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Essays & Activity

Essays are a critical part of the application. They help us get to know you as an individual.
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How I Tackled My BYU Essays | Tips for a Strong Application

Your essays are a key part of BYU's holistic review process. They give you the opportunity to share the experiences, challenges, and goals that have shaped who you are.

Essay Information

  • When you apply, you'll agree to an Essays and Activity Commitment, which includes:

    • Not using paid help or using generative AI tools (like ChatGPT).
      • Need help? Your BYU representative can assist you with questions about your BYU application.
    • Using your own words and ideas (you may ask others to review your essays for clarity).
    • Connect to BYU's mission. We're looking for students who can thrive at BYU and contribute to our campus community. Think about the Aims of a BYU Education and how your experiences have shaped you:
      • How has this experience helped you grow intellectually?
      • How has it been spiritually meaningful?
      • How has it strengthened your character?
      • How has it inspired you to be a lifelong learner and serve others?
    • Read through What We Look For. It offers helpful context about what matters most in the application.
    • Choose experiences that show who you are today. Focus on yourself and your experiences, and keep background details brief. Highlight recent, meaningful moments that reflect your character, goals, and growth.
    • Answer the prompts clearly. Stay on topic and make sure your response addresses all the questions in the prompt.
    • Avoid repeating yourself. Use each essay to highlight a different part of your story.
    • Ask for feedback. Have someone you trust read your essays to make sure they're clear, but the words and ideas should be yours.
    • Share what matters most. If there's something that you want us to know, work it into one of your essays.
    • Be yourself. Focus on your ideas and experiences and let your personality shine.
    • Grammar matters. This isn't a creative writing sample, so it doesn't need to be beautiful and poetic. However, they ARE college essays so don't forget to double check punctuation and grammar.
    1. Describe a topic, idea, or experience that you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. What have you done to learn more or engage further in the topic, idea or experience? What resources do you use to learn more? (1500 character limit)
    2. Have you become aware of significant needs in your family, school, and/or community? Please explain how you have worked toward meeting those needs. (1500 character limit)
    3. Briefly describe a time that your efforts have fallen short, a goal was not accomplished, or an aspiration was not achieved (500 character limit). What steps did you take to recover from this defeat? What resources did you use? How and why are you different today? (1500 character limit)
    4. We strive to create a rich and varied educational environment through admitting students with a wide range of:
      • Goals
      • Interests
      • Skills and talents
      • Life experiences
      • Perspectives
      • Cultures

      Tell us your story. What will you contribute to our university community? Be specific. (1500 character limit)

    5. A BYU education will be spiritually strengthening. BYU students have a unique opportunity to seek learning by study and by faith. Describe the reasons you want to learn in an environment like this. (1500 character limit)

  • In addition to the current freshman essays, transfer applicants are asked to write one additional essay.

    1. Why are you applying to transfer from your current institution? (500 character limit) How has your initial college experience prepared you for the academic rigor of BYU? Tell us what you have done to challenge yourself academically. Be specific. (1500 character limit)

  • While you have most likely been involved in many different activities, you will have an opportunity to write about an activity that will help us get to know you as an individual.

    For the activity, you'll indicate how long you have participated in the activity. You'll also choose from a dropdown what activity you'd like to write about:

    • Arts (Music, Art, Theater, Dance)
    • Athletics
    • Church (Any Denomination)
    • Community (Military, Clubs, Student Government, Politics)
    • Employment
    • Humanities (Language, Writing, Speech)
    • Service
    • STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
    • Other

    You'll then answer two prompts for the activity, as listed below:

    • Please provide a short description of your participation in the specific activity: (300 character limit)
    • Why did you choose to participate in this activity? How have you benefited from your participation? (1500 character limit)

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