University of Denver supplemental essays
No. University of Denver asks for no supplemental essays in 2026-27. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is one piece of writing in all: the Common App personal statement. Early Decision closes November 1, 2026, Early Action closes November 1, 2026 and Early Decision II closes January 15, 2027, with the rest in the table below. This page lists University of Denver's application deadlines and what the application does ask you to write.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Decision | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Action | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Decision II | January 15, 2027 |
| Regular Decision | January 15, 2027 |
Checked against www.du.edu/admission-aid/undergraduate/first-year-applicants/application-checklist. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The personal statement carries the whole writing signal here.
University of Denver reads exactly one piece of writing: the Common App personal statement (250-650 words). There is no "why University of Denver" essay and no short answers, so adding it to a list costs zero extra essays; the statement you already have is the entire file here.
That cuts both ways. With no supplement, there is no second chance to show fit or interest in writing, so the one essay has to do all the character work on its own.
Early Decision (November 1, 2026) is binding: an admit commits you to enroll. A second binding round, Early Decision II, closes January 15, 2027. Early Action (November 1, 2026) is non-binding: an earlier answer with no commitment attached. Regular Decision closes January 15, 2027. Applying early means your essay is final about 11 weeks sooner; that is the revision time you trade for an earlier answer.
Paste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.
Your University of Denver checklist
One piece of writing, and it is required. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 1, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
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 Denver’s own prompts is on the University of Denver essay review page.
Getting into University of Denver
University of Denver admits 77.8% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1240-1410 on the SAT and 28-33 on the ACT.
About 8 in 10 applicants are admitted, at a college of 6,025 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1240 | 1320 | 1410 |
| SAT reading and writing | 640 | 670 | 710 |
| SAT math | 600 | 650 | 700 |
| ACT composite | 28 | 31 | 33 |
What SAT score do you need for University of Denver?
A 1410 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1320 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, 31 and 33. 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 Denver?
- University of Denver sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1240-1410 on the SAT: a 1240 sits at the 25th percentile, 1320 at the median and 1410 at the 75th. A score at or above 1410 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 University of Denver 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 Denver?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 28-33 on the ACT, with a composite of 31 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 28. Reported by University of Denver to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for University of Denver?
- 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 Denver is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that University of Denver admits 77.8% 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 Denver?
- University of Denver admits 77.8% of the people who apply, which is about 8 in 10 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What University of Denver 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 Denver essay questions, answered
- Does University of Denver have supplemental essays?
- No. University of Denver asks for no supplemental essays in 2026-27. The Common App personal statement is the only writing in the application. It runs 250 to 650 words.
- How many essays do you write for University of Denver in 2026-27?
- One: the Common App personal statement. There are no University of Denver supplements in 2026-27, so adding this school to a list costs no extra essays.
Schools with similar admit rates
University of Denver admits 77.8% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Clarkson University (77.4%), University of Evansville (77.6%), Mississippi State University (77.6%), University of Colorado Boulder (78.1%), Indiana University Bloomington (78.2%), University of Missouri (Mizzou) (78.5%).