UPenn Essay Prompts (2025-2026): The Thank-You Note + Every Supplemental

Penn Prompt (required, 150-200 words): "Write a short thank-you note to someone you have not yet thanked and would like to acknowledge. (We encourage you to share this note with that person, if possible, and reflect on the experience!)"

Penn Prompt (required, 150-200 words): "How will you explore community at Penn? Consider how Penn will help shape your perspective, and how your experiences and perspective will help shape Penn."

Penn Prompt (College of Arts and Sciences applicants, 150-200 words): "The flexible structure of The College of Arts and Sciences' curriculum is designed to inspire exploration, foster connections, and help you create a path of study through general education courses and a major. What are you curious about and how would you take advantage of opportunities in the arts and sciences?"

Penn Prompt (Wharton applicants, 150-200 words): "Wharton prepares its students to make an impact by applying business methods and economic theory to real-world problems, including economic, political, and social issues. Please reflect on a current issue of importance to you and share how you hope a Wharton education would help you to explore it."

Penn Prompt (Engineering and Applied Sciences applicants, 150-200 words): "Penn Engineering prepares its students to become leaders in technology by combining a strong foundation in the natural sciences and mathematics with depth of study in focused disciplinary majors. Please share how you plan to pursue your engineering interests at Penn, particularly within the intended major you selected."

Penn Prompt (Nursing applicants, 150-200 words): "Penn Nursing intends to meet the health needs of society in a global and multicultural world by preparing its students to impact healthcare by advancing science. Why have you decided to apply to Nursing? Where do you see yourself professionally in the future and how will you contribute to our mission of promoting equity in healthcare?"

Set a 15-minute timer and list 20 people you have never properly thanked: family, teachers, strangers, people who were briefly kind, people who were hard on you in useful ways, people who never knew they helped. No filtering while listing. Then star the three whose mention makes you feel something physical — those are your candidates. Impressiveness of the recipient is worth nothing; specificity of the debt is everything.

For each of your top three recipients, write answers to: What exactly did they do — one scene, with details? What did it cost them? What changed in you afterward, and what do you do differently today because of it? Why have you not thanked them yet? The recipient whose answers produce the most specific scene and the most honest "why not yet" is the one to write about.

Before drafting for admissions, write the actual note — as if it will be read only by the recipient. Use their name. Refer to things only they would recognize. Say the specific thing you never said. Then revise for the application: keep the intimacy and the inside references, trim for length. Penn even encourages you to actually send it — consider doing so and noticing how that feels.

Read your thank-you note draft and test each sentence: Would I say this to their face? Does this sentence thank THEM, or does it advertise ME? Cross out every sentence whose hidden job is showcasing your achievements ("thank you for supporting me through my 12 AP classes"). What remains should be at least 80% about the recipient. If it is not, you chose the recipient as a prop — pick again.

Spend 45 minutes on Penn's actual websites and student media (The Daily Pennsylvanian, club directories, college house pages). Collect: 3 student organizations you would genuinely join, 1 college house tradition or program, 1 cultural or community center relevant to you, 1 Philadelphia-facing program (like community engagement through the Netter Center). For each, write one line on what you would DO there in semester one. This list is the raw material for the community essay.

List every community you have actually shaped — not just joined: a team whose culture you changed, a group chat you turned into a study collective, a tradition you started, a younger student you brought along. For each: what existed before you, what you did, what persisted after. Pick the one with the clearest before/after. That story, transplanted to a named Penn context, is the "shape Penn" half of your essay.

Penn markets "One University" — undergraduates can take courses across all four schools. Brainstorm: what second interest of yours lives OUTSIDE your chosen school? A nursing applicant who codes, a Wharton applicant who writes poetry, an engineer obsessed with bioethics. Find the actual Penn course, minor, or dual-degree program that connects your two interests, and note it for your school-specific essay.

Penn's essays are 150-200 words — about 12 sentences. Outline before drafting: sentences 1-3 = one concrete scene or question (the hook and the evidence), sentences 4-8 = the connection to specific Penn resources or communities, sentences 9-12 = what you will do there and why it matters. No intro paragraph, no conclusion paragraph. If your outline has a sentence that is pure setup, delete it and start where the substance starts.

You are a brainstorming partner helping me find a subject for Penn's thank-you note essay. Do NOT write any note or essay text. Interview me one question at a time: who helped me in ways I never acknowledged, moments of unexpected kindness, hard feedback that changed me, people whose effect I only understood later. Ask follow-ups that push past my first answers. After 10 questions, list the 3 most promising recipients with a one-line reason each, quoting my own words back to me.