Admitted Student Profile
GPA (Unweighted)
3.60-4.00
SAT Range (Middle 50%)
1200-1390
ERW: 600-690 · Math: 600-700
ACT Range (Middle 50%)
26-32
📌 Saint Louis University — a Jesuit, Catholic research university strong in the health sciences, medicine, and business (Chaifetz) — requires the Common App personal essay and has no supplemental essay for 2026-27. Its Jesuit mission of service and "men and women for others" shapes what it values. Free application; largely rolling admission.
Application Deadlines
Early ActionDec 1
Regular DecisionRolling
Essay Overview
For 2026-27, Saint Louis University requires no supplemental essay — your Common App personal statement is the essay that matters. SLU is a Jesuit, Catholic university built around service and educating "the whole person," and it's a powerhouse in pre-health, nursing, and the health sciences. So make your one essay specific and genuinely yours; an authentic story of purpose or service fits SLU's mission (though you don't have to force it).
Common App Personal Essay All applicants
250–650 words
Required
Supplemental Essay None for 2026-27
—
Not required
What They're Really Looking For
1
Your personal statement is the whole essay. With no supplement, the Common App essay is SLU's window into you. Tell one specific, true story — not a summary of your activities.
2
Purpose and service resonate here. SLU's Jesuit mission centers service and the whole person. An authentic story about what drives you, or a way you've served, fits — but only if it's genuinely yours.
3
Be specific and be yourself. A real voice and concrete detail beat a polished, generic essay every time — especially when it is the only one SLU reads.
The Official Prompts — 2026-27
Your choice of the seven Common App personal-statement prompts.
Saint Louis University has no supplemental essay.
The #1 Failure Mode
Coasting on a résumé-style essay because there is no supplement. Your Common App personal statement is SLU's only read on your voice, so a generic "I am hardworking and want to help people" essay is a wasted opportunity — especially at a mission-driven school. Make the one essay specific and unmistakably yours.
Weak vs. Strong: Score Benchmarks
"Ever since I was young, I have been passionate about helping others and making a difference. Throughout high school I challenged myself academically while volunteering and taking on leadership roles. These experiences taught me responsibility and compassion, and I know I would thrive at Saint Louis University and its mission-driven community."
"Every Sunday I drive my neighbor Mr. Okafor to dialysis and wait the four hours in the lobby doing homework. I used to think I was doing him a favor. Then I started noticing which nurses remembered his name, which chairs he could get out of alone, how the whole system ran on small dignities nobody charts. I want to study nursing because I've spent 200 hours in that lobby learning that care is mostly attention — and I'm already good at paying it."