University Application Essays: 5 Must-Have Elements

You’re ready to apply to Canadian universities and you’ve made a short-list of your top picks. Congratulations! Now you can get sorting and planning. Not all programs or universities require a supplemental application (supp app). In other words, when deciding whether or not to let you in, they may only look at your marks.

Some programs use the supp app to help them make more informed decisions. In other words, the more competitive programs are more likely to require a supp app, whether a traditional profile or essay, or a timed, on-the-spot essay or interview.

For Grade 12 students applying for the 2024-2025 school year, some of the programs that required supp apps include: Health Sciences Queen’s, Health Sciences McMaster, Engineering U of T, Computer Science Waterloo, Nursing Queen’s and more.

Whether you have an essay topic in hand or will be given one (with a limited time to respond), there are 5 key elements to include:

1) Start with a Hook / Preview

Your opening line in any essay should hook your reader and help them feel curious about what’s to come. To help you wrap your head around this, think of how many essays the admissions officers need to read. The vast majority will dive right into the details, without providing a compelling hook.

If you were evaluating an application, which opening line would you rather read?

A: Hockey has always been important in my life and I know I’ve learned lots of things from the sport.

OR

B: Without my Grade 10 hockey coach, I wouldn’t understand tenacity.

While these lines seem related, they are different in important ways. Line A is vague and longer than it needs to be. It doesn’t hint at the subject of the essay or make the reader curious to read more. Line B is far more punchy. It uses specifics (Grade 10 hockey) and clearly shows what the essay will be about — tenacity.

2) Background

To help your reader understand the ‘before’ state of things, it’s important to give some background. Use this section to explain the problem that ultimately changes or improves. In the hockey example, with tenacity as the end result, you might describe here how willing you once were to give up when things got hard.

Try to use specific examples — I left practice early when I couldn’t get the hang of a wrist shot, or I loved playing piano until I quit after my Grade Three exam, as soon the pieces became more complex. Specificity will make your essay easier to read and will give your opening line the support it needs.

Yes, in this section, the gist of what you’re saying might sound negative (I was a quitter!), but it helps to set the stage for what comes next.

3) Experience / Catalyst

Enter: the catalyst. Just like any good book or movie, your essay needs a turning point, when the status quo is interrupted. A catalyst can be something that happens to you or an experience you have, either internally or in the world.

In our hockey example, the catalyst might be joining a new team in Grade 10. Maybe it was more competitive and you found yourself sitting on the bench more and more. Rather than digging in, striving to do better, you were tempted to quit. But your coach pulled you aside and described his own hockey story.

Of course, your story will be unique to you. Your catalyst doesn’t have to be a grand event, but it does need to change the arc of your essay. There needs to be a reason that you change the effort you make or the way you see the world. The catalyst doesn’t need to be a long description, but a clear moment in time when things changed.

4) Show the After

Thanks to your catalyst (and your willingness to change or grow), you’ve come to a new stage of life or walked away with a new perspective. Simply describe what this looks like. In other words, what is the ‘after’ state of things.

In our example, maybe your coach’s story about something he overcame made you realize that something you want is worth fighting for. Maybe you started coming to practice early. Maybe you watched wrist-shot videos in your free time.

The ‘after’ section of your essay should show the ‘new’ you - how you’ve grown, what you’ve learned and how you are applying the ‘lessons’ in your life.

5) How it Will Help

Finally, if you have room in your word count, it’s a good idea to look forward for a moment. For example:

I expect my new relationship with tenacity will help me with my university studies.

or…

I hope to have the opportunity to put my tenacity to work through the demands of UBC’s Engineering program.

You get the idea. If you have room, take a peek into the future and show how you will use your new skills within a specific program.

~

That’s it! While a university supplementary application can seem daunting at first, planning ahead and using some structure can make a significant difference in your results.

Just-right help for university applications

If you’re interested in finding the right level of support for your university application essays — including planning and editing help for personal statements, personal profiles, supp app essays and more, we can help.

At On Your Mark, we’ve helped Canadian students to map out and edit their application essays for Engineering, Life Sciences and Psychology programs at top Canadian schools. We’ve also helped students prepare and practice for on-the-spot essays and interviews, as part of the supp app Health Sciences at Queen’s University.

We look forward to helping you find your voice for the written or video components of your university applications. Let’s do this.