What does shotgunning mean when it comes to college admissions?
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 deadline and 5 empty spots on the commonapp. But I don't wanna write any more supplemental essay 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 shotgun.
Should I apply to more colleges with no supplemental essay?
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 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 wrote 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 yous voice just gets lowered and the process becomes more stats based.
So what's your advice?
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
- Barry University
- Bard College
- Bates College
- Beloit College
- Bowdoin College
- Case Western Reserve University
- Clark 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 Gettysburg 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 Gettysburg supplement in the portal, which pops up after applying)