Does the SSA require an essay?

There’s a section called “Tell us more about yourself” with a max of 500 words. Do they want an essay or just some to-the-point sentences? I was going to include my career plan and a little (very brief and not “excusey”) information on a medical disorder I have.

It’s a very broad topic and yes, it should be an interesting story about you. If you already wrote about your health in the Common app essay, maybe choose something else.

So it is in an essay format and it’s not like where you can write a shorter explanation with the common app’s “is there anything else we should know?”

@prep4col

The prompt changes year to year. My D’s 2017 Prompt was something like ‘Discuss a point of view in which thoughtful people could disagree.’ She wrote about the double standard in the POTUS election. She used some imagery to build an interesting opening statement. The current prompt allows you to choose any subject matter. I would try to draw from you family. There are lots of YouTube videos on various essay prompts. Since the scholarship committee has to review 100’s of applications, make your essay interesting, even fun to make it stand out.

Yes, I have that essay as well but it’s not what I was referring to. It’s the one on the “General Application” section of the SSA.