Sarah Lawrence College supplemental essays
Yes, but every one is optional. Sarah Lawrence College prints four supplemental essays in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is one supplement plus the Common App personal statement: two pieces of writing in all. Early Decision closes November 15, 2026, Early Action closes November 15, 2026 and Early Decision II closes January 15, 2027, with the rest in the table below. The prompts carry this limit: 250-500 words. Every Sarah Lawrence College 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 |
|---|---|
| Early Decision | November 15, 2026 |
| Early Action | November 15, 2026 |
| Early Decision II | January 15, 2027 |
| Regular Decision | January 15, 2027 |
Checked against www.sarahlawrence.edu/admission/apply/first-year.html. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Optional (choose 1 of 4) · 250-500 words
Sarah Lawrence students are often described as hyphenates: filmmaker-sociologist-historian, environmentalist-photographer, psychologist-novelist, economist-poet. In 250-500 words, tell us about seemingly disparate interests you have brought together, or hope to bring together at Sarah Lawrence.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptOptional (choose 1 of 4) · 250-500 words
Students at Sarah Lawrence are asked to design their own research questions directly with faculty, and then answer them through intensive semester-long projects that frequently inspire a blend of intellectual rigor and creativity. In 250-500 words, tell us about a text, problem, or topic you would love to explore over a semester or a year, and what you would hope to achieve through that work.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptOptional (choose 1 of 4) · 250-500 words
Liberal arts and sciences colleges have a long and robust history of providing the educational foundation for the careers of influential politicians, financiers, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, CEOs, and more. Many of them cite their liberal arts degree as foundational and transformative for how they took on challenges in the world and for shaping their lives after college. How do you see your upcoming college studies leading to your future career (or careers)?
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptOptional (choose 1 of 4) · 250-500 words
In today’s rapidly changing world, many social, political, and ethical issues spark intense debate and demand nuanced understanding. Choose a contemporary issue that you find both challenging and urgent—whether it relates to identity, justice, artificial intelligence, environment, or another area—and critically explore your perspective on it. How have your previous experiences, background, and/or values shaped your viewpoint? How do you envision engaging with this issue during your college education and beyond?
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 Sarah Lawrence College checklist
One supplement, optional. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 15, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- Supplements 1 to 4Optional250-500 words each
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 Sarah Lawrence College’s own prompts is on the Sarah Lawrence College essay review page.
Getting into Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College admits 61.7% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1240-1430 on the SAT and 28-31 on the ACT.
About 6 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 1,530 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1240 | 1360 | 1430 |
| SAT reading and writing | 650 | 690 | 740 |
| SAT math | 590 | 670 | 690 |
| ACT composite | 28 | 30 | 31 |
What SAT score do you need for Sarah Lawrence College?
A 1430 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1360 at their midpoint, and a 1240 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 28, 30 and 31. 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 Sarah Lawrence College?
- Sarah Lawrence College sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1240-1430 on the SAT: a 1240 sits at the 25th percentile, 1360 at the median and 1430 at the 75th. A score at or above 1430 is a clear strength in the application; below 1240 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Sarah Lawrence College reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Sarah Lawrence College?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 28-31 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 Sarah Lawrence College to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Sarah Lawrence College?
- 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 Sarah Lawrence College is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Sarah Lawrence College admits 61.7% 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 Sarah Lawrence College?
- Sarah Lawrence College admits 61.7% of the people who apply, which is about 6 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What Sarah Lawrence College 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.
Sarah Lawrence College essay questions, answered
- Does Sarah Lawrence College have supplemental essays?
- Yes, but every one is optional. Sarah Lawrence College prints four supplemental essays in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 250-500 words.
- How many essays do you write for Sarah Lawrence College in 2026-27?
- One supplement, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
Sarah Lawrence College admits 61.7% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Penn State University (60.6%), Ohio State University (60.6%), University of San Francisco (USF) (61.7%), The College of New Jersey (62.3%), Pepperdine University (62.9%), Wabash College (63.3%).