Supplements · three invented students · every sample is labelled
The short essays, edited to the word.
“Why this college”, the activity essay and the community essay are 150 to 350 words each, and most applicants write five to twelve of them in October. We edit one per order from your own draft and facts: cut to the limit exactly, the generic sentence replaced with your specific one, the prompt answered in the first line. $69 per essay, back within 1 day of payment. Published 16 October 2026.
Edit my supplement $69 · one essay · 1 day
The rule for a short essay
At 150 words there is no room for an introduction. The first sentence is the answer. A “Why us” that opens with “Ever since I visited campus…” has spent 7 of its 150 words saying nothing; the rewrite opens with the course number. Three things go first in every cut: the warm-up sentence, the restated prompt, and any fact the reader could get from the college's own website.
“Why us” · 150 words
Invented prompt, the common shape: “Why are you interested in attending our university? (150 words)”. Invented college and student.
Before · the draft
Ever since I first visited the campus on a rainy day in October, I knew that this university was the place for me. The beautiful architecture, the friendly students and the world-class faculty all made a lasting impression. I am passionate about environmental science and I believe that your renowned program would provide me with the perfect opportunity to grow as a scholar and as a person. I am also excited by the many clubs and the vibrant campus life, as well as the chance to study abroad. I know that I would thrive in your collaborative and diverse community, and I would be honored to contribute to it. (118 words)
After · the rewrite, same facts
ENVS 240, Watershed Field Methods, is the only undergraduate course I have found that puts first-years in waders by week three. I have spent two summers testing nitrate levels in the creek behind my school with a kit I bought myself; I want to learn to do it properly, with Professor Adeyemi’s lab group, which published the county stream survey I used as my baseline. The Campus Farm’s runoff study, run by students, is the project I would ask to join first. I am applying because of those three things, not the architecture. (94 words, room to add the second course you named.)
What changed. The draft had no fact a reader could not get from the brochure. The rewrite is built from three specifics the (invented) student gave on our form: a course number, a professor’s published survey and a student project. It is shorter than the limit on purpose, with the gap named, because padding back to 150 is the student’s choice, not ours.
Activity essay · 150 words
Invented prompt, the common shape: “Briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences. (150 words)”.
Before · the draft
One of my most meaningful activities is working at my family’s restaurant. I have worked there since I was fourteen, doing everything from washing dishes to taking orders to helping with the accounts. This experience has taught me responsibility, time management, teamwork and communication skills. It has also taught me the value of hard work and the importance of family. Balancing work with school has not always been easy, but I have learned to manage my time effectively and prioritize my commitments. I believe these skills will serve me well in college and beyond. (96 words)
After · the rewrite, same facts
On Fridays I close my parents’ restaurant: 11 p.m. till, 11:40 the float counted and the night’s takings entered in the ledger my mother started in 2009, 12:10 the walk-in checked and the door locked. I have done it every Friday since I was fifteen, which is why the ledger has been a spreadsheet since 2024 and why I know our Friday covers fell nine percent the year the bypass opened. Nobody taught me accounts; the book did, one Friday at a time. (86 words)
What changed. “Responsibility, time management, teamwork and communication” is the list every activity essay makes. The rewrite spends the words on one night, with times and one number, and lets the reader draw the list for themselves. Every detail came from the student’s answers; nothing was added.
Community essay · 250 words
Invented prompt, the common shape: “Describe a community you belong to and your place within it. (250 words)”.
Before · the draft
Community is very important to me. The community I would like to write about is my local mosque, which has been a central part of my life since I was a child. It is a place where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to pray, to learn and to support one another. I have been involved in many activities there, including volunteering at the food bank, helping to organize events for Ramadan and tutoring younger children on Saturdays. Through these experiences I have learned the importance of service, humility and giving back. The mosque has shaped who I am and taught me that a community is not just a place but a group of people who care for each other. I hope to find and build a similar community in college, and to carry these values with me wherever I go in life. (148 words)
After · the rewrite, same facts
Saturday tutoring at our mosque runs in the room behind the kitchen, which means that for two hours every week I teach long division over the smell of onions for the Sunday lunch. I started as a student there at eight. At fourteen I was given the eight-year-olds, three of them, and the folding table nearest the door, which is where the ones who do not want to be there are put. The thing I am proudest of is not that two of the three now like maths; it is that I worked out, in my second year, that the third one could not see the board, and said so to his mother, and he has glasses now. The mosque is forty families. I know which ones will bring food when someone is ill and which ones need to be asked. My place in it is the folding table by the door. (158 words, with 90 left for what you want college to know about that.)
What changed. The draft explained what a community is. The rewrite shows the student’s exact place in one: a room, a table, three children and one thing they noticed. The last line turns the prompt’s second half (“your place within it”) into one sentence. The remaining 90 words are flagged, not filled.
How to order a supplement
On the order form choose “A supplement” as the essay, pick the word limit, paste the prompt word for word and your draft, and answer the “what is this really about” box with specifics: the course, the project, the night, the person. One essay per order; send the next as a new order. The edit comes back within 1 day of payment, as a marked draft plus a clean copy at the limit.
Yes. $69 per essay, whatever the length, back within 1 day of payment. A 150-word “Why us” takes as long to get right as a 650-word statement, because every sentence has to carry weight.
One essay per order, so that each gets its own read and its own turnaround. Choose “A supplement” and the word limit on the form, paste the prompt word for word, and send the next one as a new order. Several orders on the same day come back the same day.
No, and that is the point. A “Why us” that lists facts from the college's website reads like everyone else's. We edit from the specific things you tell us: the course, the professor, the club, the program you already found and why it matters to you. If you have none, we say so and tell you what to go and find.
That is the normal case. Most supplement drafts arrive at 1.5 to 2 times the limit. We cut to the limit exactly and show you what went and why, so you can put one thing back if you disagree.
The checklist we read every draft against, by email. One message, no list.
The prompts above are generic shapes, not any college’s exact wording. All three students, drafts and rewrites are written samples made for this page; no real applicant’s work appears here. See also the five Common App openings and the free sample edit. Not affiliated with the Common App or any college.