t seeing elsewhere, and show how that aspect of you + your experiences will allow you to contribute to the school’s community. Ensure you shed light on the aspects of your background that have shaped your identity. This could be cultural, familial, or personal attributes that have molded you into the individual you are today.
2. Provide concrete examples of impact. Just as the sample essay narrates the applicant’s journey in Jewish activism, so you’ll want to offer specific instances that exemplify the impact your background has had on your decisions and pursuits and how you have built inclusivity and belonging. What are specific actions you’ve taken to build connection and inclusion? Whether through personal experiences, engagements, or projects, share specific moments where you’ve taken meaningful actions. In short, show us.
3. Connect to the college’s community.  While not required, you have the option of adding some detail at the end of your essay regarding how you want to continue contributing to these kinds of communities. How can you do that? Address how your background, values, and commitments align with the school’s vision and how you intend to extend these connections on campus to foster learning and shared growth. For example, perhaps you plan on joining (or creating?) relevant student clubs, volunteering at a local museum, or finding innovative ways to connect with students who share a similar background.

And here’s another example, written for Yale, that word work well for this Tufts prompt:

Example:

“Well, they seem like normal people, I guess.” Putting down his phone, my dad conceded. 

How much this moment means to me is difficult to describe. 

As a volunteer at the Beijing LGBT Center, I’d shot and edited a video entitled “I Don’t Want to Work in the Closet”, exposing the discrimination queer Chinese employees face in workplaces. Aiming to raise funds for the center and create reverberation among employers, I scrutinized every detail in my video, from the subtitle fonts to the background music. Reorganizing the clips, I created an emotional arc providing a call for action. The video was eventually published on Chinese social media. As the number of views rose and supportive comments emerged, I was proud to have made an impact. 

But I didn’t feel the weight of my contribution until I showed the video to my dad, who, despite his love for me, was unaware of my queer identity, largely disdained my work at the center and (as far as I know) the entire LGBT population. 

Now, my dad’s comment let me know the video had altered his perception, even if just slightly. Using my directing and video-editing skills, I was able to help humanize the Chinese queer population. My dad is far from being supportive of the LGBT movement, as are many other Chinese people, but fostering a willingness to accept differences was already a significant step. 

I produce videos to magnify the underrepresented voice of my LGBTQ community because, to me, diversity matters. 

And here’s one written for the same prompt for U Washington:

Example essay:

Just before starting my freshman year, a worrisome news story broke – students were courageously sharing stories highlighting racist incidents stemming from a lack of cultural awareness among teachers at my school. Eager to help promote a more accepting environment, I joined the Diversity Action Team. This passionate community empowered minority students to find belonging through smaller, safe spaces united by shared identities such as religion and sexual orientation. As these groups became self-sufficient, the team’s original purpose was fulfilled, and this close-knit team separated.

This community helped me develop a lens to see inequities that existed elsewhere. I observed a stark contrast in the recognition given to popular sports, such as football, compared to academic pursuits, like math club. Our school’s social media spotlighted the latest basketball wins while the STEM and art whizzes were left in the shadows. When I became drumline captain, I wanted to advocate for these overlooked activities and make all students feel their unique talents were worthy of celebration. After several weeks, I secured opportunities for drumline to play at robotics tournaments, girl’s soccer matches, and more. As these unexpecting but proud students were surrounded by the school spirit that drumline brings, I understood the power of uplifting individuals who are frequently undervalued.

I aim to bring this perspective to UW and celebrate my peer’s diverse academic pursuits, whether it be Computer Science, Anthropology, or Engineering. As an aspiring Public Health student, I look forward to becoming involved in Student Organizations such as the Health Equity Circle to continue my advocacy work at the crossroads of justice and well-being.

Not all inequities can be solved by drumline, but through the communities I have been a part of, I realize the importance of using the roles we hold to amplify voices that often go unheard.

