Boston College, or BC as they’re commonly known, is a private Jesuit research university in Boston (read: Chestnut Hill). It’s a midsized school with just under 10,000 undergrads, and as you may have guessed – yes, many students who attend are indeed Catholic. Jesuits are all about “educating a personal as a whole,” and this extends outside the classroom as well. BC has gotten increasingly popular over the last few years, dropping to an all-time low 14% acceptance rate for the class of 2027. That’s right parents, BC isn’t a safety school anymore. Reasons for increased popularity might include their highly ranked business school, high levels of school spirit, or their continued test-optional policy.
BC has changed up some of their questions from last year, but the framework remains. They have five prompts (really just four, unless you’re applying to human-centered engineering, and then you just have one to choose from), and they ask you to choose one and respond within 400 words. Pretty simple! Let’s discuss how we’d advise you to answer their questions:
1. Each year at University Convocation, our incoming class engages in reflective dialogue with the author of a common text. What book by a living author would you recommend for your incoming class to read, and why would this be an important shared text?
This is almost exactly the same as a question from last year, but they added one very interesting adjective: living. Again, the keyword here is living author. Please do not say something like Twain or a Bronte, they’ll just throw your application away at that point. This question is going to be for our readers, and if you’re not a reader, do not pick this question. Try to avoid cliche books, English class assignments, young adult novels, self-help airport reads, etc. We think White Fragility was an important read, you couldn’t put down Game of Thrones, and we know Outliers was fascinating, but they want to see you think outside of the box a little. We would approach this by choosing a novel with themes that challenged or excited us or a non-fiction book about a topic we’re interested in outside of our stated major. Basically, if you’re going for econ or business, don’t pick Freakonomics.
As for the next part of the question, “why would this be an important shared text?” you need to boil down the book to its core themes and expand on why they’re not just important to share, but important to you. If you chose a non-fiction book like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, maybe it’s because you care deeply about topics like race and class and how that intersects with medical ethics. This essay isn’t really about a book. It’s about you, so your choice needs to be unique and connected to something personal for you.
2. At Boston College, we draw upon the Jesuit tradition of finding worthwhile conversation partners. Some support our viewpoints while others challenge them. Who fulfills this role in your life? Please cite a specific conversation you had where this conversation partner challenged your perspective or you challenged theirs.
This is one of the remaining questions from last cycle, and if you’re not immediately drawn to the other prompts, we say choose this one. We think supplements are designed to show off sides of yourself that colleges can’t see from your application, and a question like this is practically begging you to share your values, worldview, and morals. And better yet, you can do it by telling a story!
Set the scene with you and your discussion partner. Maybe you and your dad have hearty (but healthy) debates at the dinner table. Bring us into that space, describe specifics. No general lines like “I remember this one conversation I had with my dad,” because that’s boooooring. Be careful not to make the other person in your story a strawman, no one should be 100% right or 100% wrong. It’s about having a perspective challenged, not “and then he changed his mind and everyone clapped.”
3. In her November 2019 Ted Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story,” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi 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?
This is a question that is not for everyone. If you are an able-bodied, middle-class, straight cis white guy, please do not answer this question. We get that now you might be thinking, “well you just assigned me a single story, so I’m going to write my essay about a blog post about how to answer this question presented me with a challenge.” See how ridiculous that sounds? So would any other attempt to assign yourself with a maligned identity you do not have! Moving on.
Some of you might be tempted to use this supplement to expand upon a trauma in your life, like having an incarcerated parent or experiencing homelessness (which if this is you, please reach out to us for help with your college apps), and we generally recommend keeping those stories in the Additional Information section.
This question is tricky because we don’t necessarily think you should write about something super high stakes, but not choosing a serious enough experience will feel insincere. It’ll also be important to choose something that has a positive resolution. If this is the one you choose, make sure to tell it in a story format with a distinct beginning, middle, and end, and include lots of setting and detail to draw the reader in.
4. Boston College’s founding in 1863 was in response to society’s call. That call came from an immigrant community in Boston seeking a Jesuit education to foster social mobility. Still today, the University empowers its students to use their education to address society’s greatest needs. Which of today’s local or global issues is of particular concern to you and how might you use your Boston College education to address it?
This one is very similar to the Human-Centered Engineering essay below, and last year we actually said “most applicants won’t do [that- question because it’s program-specific, but it’s too bad because it's a pretty good question,” which leads us to believe some BC admissions officers might be blog readers?? Anyways, we’re glad they added it.
This is a question that wants to know what you care about, and in turn what your morals, ethics, and worldviews are. It also wants to know how Boston College fits into what you care about. It’s also kind of like a ‘why us’ essay but a little more narrow. When a prompt mentions “local or global issues,” we always think smaller is better. You will probably not solve world poverty, but you might have some ideas on how to increase resource access in your hometown. Tell a story about why that’s important to you. You’ll then want to pick out a professor and an upper-level (300-400s) class or two that can help you meet your goals. You have your origin story, you have your evidence, now weave it together to explain how BC is the only place you can get the education you need to take on the world’s problems.
5. Human-Centered Engineering (HCE) Applicants only: 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?
Like we said, this is very similar to the question above. Except now it’s just for and about Human-Centered Engineering majors.
We know they said societal problemS with an S, but don’t go overboard with them. Maybe like, two. Three if you’re going sicko mode on it. It’s better if they fit in together, like maybe how 1/3rd of America’s bridges are near collapse (this is true) and how increased severe weather events due to climate change are a match made in hell. Now talk about how you want to be a civil engineer to help bring all of our bridges up to code. Pick a professor, an upper-level course or two, and maybe even an extracurricular, and explain how that BC education is going to help you solve big problems.
Boston College has just one supplement, but they have lots of options for you. Choose wisely!
Want help with your BC application? Reach out to us.