Known for specializing in government, economics, and international relations, Claremont McKenna College is a hub for bright and ambitious students looking to make a practical difference through their careers. Students just like you. As a part of the Claremont College Consortium, CMC is connected to four other top-tier schools in the area, offering lots of opportunities to create and collaborate with other students. Although it tends to be more conservative than other nearby colleges, it has a modern campus and a dynamic environment that celebrates leadership and community. If this is an environment and focus that appeals to you, we’re here to help you write the Claremont McKenna College supplemental essays.
Before you start brainstorming, want to get an even better sense of what CMC is looking for? You’ll find an extensive, by-the-numbers look at its offerings, from enrollment and tuition statistics to student life and financial aid information, on its Common Data Set. For deep insights into how this private college envisions student success (and how it wants to grow and evolve), read through its most recent self-study report—a simple way to get a strong idea of what CMC values.
What are the Claremont McKenna College supplemental essay prompts?
Prompt #1
CMC’s mission is to prepare students for thoughtful and productive lives and responsible leadership in business, government, and the professions. With this mission in mind, please explain why you want to attend Claremont McKenna College. (150 - 250 words)
Prompt #2
A critical part of fulfilling our mission is living out the commitments of CMC’s Open Academy: Freedom of Expression, Viewpoint Diversity, and Constructive Dialogue. We want to learn more about your commitment to listening and learning from others with different viewpoints, perspectives, and life experiences from your own. Describe a time when engaging with someone about a specific topic resulted in you changing your attitude, belief, or behavior, or you changed the belief or behavior of someone else. What was the change that occurred for you, and what facilitated that change? What did you learn from that experience, and how has it informed how you engage with others? (150-250 words)
How to write each Supplemental Essay Prompt for Claremont McKenna
how to write Claremont McKenna College Supplemental Essay Prompt #1
This is your classic “Why us?” prompt, though topping out at 250 words, it’s a bit on the short-ish side. We recommend checking out our complete guide on how to write the “Why us?” essay and paying close attention to the “Why Cornell” and “Why Penn” examples, which are our favorites. The “Why Tufts” essay is a good example of how to write to a shorter prompt.
Here’s the short version of how to write the “Why us?” essay:
Spend 1 hr+ researching 5-7 reasons why Claremont McKenna might be a great fit for you (ideally 3-5 of the reasons will be unique to CMC and connect back to you).
Make a copy of this chart to map out your college research.
Create an outline for your essays based on either Approach 1, 2 (recommended), or 3 in the full guide above.
Write a first draft!
As you write, try to avoid these common mistakes:
Six Common Mistakes Students Make on “Why Us?” Essays
Mistake #1: Writing about Claremont McKenna’s size, location, reputation, weather, or ranking.
Mistake #2: Simply using emotional language to demonstrate fit.
Mistake #3: Screwing up the mascot, stadium, team colors, or names of any important people or places on campus.
Mistake #4: Parroting the brochures or website language.
Mistake #5: Describing traditions CMC is well-known for.
Mistake #6: Thinking of this as only a "Why them" essay.
Here’s a great “Why us?” for CMC.
Example:
Through Claremont McKenna’s small school environment, flexible degree structure, supportive faculty, and cutting-edge research, I will have the opportunity to take advantage of an interdisciplinary education and hands-on learning experience. I am specifically interested in furthering and combining my knowledge of economics and science.
The interdisciplinary focus of the Keck Science Department would allow me to learn more deeply in chemistry, biology, and environmental science. From Introduction to Biological Chemistry to Accelerated Integrated Science Sequence, there is no shortage of courses that I can explore. Likewise, the Roberts Environmental Center focuses on public and private partnerships where I can apply theory to practical environmental solutions that I am deeply committed to improving.
Without showing the economic value, it is often very difficult to implement scientific and environmental solutions. This is why I find economics coupled with a science degree to be so rewarding. Participating in the Dis Copenhagen Economic study abroad program would broaden this understanding through hands-on learning experiences.
Besides the amazing educational opportunities, I also admire the strong community of happy students at CMC. I particularly like the Claremont International Relations Society, Unchained, and would even look to create a sports debate club to deepen school spirit, and provide opportunities for students with similar interests. With a CMC education, I am confident I will continue to be a life-long learner, active community member, and a global citizen.
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Tips + Analysis
Try to show variety in your interests. College is about more than academics, and CMC has some robust out-of-the-classroom opportunities that can make for a well-rounded, fulfilling college experience. By broadening your “Why CMC” reasons to clubs, organizations and activities—as this student does with the Claremont International Relations Society and sports debate club—you can show CMC that you plan to play an active role in its campus community.
