University of Maryland, College Park supplemental essays
University of Maryland, College Park asks for seven supplemental essays in 2026-27, chosen from 13 options. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is seven supplements plus the Common App personal statement: eight pieces of writing in all. Early Action closes November 1, 2026 and Regular Decision closes January 20, 2027. The prompts carry these limits: 650 characters, no more than 650 words. Every University of Maryland, College Park 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 Action | November 1, 2026 |
| Regular Decision | January 20, 2027 |
Checked against admissions.umd.edu/apply/essay-questions. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
This college does not publish its questions.
Maryland does not print its six short answers on its own site; they appear once you open the Common App, and these come from three guides that agree. One word is disputed: one guide has “last Tuesday” where the others have “last Monday”. Use the version your application shows you.
Required · 650 characters
If I could travel anywhere, I would go to…
Sentence completion. Delivered inside the UMD section of the Common App, not on UMD's website.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 650 characters
The most interesting fact I ever learned from research was…
Sentence completion.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 650 characters
In addition to my major, my academic interests include…
Sentence completion. This is UMD's 'why this major' equivalent.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 650 characters
My favorite thing about last Monday was…
Sentence completion. DISPUTED WORDING: College Transitions, CollegeVine and College Essay Advisors all print 'last Monday' for 2025-26. College Essay Guy, under a 2026/2027 title, prints 'My favorite thing about last Tuesday was…'. UMD does not publish this prompt, so the day of the week could not be settled from a first-party source.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 650 characters
Something you might not know about me is…
Sentence completion. College Transitions renders the trailing ellipsis as two periods ('is..'); CollegeVine and College Essay Advisors render a true ellipsis.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired · 650 characters
Because we know that diversity benefits the educational experience of all students, the University of Maryland values diversity in all of its many forms. This includes (but is not limited to) racial, socio-economic, gender, geographical, and sexual orientation. We are interested in hearing about your own individual life experiences. In a few sentences, will you please describe how you have learned, grown, been inspired or developed skills through one or more components of diversity.
This is the sixth short answer. It is a full paragraph question, not a sentence completion, and all four publishers print it identically.
Required (choose 1 of 7) · no more than 650 words
Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Option 1 of UMD's seven essay questions, published first-party.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired (choose 1 of 7) · no more than 650 words
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Option 2 of 7.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired (choose 1 of 7) · no more than 650 words
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Option 3 of 7.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired (choose 1 of 7) · no more than 650 words
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
Option 4 of 7.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired (choose 1 of 7) · no more than 650 words
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Option 5 of 7.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired (choose 1 of 7) · no more than 650 words
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Option 6 of 7.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptRequired (choose 1 of 7) · no more than 650 words
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
Option 7 of 7.
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 University of Maryland, College Park checklist
Seven supplements, all required. The first deadline, Early Action, is November 1, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- Supplement 1Required650 characters
- Supplement 2Required650 characters
- Supplement 3Required650 characters
- Supplement 4Required650 characters
- Supplement 5Required650 characters
- Supplement 6Required650 characters
- Supplements 7 to 13Requiredno more than 650 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 University of Maryland, College Park’s own prompts is on the University of Maryland, College Park essay review page.
Getting into University of Maryland, College Park
University of Maryland, College Park admits 44.8% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1400-1530 on the SAT and 32-35 on the ACT.
About 1 in 2 applicants are admitted, at a college of 30,760 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1400 | 1465 | 1530 |
| SAT reading and writing | 690 | 720 | 750 |
| SAT math | 710 | 745 | 780 |
| ACT composite | 32 | 34 | 35 |
What SAT score do you need for University of Maryland, College Park?
A 1530 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1465 at their midpoint, and a 1400 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 32, 34 and 35. 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 University of Maryland, College Park?
- University of Maryland, College Park sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1400-1530 on the SAT: a 1400 sits at the 25th percentile, 1465 at the median and 1530 at the 75th. A score at or above 1530 is a clear strength in the application; below 1400 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures University of Maryland, College Park reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for University of Maryland, College Park?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 32-35 on the ACT, with a composite of 34 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 32. Reported by University of Maryland, College Park to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for University of Maryland, College Park?
- 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 University of Maryland, College Park is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that University of Maryland, College Park admits 44.8% 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 University of Maryland, College Park?
- University of Maryland, College Park admits 44.8% of the people who apply, which is about 1 in 2 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What University of Maryland, College Park 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.
University of Maryland, College Park essay questions, answered
- Does University of Maryland, College Park have supplemental essays?
- Yes. University of Maryland, College Park asks for seven supplemental essays in 2026-27, chosen from 13 options. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 650 characters, no more than 650 words.
- How many essays do you write for University of Maryland, College Park in 2026-27?
- Seven supplements, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
University of Maryland, College Park admits 44.8% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Occidental College (44.2%), Texas Christian University (44.5%), Bennington College (44.5%), Bentley University (45.1%), University of Wisconsin–Madison (45.2%), Auburn University (45.9%).