<p>I am working on my common app essays and wanted to know if the supplement essays from my top schools (Harvard, Yale, Brown, Stanford, Princeton) really changed year to year. Since supplements are such a big part of the CA, I'd love to get started.</p>
<p>Do not assume that the supplement essays will remain the same. You should check with the colleges individually.</p>
<p>All colleges that have met Common App’s internal deadlines for developing their supplements will go live when the 2012-13 Common App launches on August 1.</p>
<p>Some schools’ supplements change, and some don’t.
Harvard, Yale, Brown, Stanford, Princeton were the same for years. But then Brown changed theirs last year.
Write your main Common App essay and Activity essay first. Get all the other info together that you’ll need for the Common App. (See a preview here: <a href=“https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2012/2012-13FY-FinalHighlightedPreview.pdf[/url]”>https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/Docs/DownloadForms/2012/2012-13FY-FinalHighlightedPreview.pdf</a>). If you take care of all that first, you can start to think about whether to take a chance and work on some of those supplements.
Harvard and Yale are usually just a second essay on a topic of your choice. Princeton can be too, given that you can pick your own quote as a prompt. Often students reuse the same supplementary essay for these three.
Of course, there is no guarantee, other than an announcement from the admissions offices, that these prompts will remain the same.</p>
<p>Good luck with your apps!</p>