Explain your impact. The author here doesn’t just reference opportunities at CMC in passing; she does so with intention. Every time he brings up a campus organization or course, he explains why he’s interested in it and what he’d do as a member of it. Writing about the contributions you see yourself making helps admission officers envision your impact on the campus environment more tangibly. It also shows you’re thinking through your involvement in the community on a deeper level, demonstrating a commitment to CMC’s core values.
Put your academic goals in the context of the larger community. Outside the classroom, you’ll also be interacting with a diverse group of people with backgrounds that may be completely different from your own. Consider thinking through how your coursework might influence places, people, and communities outside the classroom. This student emphasizes how happy and strong the community at CMC is, envisioning himself taking advantage of the collaborative culture to connect to others as a global citizen and lifelong learner. He also shares his plans to study abroad in Copenhagen and implement hands-on solutions in alternative learning environments. If you have the details, you can get even more specific, drawing on personal experience to help your reader understand the scope and significance of the impact you see yourself making at CMC.
Connect your interests to CMC’s resources. This essay isn’t just about you. It also isn’t just about CMC. “Why us?” = why you + why CMC. So try to craft a response that demonstrates your unique interests and then connects those to what the college has to offer. This student, for example, highlights his interest in economics and science. He then connects those interests to specific opportunities at CMC, like the Roberts Environmental Center and Keck Science Department. We get a distinct sense of his excitement to engage with school resources. Getting as specific as possible about the clubs, labs, classes, majors, or professors you want to engage with will show that you’ve done your research—and you’ve found lots at CMC to be excited about.
how to write Claremont McKenna College Supplemental Essay Prompt #2
A critical part of fulfilling our mission is living out the commitments of CMC’s Open Academy: Freedom of Expression, Viewpoint Diversity, and Constructive Dialogue. We want to learn more about your commitment to listening and learning from others with different viewpoints, perspectives, and life experiences from your own. Describe a time when engaging with someone about a specific topic resulted in you changing your attitude, belief, or behavior, or you changed the belief or behavior of someone else. What was the change that occurred for you, and what facilitated that change? What did you learn from that experience, and how has it informed how you engage with others? (150-250 words)
A few things to keep in mind as you brainstorm possible topics for this prompt:
Don’t think you have to write about a knee-jerk issue and a blow-up here. You can. But the point of this prompt is essentially to help a college see the kind of student you will be in a classroom—can you engage with people who disagree with you in ways that lead to productive discussions rather than just shouting or conflict. (See Tips below for more on this.)
Focus more on the engagement, change, and growth than on the conflict. How you engaged on the issue, what you learned, and how you grew are far more important to your readers here than the conflict itself. You can plan on spending fairly little word count on the conflict/topic, so that you can spend most of your time exploring some deeper whys.
Here’s an example essay to illustrate how you can approach this prompt (and others like it, since it’s a fairly common one).
Example
As the junior class executive committee, we aimed to raise RM 175,000 for our senior year trip and events. By the end of the first semester, however, we were far from our goal. As the treasurer, I delivered a strong and direct speech proposing a series of fundraising activities to boost our collections, but my class president became uncomfortable and disinterested in carrying out the plans due to the pressure.
As a results-oriented individual, I was frustrated by our slow progress towards our fundraising goal. Seeking guidance, I discussed my concerns with our committee sponsor, who emphasized the significance of team morale on performance. He encouraged me to find a more balanced approach. Reflecting on this advice, I recognized that my aggressive stance, while effective in achieving our goal, could harm relationships and decrease cohesiveness within class.
The next day, I talked to my president and acknowledged my aggressiveness. I discussed our difference in approaches and areas where we had consensus and tried to reach a middle point. We planned some fun group activities for the team to build rapport. With everyone on board, we started new activities which ultimately helped to raise RM 150,000.
We may have been a little short of our target, but in the end, our junior year was full of satisfying memories. Likewise, I learned leadership often involves dealing with challenges and setbacks while maintaining composure, staying solution-focused, and inspiring confidence in our team during tough times.
Tips + Analysis
Think about a moment of realization. Like we’ve mentioned above, you don’t have to write about an explosive moment or a heated debate. To come up with ideas, you can brainstorm moments or conversations that sparked a change in your perspective—for example, the way that this student did after speaking with their committee sponsor. It may not have been a typical “big” moment like you might expect, but it was “big” in the sense that they were able to take that change and impact both the team and the fundraising initiative.
Keep the intro to a minimum. While it’s necessary for this student to set the scene in the first paragraph, which becomes important later, they dedicate less than 30% of the essay to summarizing the situation. We don’t need all the details, just enough to understand what the goal was (raising money) and what the initial conflict was (class president didn’t agree with the plans). This leaves the rest of the word count to focus on the engagement, change, and growth—which are the things we actually care about here with this kind of prompt.
