Brigham Young University (BYU) supplemental essays
Brigham Young University (BYU) asks for seven supplemental essays in 2026-27. BYU portal.
That is seven pieces of writing in all; Brigham Young University (BYU) takes no personal statement. The application closes December 15, 2026. The prompts carry these limits: 1500 character limit, 300 character limit. Every Brigham Young University (BYU) prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it, checked against the college’s own admissions page.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Application deadline | December 15, 2026 |
Checked against enrollment.byu.edu/essays-and-activity. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Required · 1500 character limit
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?
Freshman essay 1 of 5.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 1500 character limit
Have you become aware of significant needs in your family, school, and/or community? Please explain how you have worked toward meeting those needs.
Freshman essay 2 of 5.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · Two boxes: 500 character limit for the first part, 1500 character limit for the second part
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)
Freshman essay 3 of 5. A single numbered prompt on BYU's page but carrying TWO separate character limits inline, so the limits are left inside the prompt text exactly as printed.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 1500 character limit
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)
Freshman essay 4 of 5. On BYU's page this single numbered item is a lead-in sentence, a six-item bulleted list (Goals / Interests / Skills and talents / Life experiences / Perspectives / Cultures), then the question. Reproduced in full, newline separated.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 1500 character limit
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.
Freshman essay 5 of 5.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 300 character limit
Please provide a short description of your participation in the specific activity:
Activity question, part 1 of 2. Before writing, the applicant indicates how long they participated and picks the activity from a dropdown: 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.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 1500 character limit
Why did you choose to participate in this activity? How have you benefited from your participation?
Activity question, part 2 of 2.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this prompt
Your Brigham Young University checklist
Seven supplements, all required. The application deadline is December 15, 2026.
- Supplement 1Required1500 character limit
- Supplement 2Required1500 character limit
- Supplement 3Required
- Supplement 4Required1500 character limit
- Supplement 5Required1500 character limit
- Supplement 6Required300 character limit
- Supplement 7Required1500 character limit
It saves these rows to your essay manager, where each one carries a status you set yourself and the prompt stays attached to it. Add your other schools and they land on the same page, in deadline order. Nothing written yet? The topic quiz is free as well.
Free: this page, the checklist, the essay manager and the topic quiz. Paid: a written review of a finished draft, $49 an essay.
Paste your essay for a free read
Have it in a document? or drop one here (Word, PDF, or Text).
Not sure what a review is? What an AI college essay review can and cannot do, and what a college essay grader leaves out. What the read checks against Brigham Young University (BYU)’s own prompts is on the Brigham Young University (BYU) essay review page.
Getting into Brigham Young University (BYU)
Brigham Young University (BYU) admits 67.8% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1270-1460 on the SAT and 28-32 on the ACT.
About 7 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 32,952 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1270 | 1360 | 1460 |
| SAT reading and writing | 640 | 680 | 730 |
| SAT math | 630 | 680 | 730 |
| ACT composite | 28 | 30 | 32 |
What SAT score do you need for Brigham Young University (BYU)?
A 1460 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1360 at their midpoint, and a 1270 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 28, 30 and 32. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for Brigham Young University (BYU)?
- Brigham Young University (BYU) sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1270-1460 on the SAT: a 1270 sits at the 25th percentile, 1360 at the median and 1460 at the 75th. A score at or above 1460 is a clear strength in the application; below 1270 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Brigham Young University (BYU) reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Brigham Young University (BYU)?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 28-32 on the ACT, with a composite of 30 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 28. Reported by Brigham Young University (BYU) to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Brigham Young University (BYU)?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for Brigham Young University (BYU) is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Brigham Young University (BYU) admits 67.8% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into Brigham Young University (BYU)?
- Brigham Young University (BYU) admits 67.8% of the people who apply, which is about 7 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What Brigham Young University (BYU) costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
Brigham Young University (BYU) essay questions, answered
- Does Brigham Young University (BYU) have supplemental essays?
- Yes. Brigham Young University (BYU) asks for seven supplemental essays in 2026-27. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 1500 character limit, 300 character limit.
- How many essays do you write for Brigham Young University (BYU) in 2026-27?
- Seven supplements, plus the BYU portal personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
Brigham Young University (BYU) admits 67.8% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Stonehill College (66.3%), Elon University (66.3%), Lipscomb University (67.7%), Hofstra University (68.1%), Presbyterian College (68.4%), Siena University (69.0%).