Tips and analysis:

• Establish a “space” and name your “action”. The prompt asks for you to share a story about a “space you made better for other people”, and this essay (wisely) names both of those things in the first paragraph. This student quickly identifies the issue (cultural insensitivity), the place (their school), and what action they took in response (joined Diversity Action Team). Keep in mind that this prompt is clear about the University of Richmond looking for students who uphold the school’s value of being “relentlessly welcoming”, so be sure that you select an experience where you worked to uplift, include, or affirm others. 
• Demonstrate your impact. Keep in mind that with this prompt the school isn’t interested in seeing you list off all of the important activities you’ve participated in—it is asking you to illustrate how you made a positive difference. This essay doesn’t stop at naming the specific actions the Diversity Action Team took to empower their marginalized peers; it goes on to show how that experience shaped the student into an advocate elsewhere, through the story of becoming drumline captain. The more specific you are about your results, the stronger your response will be.
• Connect it to your potential on campus. Being welcoming and affirming toward others clearly matters to the University of Richmond. This student closes with a short paragraph linking their experience advocating for others to what they’re looking forward to on campus. By naming the Health Equity Circle specifically, they show they’ve done their research—and it ties in naturally with their demonstrated interest in public health. That specificity is what makes the ending feel intentional rather than tacked on.

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Option #2:

You can approach this as an extracurricular activity essay focused on the qualities and values in the prompt: “learned by doing, making, building, testing, helping, or leading”. You’ll find an in-depth step-by-step guide at this link, plus some really great examples. We recommend using that post to guide you as you’re writing.

But if you want to see the short version, here’s what to do:

• Go to your Common App activities list and pick 2-3 of your most impressive or important (to you) activities. 
• Then, go through the Best Extracurricular Activity Brainstorm I’ve Ever Seen (AKA BEABIES exercise), either mentally or by filling out the chart. This will help you decide which topic might yield the most content for your essay.  If you’re unsure, maybe do a simple outline for two different topics. 
• As you work through that exercise, focus on bullets that help you hit “learned by doing, making, building, testing, helping, or leading”, and “what that experience taught you about yourself, the world, or the kind of impact you want to have”.
• Write a draft!

Pro-tip: Be careful about writing about an activity that you’ve already shared a lot about elsewhere on your application. This essay is your chance to say “Hey, here’s this other cool thing I’ve spent some time doing that I haven’t told you about yet!”  

Here’s an example essay written for a similar prompt from another school:

Apiary Club is like an organized hive, with dozens of workers striving to ensure the sustainability of their home. A couple of years ago our campus was empty of the delicious honey our beehives now produce.  The idea started when my friends and I learned about colony collapse in biology class. Together, we thought we could make change, even if small. With our own hives, we could make tangible progress in reversing bee decline. 

Beehives on a school campus is a pretty crazy idea, so to establish Apiary Club, we needed to navigate our school’s many bureaucratic layers. We had to negotiate the hives’ location and even design a member contract with the school lawyer. We bought the most docile bees on the planet, purchased dozens of EpiPens, and trained all of our members in their use. After months of deliberation, we established our first hive last year. In this process, I’ve learned the importance of cooperation, and the ability to work within the rules and create new ones to generate change.

With our club up and running, we wanted to expand, which meant more bee suits, hives, and equipment for maintenance. To recruit new members, we advertised the club to our campus in school assemblies, club fair, and on bulletin boards. As treasurer, I instituted member dues to generate funding for equipment. I helped diversify our funding by offering website design services for local beekeeping businesses. Through Apiary Club, I have learned the power of improvisation, the ability to make do with what I have to achieve my goal.

With logistics out of the way, it was time for execution; we wanted to raise awareness in our community about global pollination decline. Talking about our impending extinction didn’t make the freshman too excited; we had to learn how to package this bad news in a sweet container. Now, while teaching hive maintenance and discussing the importance of bees, we always include a honey tasting and talk about the waggle dance bees perform. By upholding positivity as a pillar of our community, Apiary Club now has dozens of members motivated to fight global colony collapse.

