Boston College supplemental essays

The prompts, one by one

1. Meaningful tradition essay (choose one)up to 400 words · Community

   “Strong communities are sustained by traditions. Boston College's annual calendar is marked with both long-standing and newer traditions that help shape our community. Tell us about a meaningful tradition in your family or community. Why is it important to you, and how does it bring people together or strengthen the bonds of those who participate?”

   What it's really asking

   Two things at once: which community actually shaped how you think, and what you will bring to Boston College because of it. The second half is where most drafts stop short.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Describing the community instead of your role in it, or choosing the one that sounds impressive rather than the one that changed you. "Diversity" as an abstraction, with no scene.

   The shape of a strong answer

   Pick a community you can describe with a scene, not a label. Show one moment where it taught you something or asked something of you. Spend the last third on what that means you'll do at Boston College: a specific contribution, not "bring my perspective."

2. Conversation partner essay (choose one)up to 400 words · Open prompt

   “The late BC theology professor, Father Michael Himes, argued that a university is not a place to which you go, but instead, a 'rigorous and sustained conversation about the great questions of human existence, among the widest possible circle of the best possible conversation partners.' Who has been your most meaningful conversation partner, and what profound questions have you considered together?”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Boston College is giving you the floor; the question is what you choose to put on it.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Using the space to summarise achievements, apologise for a weakness, or restate the personal statement. Choosing a topic because it sounds like what colleges want.

   The shape of a strong answer

   One subject the reader couldn't guess from your file, told through a specific scene. Keep it in your own voice; if it sounds like a brochure, cut it. End on something still unresolved.

3. Single story essay (choose one)up to 400 words · Community

   “In her July 2009 Ted Talk, 'The Danger of a Single Story,' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie warned viewers against assigning people a 'single story' through assumptions about their nationality, appearance, or background. Discuss a time when someone defined you by a single story. What challenges did this present and how did you overcome them?”

   What it's really asking

   Two things at once: which community actually shaped how you think, and what you will bring to Boston College because of it. The second half is where most drafts stop short.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Describing the community instead of your role in it, or choosing the one that sounds impressive rather than the one that changed you. "Diversity" as an abstraction, with no scene.

   The shape of a strong answer

   Pick a community you can describe with a scene, not a label. Show one moment where it taught you something or asked something of you. Spend the last third on what that means you'll do at Boston College: a specific contribution, not "bring my perspective."

4. Fourth 'Be' essay (choose one)up to 400 words · Community

   “Boston College's Jesuit mission highlights 'the three Be's': be attentive, be reflective, be loving – core to Jesuit education. If you could add a fourth 'Be,' what would it be and why? How would this new value support your personal development and enrich the BC community?”

   What it's really asking

   Two things at once: which community actually shaped how you think, and what you will bring to Boston College because of it. The second half is where most drafts stop short.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Describing the community instead of your role in it, or choosing the one that sounds impressive rather than the one that changed you. "Diversity" as an abstraction, with no scene.

   The shape of a strong answer

   Pick a community you can describe with a scene, not a label. Show one moment where it taught you something or asked something of you. Spend the last third on what that means you'll do at Boston College: a specific contribution, not "bring my perspective."

5. Human-Centered Engineering essayup to 400 words · Community

   “One goal of a Jesuit education is to prepare students to serve the Common Good. Human-Centered Engineering at Boston College integrates technical knowledge, creativity, and a humanistic perspective to address societal challenges and opportunities. What societal problems are important to you and how will you use your HCE education to solve them?”

   What it's really asking

   Two things at once: which community actually shaped how you think, and what you will bring to Boston College because of it. The second half is where most drafts stop short.

   Where drafts go wrong

   Describing the community instead of your role in it, or choosing the one that sounds impressive rather than the one that changed you. "Diversity" as an abstraction, with no scene.

   The shape of a strong answer

   Pick a community you can describe with a scene, not a label. Show one moment where it taught you something or asked something of you. Spend the last third on what that means you'll do at Boston College: a specific contribution, not "bring my perspective."

Every US applicant also writes the Common App personal statement: 650 words, seven prompts. Don't repeat it here; the supplements are for what the statement didn't show.

A self-check before you submit

Cover the school name and read the essay. Then cover your name and read it again. It should fail the first test (it only makes sense for Boston College) and pass the second (only you could have written it). If it passes the first test, it's a brochure. If it fails the second, it's a template.