Bentley University supplemental essays
Yes, but every one is optional. Bentley University prints four supplemental essays in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is four supplements plus the Common App personal statement: five pieces of writing in all. Early Decision closes November 15, 2026, Early Decision II closes January 15, 2027 and Regular Decision closes January 15, 2027. The prompts carry this limit: 250 words or less. Every Bentley University 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 II | January 15, 2027 |
| Early Decision | November 15, 2026 |
| Regular Decision | January 15, 2027 |
Checked against www.bentley.edu/undergraduate/apply/first-year-applicant. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Optional · 250 words or less
Bentley’s core values are Caring, Collaboration, Diversity, Honesty, Impact, Learning, and Respect. Select one or two of these core values and share how you currently embody them in your life. How will you continue to develop these values at Bentley?
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptOptional · 250 words or less
Our students bring to campus a variety of experiences, cultures, and intersecting identities including race and ethnicity –aspects that are important to a rich educational experience and our success in college and beyond. You may use this section to discuss how race and ethnicity affected your life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptOptional · 250 words or less
You wake up tomorrow morning and it’s the first day of high school. What would you do differently over the next few years?
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this promptOptional
After learning about Bentley, what influenced your decision to apply?
Submitted as a video (any combination of the three written questions and/or the video may be submitted); must arrive no later than one week after the application deadline.
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 Bentley University checklist
Four supplements, all optional. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 15, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- Supplements 1 to 3Optional250 words or less each
- Supplement 4Optional
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 Bentley University’s own prompts is on the Bentley University essay review page.
Getting into Bentley University
Bentley University admits 45.1% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1280-1430 on the SAT and 28-31 on the ACT.
About 1 in 2 applicants are admitted, at a college of 4,474 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1280 | 1350 | 1430 |
| SAT reading and writing | 630 | 660 | 700 |
| SAT math | 650 | 690 | 730 |
| ACT composite | 28 | 30 | 31 |
What SAT score do you need for Bentley University?
A 1430 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1350 at their midpoint, and a 1280 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 Bentley University?
- Bentley University sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1280-1430 on the SAT: a 1280 sits at the 25th percentile, 1350 at the median and 1430 at the 75th. A score at or above 1430 is a clear strength in the application; below 1280 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Bentley University reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Bentley University?
- 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 Bentley University to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Bentley University?
- 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 Bentley University is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Bentley University admits 45.1% 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 Bentley University?
- Bentley University admits 45.1% 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 Bentley University 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.
Bentley University essay questions, answered
- Does Bentley University have supplemental essays?
- Yes, but every one is optional. Bentley University prints four supplemental essays in 2026-27 and requires none of them. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 250 words or less.
- How many essays do you write for Bentley University in 2026-27?
- Four supplements, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
Bentley University admits 45.1% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Texas Christian University (44.5%), Bennington College (44.5%), University of Maryland, College Park (44.8%), University of Wisconsin–Madison (45.2%), Auburn University (45.9%), Syracuse University (45.9%).