Don’t be afraid of vulnerability. It’s OK (and even encouraged) to point out where you went wrong—you’ll be meeting many new people with different perspectives in a college setting, and this shows your ability to consider other viewpoints. In the second paragraph, this student writes that they reflected on the advice given to them by their committee sponsor, leading them to realize that they had an aggressive stance and that it could harm relationships. The important thing is that not only were they able to recognize and reflect on their behavior, but that they were able to make a change in that behavior that led to better outcomes. This leads us to…
Show what you learned. Show us the realization and reflection, but writing about how you implemented the change afterwards is a key part of responding to this prompt. Ask yourself: do your actions reflect the lessons that you’ve learned? The student points out that after reflecting, they reached a common ground with their class president and even planned group activities to build team rapport, which helped them almost reach their goal of raising RM 175,000.
And here’s an essay written for Princeton that offers a clear example of how you can approach this prompt.
Example
I probably argue with my grandfather more than I do with most other people combined. It’s not because we’re at odds. We just have different perspectives, influenced by our experiences—his as a life-long resident of India, mine as a first-generation American.
One pretty common argument we have is over Eastern vs. Western medicine. My solution to a headache, for example, is to take Advil. His is to rub Tiger Balm on his forehead and coconut oil on the soles of his feet. I try to convince him of the benefits of taking a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, describing how it can reduce inflammation by blocking the production of certain chemicals. He tries to convince me that the balm creates a cooling effect, distracting the brain from pain and relaxing the muscles. Rather than becoming sore at or resentful of each other, we’ve grown closer through these debates, and I’ve learned how to disagree without letting the situation get acrimonious.
Through these interactions, I’ve learned that a discussion shouldn’t be confrontational. The purpose isn’t to win, but to share my knowledge with the other party and learn from them as well. So rather than saying, “Rubbing balm on your forehead is stupid; you should just take Advil,” I say, “While rubbing balm on your forehead seems to work, I’ve noticed that taking an Advil has a stronger and more immediate effect.” Respecting the opposing party makes them more willing to hear you out.
I’ve also learned there’s a fine line between logic and emotion. I try not to take personally the things my grandfather says in an argument. Just because he doesn’t think taking Advil is the better solution doesn’t mean he thinks I’m stupid. If I take it that way, we begin to move away from what the argument really was about—the facts.
I’ll continue to apply these learnings in discussions and debates I have with others, realizing that having a “successful argument” isn’t about winning. It’s about sharing my opinion and learning from theirs, expanding our perspectives without alienating each other. (340 words)
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Tips + Analysis
Show your stance. One common fear with these “differing opinion” supplemental essays is that the admissions officer reading it may not agree with your stance or belief. This is actually not the point of these essays. Many colleges have opted to ask this question because of widespread public concern around free speech on college campuses, and requests from their college leadership (such as the Board of Trustees) to identify students who are willing to listen to multiple viewpoints. A quick glance at CMC’s own Open Academy webpage helps illustrate their institutional goals around free speech. Given this, a student’s response is more powerful when they specifically clarify that their own position is, rather than sticking to vague terminology so that the reader will see them as “neutral.” Otherwise, you run the risk of coming off as apathetic or indifferent, which lessens the meaning and significance of your example. Here, this student gives specific examples of their support for Western medicine. Sure, it’s not the most controversial opinion, but again, that’s not necessarily the goal! You can choose any opinion, so long as it demonstrates your values and beliefs and a change in how you approach dialogue.
Unveil your “software update.” You know when your phone annoyingly lets you know that you have to install a critical software update to use your favorite app (and you’re like… ugh, bruh, it was working fine before)? Well, in this case, the admissions officer is actually actively craving that update notification. They want to know specifically how your approach has changed when navigating differing opinions. This student does exactly that by using actual quotations: “So rather than saying, ‘Rubbing balm on your forehead is stupid; you should just take Advil,’ I say, ‘While rubbing balm on your forehead seems to work, I’ve noticed that taking an Advil has a stronger and more immediate effect.’” The “2.0” version of this student is more advanced, more sophisticated, and more willing to tackle complex “bugs”—without corrupting someone else’s data. Whether you quote yourself or not, be sure to use this essay as a chance to unveil “You 2.0” to colleges.
With these tips and examples in mind, you’re ready to start writing your CMC supplemental essays!
Special thanks to Tom for writing this post.
Tom Campbell (he/him) is an eternally extra Gemini who has spent the past seven years helping students and families navigate the college admissions process—one alliterative/assonant aphorism at a time. Prior to joining College Essay Guy, he worked as a college counselor at Lakeside School and an admissions officer at Pomona College and College of the Holy Cross (his alma mater). He stans em dashes and semicolons, Kacey Musgraves (all eras, not just star crossed and Golden Hour), superior breakfast burritos, and complaining about space tourism.
Top Values: Authenticity | Fun | Vulnerability
