Hampshire College Application Essay Instructions
Short Essays: Please answer each of these in 300 words or less. Responses are required. Submit your
responses to [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name and date of birth in the
email and on your writing samples.
A. Tell us about a collaborative, group, or community engaged activity that has been especially
meaningful to you and why:
B. Describe the most challenging teacher you’ve ever had. What made them challenging and what
did you learn from the experience?
C. Describe a proposal for a hypothetical research project that explores the connections between
three different disciplines (for example: math, creative writing, and psychology). What
disciplines would you choose and how would you envision yourself carrying out this research?
(Will allow up to 400 words for this essay).
D. If you were asked for evidence of your “passion for learning,” what story would you tell?
E. What would Hampshire’s unique curricular structure allow you to do or achieve that you would
not necessarily be able to do anywhere else?
Analytical Essay: We are interested in your ability to ask complex questions, think critically, synthesize
information and formulate your own conclusions through original analysis. Submit an academic paper of
any length, written in English, that you produced for a class in the past year. Please submit to
[email protected] . If you do not have an example that best represents your ability to write
analytically, feel free to create and submit an essay on a complex question of your own design. (We do
not accept in-class essays, creative writing samples, journal entries, or lab reports, for this portion of the
application).
The Personal Essay is optional: If you choose to submit the personal essay please send to
[email protected] with your full name at the top of the page.