University of San Diego (USD) supplemental essays
University of San Diego (USD) asks for one supplemental essay in 2026-27. 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 1, 2026, Early Action closes November 1, 2026 and Early Decision II closes January 5, 2027, with the rest in the table below. Every University of San Diego (USD) prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Decision | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Action | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Decision II | January 5, 2027 |
| Regular Decision | January 15, 2027 |
Checked against www.sandiego.edu/admission-and-aid/undergraduate/apply/application-requirements.php. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Required
USD publishes its supplemental questions only inside the Common Application, under "Essay and USD Member Questions". There is nothing to quote here until you open the application.
We will not print a prompt we cannot read on USD's own site. Paste yours into the review flow once you have it.
Your University of San Diego checklist
One supplement, required. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 1, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- SupplementRequired
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 San Diego (USD)’s own prompts is on the University of San Diego (USD) essay review page.
Getting into University of San Diego (USD)
University of San Diego (USD) admits 52.4% of applicants. In the federal admissions survey it reports that SAT and ACT scores are neither required nor recommended.
About 1 in 2 applicants are admitted, at a college of 5,671 undergraduates.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted.
- Does University of San Diego (USD) require the SAT or ACT?
- Not according to the federal admissions survey, where University of San Diego (USD) reports that SAT and ACT scores are neither required nor recommended. Read that as "not required" rather than "never looked at": the survey lags real policy by a cycle or more, and some colleges carrying this flag have since brought testing back while others genuinely ignore scores altogether. Check University of San Diego (USD)'s own admissions page before deciding whether to sit or send a test, and treat that page as the answer where the two disagree. Either way, grades and course load are doing most of the work here.
- What GPA do you need for University of San Diego (USD)?
- 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 San Diego (USD) is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that University of San Diego (USD) admits 52.4% 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 San Diego (USD)?
- University of San Diego (USD) admits 52.4% 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 San Diego (USD) 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 San Diego (USD) essay questions, answered
- Does University of San Diego (USD) have supplemental essays?
- Yes. University of San Diego (USD) asks for one supplemental essay in 2026-27. Every prompt is printed in full on this page.
- How many essays do you write for University of San Diego (USD) in 2026-27?
- One supplement, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
University of San Diego (USD) admits 52.4% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Providence College (50.9%), Baylor University (51.3%), Bard College (52.1%), University of Connecticut (UConn) (52.4%), CUNY Hunter College (53.8%), Centre College (54.4%).