Admitted Student Profile
GPA (Unweighted)
3.30-3.70
SAT Range (Middle 50%)
1030-1220
ERW: 530-630 · Math: 500-600
ACT Range (Middle 50%)
20-26
📌 Morehouse — the nation's only historically Black liberal arts college for men — requires the main personal statement (Common App or the Morehouse application) and offers two OPTIONAL supplemental essays (250 words each), confirmed for 2026-27 on the Common App.
Application Deadlines
Early DecisionNov 1
Early ActionDec 15
Regular DecisionFeb 1
Essay Overview
For 2026-27, Morehouse College requires the main personal statement (via the Common App or the Morehouse application) plus two optional supplemental essays (250 words each): one on a leadership role and what it taught you, and one on who is depending on you and for what. Both are optional, but at a selective, mission-driven college a strong response helps — Morehouse educates men for leadership and service, and the prompts read directly for both.
Personal Statement All applicants
250–650 words
Required
Supplement 1 — Leadership Optional
250 words
Optional
Supplement 2 — Dependence Optional
250 words
Optional
What They're Really Looking For
1
Leadership = what you learned, not the title. The prompt asks what you learned about yourself and others. A specific moment where leading taught you something uncomfortable beats a list of positions held.
2
"Who is depending on you" wants honesty. This prompt rewards genuine responsibility — a sibling, a team, a family obligation — and what carrying it has made you. Be specific and real, not performatively noble.
3
Reflect Morehouse's mission. Morehouse forms leaders of character and service. The strongest answers show, through concrete experience, the kind of man the college is trying to develop.
The Official Prompts — 2026-27
Your choice of prompts via the Common App or the Morehouse College application.
"Share about a time you held a leadership role. Explain what you learned about yourself and others in this experience." (Verify current wording in the Common App.)
"Who in your life is depending on you? What are they depending on you for?"
The #1 Failure Mode
Writing the leadership essay as a résumé of titles. The prompt asks what you learned about yourself and others — not which positions you held. A single, specific moment where leading changed how you see yourself lands; a list of clubs and captaincies does not.
Weak vs. Strong: Score Benchmarks
"As captain of my basketball team and president of student council, I have held many leadership roles. I learned that leadership is about hard work, communication, and setting a good example for others. These experiences taught me valuable skills that I will carry with me to Morehouse and beyond."
"The first practice I ran as captain, I benched my best friend for skipping conditioning — and the team went quiet in a way that told me they were watching what the rule meant, not what I said. We lost that game. But three players who used to skip started showing up early. I learned leadership is mostly the willingness to be disliked for a week so the standard survives."