UNC Supplemental Application

[Glimmer1991]

😀 Hey, friends!

I've been churning out answers to my UNC Supplemental and wanted to see what everyone else was doing with it (or what any seasoned veterans have done with it in the past!).

My answers basically range from 1-3 paragraphs. I know that the "Carolina Way" really places a lot of emphasis on getting to know students as individuals rather than numbers on a piece of paper, so I want to do this justice. However, I also don't want to do something that is so long that an adcom wouldn't want to read it.

I've answered my questions as concisely as possible while still explaining myself to some degree. Even on the things that say "list," I've included explanations (more for the strong/weak points than for the awards section). I think my answers are interesting, and I've run them past a few people who didn't think they were boring to read and also thought they weren't long-winded.

Is anyone else feeling my worries? It's not because I don't want to do this supplemental--I actually really appreciate the opportunity to better express who I am--but the "no character limit" thing makes me a bit worried! I've seen people in the past who said they only wrote a paragraph or less for everything (Yikes! That seems like so little!), and I've seen others who have written more on the side of what I wrote.

I'm trying to strike a happy medium. I originally had ten typed pages written to answer all of these questions. I really think all of the answers were good, but I knew it was just too much. I've really trimmed it down, though, and am now looking at a bit more than five pages. There are spaces in-between each, though, so that does take up quite a bit of space. This seems like a whole lot, but thirteen difficult questions are a lot to answer!

Thoughts? Anyone else doing this along with me? 😀

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[lmcole3]

Hi Glimmer,

I'm just starting the Carolina supplemental now I totally understand your worries! I'm doing the same thing in terms of length (1-3 paragraphs max). I'm also doing more of a list for awards/honors but then explaining myself more thoroughly for the strong/weak points. I was told by an advisor that its usually a good rule of thumb for supplementals like this to be relatively concise, but still give good explanations for most points to give them an idea of you as a person. Good luck! 🙂

 

[SES0112]

I think a few paragraph answers are fine! I have filled this application out a few times (unfortunately) and I recently met with the adcom about my application. One of my questions was whether or not I had written a solid supplemental application. They said 2-3 paragraphs are "plenty". Seems like youve cut it down so you will be fine just use your judgement!

 

[shootingstar7]

I tried to follow directions to make it more concise. When it said "list" I made a list etc.

 

[squigloo]

Do you guys know what they mean by "special circumstances" in the last question? I'm not sure if they mean something like having to raise five kids while going through college, or a less severe "circumstance."

 

[Glimmer1991]

Do you guys know what they mean by "special circumstances" in the last question? I'm not sure if they mean something like having to raise five kids while going through college, or a less severe "circumstance."

I'm not putting anything for that question, but your answer does sound like a great thing to use! 🙂

 

[squigloo]

I'm not putting anything for that question, but your answer does sound like a great thing to use! 🙂

Well, I would be lying if I said that...

Nothing that special in my case, I suppose. Did you write your answers with more personality than your PS? I tried to be a less serious-sounding in it... Not sure what they're going for with this thing.

 

[Glimmer1991]

I tried to walk the fine line between sounding like a professional and sounding like I'm just being "myself." I would say they are definitely less formal than my PS!