Boston College is a medium-sized, private Jesuit college located in Chestnut Hill, MA – just outside of Boston. While the Catholic affiliation can scare away some students, we can tell you that Jesuits are pretty different than the mainstream image; they care deeply about education, social justice, and service. BC is known for their fantastic programs in Human-Centered Engineering, Econ, Finance, and Political Science, and is an all-around great school if you’re looking for a well-rounded liberal arts education.
BC, like most schools these days, has gotten much more selective over the last few years. In the last cycle, their acceptance rate dropped two percent, putting it at around 12%. However, BC really values ED and ED2 applicants, more than some of their peer institutions, and boasts a combined ED/ED2 acceptance rate of approximately 30%. While we don’t know the exact breakdown of these numbers, we do know that applying ED2 can give you a significant boost in the application process.
Why You Should Apply ED2
Before we dive into the application logistics, we understand if you’re hesitant about ED2. It makes total sense if you're reeling from a deferral, still holding out hope elsewhere, or just reluctant to lock into another binding agreement. That said, from a strategic lens, skipping ED2 often works against you.
Yield matters a lot to colleges – this is the percentage of admitted students who actually enroll. When you apply through ED or ED2, you’re signaling that if accepted, you’re in. That kind of demonstrated commitment helps boost yield, and admissions offices notice that. At a school like BC, where yield matters and the pool is competitive, applying ED2 can give your application extra weight.
If you’ve been deferred or your list is skewed toward reach-heavy schools, this might be the most tactical move you have left. And when it comes to a place like BC – where demonstrated interest and likelihood to attend aren’t taken lightly, ED2 could be the move.
If you’re dealing with a deferral or rejection from your Early Decision school, we can help. Whether you need a deferral letter, a college list for Regular Decision, polishing your Common App essay, an Early Decision 2 application, or even a complete rehaul for this next round, we have you covered. Reach out to us ASAP. Everything will be okay.
The Supplement
We would like to get a better sense of you. Please respond to one of the first four prompts below (400 word limit). Students applying to the Human Centered Engineering major should respond to Prompt #5 instead.
As you can see, BC only has one question, but you choose from multiple options. If applying to Human Centered Engineering, you must answer prompt #5. We will say, they are hitting a lot of college essay tropes with these options, and we’re going to tell you to write a story – for pretty much every prompt. Let’s get into it.
Option 1: 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?
This is a pretty standard Community essay with a more targeted focus. They want you to center on a tradition you’ve experienced, but it doesn’t need to be some huge tradition. It can be something as small as ice cream after Sunday dinner. The important part of this prompt is that you use it to tell a story. Drop us into a moment within your family or community, establish why we’re there with you, and walk us through the tradition. You don’t have to explicitly say why these things are important to you or how they bring people together, instead you should use your story to show how people are brought together and why it’s important.
Option 2: 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?
BC has asked this question for a long time, well before the common disagreement question came to be – but you should tackle it in a similar way. The main pitfall to avoid with this prompt is writing more about the conversation partner than about yourself. The easiest way to avoid that problem, however, is by telling a story. Bring us into the conversation you’re having, and don’t be afraid to use dialogue! We recommend avoiding any hot-button issues, instead focusing on questions and conversations that reveal things about your character, values, or interests.
Option 3: 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?
This prompt wants you to answer it like a diversity prompt. Please do not answer this question if you are straight, white, cis man – you being “defined by a single story” will not come across well. We also advise avoiding anything too traumatic here – not only do you not need to do that in order to get into college, but it’s also something that can be featured in additional information if need be. Like the other prompts, you’ll want to use this as a vehicle to tell a story. Think of an example of this “single story” moment in your own life, but focus on examples that have somewhat positive resolutions. For example, maybe a friend was ignorant, but after a conversation or shared experience, they changed their perspective.
Option 4: Boston College’s Jesuit mission highlights “the three Be’s”: be attentive, be reflective, be loving – core to Jesuit education (see A Pocket Guide 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?
This is a fun question, but it can be kind of a trap. If you can’t automatically come up with a fourth “Be,” skip it. You don’t want this essay to read like an explanation, so instead think of a story that captures the essence of your fourth “Be.” How have you put it into action? Once you set the stage by telling us a story that shows how you’ve implemented this “Be” into your own life, you can then pivot to connecting to how you’ll bring this “Be” to BC.
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?
We love this question, and we wish it wasn’t just limited to Human Centered Engineering. It’s also really similar to Santa Clara’s supplement, another Jesuit institution. This will be a pretty standard Why essay, but your origin story in this one should center on the societal problem you’d like to solve. Then, look at BC’s courses and professors that focus on or relate to said problem. You’ll then want to write about why those professors and classes are interesting and what skills they’ll give you to solve the problem. You might also want to find some labs or academic extracurricular activities that relate as well. You have 400 words here, so don’t be afraid to get into the weeds on your research and find solid options.
Submit and Wait
You’ll submit your ED2 application to Boston College on the same day their Regular Decision materials are due: January 2nd. That deadline comes up fast, and it’s a high-traffic day across the Common App. While it’s tempting to push things to the wire, we strongly encourage you to hit submit earlier in the day (or even a day or two before) to avoid any tech issues or last-minute chaos.
BC usually releases ED2 decisions a bit ahead of their RD timeline, but they don’t always make those dates crystal clear. Once everything is in, though, your job is done. All that’s left is to wait it out. You’ve got this!
Deferred or rejected and need help with an ED2 app? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us ASAP.