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What does shotgunning mean when it comes to college admissions?
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Let's explore what shotgunning means. Suppose you apply to 15 universities through commonapp and each of those universities required some sort of supplemental essays along with all other components. So 15 universities will sort of have 20-30 extra essays and you'd be burned out writing those from scratch. After you're done submitting commonapp to those 15 colleges, you discover that, nah, I have 10 days left till the deadline and 5 empty spots on the commonapp. But I don't wanna write any more supplemental essays either. So what do you do? You apply to colleges with no supplemental essay. These colleges usually require just a few yes/no questions along with commonapp which takes only minutes. That's it. Then you can hit the submit button and a new college will be added to your list. That's what shotgunning means when it comes to applying to colleges. You just reload and fire like a shotgun.
Should I apply to more colleges with no supplemental essay?
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But is that a good idea always? To apply to as many colleges with no supplements as you can? Let's explore the pros and cons and then we'll talk about it.
Pros of applying to colleges with no supplements:
- You get to relax & recover from the burnout from the entire process.
- No more essay reviews are needed from peers or mentors.
- Writing essays mean there's a chance you can make mistakes in those, as a result, not writing one means you don't have the option to make a mistake.
Cons of applying to colleges with no supplements:
- You don't get to practice your writing skills. There's a phobia that works among many to write essays or any texts. You can't skip that unless you've written enough.
- You can't show your interest or experiences properly to the admission officers if they don't have the option to do so, which is supplemental essays. The purpose of an essay is to add your voice to the application. If they don't have that, then your voice just gets lowered and the process becomes more stats-based.
So what's your advice?
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My advice is, don't shy away from essays. At the last moment, if you have to choose a college with no essay vs a college with supp essays, choose the latter. If you're truly interested in a college, you probably have a lot to say for their "why college" essays or "why major" essays. And trust me, those saying will do nothing but improve your chances. But if you're truly burned from the process and if you think your writings are good enough, then, sure, shotgun to some colleges when you have empty spots in commonapp and null tasks at hand.
List of Colleges with No Supplemental Essays
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Barry University
Bard College
Bates College
Beloit College
Bowdoin College
Case Western Reserve University
Clarkson University
Clemson University
Coe College (personal essay optional for students who meet Coe's minimum academic standards)
Connecticut College
Colby College
DePaul University
Drexel University
Franklin & Marshall College
Fordham University
Gettysburg College (There's a hidden Why Gettysburg supplement in the portal, which pops up after applying)
Goucher College
Grinnell College (There's a hidden Why Grinnell supplement in the portal, which pops up after applying)
Hamilton College
Hollins University
Kenyon College
Miami University
Middlebury College
Northeastern University
Providence College
Ripon College
Seton Hall University
Skidmore College
Spelman College
SUNY Binghamton University
SUNY Buffalo
Stony Brook University
St. John's University (Essay for Pharmacy program or if applying test-optional)
St. Lawrence University
Stevens Institute of Technology
Temple University
Trinity University
Union College
University of Alabama
University of Arkansas
University of Colorado - Denver
University of Connecticut
University of Dayton
University of Delaware
University of Denver
University of Iowa
University of Minnesota
University of New Hampshire
University of the Pacific
Washington and Lee University
Wesleyan University
Whitman College
Yale NUS (There's a hidden Why Yale-NUS supplement in the portal, which pops up after applying)
Happy Admissions Research. ❤️
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