2026–27 application
California State University-Los Angeles supplemental essays
Every prompt and word limit, from the application itself.
Only for some programs.
These apply if you’re applying to the program named on the prompt.
A Problem to Solve
What is one big problem you would like to address as a future leader? Why?
How to approach it. Goals prompts fail when they stay noble and vague. Pick one real problem you care about. Connect it to something you’ve already touched in real life. Make the goal clear enough that a reader could disagree with it. Specific beats impressive.
Social Justice
What have you done or what would you like to do to advance social justice?
About You
What would you like the Honors College to know about you? For example, you may wish to think about one or more of the following: your values, aspirations, strengths, hobbies, passions, achievement.
How to approach it. Goals prompts fail when they stay noble and vague. Pick one real problem you care about. Connect it to something you’ve already touched in real life. Make the goal clear enough that a reader could disagree with it. Specific beats impressive.
Why College
Why are you pursuing a university education?
How to approach it. This is a why-us prompt. The trap is describing the school back to itself. Rankings and a pretty campus read as filler. Name two or three things you’d actually use. A program, a professor’s work, an open curriculum. Then tie each one to something you’ve already done.
A Challenge
Discuss something you learned from a challenge you faced during the past two years.
How to approach it. The challenge is the setup, not the essay. Spend most of the words on what you did and how you changed. Readers are wary of a hard story used as currency. Growth is the currency.
Community Impact
Cal State LA values community engagement. Tell us about a time you were involved in your community. What did you learn about your community and about yourself?
How to approach it. Here, specific beats important. A small, true community described from the inside beats a broad label. Write it as someone who was there, not as an observer. End on what you carry into a campus, not on a moral.
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