Admitted Student Profile
📌 Oregon requires the main personal statement (650 words) and offers an optional second essay (max 500 words). The Robert D. Clark Honors College requires its own additional essay — the general essay cannot substitute.
Application Deadlines
Essay Overview
For 2026-27, the University of Oregon requires a 650-word main essay that "shares information we cannot find elsewhere on your application," plus an optional second essay (max 500 words, choose one of two). Applicants to the Robert D. Clark Honors College write a separate required essay (max 500 words, confirmed 2026-27): a changed-your-mind prompt that the general essay cannot replace.
What They're Really Looking For
The Official Prompts — 2026-27
"Write an essay of 650 words or less that shares information that we cannot find elsewhere on your application."
"What's something you believed in that you changed your mind about and what made you change it? Be thoughtful and provide concrete examples to support your response."
Choose one: (1) a social-justice issue that inspires you and how you'll apply those lessons to drive change; or (2) how your experiences, values, and interests contribute to UO's community and how you'll support others. (Most recent wording — verify on the live app.)
The #1 Failure Mode
Recapping the résumé in the main essay. Oregon asks for what it can't find elsewhere — so a summary of your activities wastes the one space designed to add something new. For Clark Honors, the parallel miss is a "changed my mind" essay about a low-stakes preference rather than a real belief.