With the cooperation, improvisation, and positivity I’ve gained through Apiary Club, I know I’ll be able to contribute to Boston College’s Jesuit mission of learning, searching for the truth, and living in service to others.  (390 words) 

Tips and analysis

• Detail the journey from idea to action. This prompt is all about turning ideas into action, so your response should detail the full arc—not just a polished, finished end result. This essay does an excellent job of taking us through the whole ideation process, from its inception, through some bureaucratic obstacles, and finally to the finished product: a functioning club that raises both beehives and awareness of pollination decline. These details bring the whole story to life, demonstrating that this student can bring an idea from concept to reality. 

• Share the “what”. The language of this prompt is heavy on verbs—doing, making, testing, building, leading—so it’s no surprise the University of Richmond wants to read about the actions you took to bring your idea to life. This student doesn’t just say they started a club; they name concrete actions connected to each step of the process. From advertising the club at school assemblies to handing out honey samples while educating the community about bees, this student grounds every stage of their journey in specific, memorable details that make their impact easy to picture.

• Reflect on what you learned through this process. Since the prompt asks what the experience taught you about yourself, the world, or your impact, that reflection piece is key to your response. This essay is structured around three distinct lessons (cooperation, improvisation, and positivity), each tied to a specific part of the idea-to-action journey. Naming your takeaways this clearly will help the reader see your growth, rather than leaving them to infer it.

• Connect to the mission statement. A strong response to this prompt connects your accomplishments and personal growth to what you’ll bring to campus. This student closes by linking the skills gained through creating Apiary Club—cooperation, improvisation, and positivity—directly to the college’s mission of service to others. Read the University of Richmond’s mission statement and look for shared values that you can tie into this essay. This will help prove that you’ve thought about how your experience (and the reflection it sparked) will translate into a real, positive impact on campus.

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Option #3:

This is a pretty standard “How will you contribute” prompt. For “How will you contribute” essays, there’s a guide + examples with analysis at that link, but here’s the short version. 

Essentially, a way to think of this kind of prompt is that it’s a combo of “community/identity/background” and “why us” prompts: use some of your response to show how you’ve become who you are, and then show how those experiences shape what you will bring to the college through linking to specific opportunities/groups/details. Connect your unique upbringing, in a very broad sense of the word, with what the school offers and how you will make a great team.

STEP 1: BRAINSTORM (ALL ABOUT YOU).

Do the “If You Really, Really Knew Me” Exercise.

STEP 2: RESEARCH THE COLLEGE (LEARN ALL ABOUT THEM).

Make a copy of the “Why us” Essay Chart 2.0, research the school you’re writing your essay for, and fill in the first two columns. (This is the same chart mentioned above.)

Once you’ve done these exercises, you’ll have a better sense of: 

• YOU: A bunch of different talents/skills/identities/qualities that you’ll bring to a college campus, and
• THEM: A variety of programs/courses/clubs/affinity groups that your college offers.

STEP 3: CONNECT YOU… TO THEM (I.E., THE COLLEGE YOU’RE APPLYING TO). 

Make connections between what the school offers and what you’re interested in.

Here’s an essay written for Columbia’s version of this prompt: 

Example essay:

At family dinners over gnocchi and arancini, my grandpa would always ask my two older brothers how their education and sports were going. I’d wait for my turn, but the question was never directed my way. In contrast, my grandma always tells me how thankful she is that I’m able to get an education of my own. She frequently mentions how she regrets never getting an education. I pursue my education with a fire within me to do what she wasn’t allowed to. During the summer of 2021, I realized that I could impact other girls in a similar way by writing a children’s book about influential women in STEM in order to inspire the next generation of female scientists. 

At Columbia University, I hope to contribute to the empowerment of women by creating a Society of Women in Science, hosting Alumni Panels, Graduate Student Q&A’s, and creating a safe space for women in similar majors to discuss their successes and setbacks. In addition, joining the Student Wellness Project will provide another community that prioritizes mental health. This empowering environment is the ideal place to help me develop as both a feminist and a scientist. (196)

Tips + Analysis:

• View the prompt broadly. While this prompt offers you the perfect opportunity to explore the impact race, socioeconomic status, and other societal factors have had on you, don’t feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the prompt. As in the example above, where the student recounts her experiences with a cultural and generational divide, there are many experiences we’ve had that have shaped who we are. Some are deep, like being the only person of color at your high school, while others are more light-hearted, like having to learn to make your own grilled cheese at age 8 as a latchkey kid. Both are admirable in their own ways. Both may be really important to you. And both can make really effective responses.

