How should I approach the University of Florida supplemental essay for 2025-2026?

Ideally for this essay, you should pick an extracurricular activity where you used a specialized skill that you spent time and effort honing to help someone in a tangible, meaningful way. A second-best option would be discussing research. If neither of these ideal topics applies to you, then the other topics they mentioned will also work.

Important: Only discuss one activity. The prompt's wording makes it clear they want you to focus on a single activity. Because this essay is only 250 words, discussing multiple activities will dilute your essay.

Two Effective Opening Approaches:

Start this essay with a strong, vivid first-person hook using one of these approaches:

Option 1 - Action Hook: Begin with yourself doing something significant during the activity. Then describe what exactly this activity is. Demonstrate how this activity tangibly improved someone's life or explain its main result.

Option 2 - Motivation Hook: Begin with an event in your life prior to participating in the activity that created strong personal motivation for your commitment to it. Discuss how that event shaped you and what it made you yearn to do. Then connect what you yearned to do with the activity you chose.

Middle Section (Both Approaches Converge):

Show the reader what you did as part of this activity, let the reader visualize you participating in it, and explain what the impact and results were.

If there's any opportunity to discuss how you overcame challenges while doing this activity, take advantage of it. Clearly explain the challenge, how you overcame it, and what you learned as a result.
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Conclude this essay by describing either how this activity shaped your goals, aspirations, or perspectives, or how it recontextualizes the event in your life that made you yearn to engage in this activity and have this kind of impact.