Tufts Supplemental Essay Prompts 2026-27 + How to Answer Them
Every applicant answers two required short answers: a common 75 to 150-word prompt plus one 100 to 200-word prompt set by your program. Every prompt below is quoted from Tufts Admissions and verified against it on September 26, 2026.
Application: Common App or Coalition (Tufts short answer questions). Requirements can change during the cycle; Tufts's application portal is the final word on what to submit.
Required of all applicants
1 prompt
Please describe how you have learned about and engaged with Tufts during your college search process
How to answer
A why-us question with a research requirement built into the wording. Show actual contact: visits, conversations, courses you looked up, the Tufts account you follow.
Draft this prompt in the essay tool →Choose the one for your program, required
4 prompts
Tell us about one of your favorite school assignments in the past two years. What was the assignment and why did you enjoy it?
How to answer
Arts and Sciences applicants. Pick an assignment you genuinely enjoyed and explain what made it click for you.
Draft this prompt in the essay tool →Tell us about an engineering or science-related project that you have helped build, design, create, or iterate in the past two years. What was the project and what was your role?
How to answer
Engineering applicants. Be clear about your role in the project; "helped" invites vagueness, so replace it with specifics.
Draft this prompt in the essay tool →Tell us more about a specific piece in your portfolio. What were the ideas you intended to explore, and how did those ideas inform the process of making the piece?
How to answer
BFA applicants. Choose the piece with the most interesting ideas behind it, not necessarily the most technically polished one.
Draft this prompt in the essay tool →Tell us more about a specific piece in your portfolio. How did an academic course, project, or interest inspire the ideas that you explored in this piece? Or, how did making this piece influence your academic interests?
How to answer
Combined Degree BFA+BA/BS applicants. Show the two-way street between your academics and your art: which fed which, and how.
Draft this prompt in the essay tool →Draft your Tufts supplement with feedback on every essay.
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