• Make campus connections. Your readers want to hear about your past experiences, they’re just as curious about how they’ll shape your time on campus, leaving the school better than as you found it. But remember, they probably want at least some (if not all) focus on outside-the-classroom experiences here, so dive into their list of student organizations and find a few that truly resonate with you and that you feel you could make a meaningful contribution to. The student above does just that with their reference to the Student Wellness project and how they expect to contribute.

• Be a changemaker. Can’t find an organization at Richmond you’d like to join? Create your own! The student in the example above plans to start their own organization and even outlines some of the specific events she plans to hold. It’s clear she’s done her research to see where the college might be lacking in female-centered organizations—and she’s going to take the charge to correct that.

• Tie the two together. Make sure your past connects with your future. That means tying the lessons from your childhood, preteen, and adolescent years with the contributions you’re going to make on campus. The response above does a great job in doing that. As a young female who has, from a young age, been committed to empowering young women, it’s clear how this student is going to make a specific impact on the college’s campus community.

Here’s an example essay (written for MIT’s version of this prompt) with analysis:

Example:

“I don’t have a mommy – and no, I was not adopted.”  This was an early attempt, (albeit from a five-year old’s perspective), to proudly explain to my classmates that I had two dads (yes they are gay!) and was conceived via invitro-fertilization. Looking back, this statement undoubtedly triggered several conversations around my classmates’ dinner tables. Years later, I learned how my simple declaration broadened many family’s perspectives. 

I was raised as part of a community that proudly celebrates diversity and encourages change through personal interaction. My parents and I are not the kind to go to protests. While we greatly respect those loud voices, we find influencing others on a personal level can be a more effective way of instigating change. Throughout my formative years, being part of one-on-one personal interactions within a predominately heterosexual community allowed me to witness the dismantling of stereotypes one person at a time.

At MIT, I aspire to perform similar roles, broadening perspectives and strengthening the LGBTQ+ climate through personal relationships. By being open with my gender identity, having a great sense of humor, and embracing my peers and professors in thoughtful, relaxed one-on-one conversations, I hope to develop strong bonds founded in mutual respect. Just as MIT can be considered the home of science, MIT should be a home for the LGBTQ+ community. My dream is to form relationships that have a cascading effect at MIT through developing new champions and strengthening the climate for LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff. (247 words)

Tips & Analysis: 

• Share (a core part of) your world view. We’d recommend thinking about everything that Princeton is getting elsewhere, through your personal statement, activities list, and additional info section. Then assess: what aren’t they seeing yet? Remember, your essays’ primary function is to help a reader see who you are, what you value, what you bring to their campus and community. This essay uses the prompt as an opportunity to share a core part of their growing up, and how that shaped their values (celebrating diversity, encouraging change, personal engagement)
• Half for you, half for them. Give or take—it doesn’t have to be a perfect 50/50 split. But notice that about 60% of the word count here is used to share specific details and insight gained from the student’s background. Then, about 40% is used to connect to specific aspects of the college community that the student wants to engage with, and how they want to do so (using specific examples and verb phrases) in order to show how they’ll contribute to the school. Be sure you’re including a decent amount of word count that gets really specific with how whatever aspects of background/identity you’ve discussed in the first half will allow you to add to the lives, perspectives, and understanding of other students in the second half. (And for more on how to mostly show, but probably tell a little in college essays, head there.)

Special thanks to Jessica B. for writing this blog post.

Jessica has a Ph.D in English from the University of Southern California and teaches English at a Los Angeles-area independent school, where she has also been English department chair and a class dean.  Sandra Cisneros is her hero, and she loves books, her awesomely-sarcastic family, the beach, cozy sweaters, and more books. Oh, and her sweet pitbull/lab mix named Ruby. 

Top values: Curiosity, equity, wonder

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