University of Kansas

Supplemental essays

Answer 1 of 3 — max 500 words each.

1. Physicist Albert Einstein said: “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” Drawing from your formal and informal educational experiences, assess the truth of Einstein’s statement, then discuss how you plan to nurture your curiosity at KU and in the honors program.
2. KU graduate and NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara shared that seeing the planet from the International Space Station gave her “a sense of urgency to come back down to Earth and play a part in making it better.” What plans for college and beyond do you have for making our planet or society better? How have your experiences and background helped to ignite these aspirations?
3. The University Honors Program highly values interdisciplinarity. Tell us about two of your contrasting academic interests or passions and the ways they interact. How do you plan to continue exploring and interweaving them at KU as a member of the honors program?
4. List no more than five items — clubs and organizations, employment, community service, awards and recognition, extra-curricular interests, personal or family obligations — in descending order of significance, with the most significant item first. For each, explain your role, time commitment, length of involvement, and responsibilities. Transfer and current students only need to provide three items.
5. How have your experiences affected your sense of who you are and what you hope to accomplish in college? There are no wrong answers. Transfer and current students do not need to answer this question.
6. Honors students make the most of available opportunities. Based on course availability at your school, how did you select the classes you took? Is there anything you want the admissions committee to know about your transcript?
7. The mission of the Madison A. and Lisa Self Engineering Leadership Program is to develop passionate engineering and computer science graduates who are strongly goal-oriented and who bring the business skills and vision needed to guide the technology-based corporations of tomorrow. Explain your own mission and vision, and specifically how you envision embodying the characteristics sought by the SELF Program in your academic career and beyond.· ~500 words
8. Leadership, entrepreneurship and business are three points of emphasis for the SELF Program. Choose one of these and discuss specific actions that you might take and how you see yourself growing in this area during your time in the SELF Program and beyond.
9. Discuss an activity you are currently involved in and explain how it helped you realize that you wanted to pursue opportunities such as those offered by the SELF Program.

Copied verbatim from the school's official admissions page (2025-26 cycle).