Bowdoin College supplemental essays

The prompts, one by one

1. How you learned about Bowdoin140 characters words · Open prompt

   “How did you first learn about Bowdoin?”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Bowdoin 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. At 140 words there is room for exactly one example, explained properly.

2. The Offer of the College lineno stated word limit · Open prompt

   “Generations of students have found connection and meaning in Bowdoin's "The Offer of the College," written in 1906 by Bowdoin President William DeWitt Hyde. Which line from the Offer resonates most with you?”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Bowdoin 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. The Offer reflection (optional)up to 250 words · Open prompt

   “The Offer represents Bowdoin's values. Please reflect on the line you selected and how it has meaning to you.”

   What it's really asking

   Whatever matters to you that the rest of the application hasn't shown. Bowdoin 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.

4. Experiences and difference essay (optional)up to 250 words · Community

   “If you wish, you may share anything about the unique experiences and perspectives that you would bring with you to the Bowdoin campus and community or an experience you have had that required you to navigate across or through difference.”

   What it's really asking

   Two things at once: which community actually shaped how you think, and what you will bring to Bowdoin 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 Bowdoin 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 Bowdoin 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.